SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) / Is this for real?

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) / Is this for real?

Here's a fun link I got from Wikipedia:

SOPA Track - Check How Congress Votes on SOPA!

It lists every House and Senate member, how much they've gotten from pro-SOPA/PIPA and anti groups as well was a status of where they stand on the issue. If the status has a question mark, it means their stance has not been updated. However, you can click on their names to see posts from their twitter feeds to get an idea where they stand as well.

That is, if they have a Twitter account, in which case you should just call them annoy them because their numbers are available too. I'm sure they at least have people that know how to use phones.

At the very least, a useful tool for your November elections.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) / Is this for real?

Again, he's Hollywood. Not your friend.

But in fairness, Jon Stewart isn't a high priority for Viacom, apparently. It is Comedy Central.

Mr. Watts is from my district by the way (ah, that's the word i was looking for while recording last night, "district"). Even the rednecks in the next county over are more tech savvy than that "old country boy"

EDIT: And just as an addendum to the Bill Maher video. I remember seeing him on one of the old TV shows Dennis Miller used to do and they were both having a chat about freedom of speech, censorship, political correctness on the college campus along with the fallout of the Politically Incorrect show.

He was pretty passionate back then about freedom of speech and censorship and a bit humbled how people came out in support of him with advertisers and ABC pulled the plug on his old show and showed other outlets there was an audience for his views. Now he's referring to probably a lot of those same people as Caucasian looters. Classy.

Also, I think the reason his movie didn't do well was because unlike material from his younger years, it was self-indulgent crap and no one wanted to spend money on it.

EDIT 2:

Here's another interesting video. I'm not going to make a new post for it, but Judge Napolitano of FOX also had a decent and well-informed segment on SOPA/PIPA and showed a greater understanding of the bill than most Senators and House members had after this aired

And like Stewart with Viacom, he's obviously low on the food chain of FOX so he can say this stuff, but good on him for doing something the rest of his channel and parent company clearly wouldn't talk about.

Oh, and Glenn Beck, too. He's independent now and has his own internet media business, so yeah, he's concerned. He answers to no one and isn't mainstream, though.

He stole my bar analogy from my facebook. Totally suing him.

And... ugh... Keith Olbermann. I couldn't find where he stood on it, but he's been having guests on his show about it, so some respect for him on that at least.

Final note, in a lot of the videos you see about this issue and the two above, you hear the name Chris Dodd come up a lot.

He's the genius that co-wrote the Franklin/Dodd Act during the Clinton presidency, which also created Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the housing bubble that fucked the American economy and put us where we are now. It was revised under Clinton AND Bush to become worse. When Dodd retired from politics, he swore he'd never go into lobbying.

He's now the president of the MPAA, a lobbyist group for all the big media conglomerates and he thought PIPA/SOPA was a good thing. This man is an economic wrecking ball and continues to be 20 years later.

[Aksannyi]

Re: SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) / Is this for real?

I lulzed:

[Malacite]

Re: SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) / Is this for real?

Maher's only half wrong on that - he's absolutely right about the people just wanting to steal shit. But that's only a small part of the resistance to SOPA, and I'm frankly surprised he wasn't more informed on the subject. That was an otherwise top-notch episode, I watched the whole thing on Friday.

[Raydeus]

Re: SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) / Is this for real?

The "everyone wants free crap" argument has been used many times before, Mal. You shouldn't fall for it.

They used it with the betamax, the Rio, even the cassette recorder. Everyone was going to steal stuff, everyone was going to bankrupt content creators yadda yadda yadda. Not only it didn't happen but they actually made more money from it than they would ever be willing to accept. But they like playing both sides of the fence and profit from both.

Check out how the distribution of DRM removers and sharing software came to be, check out who profited from it's distribution, who created a profit from it and who created the sharing culture in the first place. Check out how at the same time they refused to adapt to what their costumers wanted and how they treat them like the enemy. Check out how inconvenient their draconian distribution systems are compared to online distribution. See your own habits, if people like you doesn't want to buy games and just wants to rent them what would be the natural course of action for a real capitalist company?

