Slashdot Mirror
White House Cracks Down On Piracy & Counterfeiting
GovTechGuy writes "On Tuesday the White House made a show of rolling out an expansive new strategy to combat online piracy and counterfeit goods, to the delight of industry groups. The plan emphasizes targeting foreign websites that host pirated software and movies and increasing the number of investigations and prosecutions by the FBI, FTC, and Justice Department. Here is the complete plan, introduced by the new 'copyright czar,' Victoria Espinel."
Well, once again, the major parties fail to work for the benefit of the people, and focus instead on the interests of large corporations. No surprises there I guess.
Palm trees and 8
The biggest counterfeiter of them all is the Federal Reserve. This is why you don't have frauds enforce fraud laws.
I agree with General McChrystal on this one.
Yay for CHANGE!!! ...oh wait...
Well, what did we really expect when the Copyright Czar position was created?
Reviewing just the first hour of video games.
in a handbasket.
expandfairuse.org
And this is what happens when the US no longer has any manufacturing and produces very little real, tangible, goods or services. Between executives and shareholders wringing every last penny of quarterly profit at the expense of long-term goals, regulations and unions forcing unsustainable operating expenses, and skyrocketing education costs paired with plummeting education quality, long-term viability of the US business sector is caving.
The only thing the US has left that is of value on the global market is "intellectual property". This means regardless of whether you vote Republican or Democrat, you will get politicians that support crackdowns on piracy and extension of copyright protections.
I'm out of my mind right now, but feel free to leave a message.....
With a scimitar! Whilst wearing an eye patch and using an Irish accent. Yaaahrrrrr me maties!
Let's keep on expanding the "ease of use" for anonymous p2p networks.
p2p is the ENTIRE future of our progress as humanity.
Governments/Corporations (and Government, Inc.orporations) have no idea what will happen when nanoscale-printers arrive, USB Plug&Play Ready.
Think about pirating processors... monitors... wireless antenna designs... turbochargers... medicines... perfumes... textiles... Rolex watches... solar panels... more nano-printers.
The future belongs to us.
Let's work on the p2p networks.
=)
the plan is for the US to try to use US laws on foreign/non-US people and websites until they conform to US laws... *grabs popcorn* well this might be fun to watch.
Attention... all grammer nazi"s! Is they're anything; wrong with: my post,
People rather pirate your products because the new mediums changed the value of your product and no one wants to pay $20 for a file when it costs $20 for hard good version of your product. Price it accordingly and people will come back.
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
We could make like China and firewall those sites.
china with it's lack worker safety / rules did that. Apple with is prices should be makeing there phones and pc's in the usa.
Seems to make sense as we become more third world like Venezuela.. With its phony bureaucratic generals and their shiny medallions.. What a horrible sight... We are entering into truly dark ages
...considering who we have as a Vice President and who his friends are:
Biden to MPAA: you'll like Obama's pick for copyright czar
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/04/biden-to-mpaa-youll-like-obamas-copyright-pick.ars
I have a warning to you, we're committed to putting you out of business
I have a warning to you. We're committed to putting you out of business. Not you in person - your friends in the music and film industries. They are relying on broken, decaying business models, and no matter how much you try, you can't save them.
The other thing is that analogy is more true when the _price_ of the hard good is $20 and the customer-assessed value is $5 for the hard good... how much less the value of the soft good thereafter?
I just bought, and throughly enjoyed "Alan Wake" for the Xbox 360. I would have paid virtually the same price for a non-disk (download a la Steam etc) version if it would have (a) been available, and (b) been warenteed to be available for a period similar to the existence of the DVD.
For a title I value, "no physical media" is a feature, not a bug, provided the no-physical-media version is as complete as the physical media.
I don't buy MP3s, I would buy FLACs.
That said, I wouldn't really buy most of the current "content" offered for sale in most cases because, given the wide array of choices, most of what is available is crap. Unfortunately for the **AA crap merchants, they are no longer the only crap in town.
The price point for "crap", wired into the human brain, is "free".
Innocent people shouldn't be forced to pay for inferior software development.
--"Code Complete" Microsoft Press
Lets say they completely win this one and no one can ever hear/see media without paying full price per person per view for "their" content. Copyleft will become huge! Most importantly, pirated Windows will be eradicated and those unable to buy the full version will be forced into Free software. Further, this will strengthen non-MAFIAA market for music & movies & games.
All & all, I'm indifferent for good reason.
Science & open-source build trust from peer review. Learn systems you can trust.
but I did read the analysis of the plan on Ars (link) and their conclusions are far more favorable to consumers and less favorable to industry groups than the Slashdot summary suggests.
You said,
If the government was acting in OUR interest, it would force places like Walmart to accept returns of CDs and DVDs.
