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posted by chromas on Saturday August 25 2018, @10:12PM   Printer-friendly
from the you-wouldn't-download-a-speech dept.

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984

The entertainment industries are growing increasingly frustrated with major Internet platforms that, in their view, are not doing enough to tackle online piracy.

This was also the topic of a speech given by MPAA chief Charles Rivkin, during the TPI Aspen Forum yesterday.

[...] "I want to address one of the most vibrant and interconnected ecosystems in human history. That, of course, is the internet. And as we meet, the healthy and vibrant internet that we all want is in serious jeopardy," Rivkin says.

[...] While the complaints about Internet piracy are not new, the MPAA ties piracy in with more recent debates about fake news, election meddling, and hate speech. From Cambridge Analytica to Infowars.

Rivkin calls for a national conversation on how to return the Internet to a place of vibrant but civil discourse. A place where fake news, hate speech, and piracy are properly dealt with.

Eventually, this leads the MPAA's boss to Silicon Valley. Rivkin sees a major role for Internet platforms to do more to stop piracy and other types of abuse. If that doesn't happen voluntarily, the US Government could step in, he suggests

[...] The widespread problem of online piracy is a sign of worse to come, the MPAA chief suggests.

"Online piracy is also the proverbial canary in a coal mine. The same pervasive theft that my industry faces is part of a continuum of toxic developments that harm all of us in this ecosystem – consumers, creators, and commercial operators alike," he says.

In his speech, Rivkin refers to the "broken windows" theory to illustrate his point. This theory suggests that an atmosphere of lawlessness is created when small crimes are left unpunished. Seeing broken windows in the streets makes it more likely that others will start vandalizing as well.

Source: https://torrentfreak.com/piracy-is-the-internets-canary-in-the-coal-mine-mpaa-chief-says-180821/


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  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 25 2018, @10:14PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 25 2018, @10:14PM (#726371)

    > ...the "broken windows" theory...

    Does this guy have it in for Microsoft? They seem like the least of his worries...

    • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 25 2018, @10:50PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 25 2018, @10:50PM (#726384)

      He is not even using the theory correctly. Then goes on to suggest spending money on what is basically for most people a non-problem.

      Then suggesting the gov should fix it. Not realizing gov intervention usually creates the very imbalances they try to fix.
      http://steshaw.org/economics-in-one-lesson/ [steshaw.org]

      The broken window fallacy does not apply for a window that is already broken.

      • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Saturday August 25 2018, @11:14PM

        by c0lo (156) on Saturday August 25 2018, @11:14PM (#726391) Journal

        See Broken Window Theory [wikipedia.org]

        The broken windows theory is a criminological theory that visible signs of crime, anti-social behavior and civil disorder create an urban environment that encourages further crime and disorder, including serious crimes. The theory thus suggests that policing methods that target minor crimes such as vandalism, public drinking and fare evasion help to create an atmosphere of order and lawfulness, thereby preventing more serious crimes.

        The theory was introduced in a 1982 article by social scientists James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling.[1] It was further popularized in the 1990s by New York City police commissioner William Bratton and Mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose policing policies were influenced by the theory.

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by c0lo on Saturday August 25 2018, @11:02PM

      by c0lo (156) on Saturday August 25 2018, @11:02PM (#726388) Journal

      Broken Window Theory [wikipedia.org] != Broken window fallacy [wikipedia.org].

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
  • (Score: 5, Informative) by mrpg on Saturday August 25 2018, @10:32PM (2 children)

    by mrpg (5708) Subscriber Badge <mrpgNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Saturday August 25 2018, @10:32PM (#726378) Homepage
    So if the canary dies, we gotta run?
    So if piracy dies, internet is over?
    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Saturday August 25 2018, @11:10PM

      by c0lo (156) on Saturday August 25 2018, @11:10PM (#726390) Journal

      Yes.

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday August 26 2018, @05:41AM

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday August 26 2018, @05:41AM (#726455) Homepage Journal

      Actually, you're supposed to watch the damned bird. You watch for telltale signs that it might be experiencing problems, because by the time he dies, it's likely to late to run.

      And, yes, if all of the piracy sites are killed off, there won't be any internet worth having. Uncle or Big Brother will be sitting in your living room (or wherever) looking over your shoulder, ready to club you over the head if he doesn't like what you're looking at. Think China, and their Great Firewall, but worse. They've been toying with the technology - both hardware and software - ever since Intel tried to slip that self-identifying CPU into the market. Authoritarians hate the fact that you can be anonymous.

