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President Signs Law Creating Copyright Czar
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "President Bush has signed the EIPRA (AKA the PRO-IP Act) and created a cabinet-level post of 'Copyright Czar,' on par with the current 'Drug Czar,' in spite of prior misgivings about the bill. They did at least get rid of provisions that would have had the DOJ take over the RIAA's unpopular litigation campaign. Still, the final legislation (PDF) creates new classes of felony criminal copyright infringement, adds civil forfeiture provisions that incorporate by reference parts of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, and directs the Copyright Czar to lobby foreign governments to adopt stronger IP laws. At this point, our best hope would appear to be to hope that someone sensible like Laurence Lessig or William Patry gets appointed."
1. Countries without extradition treaties to the US, as the act makes pirating a criminal offense - one that you can be extradited for.
2. Countries without friendly relations with the US, as part of this act involves convincing other nations to join.
That's about it on requirements, I think...
On a serious note, it's nice to know that with the economy in the crapper, rather than trying to correct problems with the US banking system, they've instead decided that the US's biggest concern is people downloading MP3s.
Uh, no. The US probably wants to forget that the industrial revolution started in the US thanks to one massive effort in corporate espionage. Cracking down heavily on IP actually harms the economy.
The US has signed its death warrant, again. This act can only hurt the economy, and it really doesn't need to be kicked while its down.
Don't worry, look how successful the Drugs Czar is. Money well spent.
Ones that don't have extradition agreements with the United States.
Keep your eyes to the sky.
I'll bet he thinks so while he's driving around in his car(s).
-- arstchnca
--
Ok, outside the copyright debate, am I the only one that is extremely skeptical when someone is the "czar" of something? What the hell does that actually mean, and what can they actually do?
If it doesn't sound like an utterly useless, powerless post, it sounds like we should be running for our lives from this all powerful czar - neither is particularly good, from my perspective.
If you can read this... 01110101 01110010 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100111 01100101 01100101 01101011
They are successful. So long as you remember that the goal is to make the police force so big that a dictator can rely on them to keep the population in check.
BTW, if we weren't all criminals yesterday, and we're aren't all criminals now, you can be sure we will all be criminals soon.
How we know is more important than what we know.
All those who have already spent the large amounts of money placed conveniently on their doorsteps from an "Anonymous DonoRIAA" last week, say "Aye" -- any opposed? The Ayes have it. Send it to the president!
It's easy to start a grassroots campaign to get a new bill instated that will have this one eclipsed or overturned. We just need everyone we know to write letters to their congressmen -- Letters written on hundred dollar bills.
I am the richest astronaut ever to win the superbowl.
Does that mean copyrights will now be available on every street corner?
Whaddaya mean the wasn't the goal?
They are successful. So long as you remember that the goal is to make the police force so big that a dictator can rely on them to keep the population in check.
BTW, if we weren't all criminals yesterday, and we're aren't all criminals now, you can be sure we will all be criminals soon.
We've all been criminals for a long, long time. It's just that nobody has bothered to prosecute us yet.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
Your government is out of control. Perfect timing. This will get zero media attention.
In the subject, you name Bush.
In your post, you name "your government"
Guess what, they are not one and the same.
Bush has issued 12 vetoes during 8 years.
4 of those vetoes were overridden.
The blame for this rests on the Senators and Congressmen who allowed themselves to be lobbied into passing such industry serving legislation.
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
Said the geek who has rarely left his mother's basement, let alone the USA.
Similar to the upcoming US election results
http://fear.org/
Assets should only be forfeited when the owner of said assets has lost a case (civil or preferably criminal).
Cases such as "County of X against $10,000" are just wrong and evil, and should be in violation of the 4th Amendment.
If I have nothing to hide, don't search me
With the war on drugs, the war on sex, the war on common sense, and now the war on "IP theft", the risk of raising a child in the US skyrocketing. :(
Young people often fundamentally don't understand the economic incentives, implications and justifications for copyright (regardless of whether or not they are still valid today). Couple that with very low purchasing power, and this new war-on-sharing is a disaster waiting to happen.
Mark my words. A lot of families will suffer terribly because of this.
A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
No, let's be fair. The blame is with those who voted them in.
Fellow people of the United States of America: You do a horrible job of voting. I don't expect clairvoyance, but I do expect you to see past the fit of the suit and the quality of the dentistry.
And when you make a wrong choice, I do expect you to take responsibility for having voted in the evil-doers.
Bush is like Ronald McDonald.
When I get a bad Cheesburger, I don't blame the Server, I dont blame the Cook, I don't blame the store manager. No I blame Ronald. He is the figurehead that represents everthing about McDonalds so he is to blame. Also, when I get nice tasty fresh fries, he gets my high-five.
When the Government is out of control, the President is accountable. Just like Ronald.
In criminal cases they send the police to kick down the door of the accused, and they present such evidence as "we caught him red handed".