The government is acting in your best interests. More specifically it is acting to protect the children against dangerous counterfeit goods. According too our Copyright Czar,
U.S. Customs officials have seized several shipments of counterfeit toothpaste containing a dangerous amount of diethylene glycol, a chemical used in brake fluid, and that in sufficient doses is believed to cause kidney failure.
Children unfortunately use toothpaste. The United States of America is a law abiding country, so we need to protect people from criminals who commit illegal acts. It is your patriotic duty to uphold the laws of the United States of America. If you don't like the laws, or think they are too strict, then you can always vote in a Republican President during the next election.
For every one of those CD's that you sample without paying for, there are millions of dollars of money and spin off jobs that the RIAA, its lawyers, accountants, lobbyists, bookkeepers, musicians, officer cleaners, etc and so on lose, just because you wouldn't pay for a CD that you didn't like but decided to listen to anyways. All of this money could be used to pay taxes to pay for more robust Internet filters at schools and in libraries. Think about it. Your behavior is directly hurting children!
So this is how liberty dies... with thunderous applause.
The real Sig captains the Northwestern. This one captains
I didn't feel like reading the government's plan, partly out of laziness and partly due to not wanting to get even more pissed off about the current state of US Copyright law. I expected the worst from reading the /. summary, but Techdirt's writeup has appeased those fears -- at least for now.
"In prison you just have to shut your eyes and take it. Here you have to shut your eyes and give it."
We laught wen corporations waste butloads of money on stupid DRM schemes that never work and are cracked in hours, so only punish the people that pay for the gods.
Imagine this again, but the money wasted is from your taxes, and the people that is punished is everyone that lives inside USA.
Fun!.
NOT!. People. Stop this, please. ACT NOW!.
-Woof woof woof!
While I think it is unfortunate that they have legitimized the phrase "intellectual property", it's actually a bit of a relief to see them focusing on piracy and counterfeit goods. I never had any expectation that any major official entity subject to political forces would act to weaken copyright or other "intellectual property" rules, since most commercial content creators want the maximum possible revenue from their work (regardless of broader social consequences to society and creativity). The general mindset is that creativity is fueled by the profit motive, so the more profit the more progress we will see in the arts and sciences. And while this is demonstrably NOT universally true (see open source, as just one example of many) it IS true that vast revenues are generated by copyright laws supporting commercial endeavors and the resources contributed by people so benefiting are of much more use to political campaigns than those who are creating for motivations OTHER than money.
Given that reality, Creative Commons and Open Source style licensing are probably the only practical means of preserving any of the benefits of what used to be the public domain going forward. With the courts suggesting that Congress can yank things OUT of the public domain even after they are placed there, it becomes clear that the best way forward is the "opt-in" community approach. This means, of course, that the body of work available for creative purposes outside of a commercial framework will be drastically reduced. However, the current social and legislative trends suggest that it's all we can hope for. Given that reality, those who prefer this environment can work to improve the tools and content so released in order to build up our own "subculture" over time. If it appeals to enough people, it may eventually function more or less independently of the commercial world without needing commercial content to fall into the public domain (indeed, in some sense this has been the practical situation for virtually the entire lifespan of everyone on this site anyway - how many of us remember any work released commercially in our lifetime that is now public domain?)
However, even this proposed subculture can exist only if it is not thwarted by legislative efforts. So long as works CAN be used without commercial payment, free and open source culture can survive as long as there are people willing to make it survive. My greatest concern is that Big Content will try to push for laws making ANY content available without charge subject to "unfair competition" rules - i.e. make it impossible for anyone to do ANYTHING with ANY content, regardless of license, without some form of concrete financial or goods based payment changing hands between creator and user. This might be phrased as the "Fair Compensation Act" intended to "ensure that content creators are compensated for their efforts" and "able to make a living". Free ANYTHING may be branded as "socialist", "communist", "anti-business" and "un-American". I have heard this feeling expressed - that nothing should be free; every product of any kind should be bought and sold in the open market to ensure fair compensation from users to creators. The existence of ANY free content is unfair competition and a dis-incentive to today's creative minds. Open source software prompts this opinion occasionally - for example, the "market destroying effects" of things like free compilers has ruined the livelihoods of people who might have made commercial tools. If that attitude ever makes it into the letter of the law, we are in Big Trouble - THAT is what we really need to watch for.
"I object to doing things that computers can do." -- Olin Shivers, lispers.org
"God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion..." --Thomas Jefferson to William S. Smith, 1787. ME 6:372
Did anyone expect anything different from EITHER political party? Was there a major candidate (or for that matter ANY candidate) advocating weaker enforcement and weaker copyright laws?