A) Say no and try to force you to pay full price for the games? You'll probably end up pirating them instead if you don't have the money or the will to pay full price.

B) Say yes and profit from renting the games to you and others. It will add up to sales and if you can make it so the rent becomes a paid demo you may actually profit twice by renting and then selling the game if there's enough incentive to buy the game.

This is the same thing, they want to send cops to your house to force you to consume their product how they say it when they say it and at the price they think you should pay. Even if their costumers place a much lower value on the product. You know, good old supply and demand and how the relative price of things changes according to availability and consumer perception of a fair price.

So to say people just wants to free stuff (outside maybe from entitled 14 year olds who were never even going to be able to afford anything outside of christmas anyway) is not only stupid and extremely ignorant, but it also shows a lack of understanding of basic economics only seen in totalitarian socialist regimes where the economy has to work the way a small group decides upon. And we all know how well those economies do.

[Malacite]

Re: SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) / Is this for real?

Who's falling for anything? I shouldn't have to repeat myself, but I'm just saying that it's a small part of it - there are people who really are just pissed they're missing free shit.

Hell, I can even sympathise with them to a degree - Hollywood's put out mostly garbage for the last several years and the music industry isn't much better. Doesn't make it right to pirate or download things for free, but it cuts both ways - stop putting out so much garbage.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) / Is this for real?

People, at thier core, don't want to steal things. When iTunes made music purchaseable in the way people wanted it, did you notice CDs finally came down in price to something a touch more reasonable?

There has to be a compromise, there's going to be less free shit and big companies are going to have to adapt to getting less upfront. Big Old Media tries to enact things like SOPA or ACTA to keep things as they were before the Internet, it's proof they don't want to change, but the change isn't stopping and it won't stop. Additionally, they like to amass copyright and then do nothing with them. Has NBC even tried to get Knight Rider out there in video Streaming? They fucking own it, won't sell it to anyone and don't do much with it.

And can I feel bad for them when people just pirate shit they're sitting on? Not really, as no one is being harmed. I only dislike the pirates when they steal things that are distributed. But they're right on point when they say it's too expensive yo pay for, even if I don't like that they steal.

[Aksannyi]

Re: SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) / Is this for real?

Personally (and I think I speak for a lot of people) I would never pay for probably 85% of the shit I pirate in the first place. The music/movie industry seems to believe that they're losing all this money by people pirating, but this is money I never would have spent in the first place. Is it stealing? To an extent, but it's not the same as walking into a store, grabbing a CD, shoving it in my purse, and running out the door with it. What do they actually lose, tangibly, when I pirate something? Nothing but the pocket change they may have made from my sale. (And we're talking usually one song, not an entire CD's worth of songs, which is another story ...) Okay. What do they tangibly lose when someone steals an actual physical object? Cost of materials. Cost of production. Cost of shipping. Cost of stocking. Cost of man-hours. Etc. I really don't know how these people see filesharing as the same thing.

Is it wrong? Sure. Was copying and distributing tapes to my friends wrong? Probably. I was like eight years old and I was already avast on the high seas, matey. I'm not making money off of the music I grab. You think I didn't borrow CDs from my friends and rip them to my computer? Please. Music and filesharing has been around for a long fucking time. These people are delusional. Is it a lot easier to share music now? Sure. But I talk to a lot of people who all say the same thing: They pay for shit they actually think is worth paying for. I've bought games recently. I've bought CDs. I've bought movies. If it's worth it, I'll pay for it.

Do I really consider filesharing to be stealing? At its core? No, not really. It's what it is - sharing. Just because technology has made it easier doesn't mean it's any different than it was 20 years ago.