      --
      Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 25 2018, @10:34PM (15 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 25 2018, @10:34PM (#726379)
    Unauthorized copying of imaginary property is NOT piracy. Unauthorized copying of imaginary property is NOT theft. In fact, your precious imaginary property laws are COMPLETELY UNCONSTITUTIONAL*. Therefore, it is my duty as a patriotic American to infringe on your imaginary property every chance I get. Doing anything else shows a hatred of America in general and the Constitution in particular.

    So tell me, why do you hate America Mr. Rivkin? Why do you hate the Constitution, Mr. Rivkin?

    *The constitution grants copyright for a limited time. Having copyright terms extended every time the fat black rat is about five years from entering public domain is NOT constitutional. If anyone has been committing wholesale theft, it's been the copyright cartels stealing from the public domain. (Look ma, I can use inflammatory language too!) Sadly, money speaks louder than law in this country...


    I'll close with the following open letter from The Internet to one Charles Rivkin:


    Dear Sir:

    Go fuck yourself. :)

    Signed,
    The Internet
    • (Score: 5, Interesting) by AthanasiusKircher on Sunday August 26 2018, @12:57AM (13 children)

      by AthanasiusKircher (5291) on Sunday August 26 2018, @12:57AM (#726409) Journal

      *The constitution grants copyright for a limited time. Having copyright terms extended every time the fat black rat is about five years from entering public domain is NOT constitutional.

      I completely agree with all this. However, I'd also note we have a pretty clear version of what those who wrote and approved of the Constitution originally meant in the Copyright Act of 1790 when they said "limited time."

      The Act of 1790 specified a 14-year term with a 14-year renewal (assuming the author was still alive to apply for renewal).

      Thus, I assume your pro-piracy "Constitutional" stance disapproves of pirating anything produced since 2003, correct? And pretty much most things produced since 1989??

      Because that's the argument you're making here. And I'm willing to bet that 99.9% of internet piracy involves sharing and downloading materials produced after 1989. So if your point rests on the idea that laws against the VAST MAJORITY of internet piracy are "unconstitutional," I'm not sure it holds water.

      (And again, I completely agree that the copyright extensions are ridiculous and should never have been granted. But if you want to argue Constitutional law, be clear about what that implies.)

      • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @05:38AM (7 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @05:38AM (#726454)

        Thus, I assume your pro-piracy "Constitutional" stance disapproves of pirating anything produced since 2003, correct?

        First off, s/piracy/copyright infringement/ and s/pirating/committing copyright infringement of/. Piracy is what happens at sea around the horn of Africa. The only way you can use a computer to commit piracy is if you beat the captain (former captain?) of a commandeered ship with it.

        No, I currently do not disapprove of any form of copyright infringement. I currently do not recognize any form of imaginary property law whatsoever as being a valid law. Patents have been abused to the point of absurdity, trademark infringement cases have gotten completely out of hand, and copyright extensions are unconstitutional and downright obscene. For what it's worth, my stance on this would change completely if all copyright extensions were revoked such that all content produced before 1989 entered public domain.

        The way the laws are currently written the public domain is starved of content. That content was supposed to be what was given up in exchange for the limited monopoly. Due to the repeated extensions to copyright law, the copyright cartels owe We The People quite a bit of public domain content. Because they choose not to provide that voluntarily, We The People have chosen for them, and We The People have chosen to take as payment what would otherwise be protected had it not been for the obscene amount of extensions applied to the length of copyright.

        The reason for my harsh stance is the same reason you don't fine a thief only the amount they were caught trying to steal. If I committed copyright infringement only of things that should be public domain there would be no penalty against the people who removed those things from public domain. To use their words, they stole several decades worth of content from public domain and continue to steal content from public domain unabated. Therefore, as restitution for those crimes, they will forfeit to me any content I desire as their fine for said theft.

        Yes, that is a very "judge, jury, and executioner" outlook on things, but how is it any different than writing the law you want on the back of a check made out to a scumbag elected official in D.C.?

        • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Sunday August 26 2018, @04:48PM (2 children)

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday August 26 2018, @04:48PM (#726593) Homepage Journal

          My views resemble yours. Currently copyright and patent laws are unjust. If they were to be made just again, I could respect them. So long as they remain unjust, I can have no respect for the law, nor for the people who made the laws. It isn't even possible to respect those people who should be correcting the unjust laws, and fail to do so. Congress and the courts are responsible for making and interpreting just laws, and they have failed to do so for decades now. Of course, copyright law isn't their only complete and utter failure - I've said much the same in regard to immigration law.

          --
          Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 27 2018, @04:03PM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 27 2018, @04:03PM (#726960)

            So long as they remain unjust, I can have no respect for the law, nor for the people who made the laws.