They get the name and address of the accused, not by an absentee discovery order, but by a search warrant. Or, with new legislation that is likely to follow, by just looking up the data that ISPs are required to retain without even the need for a warrant.
This is what happens when you appoint a Czar.. a fuckin' WAR is declared and any allusions that people have about their rights go quickly out the window.
How we know is more important than what we know.
Hello mr. Constitution, my name was Paul. However, I was sued by the RIAA for infringing on their copyright of the letter "P" and now I'm known as inmate 5675. Unfortunately, God-King Bush said I also violated his copyright on free speech with my first letter so they took my Kidneys since I don't have anything left after my legs were taken for speaking against the media's word.
As the USA continues its bi-polar swing between Fascism and Marxism, I'm wondering if a country exists whose governments better balances the rights of the individual with the need of the population? I think I might need to move before they start setting up internment camps here.
The world: America, you've got a corrupt lunatic for a president. You suck!
America: Actually, half the stupid stuff we do is because our senators and congressmen are corrupt lunatics too.
The world: Uhh...
Repton.
They say that only an experienced wizard can do the tengu shuffle.
The intention: Since very little is manufactured in the USA any more, one of the few things we have to sell to the outside world is our IP, so we have to protect it.
The Unintended Consequences: As Lawrence Lessig has pointed out, draconian copyright and patent laws are a strong disincentive to building on the works of others, so there will be less IP to sell.
I guess we're sunk.
The Russian czar was eventually replaced by communists who believed in free stuff for all.
Open source advocates believe in free software for all, and will likely try to destroy the position of Copyright Czar.
This isn't just money wasting legislation, someone has actually set up a very elaborate experiment to test if history repeats itself under controlled conditions.
Are they going to make a fast food czar?
How about an SUV czar?
I mean, people are buying less SUVs than ever before, so we must have a cabinet level position to figure out how to get people to buy more SUVs right?
And people need to buy more fast food too. Let's create a cabinet position for that.
This is not unprecented. I mean, there's already a banking czar who is taking over the banks now.
Next will come the porn czar. "Sir, put your hands up and your penis back in your pants!"
Bush certainly is tying up the loose ends in the fascism loop ins't he?
They're using their grammar skills there.
Bush is like Ronald McDonald.
When I get a bad Cheesburger, I don't blame the Server, I dont blame the Cook, I don't blame the store manager. No I blame Ronald. He is the figurehead that represents everthing about McDonalds so he is to blame. Also, when I get nice tasty fresh fries, he gets my high-five.
When the Government is out of control, the President is accountable. Just like Ronald.
So instead of faulting anyone who had a hand in the making of your cheeseburger, you place the blame solely on a fictional clown that was invented by marketing people? That's an interesting philosophy you have.
Young people often fundamentally don't understand the economic incentives
A public hanging of Santa Claus will teach the little bastards a thing or tw0.
.
The production budget for WALL-E was $180 million.
If you know a congressman who doesn't like to see hundreds of millions of dollars being invested in clean industry, skilled labor and high-paying jobs in his home district, I would very much like to meet him.
I doubt you are going to find him in California, New York, or Florida - not in this election and not in an economy where every export dollar matters.
No, let's be fair. The blame is with those who voted them in.
I didn't vote for Bush in 2004, nor did I vote for Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) in 2006. What should I have done, other than vote for other candidates and encourage friends and family members to do the same?
This is what happens when you appoint a Czar.. a fuckin' WAR is declared and any allusions that people have about their rights go quickly out the window.
Well, the only saving grace here is that the Justice Department (who, after all will be responsible for prosecuting these "cases") is dead set against it. As they said in their rather concise letter to Congress, they have better things to do with their time and our money.
... music lovers?! Huh. Just wait until all the voting public using P2P realize that they're now subject to criminal prosecution. It's gonna get ugly: they're making yet another run at Prohibition, and it didn't work the first time.
... but this is going to be different. It will have to be higher profile if it is going to have the desired effect: keeping it out of the public's eye won't do any good at all.
All in all, I have the feeling this probably won't go anywhere. If they start successfully screwing over too many people it's going to be political dynamite. Most likely this is just a step up in the RIAA's terror campaign, "Okay, so maybe you weren't afraid of us, but we're betting that you're just terrified of the United States Federal Government, so there!" This is one of those things for which you're not going to find much popular support. Drug dealers? Sure, why not: nobody likes them (even if they are supposed to have the same civil liberties as everyone else.) But
So, they'd better play this very carefully. Not too many people are aware of the DMCA, or it's implications
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
At this point, our best hope would appear to be to hope that someone sensible like Laurence Lessig or William Patry gets appointed
I hope you're kidding. In case you've been asleep for 8 years, the US has gone further and further towards Big Brother to the point where having our rights suspended in a city where there's a Republican National Convention is no longer shocking. Whoever is appointed to this post will be as dumb, vicious, and bloodthirsty as possible. I mean, really, do you think for a second that Dick Cheney and Karl Rove are going to appoint someone like Lessig?