Also, given the world situation and US situation at the current time, the cold truth is that on a grand economic scale it probably IS better financially for the US if strict copyright and IP rules are globally enforced. Lord knows there is precious little other than that that could induce anyone to send money the US's way - we're hell bent on getting actual goods production overseas.
Ok, prepare for some really draconic cracking-down, which will inevitably include some false positives that will ruin some people's lives, and as hollywood continues to lose money, (because their business plan is no longer valid) things will become more and more draconian, until the only revenue stream that's keeping the traditional studios alive will be from litigation or government relief. I can hardly wait.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Our major exports seem to be food and IP.
Blar.
According to Ars, reaction to the report has been positive, even from Public Knowledge. You know, one a-them digital hippy organizations that campaign for peoples' rights. There won't be any gov't-sanctioned three-strikes or Internet filtering, and they're going to get the Department of Commerce to put together an ultimate report on financial harm from piracy (good luck with that, but A for effort since they mentioned that the media industries are basically making shit up). It really doesn't sound all that bad, and it could have been much worse.
And then we have this Slashdot summary, making it out to be all doom and gloom, as though the feds weren't even going to try to hide that they're in bed with Big Content. As the subject line says, am I missing something here?
That Anonymous Coward guy is pretty annoying. Can we have the government censor him or something?
Sure, let's keep putting our tax dollars to work saving the salaries of movie executives. It's not like we're backsliding in education, science programs, and health services right?
"Were you forced into buying the product?" Yes, in order to succeed in the class, I was required to buy the selected textbook. And no, not last year's used edition, the brand new edition with at a premium. That's as closed to "forced to buy the product" as I can think of short of a gun barrel in my mouth.
are not the ones we can count on to go after their own lackeys. Why should they accord us any respect when we are dumb enough to keep putting them back in power? There are far too many useful idiots at hand.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
"The examples are almost endless: counterfeit car parts, illegal software, pirated video games, knockoff consumer goods, dangerous counterfeit medicines, and many other types of products - including very sophisticated technology," according to the website's rather bleek outline of what they intend to do. In a forest beware of wolfs, bears, kittens, puppies, mountain cats, and wild dogs. Seriously, I understand some of what they're going to do.. and I'm pretty sure a lot less enforcement and emphasis will go towards people that pirate Wii games for personal entertainment. The whole thing strikes me as something they'd go after distribution rather than the buyers or takers of the goods. "Pirated video games" strike me as the dumbest part of that items in a series. This might be more of a "Fuck you, Wal-Mart, for trying to import cheaper drugs in a pilot program for your stores" or a "Don't buy cheaper Canadian drugs"... American creativity is nothing more than taking your shit and putting a stylized swoosh logo on it... hell, it's not even our dung anymore, we have to outsource it. This is nothing more than a cheap, low balled, corporate funded attempt to surpress the issue of rising costs for a lot of these goods that are now being counterfeited cheaply rather than actually strike at the greed and the issue of why drugs are counterfeited in the first place... (low level greed, despiration to have better heath, better living).. Obama administration turned Change into an aimless, money spending waste of time.
Take this story in the context of the Slashdot story earlier today. There are an increasing number of web sites operating outside of the US that are illegally selling products that they don't own. If there is one thing that we should ALL be able to agree upon is that organized crime for profit is not defensible.
The companies selling downloads of movies/etc are directly stealing money from US companies as well as the artistic community that creates them. Say what you will about the MPAA/etc, but at least they are contributing something (i.e. they are actually creating and distributing the movies). Companies that just steal their content and resell it to people are just plain stealing.
Going after organized villainy is a GOOD use of taxpayer resources. We should be supporting these sorts of efforts and contrasting them with the the music industry's war on consumers.
Evolution: love it or leave it
It's easy to see the allure of the Utopian view Star Trek gave each of us once with the introduction of replicators and the notion of "bulk matter" being converted into consumable goods. I certainly understand where you're coming from, and I agree to an extent.
There's just one problem: It will never work. No, really, it won't.
Think about it: Do you honestly think that thousands of companies across a multitude of industries are going to allow the average consumer to simply download a blueprint for something and "print" it out on their 3D printer (or nanoscale as you called it)? Of course not. Assuming such devices were to become affordable, it would represent a risk to the very core of their business. I can see this both ways; on the one hand, if I were producing a good, I'd want to be in control of the end product. Think about the control Apple has over its devices (and how vehement Slashdotters tend to defend Apple's rather closed nature with regards to hardware and the like)! I can't really blame them, because once the production line is out of your control you no longer have control over the end product's quality. Even assuming a perfect replication of a particular product, there'd still be issues with the operator (i.e. "end user") following the instructions carefully, putting together the device carefully, and so on. Hell, I remember doing technical support once upon a time and let me tell you--if something can go wrong, it will. Does the device have to be plugged in? Uh oh! There's another call to the service center claiming it's "not working."
