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RIAA CEO Hopes SOPA Protests Were a "One-Time Thing" 441

hapworth writes "After posting a controversial op-ed in The New York Times saying Wikipedia and Google 'misinformed' the public about SOPA and PIPA, Cary Sherman, CEO of the RIAA said in an interview yesterday that he hopes the SOPA protests were a 'one-time experience.' He also said that Wikipedia and Google users were duped into thinking SOPA was a bad bill because they assume "if it comes from these sources, it must be true." In another hilarious comment, Sherman blames the Internet for making it impossible for Congress to get out its side of the story, and for not spreading information with the same 'clarity and integrity' of broadcast journalists."
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RIAA CEO Hopes SOPA Protests Were a "One-Time Thing"

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  • by Hatta ( 162192 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @05:46PM (#39215231) Journal

    That's easy enough to accomodate. Stop pressing for draconian censorship legislation and this will never happen again.

    • by Moryath ( 553296 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @05:48PM (#39215249)

      We're talking about Cary Sherman and the RIAA here.

      What was it Mad-Eye Moody was saying during D-A-D-A classes? Oh yeah - CONSTANT VIGILANCE.

      • by flyneye ( 84093 ) on Friday March 02, 2012 @07:01AM (#39219247) Homepage

        Well, let's talk about Cary and his band of thieves calling the kettle black.
        Whining little bitch is holdin on to his CEO title tight, 'cause he knows the industrys days are numbered and all he can do is harvest from courts.
        Well if he thinks we should sit still and give his lies calm consideration he should lie in one hand and shit in the other, then see which hand fills up first.
        The internet has empowered people to Open-Government in an indirect way. The people are saying "NO!" in a very God-like way," we are tired of you witholding talent and ripping off musicians for more than a century.We are tired of your manipulation guiding the path of the music we hear.We don't acknowledge your right to survive and continue to screw us all with your antics over the years. We see that musicians can live better without you and prosper. No industry is needed for this scenario. BTW, go die.We will also out your paid politicians treason and they will have nothing more to do with you. Viva la Revolution"

    • I have a strong feeling that once word gets out of these comments, any website affiliated with the RIAA is gonna have a little "encounter" with Anon. also, inb4 Cary's personal info is leaked to the web.
      • by nhstar ( 452291 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @06:28PM (#39215591)

        Sadly, you may be right... but fighting for the freedom to speak by forcefully shutting down someone else's ability to speak (a la Anon.)..? Is that the right answer? I think that it happened to work out well last time without having to run around in a nerd-skills pissing contest.

        I agree with the message, just not the methods.

        • by Culture20 ( 968837 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @06:33PM (#39215633)

          but fighting for the freedom to speak by forcefully shutting down someone else's ability to speak (a la Anon.)..? Is that the right answer?

          It beats ighting for the freedom to speak by forcefully shutting down someone else's ability to live, like our founding fathers did.

        • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 01, 2012 @07:01PM (#39215847)

          anonymous formed because these groups ARE actively shutting down free discourse whenever it threatens their business interest.

        • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 01, 2012 @07:18PM (#39215989)
          Attacking their websites is interfering with their freedom of speech? How does that work? You are talking about the people who control everything that is broadcast on television and radio. Short of numerous nuclear explosions, how do you silence those people? You can't. Silence them? My ass.
          • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

            by steelfood ( 895457 )

            Let's start with the fact that corporations don't have the freedom of speech. They're not endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.

        • by NicknameAvailable ( 2581237 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @08:02PM (#39216301)
          If only the founding father's included a reciprocity clause in the constitution to the effect of: If you attempt to take away free speech, we cut out your tongue.
        • by joocemann ( 1273720 ) on Friday March 02, 2012 @12:10AM (#39217525)

          In a corrupt world where money is speech, and the RIAA is tantamount to that point, you're nudging the idea that Anon did something wrong?

          If someone is, by corrupt basis, speaking so loudly that nobody else can be heard, it is heroic to take their megaphone away ( the megaphone they only got through corruption).

    • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 01, 2012 @06:13PM (#39215477)

      Oh, it'll go through. It's just a matter of time. Like any bad law, they can just keep bringing it up again and again and again and again, a hundred times a year if they want. All they need is one single success, and then it's too late to go back ever again. They just need to wear people down until it can juuuuuuust slide through people's defenses, and then it's over and done with.

      Remember... a thousand failures and a single success is still fully successful.

      • by s.petry ( 762400 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @06:29PM (#39215601)

        Or they will do like they did with the US Armed forces now being able to detain without trial or cause any American citizen. It was hidden in a "Defense Spending" Bill, and Obama signed it on 12/31/11 when the rest of the US was out getting drunk.