No, they'll pick someone who is about law enforcement and headlines. Somebody who probably works or worked as a lawyer for the MPAA or RIAA. It's going to be a real shitstorm. Expect to see new, harsher mandatory sentence laws passed soon. There's money in prisons and fines!
I don't respond to AC's.
The problem is that both sides are equally bad.
No matter who they vote for, they are screwed.
Oh well. Doesnt affect Australia *too* much. :D
Or are we going to keep complaining that copyright law gets worse each passing year?
Nerds are going to have to start running for office to get this fixed. I'd rather not have to do it myself, but as my sig indicates, I've got the spare time.
Well, Abe, this shows that our government is clearly now of the corporations, by the corporations, and for the corporations.
The lovely bill was signed by what is likely the most corrupt president since Andrew Jackson. Ironically, he is from your party, the Republicans (you were the first elected Republican president). And the republicans were formed by former members of the Whig party, which existed to fight the tyranny of Jackson.
What would you say if you were here today, Abe? Is this what America has been fighting for?
Will schools start having Copyright people come to schools and talk to students about the wrongs of copyright violation?
Can I bum a sig?
Extradition is not a magic teleportation to another country, it must be justified.
Two standards must be met before someone may be extradited.
There must be enough evidence against the accused so that its likely a conviction could be reached, and most importantly in this case;
Condition number two.
It must be shown that extraditing the accused serves justice.
This one is most notably brought up for people being extradited for capital crimes. If its likely you will receive the death penalty if extradited and the country your currently in does not have one. They will not extradite you, because it does not serve justice.
The same applies for any crime, but becomes harder to demonstrate by the defence as the crimes become lesser.
But it's important here because while the EU is slowly reforming its IP laws to more sane standards in this age, the US seems to be regressing them. And if the country your in doesn't think its a crime you ain't going anywhere.
Whats going to happen now is that the US and the EU will move further and further apart on this and sooner or later US patents won't automatically be valid anywhere, the country will get a reputation for foolhardy IP laws and they'll make coporations go through local application processes before they recognize their copyright/patent.
While it's influence has certainly been fading, the US still has quite a pull both economically and politically around the world. It's not exactly unheard of for the US to put pressure on other countries for things like this, and it's not unheard of for other countries to cave.
The more the US leans along these lines, the more other countries will. Sadly.
"A witty saying proves nothing." - Voltaire
So instead of faulting anyone who had a hand in the making of your cheeseburger, you place the blame solely on a fictional clown that was invented by marketing people?
The difference being...?
Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
See this post, defending Obama's vote for telecom immunity: http://www.lessig.org/blog/2008/07/the_immunity_hysteria.html Furthermore, he supports enforcement of copyright law (always has, although is concerned about its reach and absolutely against its retroactive extension).
Just think of how powerful the prison guards' union will be...
"How long are you in for, comrade?"
"Eight years."
"What are you in for?"
"Nothing, nothing at all."
"Lies. The penalty for nothing is ten years!"
Hail Eris, full of mischief...
E pluribus sanguinem
So who exactly are we SUPPOSED to vote for? Rich corporate asskisser A or B? You see that is what the problem is. With a two party system either choice has been bought and paid before you ever get to the booth. Would it be better with a multi party system? Hell if I know. All I do know is it really couldn't get much worse.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
...to abolish "civil forfeiture". It's bad enough when it happens to someone falsely accused in a drug case, or even acquitted. Expansion of CF? Absolute oppression. No other way to put it. I understand that you probably need to have *some* civil law apart from criminal law; but I think that if the founders knew that impoverishment was being used as "the next best thing" to imprisonment, they'd be turning in their graves.
At a time when the decline of property values has caused so much trouble; expansion of CF makes no sense at all. I know that as I've considered investing in property, the possibility of CF has given me serious pause. I don't do drugs; but what if my tenant does? And then they come along and, without the stricter standards of a criminal case, they deprive me of the property. Now I have to worry if the tenant is a warez guy? Maybe there's a way to insure against CF, but then that's just one more thing that cuts into the bottom line for an investor.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
Think about it. Copy "rights" only exist because governments invent them to provide incentive to create new works. This sort of thinking don't exist in nature or even in commonlaw AFAIK. The only "damage" that takes places is against those invented "rights", not against anything tangible.
and some extra "quotation marks" for good measure.
I think at this point I only read /. to depress myself thinking about the affairs of government.
Well, President Bush did sign it into law....BUT remember, the President makes NO laws whatsoever. He only signs them in.
If you really don't like this, and I don't either...look to your state's representatives and senators in congress up there.
They came up with the law...debated it and still passed it on to the president to sign.
I'm guessing BOTH of our lovely parties had people voting for this.
Any idea which way our presidential candidates voted? If I had to take a guess...I'd guess both McCain and Obama voted yea.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
You know what? I'm actually happy now. The government did something for me, for once.
They listened when I said we need to mass-educate the population about the DMCA and just how bad it is; now they're implementing a program to do it.
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
In case there are any more Pollyannas out there...
