VIDEO: MPAA’s Chris Dodd Stumps For Piracy Act

COMMENTS (11)

• It has nothing to do with whether or not the sides agree on it or not, and everything to do with the fact that the bill is a broadly-worded document that gives obscene privilege to corporations over government and judicial bodies.

  The consequences go far beyond piracy. Social media sites could be taken down if they are seen as hosting copyrighted video, images, etc. Independent film, gaming or music sites could (and probably would) be shut down. Speaking about games, any site that offers fanart, online walkthroughs (video or text) or copyrighted images that is not a corporate site could be shut down. It would open up users to be fined or prosecuted for their first violation (even if they did it unknowingly).

  Comment by Alex Gregory — Thursday January 5, 2012 @ 9:35am PST  Reply to this post

• Well put, Alex. If you remember the motion picture industry railing against “Pay TV” in the late ’60s or claiming VCRs would destroy the business in the late ’70s, this is another slice of the same roast — a wrong-headed attempt to prevent evolution. SOPA would wipe out entire Internet conventions (RSS, etc.) by commingling sharing with piracy. It’s a disastrous and ultimately futile bill.

  Comment by TomF — Thursday January 5, 2012 @ 10:00am PST  Reply to this post

• Chris Dodd is an Evil Nazi who based this bill off of a Communist China Model. This will be the end to Free Speech. Don’t Support SOPA. Stop it before we lose our freedom!!!!

  Comment by Leon — Thursday January 5, 2012 @ 10:33am PST  Reply to this post

• Anything Dodd is for look out. The guy is a crook and a liar. He is a lib that will say and do anything.

  Comment by David — Thursday January 5, 2012 @ 10:40am PST  Reply to this post

  • Wake up — it has nothing to do with how ‘liberal’ he was in Congress. If anything, his whorish choice of post-gov career is anti-liberal. He’s become the worst kind of industry shill, and is willing to risk his name and legacy on this awful, evil piece of legislation that is ultimately doomed. Even if some version of it survives and passes, the internet will be ground to a halt six different ways by prominent tech names in protest. SOPA will not happen.

    Comment by Travis Speak — Thursday January 5, 2012 @ 12:51pm PST  Reply to this post

• Apparently the only way to save Hollywood is by destroying the internet.

  Certainly don’t make good movies. That wouldn’t help.

  Comment by writer — Thursday January 5, 2012 @ 12:04pm PST  Reply to this post

• Short of shutting down the internet completely, there is nothing that will stop online piracy. Every restriction proposed by this bill can be easily circumvented with existing technology.

  The only real solution to piracy is to offer compelling legal alternatives. Offer a good product at a reasonable price and the rest will take care of it self.

  Comment by JohnT — Thursday January 5, 2012 @ 1:07pm PST  Reply to this post

• Thanks, Chris, for utterly hosing my argument that modern politicians aren’t completely bought and paid for before they are even sworn in.

  Comment by Cash — Thursday January 5, 2012 @ 1:46pm PST  Reply to this post

• No one owns the internet and no one ever will. It’s the most pure form of democracy we have. The idea that the motion picture business is tying to protect the true creators of content, is horse shit! Just ask the actors of Happy Days if the networks looked out for them when the networks made millions out of their likeness. SOPA you DONT OWN THE INTERNET, you can not control what is on it. You are not big brother. You have LOST your keys to the control room. You can not MONOPOLIZE the content industry anymore. SOPA you are going the way of the old music labels. In the TRASH.

  Comment by Erik — Thursday January 5, 2012 @ 4:03pm PST  Reply to this post

• I think the way to shut down piracy is just never let the public own anything ever – no DVDs, no Blu-Rays. If they want to see a movie, they can stream it.

  Comment by Jim Jonze — Thursday January 5, 2012 @ 7:14pm PST  Reply to this post

  • Which is funny, because that would bring about an entire new generation of piracy and theft that will make the current supplier/consumer system seem rosy.

    Comment by Travis Speak — Thursday January 5, 2012 @ 10:48pm PST  Reply to this post