      • by honestmonkey ( 819408 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @06:34PM (#39215639) Journal
        True dat. I mean, that's what he says. He hopes that "the internet" doesn't protest next time. There is going to be a next time. They will couch it differently, it's saving children or penguins or cats or something, and oh, yeah, by the way, we can send you to Gitmo for "illegally" downloading. Okay, not Gitmo, just a fine of 3 times your salary. Okay, okay, just one times your salary. See, we're reasonable.
        • by TaoPhoenix ( 980487 ) <TaoPhoenix@yahoo.com> on Friday March 02, 2012 @04:40AM (#39218695) Journal

          Hate to break it to you, but anything you can dream up with satire, they're already dreaming up for real.

          SOPA-II is ... wait for it ... PC-FIPA, HR1981 = Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers Act.

          I submitted it a week ago for a Slashdot story. It got voted up Red Hot in the Firehose. Slashdot didn't run it. They ran the Idle piece of "Eternal Copyright" instead.

          So yes, RIAA-Guy is partially right. We're already bored with Blackouts.

          "If you don't get your bill passed, make it WORSE, change the backstory to the ultimate counter line, and submit it again!"

      • by penix1 ( 722987 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @07:09PM (#39215909) Homepage

        You don't honestly think they are going to propose SOPA as a stand alone bill now do you? No, they will simply attach it to some unrelated "must pass" legislation. It will be the poison pill that must be swallowed in order to keep the country running. It wouldn't surprise me to see it on the next go around of debt ceiling fights.

      • by elashish14 ( 1302231 ) <profcalc4NO@SPAMgmail.com> on Thursday March 01, 2012 @10:34PM (#39217057)

        This is why a defensive strategy is insufficient. We have to strike back and get our legislation protecting the internet in before they get theirs to kill it. We need legistlation which will put America's Copyright Crusade to a stop.

        If the RIAA gets to the government before people do, it'll be over. If we our vote across before they do, then they are gonna be the ones fighting back. The way to win the fight isn't to stay standing when you're pushed - it's by pushing the other guy down and keeping him there.

    • by Raved Thrad ( 1864414 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @06:47PM (#39215737)

      I read this as corporate-idiotese for "Goddamn you pirate fuckers! Do you have any idea how much money we blew blowing the lawmakers? You bastards owe us for the money we spent, not to mention all the money piracy is still costing us, so you all need to shut up and stop trying to kill our failed business model!"

  • Nope.avi (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Alunral ( 2477578 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @05:48PM (#39215251)
    Sorry, Mr RIAA CEO, it wasn't a one time deal. As long as you morons try passing this crap, we'll keep protesting. And the protests will only get bigger and bigger.
    • Re:Nope.avi (Score:5, Insightful)

      by The Grim Reefer ( 1162755 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @05:51PM (#39215283)

      Sorry, Mr RIAA CEO, it wasn't a one time deal. As long as you morons try passing this crap, we'll keep protesting. And the protests will only get bigger and bigger.

      I so hope you are correct. Sadly that does not seem to be how these things traditionally work. They keep making slight changes and resubmitting them over and over until the public becomes apathetic and finally passing it.

      • Re:Nope.avi (Score:5, Interesting)

        by MrEricSir ( 398214 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @05:55PM (#39215315) Homepage

        I so hope you are correct. Sadly that does not seem to be how these things traditionally work.

        Remember the Blue Ribbon campaign in the early years of the web? The SOPA protest was essentially the latest version of that strategy, where content providers across the web banded together against Hollywood's lobbies.

        So yeah, I'd say there's a pretty good chance we'll be protesting again next time. (And there will always be a next time.)

      • Sorry, Mr RIAA CEO, it wasn't a one time deal. As long as you morons try passing this crap, we'll keep protesting. And the protests will only get bigger and bigger

        I so hope you are correct. Sadly that does not seem to be how these things traditionally work. They keep making slight changes and resubmitting them over and over until the public becomes apathetic and finally passing it

        Or worse !

        They could have hired a skilled FUD expert from Microsoft to replace that dumbfuck Cary Sherman as CEO of MAFIAA

        Through carefully placements of artfully crafted FUDs that guy (or gal) would be able to assemble tons of MAFIAA fanbois to spread whatever of his "gospel truths" to the world !

    • Re:Nope.avi (Score:5, Funny)

      by pushing-robot ( 1037830 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @06:39PM (#39215677)

      Honestly, his statements sound like they belong in an Onion article.

      "Daryl Gates Hopes L.A. Riots Were a One-Time Thing, Eager to Resume Beating Black People"

      • Re:Nope.avi (Score:5, Insightful)

        by causality ( 777677 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @07:22PM (#39216015)

        Honestly, his statements sound like they belong in an Onion article.