On the other hand, our economic system relies exclusively on the economics of scarcity. What would happen should we be able to replicate common goods on the cheap--or, fancifully speaking--replicate just about anything from "bulk matter?" Chaos.
The problem is that we would need to undergo a significant change in the way we think and feel about resources and resource allocation, and I'm not so sure that would be successful.
Assuming some sort of 3D printing devices could be used to build just about anything (I'm aware William Shatner used one to recreate a part for a restoration project of an old vehicle which was then used by a machinist as a prototype to create the actual part to install), I suspect that it would a) be so expensive as to be unaffordable by the average user, b) "subscription" fees might be charged for users to upload their designs to a company which would then produce or print the part, and/or c) require payment of licensing fees to the companies that created the original product you're attempting to duplicate. Since such technology is unlikely to be made inexpensively, it takes little imagination to see where this leads.
I appreciate your optimism, though.
He who has no
Where are the teabaggers? They spent most of the last year claiming that Obama creating "czars" was proof that he was a card-carrying Communist.
Oh wait, the RNC and friends aren't *paying* for teabagger protests on this issue - that's cleared it up.
Hollywood says: "SUCKERS!"
That is not just wrong, it is the opposite of right. Not only does the US still manufacture goods, it has the #1 output of manufactured goods in the entire world. Yes, that's right, more than China even. That is on track to change, the way things are going China will be #1 by around 2020, but because of their growth, but because the US isn't making things. The US is manufacturing more than it has at nearly any other time (the recession has caused a drop, but pre-recession was highest levels ever).
You are just choosing to see things selectively. If you don't know what it is that the US makes, well that is your failing, not a failing of the US economy. There are some mundane things, like steel girders or sewer lids. There are some high tech things like computer processors (most of Intel's fabs are in the US) and DSPs. There are some industrial things like locomotives and heavy construction machinery. There are some specialized things like MRI scanners and nuclear reactors. There are some unexpected things like Toyota cars (Toyota has many US factories).
Doesn't matter, all over the board the US produces a whole lot of stuff. So please, educate yourself before spouting off. This "The US makes nothing but imaginary goods!" thing is tired and incorrect.
If all piracy was done away with, think of all the open source attention. No youth will shell out $200 for Photoshop.
the candidate who used the Pravda rhetoric would go after the Pravda standards of censorship and control, disguised as copyright or whatever else is supposed to benefit "public good" (without asking the actual public)?
For everyone of us from the former Eastern Block, his speeches sounded all too familiar -- "everything for everyone, at the expense of the greedy capitalists". What comes after -- aggregation of power and then moving against free public information exchange -- is also familiar. Been there, done that, got the fscking mandatory Pravda subscription. To know what it feels like, go read the NYT take on the TFA, or listen to MSNBS.
....that the reason America made (past tense) great movies was because of it's culture. America had true heros and the free and competitive nature of American life, both at home and abroad, was the basis for it's revenue and productive success. There was such a thing as an American hero, and Americans enriched the lives of those outside of its boundaries. America helped rebuild Europe and Japan, and was a key figure in preventing the spread of communism, or otherwise promoting the free market system. Spy stories, WWII stories, stories about the future and technology are some of my favourites. However, nowadays, America produces what besides the film industry/ recording industry? Sure they design iPods, but if there is nobody getting wages paid for them in America, all of the dollars are eventually going overseas. So now, what does it do? America needs vast reform, both in energy (re: wasted resources allocation to fund big multinationals), and in industry too. So instead of producing a movie about the positive and interesting work America has done, The Hurt Locker (which maybe accurately represents modern American life) won some awards which was good for the American side of things, while completely leaving out how others felt (Avatar), which showed an alternative side as to how minerals (re oil) were being used in a conflict against indigenous people's.) Perhaps the US should stick to writing films about well...producing movies and the copyright struggle in America. It would be true, and that is what I feel lacks from most of the movies today: they are based on odd tales. I am sure if they presented a balanced view, in a movie about America (which was successful in the past), even I might start going to the theatres again, and people might start to begin to see what is wrong with America today.
Society use your Sciences
Golly gee! This law being passed is going to screw EVERYTHING up for me!
Or not. I'll keep doing what I've done in the past - if I want to hear something, I'll listen to it on the radio or do without. Most of the movies coming out these days? I wouldn't spend money on those either.
Let's hope that they keep spending their money on bribes^H^H^H^H^H^Hcampaign contributions, and eventually go broke. Fuck 'em.
Just tune an analog FM radio to an empty frequency, and turn up the volume. There's free white noise. Adjust volume & tone to suit.
Willie...
