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MPAA Chief Dodd Hints At Talks To Revive SOPA

Posted by samzenpus on from the they're-back dept.

suraj.sun writes "Christopher Dodd, the former Connecticut senator who now leads the MPAA, hasn't given up on his dream of censoring the Internet. In an interview with Hollywood Reporter, he said that Hollywood and the technology industry 'need to come to an understanding' about new copyright legislation. Dodd said that there were 'conversations going on now,' about SOPA-style legislation, but that he was 'not going to go into more detail because obviously if I do, it becomes counterproductive.' Asked whether the White House's decision to oppose SOPA had created tensions with Hollywood, Dodd insisted that he was 'not going to revisit the events of last winter,' but said he hoped the president would use his 'good relationships' with both Hollywood and the technology industry to broker a deal."

40 of 279 comments (clear)

  1. LOL! American Freedom! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    LOL! American Freedom!

    1. Re:LOL! American Freedom! by cpu6502 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      There's a reason out of thousands of innate natural rights, the Founding Fathers decided to include guns as one of the top 10. No not for hunting. For self-defense. Both of yourself and your fellow compatriots.

      We haven't hit that stage yet, but we're getting very very close. If they start rounding-up Americans and throwing them in jail without trial (NDAA), I'm running for office. I'm fed up. And if they start executing americans.....

      Let's just say the 2nd amendment is the only right left that I have not exercised. But that will change. Time to follow the example of our fellow human beings in Egypt. Libya. Eastern Europe. And the original 14 states (including Vermont).

      --
      My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
    2. Re:LOL! American Freedom! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Why hasn't the MPAA been declared an illegal price-fixing conspiracy under RICO statutes yet? They've been convicted of price fixing TWICE...

    3. Re:LOL! American Freedom! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Why hasn't the MPAA been declared an illegal price-fixing conspiracy under RICO statutes yet? They've been convicted of price fixing TWICE...

      Because they buy off the politicians.

    4. Re:LOL! American Freedom! by Requiem18th · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Main problem with dissenters is how easy it is to disband them. Firstly any body needs a head, and the FBI/CIA have practice with headshots. If anyone starts making sense they throw them in jail. It's really easy given todays level of population surveillance and overbearing laws.

      Downloaded a song? Jailtime. Smoke weed? Jailtime had a younger girlfriend when he was in collegue? Statutory rape => jailtime.

      Even if nothing can be found to get rid of a target (Cardinal Richelieu whould be dissapoint) you can thrump up false charges or, if pressed for time, charge him with disrruption of order or (for anyone seeking *actual* effective action) incitation to violence. It's therefore almost impossible to coordinate an organized rebelion. Which only means that any rebellion that does succed will be utter chaos.

      --
      But... the future refused to change.
    5. Re:LOL! American Freedom! by lightknight · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Nonsense. The easiest way to overthrow the current batch of elected officials is to make the people enraged (not anger, which burns bright, then not at all; enraged, the sort of rage that glows like a lump of coal, and possesses a man to keep fighting even during bitter winters in places like Valley Forge). I have a book which purports that it's the printing of propaganda, timing, and anger that destroys entrenched governments.

      In short, you personally do not do anything (violence, demonstrations, etc. only undermine your position, and draws the attention of power-brokers / rulers); you let the authorities fuck up, by shooting unarmed citizens or something equally unpalatable, then ensure that everyone knows they fucked up. Several incidents of a similar nature over a few years, supplied with the right condemnation, creates a firestorm that money & military cannot put out. Again, based off of this book's writings, it was the action of a certain founding father who helped turn the colonists against the crown (well, a little more than helped; more along the lines of ensuring that a military conflict would occur, and that the military would be loathed / despised / shunned by even the prostitutes).

      --
      I am John Hurt.
    6. Re:LOL! American Freedom! by lightknight · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Best guess? It won't be a problem.

      Why? Because the power-brokers are aware that the military has some reservations about firing upon an unarmed populace, specifically their own people. The military is required to swear an oath of loyalty to uphold the US Constitution, and the protect the people. They lack, for the vast majority, the psychological profile needed; and they are taught all about the Nuremberg trials, and how "I was only following orders" is not a valid defense; they are required to reject illegal orders, even from the commander in chief.

