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Feds Question Big Media's Piracy Claims
WrongSizeGlass writes "CNET is reporting that the GAO's study of big media's piracy claims has raised some questions. (Here are the study's summary, highlights [PDF], and full report [PDF].) 'After spending a year studying how piracy and illegal counterfeiting affects the United States, the Government Accountability Office says it still doesn't know for sure.... The GAO said that most of the published information, anecdotal evidence, and records show that piracy is a drag on the US economy, tax revenue, and in some cases potentially threatens national security and public health. But the problem is, according to the GAO, the data used to quantify piracy isn't reliable.'"
You know, despite the seemingly ultranerdy reputation of Dungeons and Dragons, there are actually quite a few un-nerdy people who play it. Skipping past a slew of big names, I think one super-cool, hyper-athletic example is enough. Vin Diesel. This guy, who plays total badasses in his movies, is actually a laid back D&D player in his spare time.
How can you effectively attack a position without a comprehensive understanding of it? If you want to say piracy is not leading to a decline in sales, then you need real numbers to back it up. For all the vitriol we throw around here on /., there is a whole lot of anecdotal posturing, but not a whole lot of solid numbers. The same goes both ways, of course, and I'm ecstatic to see the GAO investigating these claims.
Let's lay myths to rest. The truth is where we must start from, not from our foundation of biases. As long as you think that D&D is just for loser nerds, you'll never be able to understand the game and its enthusiastic audience.
apparently they werent able to fill that agency full to the brim with lobby endorsed appointees yet.
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Actually my guess is that this is how they're going to finally 'open up' about the ACTA. They need justification to pollute the airwaves/media outlets with false claims that there is no hard data on 'how bad this problem is' since we can't yet track the statistics via beurocracy, so therefore we need mechanisms like 3-strikes so that we can begin to collect info on 'how bad things really are'.
They included accidents wherein passengers had alcohol in their systems, even though the drivers were completely sober.
And regardless of which car the person who had been drinking is in.
As in: You're stopped at a red light, passenger in your back seat had a couple drinks, and some douche talking on their cell phone rear-ends you. That counts as an alcohol-related accident.
The enemies of Democracy are
Its a bit worse than that in the U.S. actually. Accidents that are commonly associated with alcohol abuse, i.e. single car accidents at night when the car goes off the road and hits a tree, are also counted as alcohol related with or without any evidence that alcohol or any substance was involved at all. If you fall asleep at the wheel hit a tree and die, that is counted as alcohol-related.
Very often, people confuse simple with simplistic. The nuance is lost on most. - Clement Mok
I'd seriously like to know. If they honestly believe piracy is hurting their business and that their data is sound, they should put it on their taxes as a business loss. The IRS will sort it out.