I'm of the mindset that the media industry at large is hurting not so much because of piracy but because of quality and the inability to adapt. Me? I used to by CDs whenever I'd hunt for music. Now, I just purchase it from Amazon if it's available; if not, I do without. (Before anyone whines about lossy codecs, I might remind you that this is simply an anecdote; I honestly can't tell the difference between FLAC and MP3 for the majority of what I own except in very rare circumstances. If you can tell the difference, by all means purchase something you can encode in the format you desire.) I don't watch a lot of movies anymore, and the most recent thing I watched was an old series I enjoyed that Hulu happened to have.
So, it's great that they have the average consumer in mind.
But, I feel Ars missed something of value in this statement by Espinel (a copyright Czar? seriously? we have an entire legal framework put in place to enforce copyright, and we now need a copyright Czar to watch over all of this?):
(Original emphasis is not mine.)
Read that quote. Got it?
Now, I want you to read it again--carefully this time. Specifically, minus the distracting bits:
Emphasis mine.
I don't know about you, but that sounds a lot like a subtle (or maybe not to subtle) hint to industry that it needs to start cracking down on illicit behavior. Specifically, I'm talking about deep packet inspection. More importantly, her words imply to me that even Google would need to filter its results for potentially illegal download links.
But wait, there's more!
Judging by the reaction of Public Knowledge, I suspect that all such "circumvention devices" are indeed software applications that might help pull content off otherwise DRM-protected discs. Really, this statement better reads as "We're going to let the RIAA and MPAA look at all of this stuff and tell us whether it violates the DMCA. If it does, then we'll punish the authors."
To me, though, the most comical bit was this:
Oh really? We have all these fanciful ideas and if any one of those evil pirates overseas is in an area where we can't enforce our IP laws, we're screwed!
So tell me, aside from the little blurb about online pharmacies (which I do think ought to be shut down, but that's another rant entirely mainly because I suspect they pay for a vast majority of spam delivery), what part of this sounds as if it's not simply a thinly veiled attempt at selling ISP-level packet filtering?
He who has no
Go ahead mod me troll, but read first.
Everytime infringement comes up, the zealots come out about copyright and patent infringement. The short tail of the problem.
Let me ask you this, would you want to live in a world where everyone can sell "pain killers" and have it be anything from calcium carbonate to asbestos? That's what Patents and Trademarks protect you from, at least when applied correctly.
That pain killer you get from China, likely nothing more than calcium carbonate. But you knew that when your pet died didn't you from buying cheap pet food that contained melamine?
Get it right.
Keeping DANGEROUS products out of the US, Canada, Mexico is a good thing. That keeps the cross-boarder bargain-shopping-idiots from buying the "cheap stuff" and bringing it back and then selling it to the locals and having none of the responsibility when they get sick or die.
Counterfeit clothing? Maybe it contains lead, mercury... or is made entirely of plastic like PVC or BPA.
When it comes to software and entertainment (games/movies/music), it's a small drop in the barrel that the MPAA/RIAA/BSA/ESA/etc that is being counterfeited, but they are being copied domestically in foreign countries without anyone making a dime, that's why the *AA companies want these laws, to prevent the re-import of the counterfeits.
And if you think the average person isn't stupid. Go try and buy "Kim Possible" on DVD. Disney doesn't make it available, the pirates do. Can you see why people PAY MONEY for pirated copies? When Americans see that they can buy a TV series online that isn't available locally, they'll buy it (if they haven't already pirated off the net) and justify it as saying "Well it's legal in X country"
And before you say nobody does that. That's the excuse used by every single South-east-asia country to sell pirated material. "It's legal here"
Meet the new Boss. Same as the old Boss
President Obama's approval rating drops to a record low of 0%. Film at eleven.
The general mindset is that creativity is fueled by the profit motive, so the more profit the more progress we will see in the arts and sciences. And while this is demonstrably NOT universally true...
Ingenuity motivates creativity. Greed motivates profit.
I tried to warn you liberal clowns that Hussein Obama was not the "white knight" you idiots thought he was. He is about CONTROL. Control over every aspect of you life. What you can eat, where you can work, go to school, what you can read, watch, hear and download. The government will not be happy until we have our "new world order", but, for that to happen, they have to completely destroy the U.S. economy, the constitution, and demoralize the people. Haven't you idiots ever heard of a dictator that didn't promise the world, then after he is in complete power, turn on the very people who put him there?
The Gov't won't be able to match the creative methods of free exchange that will develop as a result of their tinkering. The harder they squeeze, the more people will resist. They can't monitor everyone at all times. You have the control - you who digs deeper than most.
"I am a Snowflake, and though I am only one, I am one."
In Soviet Russia, road forks you!
There are NO czar positions, idiot.
The Czar term was MEDIA CREATED and the actual job titles are long and more descriptive things that sound too complex for American consumers to comprehend.
You're saying that a child's economic situation should control their access to higher education.