Reading all of the gloom and doom in the comments, I began to think that there's no way this act could be so bad. I mean, wouldn't this provide the government with more knowledge and power to defend my fair use if I referenced a Disney movie on Slashdot and big brother wanted to sue the everloving snot out of me for it? If it's my tax money paying for this, shouldn't I get some protection out of it? IANAL, but a quick search of the act for 'fair use', 'public domain', and 'commons' soundly tells me no.
I would like to remind everyone that EFF donations are tax deductible.
America: Uh, heard of the War on Drugs?
The World: Y'know, on second thought, maybe you need to just get some better weed and chill out a little.
It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
- E. Debs
well, you would have to first come up with a complex equation that:
in order to see the full picture you need to analyze all of these variables and see how they affect the market. in the end i think one will find that piracy/file-sharing has actually increased music-related spending and is actually a valuable source of free exposure/advertising. giving consumers the option to try out music cost-free allows them to explore a greater variety of music and artists. this results in lower sales for crappy artists, but increased sales & fan bases for good artists.
i don't doubt that the major labels are hurting and sales for pop albums are dropping. but that isn't entirely due to piracy, and it doesn't mean the industry as a whole doesn't benefit from piracy. part of this is caused by a new distribution paradigm emerging. the old means of promoting music by using Payola to get top-40 radio stations to drill catchy hit singles into the heads of consumers is losing its effectiveness. increasingly people are using the internet to discover music on their own--music that actually suits their tastes. and for the people who do still listen to the radio, they can just buy the singles from iTunes rather than spend $20 on a pop album full of filler tracks that they won't listen to.
the new digital music distribution system gives consumers what they want rather than telling them what they want. and as a result, a lot of consumer spending is being shifted away from the major artists and towards indie artists. studies have shown that music pirates spend more on music than the average person, so how can piracy be hurting the music industry? it may be hurting the major labels and fad musicians who put out derivative bubblegum music which aren't worth paying for, but being able to download an album for free won't stop real fans from purchasing music & merch from, or otherwise supporting, the bands they like.
file sharing is actually great for the music industry because it evens the playing field for indie artists who have previously been locked out of the promotion network and distribution system controlled by the major labels. and this democratization of the market may even lead to a rise in the quality of mainstream music.
Police make money by busting criminals. If the laws are such that everyone is a criminal, the police have an easy job.
Ca Ching!
What? ®
"unfortunately, we're talking about an unelected bureaucrat, not a real Czar."
The real Czars weren't elected either...
Cue the "In (pre) soviet Russia " jokes..
I believe the term Czar (later spelt Tsar) comes from the name Caesar - which orriginally was the given name of the first Roman emperor (Gaius Julius), and only became a 'Title' when adopted by his Nephew (Gaius Octavius - AKA Augustus)
"Mark my words. A lot of families will suffer terribly because of this."
But somehow, not enough to cause an uproar. They learned a valuable lesson from Prohibition: Don't have too many high-profile raids.
And a corollary: People who think they can "buy" other people's stuff for way less than it's worth probably won't protest reason too much.
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
No surprises there.
Open Source software is a creative product that, when it leaves the nest, is likely to continue to develop and improve, and come back to the creator greater than when it left.
Passive entertainment is different: why would I spend a bunch of time and money creating some product for a bunch of parasitic consumers? Yes, in theory many versions of the CC license allow modification, but in practice I think that this is much less likely than with software, largely because while code fills a specific need and there are some measurably good and bad ways of doing it, art is far more a personal act of the creator, not very niche-driven, and there are an infinite number of ways to do it right.
"The biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place."
Before the "war on drugs" we had a "war on poverty". They both had czars, and each was as effective as the other. Allow me to predict that the copyright czar will rise to unprecedented levels of negative success. I think something was lost in translation here. In the original russian I don't believe the word "czar" means "ineffectual idiot tasked with the impossible". I could be wrong about that.
Any russian linguists in the house?
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Sorry, I just got finished reading Cory Doctorow's Little Brother and am feeling overly paranoid. I used to laugh at the idea of having copyright cops who would go around and arrest kids who had pirated music on their iPods, but it seems that day is growing ever nearer. Am I the only one who feels helpless against this growing insanity of the *AA controlled congress?
That's an excellent way to describe the president: "a fictional clown that was invented by marketing people".
And a "-1, bashing twitter for no good reason" moderation. I'm all for nuking his karma further into oblivion, but it simply adds nothing for ACs to troll him... especially when he doesn't actually say anything particularly stupid or abusive (like the post above).
Try not to take me more seriously than I take myself.
Ask yourself if he wasn't right: Does your local department store not stock blank DVD's and CD's in bare pallets of 100 packs because they move too fast to put on the shelves? Do you know anybody who doesn't have an MP3 player large enough to store more music than they can afford to buy? Is there not a vast network of servers from which any copyrighted work extant can be received without compensation for the creator, available in nearly every home?
