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ABC/Disney Shuts Down Blog Exercising Fair Use

An anonymous reader writes "A blogger named Spocko had his blog shut down by ABC/Disney lawyers because he had posted clips from an ABC Radio-affiliated program and commented on their content, as well as informed show advertisers of what exactly they were paying for. Spocko merely pointed out the content that station KSFO was broadcasting, and as a result Visa pulled their advertising from the station. More companies were reportedly considering pulling their ads. A YouTube video summary is available. From the Daily Kos article: 'How'd he do it? He did it the way it's always done - by working within the law, identifying points of weakness, exploiting them and being absolutely tenacious ... It appears to me as if Disney is attempting to bully a little guy in an unethical manner. Any media lawyer worth the air she breathes knows that Spocko's use was well protected.'"

4 of 525 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Problem with things like torture by CRCulver · · Score: 5, Informative

    It was lost in about 100 AD when the Church started killing those who didn't agree with the viewpoints of those in power.

    Christianity had no state support until AD 313. Right up until that point, it was heavily persecuted by the Roman Empire and was in no position to go out killing. Might want to get your facts straight.

  2. SLAPP Reborn by NorbrookC · · Score: 5, Informative

    One of the tactics that large companies have used in the past, when dealing with critics - particularly grass-roots activists - was the SLAPP : Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation. Someone against your project, or annoying you? File a lawsuit against them. Since you have the money to push it, and they generally don't (if you pick your target well), the only way out of it for them was to shut up. This had the "benefit" of shutting up your other critics, too.

    It appears that Disney has dusted off the tactic here. Yeah, Spocko did nothing illegal. All he did was advocate a position, comment legally on what he saw wrong, and point it out to those who finance it. Rather than actually change anything, Disney decided the best move was to shut the critic up. This seems be backfiring though - and it'll be interesting to watch how Disney will twist and turn to try to spin this in a better light.

  3. Re:DailyKos is a deeply partisan site by VJ42 · · Score: 5, Informative

    His blog is back up, reading and listening to the clips myself, the context of most of them is clear. Listen for yourself: http://www.spockosbrain.com/

    --
    If I have nothing to hide, you have no reason to search me
  4. the "God" of Hebrews and Arabs by falconwolf · · Score: 4, Informative

    They're completely different deities because they teach completely different things. They're polar opposites. You may as well claim that China and Norway have the same leader.

    Maybe you need to go back to school. The Hebrew and the Arab "God" is the same one. Hebrews are decendents of Abraham's son Ishmael and Arabs the decendents of his son Isaic. The split between the two came when Sarah, Ismael's mother forced Abraham to send Isaic and his mother Hagar into the desert. They all worshipped the same diety. And as Abraham was a decendent of Noah's son Shem, from where Semites come from, both Ishmael and Isaic are Semites as well therefore both Arabs and Hebrews are Semites.

    Falcon