Personally, I grew up in the U.S. in a single parent family with four children and a household income below the poverty line. I had OK grades, good scores on national tests, and was the first person in the history of my high school to get a letter of commendation from the National Merit Scholarship folks (http://www.nationalmerit.org/). So, I was above average scholastically, but didn't qualify for any scholarships.
I wouldn't have gone to college without the loan program and might not today be pulling in six figures a year.
As far as loan defaults, I unfortunately know of multiple people who tried not to pay back their student loans -- not because they couldn't afford to, but because they simply didn't like the price.
I've never seen any evidence that undergraduate college costs are related to loan/grant/scholarship subsidies... Citation?
The loan program allows a student to choose to invest in their future. Getting rid of the loan program without replacing it with another mechanism would be a step backwards.
A Gray Rolls Royce pulls into the drive through lane of a McDonalds.
Customer: Can I please get a Big Mac and a Coke
Attendant: Yes Sir, we have 42 employees on duty at the moment, that will prepare your order with the utmost care and reverence, so that it arrives to you
hot and perfect in every way. That will be $ 596,042.85 , please pull forward.
Are they finally cracking down on the Federal Reserve's printing of all this phony money?
I've never seen any evidence that undergraduate college costs are related to loan/grant/scholarship subsidies... Citation?
When hasn't the price of something been related to the availability of the capital needed to purchase it? Just look at the crash in oil prices when all those speculators lost their shirts on the stock market crash and could no longer afford to trade oil futures. You can also look at the housing bubble - lots of cheap credit means inflated prices. If you think that somehow colleges are immune to the laws of supply and demand I'm going to have to ask you for a citation on that.
That said, I really don't have a problem with providing better access for exceptional students of any background to college. Perhaps the solution is to just cap tuition for programs eligible for financial aid - for example don't allow a college to receive financial aid if it has a full time BS/BA degree program that costs more than $40k for tuition, fees, and books (TOTAL - not per year), and at least 90% of all students admitted should cost that amount or less (so no having teaser rates and then stringing people along for six years or whatever). That will create significant pressure for colleges to contain costs.
The problem is that we increase the amount of federal aid since college is unaffordable. Then colleges raise tuition, and then we raise aid, and so on. If we stopped raising aid, then nobody would attend college, and colleges would QUICKLY drop their tuitions.
I completely agree with what you are saying, but as always, wanted to see the report with my own eyes. If you read the report it mentions a Special 301 process. This is actually compiled by the IIPA (International Intellectual Property Alliance - http://www.iipa.com/aboutiipa.html) whose member include "the Association of American Publishers (AAP), the Business Software Alliance (BSA), the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA), the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)". I suppose enough money buys you reports such as these with the presidential seal on them.
It is unsurprising that the least creative people in the world would think that creativity is fuelled by profits.
Creativity happens. People connect the dots, for better or for worse. Some ideas win and prevail, some lose and fall into the realm of obscurity.
This has happened since the dawn of modern man. Before there was currency, before there was any metric, before there was anything.
Inventive and creative people will continue to do what they do, creating new possibilities, to the detriment of those who have built empires on top of sand, eventually relegating them to the depths of irrelevance unless they adapt to new ways of doing things.
You can not legislate against technological advancement any more than you can un-invent the atom bomb.
The genie can not be put back in the bottle.
captcha: illusion
So you look at a small, highly biased, sample and conclude this means the US doesn't manufacture stuff? That is not a valid method. Instead do some research and you'll find I'm right.
However, even talking stuff just around your home, look around and I bet you find things made all over. I've got plenty of stuff made in China, like most people, but it doesn't take long to find things made elsewhere. My TV was made in Mexico, my AV Receiver in Japan, my speakers in the US.
Of course something else you run in to with complex devices is that where the device is made doesn't necessarily tell the whole story. They are made of many parts, and it is labeled only for where the final unit was assembled. This is one of the reasons you see China crop up a lot, is they do assembly of many things. Parts are shipped over, finished units are shipped back. However those parts were still manufactured items.
Let's take your computer, as a simple example, we won't even break it down as much as we could. So say you have a Dell computer. If it was made recently, and bought in America, it was probably made in Mexico. Ok fine, but then crack open the case. That Core i5 CPU was not made in Mexico, or China. It was made in Oregon, currently Intel's only 32nm fab (thought hey are upgrading others). If you look at it though, it probably says Costa Rica. The reason is that chips aren't packaged at the fabs, rather the wafers are shipped to packing plants for testing and placement in the final package. Costa Rica is a common one for US produced and marketed chips. Then we move on to your harddrive, let's say it's a Western Digital. That was made in Malaysia. Your graphics card? I don't know where they do the boards and assembly for those, but the chips for all modern ATi and nVidia cards come from TSMC, in Taiwan. Your motherboard is Intel so made under contract by Foxconn, in China. However the chips on it are not. The northbridge and southbrdige are made by Intel, most likely in Israel. Your power supply, probably made by CWT in China, but inside you find that the capacitors and such are made in Japan by firms like Panasonic and Nichon.