      Instead, LEOs will be used. LEOs have shown that when outfitted with surplus military hardware, and trained with military tactics, they can be every bit as deadly as the military, while having little to no reservations over shooting an unarmed populace, specifically their own people (they do it all the time as it is). It also neatly sidesteps the issue of declaring martial law, which would put everyone on guard against a possible dictatorship. If the US President were to declare martial law today, an invisible clock would start ticking; a clock which various power-brokers would sell their own grandmother to prevent ticking. It's the kind of clock which has the citizenry polishing their pitchforks and acquiring fuel for torches, the kind of clock that has the military trying to decide whether it has a "problem," the kind of clock that gets the crazies thinking of being a 'hero' by sacrificing themselves to take out the "Big Bad." Using LEOs means you can say you're just trying to restore 'order' (plausible deniability), while you maintain control through your 'not-an-army.'

      --
      I am John Hurt.
    7. Re:LOL! American Freedom! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There's a reason out of thousands of innate natural rights, the Founding Fathers decided to include guns as one of the top 10. No not for hunting. For self-defense. Both of yourself and your fellow compatriots.

      This works if there's no difference between one armed person and another. You no longer have parity.

      Allow me to repeat DavidTC's excellent post from http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=346351&cid=21193115

      Contents:

      Have fun in your little made-up universe where the government comes to round you up and you manage to fight it off.

      In the real world, fascism is when the corporations and governments work as a single entity, and you can wander around with your fucking gun all you want. In fact, you'll have to wander around, because the government/corporations took your house and your car, and no one will hire you.

      At which point you'll be arrested, not as some big anti-government hero by jackboot thugs, but for stealing bread to live on, by a perfectly normal cop who's just doing his job, a job that absolutely no one except you disagrees with, so when you shoot and kill him you're getting the electric chair and no one thinks you're a hero at all.

      There are different types of totalitarian governments, and assuming a fascist one operates like a communist one is faulty. Fascist governments don't put troops in the streets...they work with corporations to make sure 'the wrong sort of people' do not have any economic power, and do not have anywhere to peddle their ideas.

      Modern fascist states don't even bother to kill those people, and pretending they're going to show up in some stormtrooper outfit and start a gun battle with you is insane. They'll show up with a court order to evict you from your home because you failed to pay your mortgage, because pressure came from the top at your company to let you go. Or they'll just sue you and ruin your finances.

      America is not a bunch of tiny castles where, as long as you can hold off the invading armies, you will be fine. The idea that that is how the world works is astonishingly naive. Almost all the population of America lives in housing they do not fully own, they get food from places they do not control like the supermarket, they require operating in society for money to obtain said food and shelter, a society where economics are controlled by some very large players that can crush them like bugs.

      And a fascist state isn't going to 'assume control', you asshat. There's not going to some insane coup, there's a going to be a slow change, which has, in fact, already happened, or have you not looked at the telecom immunity stuff? That's classic fascism. The government breaks the law, the government gets private companies to break the law, the government gives said companies huge amounts of cash, the government attempts to make such behavior legal retroactively. We've got government officials and AT&T officers leaping back and forth between each other in an incestuous loop. Your government spying on you, sponsored by AT&T. It's not 'totalitarian' yet, as evidenced by the fact Democrats managed to stop the immunity, but it is fascism, at least the start of it. (And the same thing's happened with Blackwater.)

      Oh, and before you start ranting about gun control some more, be forewarned I'm against it. I'm just not stupid enough to think that the US government being slowly corrupted by business is something that can be fought off with gunpowder. Guns are useful to deter crime and to deter invasion. They aren't useful against a corrupt government in any meaningful way.

  2. My goodness by Sigvatr · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What motivates this man to be so evil?

    1. Re:My goodness by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      He's liberal.

    2. Re:My goodness by hondo77 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The usual suspects: money and power.

      --
      I live ze unknown. I love ze unknown. I am ze unknown.
    3. Re:My goodness by andydread · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yes but the person that introduced SOPA is a staunch conservative....Lamar Smith (R-Tx) Yeah Texas no less. So we have a liberal from Ct and a Conservative from Tx What exactly is your point?

    4. Re:My goodness by an+unsound+mind · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The common factor is that they are both filthy rich and consider themselves far too poor.

    5. Re:My goodness by e9th · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The word you're looking for is greed.

    6. Re:My goodness by Fast+Thick+Pants · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Very true, it will probably be round 4 in 2014 before the outrage fatigue sets in and the MPAA gets about 60% of what it's asking for. By round 6 it'll be up to 135%. By 2025 your children will be required to name their children after an Oscar winner, and pay monthly license fees accordingly.

