7 ms·

Republican staffer who was fired for copyright memo talks to Ars Technica

84 points by binarybits 14y ago

altcognito 14y ago
The article is a bit disingenuous. Both sides are not the same, but both do tend to cater to the big media companies pretty readily.
- binarybits 14y ago
  What's the disingenuous part?
  - altcognito 14y ago
    A bit of a mountain out of a molehill but... First, the article is setup as if Khanna was being held hostage over this disagreement.(By contrasting his time while he was on the payroll with how he was now a "free-agent" because he was no longer on the GOP payroll. Then there is implication that the internal response of the GOP to his memo was driven by the content industry. None of the above is disingenuous until we get to the blogger quote talking about how the GOP is just beholden to money interests. What's the value of that quote? You immediately throw in this disclaimer like sentence about how they could change their stance for their own benefit, but why put the quote in there in the first place?
- kragen 14y ago
  I really think that before you haul off with accusations of dishonesty, you should have more to back them up with.
  - altcognito 14y ago
    My complaint falls more into the weaker category of a complaint with the stylization of the content than outright dishonesty. My kneejerk reaction was that this was yet another article that somehow implied that the GOP is unique in their level of legislative commitment to the content industry and will cut down those who don't tow the line. Disingenuous isn't the same as dishonest - it is weaker that that. So, I'm not accusing anyone of being dishonest.
    - pekk 14y ago
      When the paper was linked on HN, it was taken as an indication that the Democrats were beholden to Hollywood and the GOP was by contrast progressive on copyright, which is itself a distortion. That was the PR effect it had. So I can understand if the article does not shy away from mentioning that the GOP is also beholden to various interests.
    - kragen 14y ago
      Disingenuity is a specific kind of dishonesty. Look it up.
rm999 14y ago
My takeaway from all this was that the RSC (Republican Study Committee) is somewhat disorganized, not that there is any political shift occurring. I think the tech world turned it into a bigger news story than it should have been because we wanted to believe a shift was occurring. That said, I do think the younger, more tech-savvy generation of Derek Khanna is much more informed and critical of copyright issues than politicians. A shift will eventually occur.
- jacoblyles 14y ago
  Political shifts don't "occur", people make them happen. If strong-copyright stances caused congresscritters to take heat in their primary campaigns, you would see them change their tune real quick. The Republican party in particular is moved forward largely through insurgent campaigns of right-leaning outsiders discontent with the mainstream GOP (see: the Tea Party). A few Silicon Valley hackers could form a copyright liberalization insurgency fairly easily, especially in a state like California where the GOP is a skeleton.
  - rprasad 14y ago
    Considering that California is home to most of America's production and distribution media companies, and derives significant direct and indirect tax revenues from these companies, it is highly unlikely that a Silicon Valley-based "copyright liberalization insurgency" would succeed. Moreover, people in SV vastly overestimate the political influence they are likely to have in the rest of the state. The silly issues that "matter" in SV (like "liberalizing copyright") quite honestly don't matter in the rest of California, where jobs and local governance are much bigger, more important issues.
    - jacoblyles 14y ago
      The tech sector is pretty big. It should be able to get its way some of the time. How big do you think Hollywood is? I would be willing to be that Google's annual revenue is bigger than all the major studios, put together. We have no excuse for being as inept as we are at politics. It is a game we can win, but first we have to decide to play.
protomyth 14y ago
At this point, the Republican party probably should reexamine its relationship with Big Media. It isn't very well supported at the rank-and-file level (not that the Speaker seems to care about them), and they tend to support the Democrats more. Derek Khanna's memo was pretty sane. There have been "Reps. / Senators from Disney" of both parties, but it would be a good thing for the Republicans to get out of that mold.
- amalag 14y ago
  Just follow the money.
- _delirium 14y ago
  Hollywood in particular isn't very popular among rank-and-file Republicans, but I'm not sure copyright in general isn't. It's anecdotal, but a lot of conservatives I know are pro-enforcement because they see it as part of the core conservative support for strong property rights. To weaken that, you'd have to convince more people that IP != property.
  - protomyth 14y ago
    Yeah, property rights are a core values, and I shouldn't be taken as saying copyright law is not valued. It just seems like the folks I talk to think that the fines / imprisonment / tactics are really out of whack compared to other law breaking. The thought a music pirate could get more years than a child molestor is a bit problematic. I don't think you can convince Republicans that IP != property. Truthfully, if more property law actually applied to IP some things would get a bit easier (e.g. transfer of property).
  - pekk 14y ago
    And yet a lot of the super-wealthy Hollywood establishment has the same kind of interest in low taxes and deregulation as many GOP voters. Rupert Murdoch has a huge stake in media companies and his conservatism is by no means exceptional. Sure, Matt Damon and George Clooney are outspoken liberals - but there are a ton of actors who aren't, and actors aren't the most important people in Hollywood.
w1ntermute 14y ago
Direct link to PDF of report: http://marylandpirates.com/wp-content/uploads/rsc_policy_brief_--_three_myths_about_copyright_law_and_where_to_start_to_fix_it_--_november_16_2012.pdf http://marylandpirates.com/wp-content/uploads/rsc_policy_bri...
mullingitover 14y ago
My takeaway is that from here on out, nobody at the Republican Study Committee is going to publish anything but party propaganda for fear of losing their job.
- tptacek 14y ago
  You're right, because that is more or less the purpose of the Republican Study Committee. Their core function is to take all the legislation proposed in the House and produce a summary that says whether any conservative action groups oppose it and whether the bill conforms to the ideology of conservative Republicans (no new taxes, no mandates on state governments, no increase in the scope of government). The idea that copyright reform was ever going to come out of the RSC is a bit of a fantasy.
- protomyth 14y ago
  Depends on if any backlash comes against the current leadership for their heavy handiness with committee assignments. I get the feeling that some groups are gearing up for a 2014 fight.
- rayiner 14y ago
  To be fair, half of what these "think tanks" publish is propaganda of one form of the other.
jacoblyles 14y ago
The Republican Party isn't stupid, it's inept. It's slogans are rooted in political battles that took place 80 years ago. Do young folk even care about "small government"? No, we care about "good government" and "innovation". Dear Mr. Romney, you are pitching to the anti-Roosevelt faction of the country and it is rapidly shrinking. If the GOP pushed an "innovation" platform, they would be much better suited for the next 50 years of politics (copyright reform, low regulation, low taxes, greater skilled immigration). Of course, like 0 GOP people read Hacker News, so I should be leaving this comment elsewhere.
- pekk 14y ago
  It isn't true at all that 0 GOP people read Hacker News. A lot of people here have a strong interest in reduced taxes, deregulation, and privatization (included in 'small government').
  - cbs 14y ago
    A lot of people here have a strong interest in reduced taxes, deregulation, and privatization (included in 'small government'). This is what I hate about political messaging. All of those vague terms are nice and all, but the different ways to implement/achieve them are all over the political spectrum. That is not a refutation of the idea 0 repubs are on HN. I know they're here, but you're merely saying some people on HN happen to agree with some of the vaguest of vague messaging ideals also used by the R's.
    - tptacek 14y ago
      There are multiple people who self-identify as Republicans on HN (contrary to popular belief I am not one of them), but few of them are crazy enough to say so because the spirit of the grandparent comment is correct: HN is very hostile to Republicanism.
    - pekk 14y ago
      There is nothing ambiguous about wanting low taxes, or deregulation, or privatization.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]