By making stupid laws that should not and will not be obeyed and cannot be enforced we train the citizen from his youth to scoff at the law. That is far more damage than even the most egregious piracy can cause - it's promotion of anarchy. It would be better to do away with copyright entirely than to do further damage to social order.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Man that's a lot of trouble to go through just because I downloaded Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On".
There can be no punishment that is worse than the crime itself. Surely you must be allowed to go free.
Oh yeah, it's a living hell here in Australia.
Can't stop to talk more, the weather's heating up and we're all off to the beach now, then maybe a barbeque later. We'll throw a prawn on for you.
I wonder how many people will have their computers stolen by the RIAA before someone tapes a cellphone bomb inside one. Maybe they would think twice when a van full of "copyright enforcement agents" was exploded in a public place :\
People need to think logically, and vote their hearts. They need to stop voting for the popular candidates, and look at all the choices individually. And this means eliminating someone as a possible voting choice when they see them do something foolish.
Which of course won't stop the Alphabet Agencies from kidnapping you from said non-extradition treaty country if they deem it a Good Thing. Remember Panama? Sure, Noriega was a scumbag that the United States put in power, but sending armed men across borders to forcibly remove him at gunpoint wasn't the height of diplomacy, it was outright invasion.
Outside of the UK, Afghanistan ('friendly' government installed at gunpoint by the US), and Iraq (see 'Afghanistan'), that's just about everywhere on the planet.
No, this is just a bait and switch from the Powers That Be to draw attention away from the fact that we're in a depression. It gives said Powers That Be the excuse to squeeze yet more taxes, spend more money, and do nothing but make examples of people who do not have the means to fight back without the ancillary effect of making a certain class of criminals ('drug dealers') rich in the process.
And of course, it has the Seal of Approval from the Senator from Disney.
Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
One is a made up amusement park quality attraction and the other one is a corporate mascot.
All I do know is it really couldn't get much worse.
Please don't tempt fate.
I'm old enough to remember when this would have been assumed to be a Russian joke. Now it's an American joke.
/.is against patents.
Which is exactly how I am left without anyone to vote for in the presidential election. No McCain (Military Commissiona Act of 2006), No Obama (FISA Amendments Act of 2008), No Bob Barr (*shudder*).
Rep. Souder isn't responsible for this bill making it out of committee. He is not a member of the majority.
It is time for people to learn that we had a Republican majority in the recent past for a reason. The reason is that Democrats were colossal failures at leadership too.
By all means, though. Elect Obama, and keep Pelosi in power. Just don't delude yourself into thinking this will change anything.
It's not good enough to vote for "other candidates". You need to encourage intelligent, strong-willed, highly ethical people to leave their otherwise profitable and rewarding day jobs and run. Then you have to convince the sheep that watch 80 hours of reality television and CNN to vote for them even if their platform doesn't rhyme. Either that or pick up a Bible and start a'thumpin.
Wait a minute........
FTFB: "Copyright infringement is a felony"
If I steal a CD from a store that is a misdemeanor....
If I download a song...THAT IS A FELONY?!?!?!?!?
WTF?!!?!?!?!?
Don't worry. They are already have massive surveillance in place. It won't be hard to pick out the offenders. I think we need to start looking at the RIAA under RICO statutes.
Aren't the jails already full of non-violent drug offenders???
Disgusting. How much longer before we can convince the nation to pick up some rifles and march to DC?
zosxavius photography
There is an easy way to bring about a revolution in IP laws.
Make every copyright holder enforce their IP rights through the courts for
EVERY infringement that they become aware of, otherwise their claim to that
IP is null and void.
In essense, this would force the RIAA and MPAA etc, to sue for every breach
of copyright they know about (eg. the Senators daughter, the Fortune 500 CEOs son etc)
- to the point where the general public is forced to wake up to the faults of the
system and demand change.
At the moment, these bodies can selectively sue whoever they want as a show of
strength, but by and large leave the masses alone. As a result, they pick and
choose which infringements they want to fight for to ram home the message.
A case in point - under Australian law, it is still technically illegal to make a
copy of copyright content YOU OWN. As such EVERY iPod and MP3 player in Australia
(and probably every PC and laptop) contains illegal music. But are the music companies
enforcing this ?? No. Its not in their best interests to highlight the fact that you
can't legally copy a CD that you legally bought, to your MP3 player or a backup.
Actually add 'brutal' to inneffectual and it pretty much matches up. The Tsars were TERRIBLE rulers, with a few exceptions (and all of those exceptions have 'the Great' tacked onto their names, so they're hard to miss). The only people in history to have mismanaged their countries as bad as som of the Tsars would be Chairman Mao (50 million dead from starvation for no reason other than economic mismanagement), the Hapsburg rulers of Spain (how the hell did they manage to waste all the gold they brought back from the colonies on NOTHING), the Belgian colonial governments, and that's all I've got. I mean, the current administration will likely take the cake for worst American mismanagement, but unless things get a whole lot worse (which may very well happen) they aren't yet in the league of 'Worst Ever in the History of the World.'