            So the broken window theory is right: shitty laws like copyright cause disrespect for all other laws and the people who made them.

            • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Monday August 27 2018, @04:42PM

              by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday August 27 2018, @04:42PM (#726984) Homepage Journal

              I don't know about " all other laws". A lot of traffic laws are contemptible, because they are designed to generate revenues, instead of making the highways safe. But, traffic laws in general are a "good thing", and we couldn't travel without them.

              Unfortunately, copyright laws have gone so far overboard, there is nothing left to respect. You, me, our kids, our friends - none of us get any good from the law. It's all lopsided, favoring the select few, and robbing from all the rest of us.

              Patent law is somewhat different. I think that basically, the laws, as written, retain some good. But, the law as practiced isn't the law as written. In point of fact, we have gamers gaming the system. Pharmaceuticals, especially. Medication "X" was approved for headaches years ago. The patent is about to run out. Suddenly Medication "X" is approved for a new application - foor pain. New patent issued. FFS, that's stupid! It's the same old medication that it always was, and it relieves pain. Nothing new - no patent is permissible. Except, pharmaceuticals have tons of money, so they can buy their patents, either directly or indirectly. Here, we just need to close some obvious loopholes, and patent law can (mostly) become respectable again.

              Oh yeah - put an end to software patents. Every bit of software should be covered by copyright, and nothing else. 14 years of protection, then it's public domain. There is zero point in renewing a copyright for 14 year old software - it's obsolete!

              --
              Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
        • (Score: 3, Interesting) by AthanasiusKircher on Sunday August 26 2018, @10:30PM (3 children)

          by AthanasiusKircher (5291) on Sunday August 26 2018, @10:30PM (#726716) Journal

          First off, s/piracy/copyright infringement/ and s/pirating/committing copyright infringement of/. Piracy is what happens at sea around the horn of Africa. The only way you can use a computer to commit piracy is if you beat the captain (former captain?) of a commandeered ship with it.

          First off, the meanings of words change. Deal with it. "Piracy" is now understood by the vast majority of people who know anything about copyright to refer to copyright infringement.

          And also, uh... this usage is not new [etymonline.com]. In fact, the meaning of taking another's work without permission dates back to the early 1700s.

          For what it's worth, my stance on this would change completely if all copyright extensions were revoked such that all content produced before 1989 entered public domain.

          Well, that's all well and good, but in the meantime, your "protest" (or whatever you want to call it) isn't really hurting those who made the bad laws at all. It's disrespecting content creators since 1989 -- not just the executives either, but the actual artists.

          Now, I know the typical pro-pirate (yep, I'm using that word -- deal with it) reply: "Most piracy is not lost sales." Absolutely true. But it does represent SOME lost sales. I don't think any reasonable person (and anyone who has ever pirated a few things) can dispute that there are SOME things they might have paid for if they were required to. And yes, illegal copying can help to "spread the word" in some cases, which can create more popular interest and lead to profits for artists.

          BUT -- according to copyright law -- the choice to do that (e.g., to share some content for free) is within the artist's choice, not yours to make for them.

          If I committed copyright infringement only of things that should be public domain there would be no penalty against the people who removed those things from public domain. To use their words, they stole several decades worth of content from public domain and continue to steal content from public domain unabated. Therefore, as restitution for those crimes, they will forfeit to me any content I desire as their fine for said theft.

          Look, I'm not going to defend lawmakers who changed these laws. I've already explicitly condemned them. And I'm not going to defend studio execs who profit off of other's labor while lobbying elected officials to create those laws.

          BUT again, there are lots of people who get paid royalties, and the vast majority of them get only a small amount. Your stance is that the don't get anything because they're stuck in a corrupt system. And I'm not just talking about people whom you might say, "Huh, you should just go independent -- and choose your own terms! Distribute your own way!" It's not just writers and producers... it's gaffers and sound engineers and editing assistants, etc., many of whom need to make a living. Many of them may not get royalties if they're far enough down the food chain, but they get paid based on royalties that were made on the previous movie or album or whatever.

          I want you to look those people in the eye and explain why you don't think they deserve to be paid, even though you apparently like the content they make enough to take it without their permission.

          There are ways to lodge a more reasonable protest. I consume very little "mainstream" media from Hollywood or major recording labels or whatever. I wouldn't say I boycott them completely, but the last time I was in a movie theater to see anything made by a major studio was several years ago.

          Instead, what you're doing is saying, "The system is corrupt; therefore it justifies my lawlessness." And that's your choice. I'm not judging you if you want to just say, "I don't care about creators or whatever -- I just want MY STUFF, so I will TAKE what I WANT and screw them!" It's not an ethical choice, but it's at least consistent.