84 points by binarybits 14y ago

The article is a bit disingenuous. Both sides are not the same, but both do tend to cater to the big media companies pretty readily.

binarybits 14y ago
What's the disingenuous part?
- altcognito 14y ago
  A bit of a mountain out of a molehill but... First, the article is setup as if Khanna was being held hostage over this disagreement.(By contrasting his time while he was on the payroll with how he was now a "free-agent" because he was no longer on the GOP payroll. Then there is implication that the internal response of the GOP to his memo was driven by the content industry. None of the above is disingenuous until we get to the blogger quote talking about how the GOP is just beholden to money interests. What's the value of that quote? You immediately throw in this disclaimer like sentence about how they could change their stance for their own benefit, but why put the quote in there in the first place?
kragen 14y ago
I really think that before you haul off with accusations of dishonesty, you should have more to back them up with.
- altcognito 14y ago
  My complaint falls more into the weaker category of a complaint with the stylization of the content than outright dishonesty. My kneejerk reaction was that this was yet another article that somehow implied that the GOP is unique in their level of legislative commitment to the content industry and will cut down those who don't tow the line. Disingenuous isn't the same as dishonest - it is weaker that that. So, I'm not accusing anyone of being dishonest.
  - pekk 14y ago
    When the paper was linked on HN, it was taken as an indication that the Democrats were beholden to Hollywood and the GOP was by contrast progressive on copyright, which is itself a distortion. That was the PR effect it had. So I can understand if the article does not shy away from mentioning that the GOP is also beholden to various interests.
  - kragen 14y ago
    Disingenuity is a specific kind of dishonesty. Look it up.

rm999 14y ago

My takeaway from all this was that the RSC (Republican Study Committee) is somewhat disorganized, not that there is any political shift occurring. I think the tech world turned it into a bigger news story than it should have been because we wanted to believe a shift was occurring. That said, I do think the younger, more tech-savvy generation of Derek Khanna is much more informed and critical of copyright issues than politicians. A shift will eventually occur.