    7. Re:My goodness by ohnocitizen · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Actually, he's conservative. Most modern Democrats are conservative, or centrist. If you want a liberal Democrat, look at Elizabeth Warren, Al Franken, or Russ Feingold.

    8. Re:My goodness by fnj · · Score: 4, Insightful

      For God's sake, stop falling for the tired old left-right lie they've been foisting upon us. It's not about left-right, liberal-conservative, or whatever other obfuscation the bastards want you to believe in. It's about the corporate state vs individual liberty. Some D's are OK and some R's are OK. The rest are in the bag.

      When and if this dawns on enough people, it's Katie bar the door. It will be the end of the evil empire and they know it.

    9. Re:My goodness by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Should've been clear as day to people when Bush started the Wall St. bailouts and then Obama continued them! What more do people need to see to realize what's going on? The parties are the same! They try to distract you with little non-economic trivialities like abortion or gay marriage but when it comes to looting the economy they are both the same.

  3. If that language doesn't by kungfuj35u5 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Spit out plain and simple bribed legislation I don't know what does.

    1. Re:If that language doesn't by geminidomino · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Are you kidding? That's downright diplomatic for Dodd.

      Did you forget about him Calling out the government for not doing what they were told?

  4. Yawn... by Black+Parrot · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The *AA will keep sponsoring legislation until they get what they want. Then they'll decide they want more.

    News, indeed.

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    1. Re:Yawn... by iter8 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I like how he said "that Hollywood and the technology industry 'need to come to an understanding' about new copyright legislation." Hollywood and industry? We peasants don't get a say I guess.

    2. Re:Yawn... by TubeSteak · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's hard for them to see us as stakeholders in the society whose rules they are trying to manipulate
      As opposed to consumers that they are trying to sell a product to.

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
    3. Re:Yawn... by AlamedaStone · · Score: 4, Funny

      It's hard for them to see us as stakeholders in the society whose rules they are trying to manipulate
      As opposed to consumers that they are trying to sell as products.

      I have altered your comment to more accurately reflect the situation.

      Pray I do not alter it further.

      --
      "All these years believing you're the signified monkey, only to find out you're just a big hunk of nobody cares."
  5. CISPA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I believe the current bill trying to snake its way into US law is CISPA:
    http://kat.ph/blog/GreenPirate/post/1774/

  6. In MPAA-speak... by sconeu · · Score: 4, Informative

    "Broker a deal" means "Bend over and take whatever we give you"

    --
    General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
  7. It's ironic, but... by FridayBob · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... the fact that we can't resist buying his shit is what gives him the money to keep trying to censor our Internet.

  8. Why we fail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Copyright is the problem, it needs to be limited to 20 years. Only people should be allowed to own copyright. Businesses should only be allowed to lease copyright.

  9. An "Understanding," You Say? by ewhac · · Score: 5, Informative

    In an interview with Hollywood Reporter, [Dodd] said that Hollywood and the technology industry 'need to come to an understanding' about new copyright legislation.

    Here's the understanding, Chris: Computers copy data. Period. End of novel; no sequel coming. It is a fact of the landscape that is not going to change.

    And that, as far as any clear-thinking technologist is concerned, is the end of the discussion. Business models must be constructed around this reality. (And if your business model is not based on reality, but instead on a la-la fairy land where every computer is under MPAA/RIAA/SPAA control, unsanctioned copies never happen, every view is metered, and directors and actors work for naught but "exposure"... Well, they have anti-psychotics that can help with that now.)

    BTW, anyone hoping to debate the merits of copyright policy is REQUIRED to read this speech by Thomas Babington Macaulay -- it will easily be among the most enlightening forty-odd minutes of your life.

    Schwab

    --
    Editor, A1-AAA AmeriCaptions
    1. Re:An "Understanding," You Say? by dweller_below · · Score: 4, Interesting
      Thanks for the link to Macaulay on Copyright. It is extremely relevant. His summation was amazingly prescient:

      "And you will find that, in attempting to impose unreasonable restraints on the reprinting of the works of the dead, you have, to a great extent, annulled those restraints which now prevent men from pillaging and defrauding the living."

      This is the modern copyright wars in a nutshell. Copyright can NOT exist in defiance of common sense. It must be reasonable or it will destroy our respect for the law. If we wish to continue as a lawful nation, we must restore reason to copyright.

      Reason would look like:

      • Copyright should last 20 years.
      • Things that can't be copied (IE works with effective technical copying restrictions) are not subject to copyright.
      • And, either no punishment for non-commercial copying or the punishment is limited to just the actual cost of buying a copy.