          But you seemingly want to pretend you have an ethical and moral rationale that supports your piracy. You don't. You're mad at Congress for passing unjust laws, so you take it out on a different party. That's not justice -- nor is it good logic.

          • (Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Sunday August 26 2018, @10:38PM (1 child)

            by AthanasiusKircher (5291) on Sunday August 26 2018, @10:38PM (#726720) Journal

            Also, if you want to see what moral protests look like, as well as ethical uses of civil disobedience, you might have a look at stuff like Thoreau and Martin Luther King and Ghandi discussing civil disobedience. You protest an unjust law by targeting that law in particular.

            Yet I suspect that despite your claims to the contrary, even if everything created in 1989 and before went into public domain tomorrow, you'd still want to pirate a bunch of stuff. Right? Be honest. Isn't that true?

            (Lastly, I should note that I think we need more significant copyright reform too. I don't know the 1790 act could be workable anymore either. But arguing for copyright reform is different from arguing for lawlessness and punishing creators who didn't make the laws.)

            • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday August 30 2018, @05:51AM

              by FatPhil (863) <{pc-soylent} {at} {asdf.fi}> on Thursday August 30 2018, @05:51AM (#728178) Homepage
              A decade or so ago, at least in Europe, the biggest consumers of illegally copied IP were actually the largest purchasers of IP too. Piracy actually *helped* content creators.
              --
              Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
          • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday August 30 2018, @05:39AM

            by FatPhil (863) <{pc-soylent} {at} {asdf.fi}> on Thursday August 30 2018, @05:39AM (#728177) Homepage
            The "lost sales" argument is easy to evaluate - if the "crime" involved a "sale" that wasn't for the IP owner, then it was a "lost sale", to the value of that sale. anything distributed for free is not a "lost sale", and makes the companies who act as "distributers", and by so doing take a huge cut, look utterly redundant. Oh, and the 180 million that was spent on marketting it wasn't necessary either, as word of mouth sufficed. So basically the 400 million budget to make the film could have been pared down to the 100 million actually required (and I use that term loosely) to make the film. If you'd have let me see it for a quarter of the price that you actually did try to gouge me for, then perhaps I would have been happy providing you with a sale. You, the megamediacorp, lost the sale through your own action - fine yourself! (And yes, I understand tentpoles, I don't need a lecture.)
            --
            Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
      • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @12:15PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @12:15PM (#726519)

        "Because that's the argument you're making here. And I'm willing to bet that 99.9% of internet piracy involves sharing and downloading materials produced after 1989. So if your point rests on the idea that laws against the VAST MAJORITY of internet piracy are "unconstitutional," I'm not sure it holds water."

        Back when they started radically expanding the length of copyright it was pointed out then and there that by making the terms insanely long would make it so that people would stop taking copyright seriously. That they'd start pirating on a much larger scale regardless of how long something had been released. Guess what? That's exactly what happened. Why? Because there's no reason to wait for something to expire from copyright if there's a 100% chance you'll be dead of old age before that even has a chance of happening.

        If the terms had never been extended to the point where copyrights literally last longer than their creators - 50-75 years longer than their creator at that depending on the country of origin - I'd point out that people would still respect copyright.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @03:10PM (3 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @03:10PM (#726569)

        There was quite a lot of content created before 28 years ago. A lot of it was damn good too.

        Now, imagine you're an aspiring author of children's books and all the Dr. Seuss books are public domain. Good luck trying to make a living competing with that mountain of free and genius content. (Dr. Seuss books are indeed still easily accessible, and even though they are not free, children's books are probably the hardest genre to make money in these days because of them and a scant handful of other children's classics.)

        Restricting access to older works is not just about profiteering off them. It's also about protecting and managing the marketplace so new works can appear. Sure, new works will appear anyway. But do the math. How many? How original or derivative? How serious can an author be knowing there's no way to make a living off his work. We're already having enough trouble with so much crap out there. If you want smart, talented people doing a job, they need to be able to make a better living than teaching at the local community college, or playing politics at a corporate office gig while they make a half-assed show of doing real work. I personally know a damn good writer, prolific and funny as shit stuff. He quit writing to run a restaurant. Why? Because it's easier and he makes better money. If you know anything about running a restaurant, that should tell you a lot about the effort involved in writing.

        Yes, writing is damn hard work. It's not a magical talent people are born with, it's a skill you have to develop. It takes a huge investment of time and effort. Go ahead, try to write a novel that doesn't suck by the fifth page. If you make it that far, get some feedback from friends and neighbors. See how much they love it, or more likely, hate it. Go ahead, do it. If you can't even get that far, then shut the fuck up about copyright law you stupid poser. Yeah, it's not a perfect system. Name one that is.

        • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday August 26 2018, @04:58PM

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday August 26 2018, @04:58PM (#726597) Homepage Journal

          https://www.amazon.com/s?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=children%27s+books [amazon.com]

          There is no shortage of children's books. Reading your post, one might suspect that you attempted to write children's books, and that you failed. I won't even accuse you of writing crappy books that didn't appeal - there are plenty of other reasons why an author might fail. You didn't build the proper networking while in college? Politics? Your work is not politically correct? Maybe the illustrations just weren't good enough? I can't say why you might have failed, but you failed to compete in today's real market.

          But, that isn't because of Doctor Seuss, or copyright law. Browse the link above. There are more children's books than you can shake a stick at. That first page has publication dates ranging from the '80's right up through 2015. Books are being published, and Seuss isn't stopping them.

          --
          Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
        • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @05:03PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @05:03PM (#726601)

          You're either a troll or a jackass moron. I can't quite tell from your post, so I'll assume jackass moron simply because there are more of those on the internet.

          It's also about protecting and managing the marketplace so new works can appear.

          I think that's the biggest load of horse shit I've ever seen. Hold on, I've gotta grab the 9/11 Commission Report and take some measurements...

          How serious can an author be knowing there's no way to make a living off his work.

          Do you know how I know you're not a good author? I take it in your world nobody is writing new orchestral music, seeing as how there's so much good classical music out there already. Why should they when there are so many songs by Bach and Beethoven (and others) available in public domain?

          I personally know a damn good writer, prolific and funny as shit stuff.

          Not posting the author's name? You're full of shit. Either the author isn't as prolific as you claim, or they're a figment of your imagination. Post their name (published name is fine if it's a pseudonym) or STFU.

          He quit writing to run a restaurant. Why? Because it's easier and he makes better money.

          Or, much more likely, because he's a shit writer and couldn't give away his books. But we don't know because we don't even know who you're talking about. Again, post his name or STFU.

          If you know anything about running a restaurant, that should tell you a lot about the effort involved in writing.

          Some people are good at certain tasks, some are not. Anyone can write computer code. Very few can write efficient and secure computer code. Anyone can use a pencil to make marks on paper. Very few can actually make those marks resemble something meaningful. The same holds true for writing. Some people are good writers and some just can't make a story flow to save their life. If you weren't such a jackass moron you'd realize that.

          Let's move on to something other than your word salad. I present to you the story of Kimba the white lion. A piece of public domain work that was copied and slightly modified by one international crime syndicate (guilty of crimes against humanity, which is what current copyright laws are) commonly called Disney. If someone tried to copy the Kimba story again and add a small amount of original content (just like Disney did) Disney would lawyer them to death for copying their story "The Lion King." Even though they didn't copy Disney's story, they copied the public domain story that Disney copied. In the end it doesn't matter, nobody else can take the same easy route Disney did, and nobody will ever be able to in the future because Disney has a copyright that is, for all intents and purposes, perpetual. If copyright terms were sane that easy route would be clearly available again a few years from now.

          Take a look at Disney's back catalog. A large amount of their work is copied from public domain. Once that public domain work is copied it's possible for Disney to claim that any new copies of the public domain work are copies of their copies, thereby actually removing that work from the public domain. That's another thing I'd change: make public domain infective the same way GPL is infective. If you copy public domain work, your new work automatically becomes public domain. Create new or GTFO.

          I'll leave you with this: Why should I pay part of my tax money to protect your precious authors when I will see ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in return for my taxes? Public domain was what I was supposed to see in return. As the laws were originally written, after the copyright expired, I got free access to that which I paid to protect previously. As it stands right now we're socializing the costs to protect the privatized profits of your oh so precious authors. Sounds like welfare handouts to me. That's worse than socialism: it's fascism. We're living in a corporatist kleptocracy and it seems like you don't have a problem with that.

        • (Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Sunday August 26 2018, @10:08PM

          by AthanasiusKircher (5291) on Sunday August 26 2018, @10:08PM (#726712) Journal

          There was quite a lot of content created before 28 years ago. A lot of it was damn good too.

          Obviously. I never said otherwise. And I agree it's a travesty it's not available in the public domain.

          The point I was making was quite simple: >99% of transactions of copyrighted material online are very likely involving material created in the past 28 years. Torrent swarms happen around newly released movies, albums, etc., not frequently around stuff from the 1980s or before. So, if one is going to make an argument about Constitutional copyright as it applies to online sharing, it's important to keep in mind that the vast majority of infringements would still be within the period the Founders identified as reasonable for copyright.

    • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday August 30 2018, @06:24AM

      by FatPhil (863) <{pc-soylent} {at} {asdf.fi}> on Thursday August 30 2018, @06:24AM (#728187) Homepage
      Dear Parochial Twat,
      You, and you shitty country, are way less than a tenth of the users of the internet, and way less than a twentieth of the population of the world. Your bible^Wconstitution is fucking irrelevant to this issue. stop being th mozzie with an erection floating town the river shouting "raise the drawbridge!".
      --
      Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by LoRdTAW on Saturday August 25 2018, @10:38PM (8 children)

    by LoRdTAW (3755) on Saturday August 25 2018, @10:38PM (#726381) Journal

    Piracy is the Media Industries Canary in the Coal Mine, MPAA Chief Says

    FTFY.

    Piracy is the canary telling you fucking morons to adapt to the internet or do us the favor of closing up shop and fucking off. Streaming is your only hope. Make your catalogs more available to streaming sites. Stop fighting progress and you'll find people are willing to pony up some money for your wretched products.

    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 25 2018, @10:52PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 25 2018, @10:52PM (#726385)

      You have to explain it in terms a record exec would understand... "adapt your catalogs to streaming sites, and there will be more hookers and blow for you."

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday August 25 2018, @10:55PM (6 children)

      by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Saturday August 25 2018, @10:55PM (#726386) Homepage

      Although I agree with the general gist of content providers being paid to create content, I disagree with the circumstances.

      Your argument was true around 20 years ago, but now the issue is not with the content delivery method, it is with the content itself. To content providers: Your content sucks. It is politically correct, too afraid of controversy, and the humor is about as amusing as a kick in the dick.

      Jews, who manage such content, were fucking awesome with content back in the '70's and '80s. They had Fritz the Cat, National Lampoon magazine, Kentucky Fried Movie, and this humor was good while being obscene and a lot of it required a Ph.D to understand. Now it's all like that show where Jerry Seinfeld rides in cars with other Jews -- totally lame, duckspeak, and about as funny as a kick in the pants. "We're Jews talking about stuff. Ah-ah-ah fun-ny."

      I can afford a Netflix subscription. Take the chickenshit out of the content and go back to your roots and I'll gladly pay for it.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @12:15AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @12:15AM (#726403)

        Did you just say something positive about jews? Holy shit, Aristarchus will be disappointed. [thesun.co.uk]

      • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Sunday August 26 2018, @02:19AM

        by Gaaark (41) Subscriber Badge on Sunday August 26 2018, @02:19AM (#726421) Journal

        Ah, Fritz the cat. Fun, drunk mammaries.

        --
        --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @03:08AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @03:08AM (#726434)

        Your content sucks. It is politically correct, too afraid of controversy, and the humor is about as amusing as a kick in the dick.

        Hey, editors! Another whiner on the quality of the stories.

      • (Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Sunday August 26 2018, @06:36AM

        by Pslytely Psycho (1218) on Sunday August 26 2018, @06:36AM (#726460)

        "is about as amusing as a kick in the dick."

        But that's actually pretty funny, as long as you're not the recipient.
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_4jrMwvZ2A [youtube.com]

        --
        Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
      • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @09:38AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @09:38AM (#726490)

        Geo restrictions make Netflix useless (often).

        As for delivery, the method is here, but copyright brothel's will isn't. They don't want money, they want control, so streaming companies get shit contractual obligations.

      • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @04:32PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @04:32PM (#726587)

        Fortunately, the copyright on EF stupidity never runs out. Sadly, either does the stupidity.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 25 2018, @10:46PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 25 2018, @10:46PM (#726383)

    Rivkin calls for a national conversation on how to return the Internet to a place of vibrant but civil discourse. A place where fake news, hate speech, and piracy are properly dealt with.

    Ah full on command and control censorship then. Where only approved topics are discussed and watched. Congratulations you are making the internet worse.

    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by number11 on Sunday August 26 2018, @01:00AM

      by number11 (1170) Subscriber Badge on Sunday August 26 2018, @01:00AM (#726410)

      Rivkin calls for a national conversation on how to return the Internet to a place of vibrant but civil discourse. A place where fake news, hate speech, and piracy are properly dealt with.

      A place where commercial activity is prohibited, and files are freely shared. The place hasn't been the same since we let the greedbags like Rivkin in.

  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 25 2018, @11:24PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 25 2018, @11:24PM (#726392)

    If this idiot record exec hadn't fried his brains with coke and syphilis spirochetes, he would know that the IETF has already provided an elegant solution: RFC 3514.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 25 2018, @11:37PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 25 2018, @11:37PM (#726397)

      As that was too obscure for most people to understand they recasted the idea in the Do-Not-Track flag, which obviously gives the exact same results. Everybody happy and safe. Right?