Whoosh!
One swallow does not a fellatrix make
....just like when the drug czar was appointed over the War On Drugs and now illegal drugs are impossible to find...
FreeBSD for the impatient.
So yes ths bill is awful. The Civil Forfeture provisions alone are foul let alone the Czar. While it may not roll things back overnight here is something simple that you can each do.
1) Find your senator/representative on the list of supporters (see below)
2) Call their office or contact them via the Senate and House websites.
3) Ask them why they voted for the bill. If their response does not convince you politely explain that this is an awful bill and one that has cost them your vote. Inform them politely that you will not vote for them or donate money to their campaigns again.
4) Repeat.
I would be shocked if any of them read this bill or have a reason for voting other than that they were in favor of good stuff. But the act of informing them that you will not support them because of it makes the point.
For those of you not in the U.S. I would recommend contacting your representatives with the message that you will not back them if they consider a stunt like this.
Now the Senators who voted in favor are here.
The house members in favor of the PRORIP act which became this are here
"because the wrong lizard might get in" is not a good enough excuse to keep repeating a mistake. voting for bush once -- hey, everyone makes a mistake, right? voting for bush twice? as they say in texas: "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice...-foo..ma...won't get fooled again."
what i'm saying is, why not try asskisser b? just for the variety?
FreeBSD for the impatient.
I've done some research and it appears that out of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, John McCain and Sarah Palin none of them bothered to vote on it.
OK... Palin's my least favorite from that list. But blaming her for not voting on that bill is more than a little unfair.
You do realize that she's neither a senator nor a representative, right?
He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
Whatever "lobbying" was being done previously, it seems to have been completely effective. Many countries have signed, without dispute, so-called "free" trade agreements which essentially codify every US-corporate-friendly dream that could be devised by the Bushites - including DMCA-ish and software patent provisions, to speak of 2 issues in the IT area. In non-IT areas, similar capitulations are even worse. Pharmaceuticals, agriculture, all get twisted into poisonous American corporatised pretzels, to pave the way for overpriced patent drugs and monstrosities such as GM products (which should be flat-out illegal anywhere). It's as if the "sovereign" countries didn't even read the agreements, let alone take heed of the public outry that always accompanies them.
It must be so easy for them, when the signatories are Bush-puppet governments such as the Howard government in Australia (thankfully rejected at last) and Harper (which malignancy we should pray is thrown out tomorrow, or at least held safely to a minority).
Let's be honest. "Globalisation" never meant anything more or less than "America buys your stuff cheap, you buy America's stuff dear". The world does not need Wal-Mart, Microsoft, McDonald's, or any other substandard, exploitative American brand. The height of absurdity is Wal-Mart selling rice to Indians. What do the Wal-Marts in China sell? Crappy plastic Chinese crap back to the Chinese? The whole concept is absurd. What is Wal-Mart even doing in Canada?
The ultimate irony is that those tilting the playing field towards the USA, and who would most vehemently deny the insuperable insult to sovereignty that these agreements represent, also claim to believe in a "free market" - the Bushites, the Reaganites, the Friedmanites, the corrupt fuckwads, the ignorant lying Sarah and Todd Palins, the criminal Cons and neo-Cons whose chickens, we hope, are coming home to roost at last. If you're wondering why you're having trouble competing - maybe it's because you're not competitive! Top example - Microsoft can't compete on merit. They have to be anti-competitive; and you betcha they love them some FTA help. Pity they got caught at it.
But perhaps as the world wises the hell up, we finally see some logic in Bush's response: More lobbying. "Bring it on", in the Texan moron's famous catchphrase: Just expect more pushback!
But we'd prefer if you'd just Bugger off.
you had me at #!
People need to think logically, and vote their hearts.
Impossible. They are usually at odds. For an example, try to fall in love with someone based on a rational argument of what positive qualities they possess. You will not succeed. You will instead fall in love with a total nutcase, nine times out of ten.
Them's the breaks. The heart does not submit to reason. Politicians know this, too. They're actors first and foremost. Each and every one.
And this means eliminating someone as a possible voting choice when they see them do something foolish.
Also impossible. It's been Red vs. Blue now for decades. Nobody thinks anymore. Politics has become a sporting match. Doesn't matter what anyone says or does - you just want your side to win.
Besides, you aren't allowed politically to pick and choose good ideas from either "side". If you're for gun control it's assumed you also think global warming is man-made. They are two entirely unrelated ideas, but the left-side claims them both, so someone from the right-side cannot claim either. They must say they are against gun control and they think global warming is nonsense.
A candidate that came along and actually spoke their mind rather than quote the party line would probably at this point make people's heads explode. They would see it as impossible. Like saying it's day and night at the same time.
In short, they have us trained. Pick a side and line up. And for God's sake don't reach any of your own conclusions. If you're on this side, your position on topic X is Y. If you're on the other side, your position on topic X must therefore be !Y.
