Mike

Thanks! :D and <3 and stuff.

Needs moar Beckett.

Awesome.

Re: Chris Dodd (sorta, but the whole conversation really), Eric Raymond posted this on this bloag yesterday and it is hella awesome: http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=4155

- I don’t know anything about Spotify, but isn’t a property holder’s consent needed before they can use their music?
• Spotify aggregates from many sources and sometimes “ownership” is a questionable thing. But really, what has yet to be proven is the implicit claim that Spotify might be the “solution to piracy” or some such. If we don’t like pirating because artists don’t make any money from an “illegal” download, is the solution to that problem really making a fraction of a cent from each play of a low quality download? John Hopkins, an English musician, had a rant on this a while back, and that reporting will be more articulate than mine. First google result here: http://bit.ly/yu1IAD Essentially, this is important to note because SOPA, et al, came about when the copyright industry claimed filesharing is unfair. We should not replace unfair with another form of unfair.

- I have to assume “Happy Birthday” is in the public domain.
• You assume wrong :-( Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkUFlZ05EiI

/INTERNET RANT <3 <3 <3

- How the entertainment industry goes about using politicians to persecute the internet is one thing, but how they manage their business seems irrelevant to the issue. Entertainment is just that, you can’t declare highway robbery when you can’t afford it (though that IS a bit of why they are in their current position).
•I agree that this is somewhat tangential, but isn’t it also another symptom of related problems? The movie and music industry cry poor while we accept the fact that movies have to cost >$100M to produce and Hugh Jackman needs to be paid millions and millions of dollars for his roles in movies. This is not honest accounting. A few months ago, when Louis CK released his video for $5 download, he did an AMA and in it he said “$8M is not alot of money to make a movie” and that made me sick. $8M is a lot of money. Thats more money than most people in the world ever have, cumulatively, including their property, in their WHOLE LIVES. I think the $12 movie ticket and the $100M production costs are related to honesty: rights holders would like us to be honest and not “steal”, I would like them to be honest and not inflate their own economy and then complain their revenues are bad because we’re “stealing”.

- The man who took the unfinished version of X-Men Origins: Wolverine admitted to his crime and got a one year sentence. He did commit what anyone can agree is a crime (putting aside whether or not he used BitTorrent, which the legality is vague on), and his punishment wasn’t that harsh.
• This is maybe just plain and simple disagreement. In my opinion, in no country and under no circumstances should any man be put in prison for one year for sharing a movie. You might think a year in prison is not harsh. I do. Very very much so.

@Ben – Awesome points! Thanks for posting. My responses below, FWIW. Each in their own cmnt because of KYM’s char count thingy.

- I don’t know anything about Chris Dodd, but other than a probable lack of experience in the entertainment industry how can his accepting his position scandalous? With any other profession it’s just reapplying your skills.
• One of the biggest complaints we can lodge against the government is how out-of-touch with reality they are. And much of that out-of-touchness is the result of an incestuous lobbying pool. In order for law making bodies to write an enact laws which should protect the people (because this is in the simplest sense what a law should do, amirite?), those law makers owe it to those people to understand the truth of the situation they are legislating. With no “men on the ground”, so to speak, it is impossible for lawmakers to understand what is actually happening. The fact that Chris Dodd is the MPAA’s head lobbyist is the symptom of a larger issue; it is an example par excellance of the revolving door, as it’s been called, between the private sector and the government and of the need for new blood, new eyes and new takes on this new problem.

@Platus – Thanks so much. Yeah, I realize it’s alot to ask and on top of everything else another thing to be mindful of, but I really do believe (maybe naively so) in the Internet’s ability to effect real change. I think asking for a unified voice is impossible – and probably irresponsible – but asking for an honest one … if we’re really invested in maintaining the greatness of the internet, that shouldn’t be too much to ask.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSS

Thanks! I used to host and produce episodes w/ the old KYM crew. I’m this guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfP9ktXQ_5s

Your profile music is the best, by far.

blam.

I DONT EVEN.

<3 making new friends.

<3 making new friends.

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