  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 25 2018, @11:53PM (9 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 25 2018, @11:53PM (#726399)

    Rivkin calls for a national conversation on how to return the Internet to a place of vibrant but civil discourse. A place where fake news, hate speech, and piracy are properly dealt with.

    When oh when was the internet a "place of vibrant but civil discourse"? I beg you, link me that magical news group / mailing list / web forum / irc server that wasn't trolled on a weekly basis at the very least and that didn't have the occasional Nazi nutjob spreading fud & poison. Go on, I'll wait...

    While you're at it, people are pirating more nowadays?! Holy shit of all the lies... Fuck this lying bastard. Biggest fake news troll I've ever seen. And I had discussions with flat earthers mind you.

    • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Sunday August 26 2018, @02:36AM (6 children)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday August 26 2018, @02:36AM (#726426) Homepage Journal

      Well - parse the words. Rivkin is setting a trap. "Vibrant" is what you have at a bazaar. "Civil" as Rivkin uses it would be the cathedral. And, Rivkin wants to have a police state that keeps things "civil". In reality, the bazaar is civil, but not as Rivkin pictures it. Sure, down at the bazaar, you have the odd fool on a soapbox, preaching against the government, or exposing corporate criminal activity, or stirring resentment against the immigrants from Transylvania. But - it's civil, in that, you may take it or leave it.

      Rivkin's "civil" cathedral cannot be left. You are the prisoner of his cathedral. Think Apple, but with government troops backing every edict from corporate headquarters. A priest, or policeman, or soldier at every access point, looking over your shoulder to ensure that you're not "stealing" something.

      There never was a "vibrant but civil" internet as Rivkin pictures it. Orwelle wrote about it though.

      --
      Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
      • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Sunday August 26 2018, @03:05AM (5 children)

        by c0lo (156) on Sunday August 26 2018, @03:05AM (#726433) Journal

        Rivkin's "civil" cathedral cannot be left.

        (Well, glad you admit it - for quite some time you keep accusing the left of all sorts bad)
        So... is it right then?

        (grin)

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
        • (Score: 2, Touché) by Runaway1956 on Sunday August 26 2018, @04:27AM (4 children)

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday August 26 2018, @04:27AM (#726444) Homepage Journal

          Of course not. It's socialist. Privatized profits, and socialized expenses and socialized risk.

          --
          Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @01:59PM (3 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @01:59PM (#726546)

            It's socialist. Privatized profits, and socialized expenses and socialized risk.

            You live in a parallel universe, which happens to use the same languages but the meaning of words are twisted.

            • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday August 26 2018, @02:37PM (2 children)

              by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday August 26 2018, @02:37PM (#726559) Homepage Journal

              Not at all. Look at all of the telcos. Privatized profit, and socialized risk, just like the banks. If you still believe in the free market, then you're in some parallel universe, 'cause we ain't got it here.

              --
              Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @05:46PM (1 child)

                by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @05:46PM (#726612)

                Socialized risks != socialism. I know it is hard, but i believe ol runaway can still learn new tricks.

                • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday August 26 2018, @05:58PM

                  by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday August 26 2018, @05:58PM (#726622) Homepage Journal

                  Well it certainly isn't capitalism. In captialism, you put up the capital, you make it work, or it fails. When it fails, you lose it all. When it does work, the profits are all yours. The apparent opposite of capitalism is socialism, so when we socialize the risk and the losses, we might presume that we are looking at socialism. And the end result isn't so very different from failed socialist countries. While peasants were starving in the fields and forests, the party leaders are eating caviar and such.

                  --
                  Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Sunday August 26 2018, @02:57AM

      by c0lo (156) on Sunday August 26 2018, @02:57AM (#726432) Journal

      When oh when was the internet a "place of vibrant but civil discourse"?

      Oh, but I do remember such good times.
      It was when the Internet was for porn.

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @07:19AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @07:19AM (#726466)

      Rivkin calls for a national conversation on how to return the Internet to a place of vibrant but civil discourse. A place where fake news, hate speech, and piracy are properly dealt with.

      When oh when was the internet a "place of vibrant but civil discourse"? I beg you, link me that magical news group / mailing list / web forum / irc server that wasn't trolled on a weekly basis at the very least and that didn't have the occasional Nazi nutjob spreading fud & poison. Go on, I'll wait...