It's hideous, really. Both major parties don't do jack for the people. Remember when everyone got all happy that the Democrats won Congress, and finally something would put a stop to W's free ride? What happened? First thing Congress did was roll over and take it up the tailpipe about warrentless wiretapping. "Oh sure, that's ok, especially since it was just this once. No problem W, carry on."
Same horseshit, different crew. Doesn't matter who gets voted in anymore. Big business lobbies to get what it wants, and both Red and Blue will bow before Green.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
In Soviet America, Russian joke become American joke.
There's also another part of the analogy. Both Bush and clowns are evil.
This act is fucking stupid, and I'm quite sure it'll see as much success as the war on drugs has. In 30 years time we'll have a TV show like "The Wire" but instead of busting the heads of dealers, they'll be busting the heads of those trading music.
Fuck your country in it's stupid braindead ass. Seriously, my closest friend is American. She's awesome. It's also quite clear a lot of American's on here are sensible, rational individuals. I know they are out there and they do exist. But the majority of your country are fucking morons who base their entire vote on Republicans being anti-abortion (which they'll never actually ban because then they can't use it to drum up votes anymore) or some other equally asinine notion! Yes, who cares what this governments does to peoples rights, foreign policy, the debt of the country, so long as we get someone in who is against women having the right to choose.
I know I'm going to get modded as a troll, and I don't fucking care. I am SICK TO DEATH OF FUCKING IDIOT AMERICANS! It wouldn't be so bad if it was any other country. Like if Canada had come up with this PRO-IP crap. Yeah, it'd suck. But it would have no bearing on anything else outside the country. But the US has to wave their fucking cock around like they own the planet, and now they're going to have this Copyright Czar, bought and paid for by the MPAA, RIAA etc... Harassing OTHER SOVEREIGN NATIONS to bring in similarly asinine and uneven laws. But of course despite appointing themselves the world police, nobody outside the godforsaken country gets to vote, because they did, Bush would have been gone four years by this point and you'd all be watching President Kerry run for a second term right now. But no, you rattle your sabres and tell other nations what they can and can't do, but the other nations don't get to stand up and have a say in anything.
America isn't a nation to aspire too. America isn't a nation to admire. All you good people there, and please don't think this is aimed at you because my close friend and you all give me hope that the country isn't completely doomed, but you are clearly not enough to do any good. Your country is nothing more than a bully paid for by corporations and special interests.
Fuck America. You need another civil war and to start again. I would gladly come and fight by your side.
Here in Brazil we have a multi party system. And by multi party I mean, once we had 22 presidential candidates. I'm pretty sure all brazilians around will remember what happened: Fernando Color de Mello for elected, and ended up "borrowing" (according to him, other words would be "confiscating", "stealing" etc) almost all the money the people had on the banks. Savings accounts, investments, you name it.
Now ? We have a president that never even finished high school. A president that, while visiting a major city in Africa, said: "This city is so clean it doesn't even feel like I'm in Africa".
Need I go any further ? Quantity is not the key here. Quality is. And guess who gets picked, by the parties, to run for president ? Candidate the party think will win. So, in a nutshell, it is us, the populace, that pick the candidates. Do you see a pattern here ?
We have a bunch of uneducated, misinformed, brainwashed people "manning" the voting process. I'm not assigning blame here, just pointing some (obvious) facts.
We have a vicious circle.
How to break it ? I have no clue.
morcego
It is time for people to learn that we had a Republican majority in the recent past for a reason. The reason is that Democrats were colossal failures at leadership too.
ok,ok, failures sure. Colossal? I don't think so. Two wars costing over a trillion, 700 billion down the tubes, what could become the largest recession in recent history, a stolen election? I'd hardly call the lagging economy and .com burst that Clinton left "colossal."
Sure Pelosi sucks and Obama is mostly media hype, but they can't be any worse, And I mean that with all seriousness. Bush did damage no rational person who isn't guided by handlers who want to profit at any price and uncriticized ideology would do. If Obama was another lame duck like Carter, he would still be 10 fold a better president then Bush.
I do know one thing it will change, the powers that be will have to at least give a reach around while they rape out country, the Dems usually get that much done.
Nominate Richard Stallman as copyright czar! Let EFF win!
... to finally emigrate to Sweden. The writing is so clearly on the wall, with both this and the Wall Street Bailout getting rammed through even an allegedly Democratic-controlled Congress. McCain is likely to be worse than Bush, and Obama isn't messianic and nowhere close to revolutionary enough to kick the money changers out of the damned temple. Kucinich would have done it, though. Hell, he's risked his career trying to drive stakes through the hearts of a couple of them (impeachment). Who else had the balls to do that?
This country is irrecoverably ruled by greed and dominated by stupidity now. We The People are too stupid to revolt again as they once did.
This is why the American Founders said, "Our worst disease is democracy." The average person on the street can't even locate the U.S. on a world map... how are they supposed to know all the intricate details about which Congressperson supports (or does not support) fair usage of artistic works?