That said, if I could actually go to a place, get unlimited downloads for a monthly fee, and be able to actually keep the copies - no licenses that expire, no "trials", no "you got another computer, sucks to be you, you lost all your music," I guarantee the recording industry would make a fortune. They could cut down production costs of physical disks by supplying probably half of what they do now - because let's face it, who collects discs anymore? And they'd still make a huge profit, because they've just made the entire process a thousand times easier for everyone involved. I don't really care about your little booklet in a CD. I don't care about a physical object that's taking up space and probably going to end up in a landfill in 50 years when I'm dead. Want to cut down on human waste? All that fucking plastic you wrap your discs in? Killing the environment? Here's a good way to cut back on it, save the planet and make a fortune, there you go. Get with the fucking times man.

I just don't get it. Why do they continue to shove this ancient method of consumption down our throats? It's obvious that this generation and future generations would rather have it digitally. Do I really wanna clutter my truck with CDs I might wanna listen to on a road trip? Or would I rather plug in my iPod which is a fifth the size of a CD and carries 3000ish (probably more) songs? Have you ever gone running or biking with a Discman? How about hitting a speed bump - oops, fucking thing skipped, that's not totally fucking annoying. Oh shit, scratched disc? I'm out twenty bucks. Fuck that. These people need to get with the fucking times.

Not sure how much further I can really go with this rant. I really just needed to get this off my chest though, these people are delusional if they think that the reason I pirate has to do with not wanting to pay. I would pay, if you'd make it easy enough. If you make it convenient enough. It's not that I don't want to get up and go to the store (okay, sometimes I don't), but I don't really need another case cluttering up my already small apartment. And CDs? Some of them suck! They want me to bay $20 for an object with maybe 10 songs, two of which are any good and the rest fucking suck. So you pay $2 per song, and since you end up listening to only two of them, that's $10 per song. Yeah, that's not a rip off.

I mean seriously ... you wanna know why people pirate? If they'd listen to their consumers, they might fucking figure it out. I'm just saying. Do you think people will stop it forever? Of course they won't, but you want to cut back on it? Make it just as easy to pay for something as it is to torrent. Hell, charge me $20 a month, give me 50 downloads. That's 40 cents a song, easily worth it (imo). I guarantee most people won't even hit that 50 downloads a month quota, and you'll be making bank of those people. And for those that do? You've got happy consumers! They're gonna keep buying! They'll probably even go up the next tier, to the $30 a month plan. And you're gonna make fucking bank. Bandwidth is probably a lot cheaper than all those discs are. I'm just saying.

I don't understand why this is such a difficult concept for the music industry to grasp. I just don't. I don't even have any business background but I'm looking at this and to me, it just makes good business sense. Not only do they save a ton of money with production costs but they make their consumers - those of us living in the 21st century - happy. Isn't that what they're like, supposed to do? Happy customers spend money. I just don't get it.

Forgive me, this is already super long and I apologize, I just needed to rant a little. Cutting down the entire use of the internet as a distribution method is just retarded.

[Yellow Mage]

Re: SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) / Is this for real?

Forgive me, this is already super long and I apologize, I just needed to rant a little. Cutting down the entire use of the internet as a distribution method is just retarded.

From both a political and a metaphorical perspective, this is an insult to retarded people.

[Raydeus]

Re: SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) / Is this for real?

People, at thier core, don't want to steal things. When iTunes made music purchaseable in the way people wanted it, did you notice CDs finally came down in price to something a touch more reasonable?

There has to be a compromise, there's going to be less free shit and big companies are going to have to adapt to getting less upfront. Big Old Media tries to enact things like SOPA or ACTA to keep things as they were before the Internet, it's proof they don't want to change, but the change isn't stopping and it won't stop. Additionally, they like to amass copyright and then do nothing with them. Has NBC even tried to get Knight Rider out there in video Streaming? They fucking own it, won't sell it to anyone and don't do much with it.

And can I feel bad for them when people just pirate shit they're sitting on? Not really, as no one is being harmed. I only dislike the pirates when they steal things that are distributed. But they're right on point when they say it's too expensive yo pay for, even if I don't like that they steal.

And they couldn't possibly do anything with it because the people in charge of these things doesn't even know what the content is about. To them it's just a more profitable sack of potatoes they can store and forget about it.

