4 ms·

So it looks like we're headed for a temporary reprieve, and that's great, but as long as Big Content continues to lobby as heavily as it does, we will continue

So it looks like we're headed for a temporary reprieve, and that's great, but as long as Big Content continues to lobby as heavily as it does, we will continue to face these attacks on the Internet. What are companies like Google doing to ensure that the Internet is not run by Hollywood? At some point, the tech industry is going to have to hold its nose and get into the lobbying game in a serious way if we want to prevent future attacks like SOPA. We are in no way helped by the fact that a lot of software companies lobbied in support of it. How are we going to counteract that, if not with increased lobbying efforts?

slowpoke 15y ago
>What are companies like Google doing to ensure that the Internet is not run by Hollywood? I'm really sorry to break it to you, but Google will not give half a damn about the internet being run by Hollywood as long as they can still mine data and serve ads. "Don't be evil", they say, but that does by no means equal "fight evil". Google isn't some saintly figurehead of internet freedom, they are a corporation like every other, just with better PR.
- waqf 15y ago
  I agree that Google acts in its own interests, but they sure do care about the internet being run by Hollywood. With a locked-down internet and strong copyright legislation, Hollywood/other content owners would own all the ad spots and would cut Google out of the loop. Google is better off with a decentralized internet of "amateur" content* on which they can serve ads and negotiate a cut of the revenue. * Pirated content would work for them too, but it's not remotely worth their while to be publicly anti-copyright or to not comply with U.S. law.
  - einhverfr 15y ago
    This is true. Google would prefer that the internet were run by the largest adware company in the world (which is ironically named after a very large number)..... But the point here is that the decentralization of the internet actually protects everyone. It prevents a single set of interests from trampling over everyone else's interests.
  - regularfry 15y ago
    It's not only the content. I'm sure a large proportion of Google's engineers wouldn't be happy with their jobs if they became beholden to Hollywood.
waqf 15y ago
I'm confused by at least the tone of your question, because this is exactly what companies like Google are doing to ensure that the Internet is not run by Hollywood. They testified against SOPA in Congress, and Matt Cutts' article includes a bar graph showing how much they spent lobbying.
- buff-a 15y ago
  10% of what the other team spent.

slowpoke 15y ago

>What are companies like Google doing to ensure that the Internet is not run by Hollywood? I'm really sorry to break it to you, but Google will not give half a damn about the internet being run by Hollywood as long as they can still mine data and serve ads. "Don't be evil", they say, but that does by no means equal "fight evil". Google isn't some saintly figurehead of internet freedom, they are a corporation like every other, just with better PR.

waqf 15y ago
I agree that Google acts in its own interests, but they sure do care about the internet being run by Hollywood. With a locked-down internet and strong copyright legislation, Hollywood/other content owners would own all the ad spots and would cut Google out of the loop. Google is better off with a decentralized internet of "amateur" content* on which they can serve ads and negotiate a cut of the revenue. * Pirated content would work for them too, but it's not remotely worth their while to be publicly anti-copyright or to not comply with U.S. law.
- einhverfr 15y ago
  This is true. Google would prefer that the internet were run by the largest adware company in the world (which is ironically named after a very large number)..... But the point here is that the decentralization of the internet actually protects everyone. It prevents a single set of interests from trampling over everyone else's interests.
- regularfry 15y ago
  It's not only the content. I'm sure a large proportion of Google's engineers wouldn't be happy with their jobs if they became beholden to Hollywood.

waqf 15y ago

I'm confused by at least the tone of your question, because this is exactly what companies like Google are doing to ensure that the Internet is not run by Hollywood. They testified against SOPA in Congress, and Matt Cutts' article includes a bar graph showing how much they spent lobbying.

buff-a 15y ago
10% of what the other team spent.