So where was your computer made? The answer is all over the world. Parts came from a lot of companies, a lot of different places, and went together to make the system. That is was assembled in Mexico, or elsewhere isn't all that relevant.
Finally, in terms of a number of goods, you'll find that you can get them made in the USA, or Europe, or Japan or the like if you just pay more. China offers cheap assembly, so many products are made there cheaply. Higher quality goods may not be. Take Denon receivers for example. Denon is a Japanese company (part of D&M Holdings). However buy any of their cheaper stuff and final assembly is in China hence "Made in China." However, buy their 4310 or better and you find it is now made in Japan. Pay for the high quality stuff, you get higher quality factories. Just don't cry that it costs more.
Piracy is IDF paramilitary terrorists raiding aid convoys bringing food and medicine to Gaza. When are the denizens of the Whitehouse going to crack down on that?
"Change" was just meaning going back from the Bushian middle-age back to the 20th century. There is still the need for a president that will bring US to the 21st...
The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
I don't understand why everyone is worried about the 'creative' industries while there is a much bigger (and imo more sinister) beneficiary of strong IP law, namely the biotech industry.
That's right, they need strong IP laws to make sure you don't copy their stuff without paying them.
Thank god this industry doesn't do crazy stuff, like patenting human genes.
Wait, that's not true:
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100330/full/news.2010.160.html
While the patent was rejected in the US, the EU is willing to pay for it.
One only needs to point to the BP disaster for a demonstration of the attitude of companies these days. If you can do it and not get arrested then it is right. The only difference between the oil industry and pirates is that the oil industry has the resources to bend the law to be favorable to them. I think it has become indisputable that 'legitimate corporations' will do anything they can to make a lot of bucks.
And so, I'm sorry but until I see a difference of attitude in private enterprise, until they stand up to the qualities that they profess law or not, I will continue to applaud those 'pirates' who use their resourcefulness to provide a product in a better way and profit from it. For they will never hurt me as much as BP has. They will never kill as many livelihoods as BP has. Add to that the whole wall-street fiasco.
I'm tired of hearing about the law, because corporate law has become a washed out, bought out joke that only helps profits of the powerful.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
It is more and more apparent, that President Obama and his Administration, with his "Hope and Change" machinations are really "More of the Same, and Much Much Worse!" (TM)
With a little bit more of an expanded view, however, it is really Democrats and Republicans that are "More of the Same, and Much Much Worse!"
Both of the two major parties need a severe wake-up call, namely, less and less of them should be voted into office to the point where it starts messing with their power base, campaign financing and the like. That's really the only thing that will get their attention and start governing "...for the people..." and not "... for the multi-national corporations that give me nice fat campaign donation checks".
See the movie "Flash of Genius". In this film, an American invents something useful, patents it, and is then ripped off by a big company. He sues and wins his case. It's about as close as you're going to come to what you asked for.
I think copyright law is too complex an issue for a movie unless you dumb it down to "good guy versus bad guy" (which is kind of how Avatar played out).
A better idea is to develop a sitcom about an average american family that has to deal with the struggles of the insane laws we face in this country. Like M*A*S*H, the best way to make a statement is through humor, and it will get people to think, kind of like the Daily Show. Now that "Law and Order" has been canceled, we need a show that is "ripped from today's headlines", and a sitcom using real issues our country faces hasn't been done since "All in the Family", which is constantly cited as one of the greatest TV productions of all time.
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
According to the article and similar I've seen repeated by the BSA and RIAA/MPAA themselves..
"The national strategy, the first of its kind, will defend America's intellectual property by cracking down on the counterfeiting and piracy that are killing jobs, harming consumers, and stunting our economic recovery."
We all know that 200 movies I've downloaded cost the MPAA $10000 in sales and movie tickets. Unfortunately, I don't have $10000 extra in my bank account and never had the $10000 upfront to buy those movies. I paid for community college tuition this year and bought a used car with the rest. Where is the actual loss to the overall economy because I downloaded 200 movies? I've spent every penny I've earned, there was NO loss to the economy at all. Why are my tax dollars being spent protecting a few companies profits under these obviously made up and completely bogus figures? If someone steals my car stereo, the local police tell me tough shit and that there is about a 0.1% chance I'll recover that loss. Why is the federal government not helping me?
I see nothing criminal in the fact that a store isn't obligated to accept returns on things that are neither faulty nor were sold under fraudulent terms
A lot of products are defective by design, but stores still take returns for exchange only.