Like you said in the podcast, the problem with these industries is that they are controlled by parasites. They don't even care about the content or what it means, they just care about getting the maximum amount of money from it period. They take greed to the maximum possible level every single time and kill their golden egg Goose in the process, but at same time, because they are so ignorant about "their properties" they often end up missing most chances to profit from them simply because they are incapable of thinking outside their already set in stone ways.


I've always found it ironic how the "greed is good thing", that some people in business think it should be equal to more money making actually ends up killing profits instead, because it places unrealistic pressure upon businesses that would've survived and flourished with a more conservative approach. It's the people that would rather sell 100 video games for 60 bucks than selling 2000 for 20 the ones who mess up profits. Because in their imaginary world they are selling 5000 games for 60 bucks and living the good life, and when reality hits and their content didn't sell they blame everyone else and claim to have been robbed by pirates.

[DakAttack]

Re: SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) / Is this for real?

So to say people just wants to free stuff (outside maybe from entitled 14 year olds who were never even going to be able to afford anything outside of christmas anyway) is not only stupid and extremely ignorant, but it also shows a lack of understanding of basic economics only seen in totalitarian socialist regimes where the economy has to work the way a small group decides upon. And we all know how well those economies do.

Don't bullshit. What do all these websites have in common: Suprnova, Mininova, Pirate Bay, Torrent Bay, MegaUpload, and Rapidshare? They're all dedicated to circumventing a fair exchange, or what people like to call piracy. The whole point is getting something for nothing, be it video games, music, anime, Photoshop, or whatever else you want. Do people want free stuff? I don't know if I'd say they do, because if they did we'd all be getting a lot more hugs, but this is definitely about people getting free stuff.

Now, I'm not entirely against piracy. I believe it's a necessary evil that will, hopefully, promote change. But defending it as something other than getting what you want for free is a joke.

[Mezlo]

Re: SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) / Is this for real?

Don't bullshit. Do people want free stuff?

There's a saying in Russia, "Even vinegar tastes like sugar if it's free."

[Malacite]

Re: SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) / Is this for real?

Wall o' Text from Aky O.O good read though (what I bothered to read of it at least, )

Just to use an example, I recently noticed the new Star Wars Blu Ray collection at Cost Co. the other day. It's nearly $100 for NINE BLU RAYS of the entire movie set + extras. WTF man?! First of all, you could fit all 6 movies onto a single blu ray easily. Secondly, how many times has Lucas Films re-released these damn movies now, always with seemingly more "extras" ? And I saw people buying it too, which made me cringe. Don't even get me started on how we're being ripped off by digital downloads of games (at least outside of Steam & Amazon - fuck PSN and XBL's prices for current gen stuff)

Again, I'm not promoting piracy here, only saying I'm slightlym sympathetic in the face of the egregious onslaught of bullshit being carried out by the various entertainment & retail industries. To their credit, Apple & Valve seem to be the only ones who actually understand the problem and offer more modern services that people actually love and use (iTunes & Steam).

EDIT: What does it cost to make a Blu Ray now anyway? 15 cents? CDs are 5 and DVDs are only 10 last I checked, and that was years ago...

[Aksannyi]

Re: SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) / Is this for real?

Hey now, wall of text implies no paragraphs. There's a difference!

[Malacite]

Re: SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) / Is this for real?

lol yeah, it was just too long I guess (and I'll read long stuff, just got a lot of stuff I wanna do atm)

Also forgot to add, that it'd be great if you could just buy licenses for movies from the respective studios so you never have to pay (or at least not full price) for upgrading your collections. Like say you buy the original Batman movie, then upgrade that to DVD and now there's the Blu ray etc etc...

I don't want to use Star Wars again because it's the worst offender in this category but you get the idea right? Most people I know don't even bat an eye at the Blu ray versions because they feel they paid more than enough upgrading their VHS collections to DVD and are happy with that. Blu Ray movies still cost way too much over DVDs as well, in some cases (at least in Canada) costing $10 extra or more over the DVD. It's not worth it at all. At least videogames are an interactive media that can offer wildly different experiences every time you play depending on the game. Movies are static content, and can only be improved so much.