I suspect most American voters simply pick the name that they recognize, thereby ensuring we get the same incumbent decade-after-decade, and have no clue how or what that person stands for. "Oh he has such a nice smile. He actually spoke to me! He gets my vote."
Take Obama for example. Most people are voting for him simply because "he's not Bush". Or "he sounds good". Back in 2000, that's how Bush got into office. People voted for him because he was "not Clinton" and "he sounded like he really cared about us". The American people vote these men into office, and they have no clue what they actually represent, and then they act disappointed with the results.
That's no way to choose the leader of the executive branch.
Originally the president was chosen by the State Legislatures via the electoral college. Perhaps we should return to that, because they chose better leaders (Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe) than the current method of "he who smiles most, wins the vote".
The government is not your daddy. Its purpose is not to raid middle-class neighbors' wallets and give it to you.
P.S.
"Copyright Czar" and "Drug Czar" are appropriate terms. I can not think of a title more appropriate for describing our loss of freedom than the word "czar" who terrorized Russian serfs (slaves) for centuries, or the "ceasar" that killed the Roman Republic and turned it into a virtual dictatorship. These new "czar" positions within the U.S. government represent a gradual but definite loss of republicanism, liberty, and individual sovereignty.
My downloading of Star Wars Clone Wars harmed no one. (It was trash; I saved money by Not buying it.)
My smoking of weed while watching said movie also harms no one. It only harms me, and it's my body, therefore my choice how I treat it. Besides: If we can abort babies on the grounds that a woman controls her body, then surely that same woman has a right to inhale some smoke.
The government is not your daddy. Its purpose is not to raid middle-class neighbors' wallets and give it to you.
It would be amazing if Sarah Palin voted for it, seeing as shes only a state governor and not a member of congress or the senate.
On any bill, I count the lack of a vote as a vote on the side I disagree with the most. It shows a decision to allow a 'pass' on a controversial bill with the resulting effect of allowing them to be on both sides at once. I don't like it, so I count their abstaining vote as the worst case vote unless they have a very good excuse.
Out of modpoints but really liked a post? 1BDkF6TtmmeZ3yqXbz9yhdYVqRYnwFoXDj
Back in the 70s the FBI stated that 99.8% of the US population has committed some crime that is worthy of jail time....
With this new IP Czar, the powers that be apparently wanted to nab that last .2%.
"Only one thing, is impossible for god: to find any sense in any copyright law on the planet." Mark Twain
Let's see here - a few more CD's means a few more purchases, with little effort involved. Net gain for the economy. On the other hand, paying salaries to the Copyright Cops and the Copyright Czar to bust a woman in a wheelchair and her 10 year old daughter living on a meager income with little property... equals a net loss for the economy. If a net gain is a positive number, and a net loss is a negative number, isn't a positive number always larger than a negative number?
I didn't even pull this out of my ass... It's just simple Economics 101 and Math 101 for you... In fact, in a basic Macro Economics course, you are taught about the curves that represent the amount of goods sold for a given price, the cost of making a certain number of goods, etc. I don't recall these curves taking into account pirated copies of the copyrighted goods. In fact, those should ALWAYS be ignored except for the purposes of devising a way to turn the infringers into paying customers without the political spin.
Face it, if there's no profit in publishing songs, movies, tv shows, software, or books, then why are they in the business of doing so, and why do they need increased taxpayer subsidized "protection"?
Mod him up.
It is disheartening, but it is true. As Americans we have lost our way. How much does your average American even know of the founding of the country? Of the details of the Constitution?
The majority of people are just flat out ignorant of what it is supposed to mean to be American.
The whole point behind America was to secure liberty, freedom, for everyone. You do that by protecting the minority. You do that by putting individuals before corporations.
The entire point behind our election processes was to get your voice heard. But what has happened?
The number of Representatives has been capped. It is no longer 1 for every 30-50 thousand like it should be. Now it is only 472. Always. So as populations shift and grow, the number of seats change. Some States have one seat while others have 16. Where is their say?
Or even when you are voting for President it has been changed. The runner up no longer gets any position whereas before they would become the Vice President. So in close races a large portion of the population is shunted aside and grows sullen.
Over the years we've slowly legislated away our rights and its going to take years to straighten it out.
The biggest problem to me is that lately it seems people think the Law is the Law and cannot be changed.
The biggest point to America originally was that the Law could be changed.
I sincerely hope we never see another civil war. I sincerely hope we can straighten this shit out. But without people at least trying we never will, and many people seem apathetic because they're just "one guy."
Go read over your history books to your kids. Our schools don't seem to be doing a good enough job. I know I learned more about the founding of America and the Constitution thanks to the Internet than I ever did in school.
Seems to me somebody with the proper skill- and mindset should crack an RIAA executive's home computer and stuff it with a few thousand illicit media files (preferably non-RIAA music, so they can't weasel out of it) and turn him in to the new "Czar".
No need for that complicated first step. Someone will take an RIAA exec and turn him into the new czar anyway.