jacoblyles 14y ago
Political shifts don't "occur", people make them happen. If strong-copyright stances caused congresscritters to take heat in their primary campaigns, you would see them change their tune real quick. The Republican party in particular is moved forward largely through insurgent campaigns of right-leaning outsiders discontent with the mainstream GOP (see: the Tea Party). A few Silicon Valley hackers could form a copyright liberalization insurgency fairly easily, especially in a state like California where the GOP is a skeleton.
- rprasad 14y ago
  Considering that California is home to most of America's production and distribution media companies, and derives significant direct and indirect tax revenues from these companies, it is highly unlikely that a Silicon Valley-based "copyright liberalization insurgency" would succeed. Moreover, people in SV vastly overestimate the political influence they are likely to have in the rest of the state. The silly issues that "matter" in SV (like "liberalizing copyright") quite honestly don't matter in the rest of California, where jobs and local governance are much bigger, more important issues.
  - jacoblyles 14y ago
    The tech sector is pretty big. It should be able to get its way some of the time. How big do you think Hollywood is? I would be willing to be that Google's annual revenue is bigger than all the major studios, put together. We have no excuse for being as inept as we are at politics. It is a game we can win, but first we have to decide to play.

protomyth 14y ago

At this point, the Republican party probably should reexamine its relationship with Big Media. It isn't very well supported at the rank-and-file level (not that the Speaker seems to care about them), and they tend to support the Democrats more. Derek Khanna's memo was pretty sane. There have been "Reps. / Senators from Disney" of both parties, but it would be a good thing for the Republicans to get out of that mold.

amalag 14y ago
Just follow the money.
_delirium 14y ago
Hollywood in particular isn't very popular among rank-and-file Republicans, but I'm not sure copyright in general isn't. It's anecdotal, but a lot of conservatives I know are pro-enforcement because they see it as part of the core conservative support for strong property rights. To weaken that, you'd have to convince more people that IP != property.
- protomyth 14y ago
  Yeah, property rights are a core values, and I shouldn't be taken as saying copyright law is not valued. It just seems like the folks I talk to think that the fines / imprisonment / tactics are really out of whack compared to other law breaking. The thought a music pirate could get more years than a child molestor is a bit problematic. I don't think you can convince Republicans that IP != property. Truthfully, if more property law actually applied to IP some things would get a bit easier (e.g. transfer of property).
- pekk 14y ago
  And yet a lot of the super-wealthy Hollywood establishment has the same kind of interest in low taxes and deregulation as many GOP voters. Rupert Murdoch has a huge stake in media companies and his conservatism is by no means exceptional. Sure, Matt Damon and George Clooney are outspoken liberals - but there are a ton of actors who aren't, and actors aren't the most important people in Hollywood.

w1ntermute 14y ago

Direct link to PDF of report: http://marylandpirates.com/wp-content/uploads/rsc_policy_brief_--_three_myths_about_copyright_law_and_where_to_start_to_fix_it_--_november_16_2012.pdf http://marylandpirates.com/wp-content/uploads/rsc_policy_bri...

mullingitover 14y ago

My takeaway is that from here on out, nobody at the Republican Study Committee is going to publish anything but party propaganda for fear of losing their job.

tptacek 14y ago
You're right, because that is more or less the purpose of the Republican Study Committee. Their core function is to take all the legislation proposed in the House and produce a summary that says whether any conservative action groups oppose it and whether the bill conforms to the ideology of conservative Republicans (no new taxes, no mandates on state governments, no increase in the scope of government). The idea that copyright reform was ever going to come out of the RSC is a bit of a fantasy.
protomyth 14y ago
Depends on if any backlash comes against the current leadership for their heavy handiness with committee assignments. I get the feeling that some groups are gearing up for a 2014 fight.
rayiner 14y ago
To be fair, half of what these "think tanks" publish is propaganda of one form of the other.

jacoblyles 14y ago

The Republican Party isn't stupid, it's inept. It's slogans are rooted in political battles that took place 80 years ago. Do young folk even care about "small government"? No, we care about "good government" and "innovation". Dear Mr. Romney, you are pitching to the anti-Roosevelt faction of the country and it is rapidly shrinking. If the GOP pushed an "innovation" platform, they would be much better suited for the next 50 years of politics (copyright reform, low regulation, low taxes, greater skilled immigration). Of course, like 0 GOP people read Hacker News, so I should be leaving this comment elsewhere.

pekk 14y ago
It isn't true at all that 0 GOP people read Hacker News. A lot of people here have a strong interest in reduced taxes, deregulation, and privatization (included in 'small government').
- cbs 14y ago
  A lot of people here have a strong interest in reduced taxes, deregulation, and privatization (included in 'small government'). This is what I hate about political messaging. All of those vague terms are nice and all, but the different ways to implement/achieve them are all over the political spectrum. That is not a refutation of the idea 0 repubs are on HN. I know they're here, but you're merely saying some people on HN happen to agree with some of the vaguest of vague messaging ideals also used by the R's.
  - tptacek 14y ago
    There are multiple people who self-identify as Republicans on HN (contrary to popular belief I am not one of them), but few of them are crazy enough to say so because the spirit of the grandparent comment is correct: HN is very hostile to Republicanism.
  - pekk 14y ago
    There is nothing ambiguous about wanting low taxes, or deregulation, or privatization.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]