Are you sure this noise isn't copyrighted to the World Cup/FIFA?
Joe has been fellating Mickey Mouse in his senate committee for several years. Just one of the many reasons people shouldn't have voted for a Democrat or Republican. It was personally rewarding for me to see magical Obama fall from grace in the eyes of all those emotional voters. You would think telecom immunity was a big enough hint.
It's quite well-known on slashdot that it is wrongfully assumed that 1 download = 1 lost sale. The government and companies are thinking something like "our profits will be incredible once we make people start paying for these downloads"; however, what will be the more likely case is that people will turn to free or free and open-source software. People like free, no copyright inquisition will get rid of this. When free software is also high-quality software, people don't see a reason to pay huge money for no reason. Below is probably some of the most stolen software, and some high-quality alternatives (some inspiration obtained from "most pirated" lists). Also take note that if you haven't used any of these free alternatives, you should definitely be taking notes and downloading:
Windows: IF it weren't bundled with computers, and people had to pay, then most people would definitely be happy with some of the simple linux builds (especially with builds like ubuntu and its easy-installation/configuration features). After a significant leap in market share, the linux catch-22 might be broken in this case.
MS Office: OpenOffice.org is already a great suite that feels natural to the MS office crowd.
Adobe Acrobat: though it's just a PDF printer (not an editor), PDFcreator is an excellent free alternative.
Adobe PhotoShop: GIMP is more than adequate for most end-users (professionals and serious amateurs will still opt to buy Photoshop for obvious reasons).
{various optical media softare}: ImgBurn is free and powerful. Sure, it might take time to figure out, but it is similar to Nero in the non-idiot mode. For non-data applications, various freeware DVD authoring programs exist out there (and are easy to find).
Ipswitch WS_FTP: Filezilla is an amazing FTP client, period. Also, if anyone else has any personal recommendations, please do post; I'm always looking for good, free software.
For how long is everyone else hobbled? Yes, your daddy made money from starting rockabilly. And those nasty foreigners are making money now. But how long do you pay your sound engineers who helped make that recording?
Oh, that's right. Just the once. Then their creative help is worthless, YOU must make all the money.
At what point is 90% of the money made from 90% of the works? THAT is where copyright should end.
Extending the copyright length by twice doesn't give you 180% of the money, but it DOES cause 200% of the problems for EVERYONE ELSE.
"they" DO NOT "rake in far more money for the school", the program(s) do. The programs involve a plethora of individuals contributing to the success/failure of those programs.
Get real and evaluate the disparity between the rock-star coaches and their second tier support folks (you know, the ones who do most of the actual WORK!). Its so ridiculous its laughable.
This country, for some unknown reason, has devolved into a bunch of idol worshipers. Until this country gets its head out of its ass thinking that individual rock stars, or CEOs, or coaches, or , are worth these ridiculously disparate salaries, we're all doomed to this fate.
No one person, regardless of skill level, can ever possibly contribute (or be worth) 1000 times more than any other one (similarly educated) person. Try to tell me I'm wrong.
Opinion:=TMyOpinion.Create(Me);
I'm little confused after reading Espinel's brief introduction at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/intellectualproperty/ipec/. How is a poisonous "counterfeit" toothpaste related to intellectual properties when supposed "counterfeit" toothpaste isn't actually violating IP since it's using poison and not the same product as the authentic one. And how is this example pertinent to IP issue? Shouldn't this fall under customs and product safety, or FDA??? It's somewhat irksome to think a head IP person in the US is actually using this type of analogy as a rationale for IP protection. It feels like US is gradually turning into a protectionist country, locking down on old innovation to protect its IP rights against the global thugs. This is going to look ugly, with US looking like an old wrinkly lady trying to protect her own turf at any cost instead of encouraging collaboration and partnerships... I think the assumed enemy of IPs is China here...
with the vocal approval and lion's share of contributions from executives like Sumner Redstone going to Republicans for the two prior presidential elections.
And even Rush Limbaugh said a few years ago that Conservatives had attained control of the mass media. IMO, it really shows.
I'll also point out that coverage of massive anti-war demonstrations was vanishingly small before (and even after) the date when the Bush admin invaded Iraq. But now they can't get enough of those palid ;) wrinkled little darlings known as teabaggers with their relatively small demonstrations.
Because it runs against even what one is likely to read in business journals.
Recently I heard an analyst say we are #2 in terms of dollars for manufactured goods, but that doesn't mean the same thing as market share.
Also, if your assessment relies on comparing us to EU member states individually instead of the EU as one market (as I suspect you are), then you're just way way off.
USA + British Isles. On those terms, there is practically no other culture in the world outside what US corporations control.
Other cultures have no dollar value!!!
"targeting foreign websites"
Good luck with that.