5 ms·
Don't imagine there is or ever was any difference in the positions of Democrats and Republicans on copyright issues. The Copyright Act of 1976 passed 97-0 in th
by spikels 14y ago
Don't imagine there is or ever was any difference in the positions of Democrats and Republicans on copyright issues. The Copyright Act of 1976 passed 97-0 in the Senate and 316-7 in the House. More recent major copyright legislation, the DMCA and CTEA, passed without even recording individual votes (voice vote or unanomous consent).
The US copyright law has been dictated by the media industry for a long time in something akin to regulatory capture[1]. Their lobbyists and lawyers literally write the law[2]. A revolving door sees former senators heading to cushy jobs at the MPAA pass RIAA litigators headed to the Copyright Office.
This is why the failure of SOPA was so shocking to the political and media establishment. Instead of the general public being fleeced for a few extra dollars every time they bought a movie or album, large businesses like Google had billions of dollars at stake and they wanted their interests to be taken into account.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture
[2] http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/10/googles-ceo-the-laws-are-written-by-lobbyists/63908/ http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/10/google...
- btilly 14y agoI don't imagine that there is a difference. Both sides vote for horrible copyright legislation. Both try to keep the horribleness secret from everyone except the lobbyists until the last moment. Both are happy to use secret international treaty negotiations as a way to keep those secrets. There is no difference, which is why it was big news that some on the Republican side considered doing otherwise. My point was that this is obvious to anyone who does a little research. Therefore seeing the government serving copyright-holders' interests is no surprise.
- spikels 14y agoCompletely agree. Although he has lots and lots of company, Biden really is one of the worst on many issues of interest, for example privacy[1]. And it's ironic that he often presents copyright as a moral issue, equating copyright violations with theft, when he was caught copying 5 pages out of a law review article in 15 page paper he submitted in law school[2] and then there is the plagiarism in some of his speeches[3]. [1] http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/12/joe-biden-private-email/ http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/12/joe-biden-private-em... [2] http://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/18/us/biden-admits-plagiarism-in-school-but-says-it-was-not-malevolent.html http://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/18/us/biden-admits-plagiarism... [3] http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history_lesson/2008/08/the_write_stuff.single.html http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history_less...
- btilly 14y agoYes, they are all the same. Except that some are much more the same than others. There would have been few you could pick that would have made me less happy than Biden. Unfortunately two on that short list are Sarah Palin and Paul Ryan.
- narrator 14y agoEvery representative who joined the net neutrality alliance was defeated[1]. The six companies that control the mainstream media are very in favor of copyright and against net-neutrality. Without the media's support, or at least lack of hostility, a candidate is mute and the publics perception of him/her is distorted. [1] http://precursorblog.com/content/all-95-pccc-net-neutrality-supporters-lost-election http://precursorblog.com/content/all-95-pccc-net-neutrality-...
- yohui 14y agoCirca 2010, and a list composed of Democrats in what proved to be a dismal election for liberals overall. As events since have shown, awareness is still spreading.