      Not that I don't agree with you, and I wish to hell I still had the fan-fold printouts from the early 80's with some classic early examples from the news groups (1983-85, we had limited access to ARPANET, so had to talk nicely to the sysadmins to abuse the connection when it was up, they wouldn't allow us direct access, so we had to give them a list of groups we wanted, and once a week we got a large fan-fold printout of them), you would have to agree than no matter how bad the Trolls were, the Internet was, in general, a nicer place before shysters like this Rivkin lamprey began attaching themselves to it.

      Still, Eternal September eh?, the gift that keeps on giving....

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @12:12AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @12:12AM (#726402)

    If the MPAA made movies people wanted to watch this could be an issue. In reality, they don't even make movies I even want to pirate. They couldn't pay me enough to sit through the majority of their movies and it's the Hollywood liberal left that promotes crime, not least; illegal immigration. Charles Rivkin and the rest of Hollywood can fuck right off!

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @12:17AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @12:17AM (#726405)

      Baby Driver was the most compelling movie of the last fifty years. Makes movies like The Godfather and The Deer Hunter look like amateur hour. Keep up the good work, Hollywood.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @12:26AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @12:26AM (#726406)

        Yet it only musters a lowly 7.7 score on IMDB where, despite the rating system being weighted in favor of new films, [imdb.com] it still does a reasonable job of representing the art.

  • (Score: 2) by crafoo on Sunday August 26 2018, @01:21AM

    by crafoo (6639) on Sunday August 26 2018, @01:21AM (#726412)

    The MPAA is just nervous and upset that they might be left out of the censorship and iron fisted control washing through social media sites. They see the regressive left's somewhat successful attempt to control speech and rightly recognize it as an opportunity to push forward their wholesale theft of culture. It really is a match made in heaven. The invasive tools and beligerant stupidity required to further one also naturally facilitates the other.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by maxwell demon on Sunday August 26 2018, @10:28AM

    by maxwell demon (1608) Subscriber Badge on Sunday August 26 2018, @10:28AM (#726498) Journal

    OK, the canary inn the coal mine is placed there intentionally because whatever kills the canary will likely kill the workers as well. In other words, whatever kills the canary is the danger to everyone.

    If piracy is the canary, the first thing is to look at what is trying to kill it. Well, that's obviously the MPAA.

    In other words, the MPAA has openly (though unintentionally) admitted that it is toxic.

    --
    The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @01:15PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @01:15PM (#726538)

    The canary is singing because Intellectual Property Law has gone waaaay to far.

    Long gone is a fair deal between producers and consumers.
    He may think the deal should be about protecting middle men.
    In a time when the Internet makes their services no longer needed.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @01:42PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @01:42PM (#726543)

    Netflix and co have proven that all their wailing and bashing of piracy was in vain. DRM pisses legitimate customers off. People will buy if the price is reasonable. Asking for twice the going rate for the movies per disk is not going to work. Reliable instant access to content is something people will pay for.

    Is it really that hard?

    Do we really need computers compromised at the silicon level just to protect big media interests? Is all this anti copying guff really worth it?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @03:13PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @03:13PM (#726570)

    the internet is maybe a bit like a superconductor. it was invented for that reason.
    everybody loves it.
    i transmits electricity without resistance.
    now along comes a MIARIA and wants to add a current sapping meter-tool for profit, turning the superconductor non-superconductive.

    maybe, if the analogy is too shitty: they want the benefit of a "free" distribution channel/media (superconductor) but at the same time want to limit
    the "super" nature of its conductivity.

    assume they would rent their material on physical media and there would spring up a 3rd layer, that intercepts the delivery of the physical media and rents them out to another 100 people (plus some cents added) before returning them ... this would be cause for concern, maybe.

    but using the internet for distribution, at which it excels in the "super" class, and then complaining that it gets distributed tooo super is ... plain crazy!

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 28 2018, @11:16AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 28 2018, @11:16AM (#727300)

    The entertainment industries are growing increasingly frustrated with major Internet platforms that, in their view, are not doing enough to tackle online piracy.

    I bet they're not half as frustrated as us old cybergeeks are with the fact that the entertainment industry is still run by the same sleazy parasites that the internet was supposed to make redundant.

    • (Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Wednesday August 29 2018, @04:23AM

      by bzipitidoo (4388) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday August 29 2018, @04:23AM (#727675) Journal

      Wow, MAFIAA propaganda is weaker than ever these days. I am encouraged that fewer people than ever are falling for their pathetically obvious lies. Like when Jack Valenti made that over the top comparison of the VCR to the Boston Strangler, their histrionics serves only to show how unreasonable they really are. Thanks, Rivkin, poster boy for MAFIAA extremism. Keep it up.

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