      But, when negotiating with a crazy opponent, you can't begin with reason.

      Our initial negotiating position must be:

      • Copyright is only granted to works submitted to the Library of Congress.
      • Mandatory licensing. Anybody can get a copy from the Library of Congress at any time for $1
      • Copyright duration is 5 years, with 1 renewal.

      Miles

  10. Of course by nine-times · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Ok, in case you didn't know this, of course they're going to revive it. They're going to keep pushing it and keep pushing it until it goes through. You thought we beat it because it didn't pass that one time? What, did you think the entertainment industry ran out of money and stopped paying congressmen?

    They'll wait a little while, they'll rename it, they'll alter it to hide the more controversial aspects, and they'll wage a propaganda war. They will not stop trying to consolidate their power until they're ousted from power.

  11. Moron by WML+MUNSON · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Chris Dodd said that there were

    conversations going on now

    but that he was

    not going to go into more detail because obviously if I do, it becomes counterproductive.

    It becomes counterproductive because nobody fucking wants this, and the people you're "having discussions" with are probably corrupt.

  12. Re:Obviously by Riceballsan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Sounds about right, They felt the system failed them last time, because major webpages actually told the public what was being planned. The goal the next round is going to be to figure out how to slip it in without anyone who actually understands it getting a voice. It still cracks me up how with SOPA, the most common statement from the congressmen making the decision was "I'm not a computer nerd, so I don't understand how this works at all", that part was what the **AA's considered, the process as intended. The companies and people who were effected by it speaking up and making sure that the ramifications of it were understood, that was an "abuse of power".

  13. This is why center-left .\ needs Conservatives by windcask · · Score: 4, Informative

    We may disagree with you about social issues and government assistance, but you'd better believe we're your brothers in fucking arms when it comes to the overreach of Hollywood and big government censorship.
    http://townhall.com/tipsheet/kevinglass/2012/01/18/republicans_backing_off_internet_piracy_acts
    http://www.buzzfeed.com/jpmoore/15-republicans-you-can-thank-for-bailing-on-sopap
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_US_Congresspersons_who_support_or_oppose_SOPA/PIPA

  14. Re:Connecticut by CelticWhisper · · Score: 5, Funny

    Perhaps we should call in a Connecticutioner?

    --
    Help protect civil rights from abuse by the TSA - visit TSA News Blog.
    http://www.tsanewsblog.com
  15. Re:Really? by paiute · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Progressive policies are those which seek to establish control over all aspects of people's lives by experts who know better what those people really want and need than those people do themselves.

    In stark contrast to that are the Conservative policies, which seek to establish control over all aspects of people's lives by nonexperts who know better what those people really want and need than those people do themselves.

    --
    If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
  16. Genes perhaps? by danwiz · · Score: 5, Informative

    Senator Thomas J. Dodd Memorial Stadium is a minor league baseball stadium in Connecticut. It was named after a Senator who was censured in 1967 for converting campaign funds to his personal accounts and spending the money.

    That's Christopher Dodd's father. And the memorial stadium was built in 1995 during Chris Dodd's tenure as a Senator. Senator Chris Dodd has had his share of scandals too.

    Something about apples not falling too far from the tree comes to mind.

  17. Speaking of Lamar Smith... by Freddybear · · Score: 5, Interesting

    http://www.tomsguide.com/us/REddit-TestPAC-SOPA-PIPA-Lamar-Smith,news-14720.html

    "What better way to kill the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) bill for good than to nuke its author right out of Congress? That's what a group of Reddit users are trying to do after forming a Political Action Committee, or PAC. They want Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX.) booted out of office, and will do everything they can to see it happen."

    If they succeed in booting Smith in the primary, that should put some fear into others who might otherwise support SOPA/PIPA style legislation.

    1. Re:Speaking of Lamar Smith... by rtb61 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The only way to stop it for good, is to destroy the industries that bright it into being. They will never stop, insane psychopathic greed drove them to seek ways to censor and shutdown the peoples version of the internet so they could create an eighties version of mass media on it instead.

      That kind of sick thinking doesn't stop until the people behind it and then people behind them have lost all the power.

      We will be fighting the SOPA battle for the next decade at least and possibly longer. They spend years perverting the news, they spent billions buying up control and they still lie on those mass media channels day in and day out. Fox not-News is just the very worst example, not just the only one spreading corporate propaganda as news.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
  18. Re:Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's the same thing as you've just asserted has happened to the word liberal. "Conservative" is now something else entirely.