        "Daryl Gates Hopes L.A. Riots Were a One-Time Thing, Eager to Resume Beating Black People"

        The L.A. Riots didn't happen because a bunch of cops beat the shit out of Rodney King.

        The Riots happened because a court refused to do anything about it. Every now and then people get sick and tired of cops being above the law.

        A few convictions would have prevented the whole thing.

  • Funny... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 01, 2012 @05:48PM (#39215255)

    Thats funny... I was hoping SOPA was the one time thing.

  • by ToiletBomber ( 2269914 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @05:48PM (#39215257)
    The answer is very simple. Knock it off with your attempts to control the internet.
    • by NIN1385 ( 760712 )
      AMEN! Keep fucking around with free speech and the use of it on the internet and we will keep coming back in bigger and bigger numbers.

      What's the old saying? "When freedom is outlawed, only outlaws will have freedom."
  • by spidercoz ( 947220 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @05:48PM (#39215259) Journal
    go fuck yourself, Cary.
    • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 01, 2012 @06:03PM (#39215397)

      That's not how you spell "I hope every nerve ending in your body is permanently made to think it's on fire and you live forever", but yeah, the entire Internet is saying this.

    • by langelgjm ( 860756 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @06:23PM (#39215541) Journal

      Cary Sherman did have at least one good point. On the RIAA's Music Notes blog, [riaa.com] he discussed how he went through and read every one of the 280 some comments on his very poorly received New York Times op-ed.

      I was one of the ones who posted a substantive, up-voted comment on his op-ed, and his blog post addressed something I (and several other commenters) pointed out. Just Googling for the text of the bill leaves one with a misleading impression, because important amendments were not included in that text. I took Sherman to task for what I viewed as purposefully misleading people in his op-ed, doing exactly what he was complaining Wikipedia and Google were doing.

      On that particular detail, I was wrong, and Sherman was right. So the point is taken that there is a lot of misunderstanding about what precisely this bill will do and not do. That said, what I think he continually fails to understand is that his association (and really, the entire industry) has virtually no credibility in the minds of the tech-savvy, Internet-using public. We know the record companies rip off actual artists with raw contracts. We know the RIAA supported the ridiculous tactic of suing individual file-sharers for astronomical damages in order to bully them into settlement. We know they inflate their losses, that they massage data, and that they lobby hard for what they want. In fact, that last part is to be expected by any industry trade group.

      We're Americans. We know that practically everyone in politics is lying to us whenever they open their mouth. That's not news. I'm not sure why Cary Sherman expects a free pass on this issue... you've got the lobbying money, get in there and play hardball like everyone else.

      • I'm not sure why Cary Sherman expects a free pass on this issue... you've got the lobbying money, get in there and play hardball like everyone else.

        I bet a lot more journalists are paying attention there now that Chris Dodd stuck his foot in his mouth and admitted that (at least from the MPAA's perspective if not the congressmen's perspectives) the MPAA was buying votes. They'll have to let that sleep for a while before they can start makin' it rain again.

      • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 01, 2012 @07:12PM (#39215925)

        We're Americans. We know that practically everyone in politics is lying to us whenever they open their mouth. That's not news. I'm not sure why Cary Sherman expects a free pass on this issue... you've got the lobbying money, get in there and play hardball like everyone else.

        Cary's problem is that he doesn't have the money. Music is a pathetically small business compared to other media...only a couple $billion/year. The movie industry is measured in tens of $billions/year, and so are the videogame and TV industries. The very quiet, very boring print industry behemoth is over one $trillion/year. (If that surprises you, compare Lady Gaga's wealth to JK Rowling's. People spend more money on books in one summer than has ever been spent on music ever.)

        What the RIAA expected was for every other media industry to follow their lead in drawing a line in the sand and fighting digital delivery and taking a hard-line stance on piracy. They would lead the charge and thought eventually the others would back them up with real resources later. MPAA stuck with them for a little while, but the other industries starting hedging their bets and seeing where the technology goes. Oops.

      • by sdguero ( 1112795 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @07:57PM (#39216275)
        Interesting read. It seems a lot more reasonable than his op-ed piece. I think one of the most telling things from his blog post is this:
        "The fact is, content and tech need each other."

        He is absolutely correct. Now I wish he would tell us how exactly the RIAA is helping to create content, or protect the artists (aka content creators). Because all I see them doing is protecting the dinosaurs that still run the music industry.

        Artists who are true to their craft want people to listen to their music, and if they make a ton of money off of it that's a bonus. If I was an independent musician that uploaded my new music video to youtube and got 50 million views, I would make a nice piece of change on that ad revenue (and using existing laws I could task youtube with making sure other users don't re-post my stuff). The RIAA is all about protecting the middle man from getting screwed out of that money and putting consumers over a barrel while compensating the artist as little as possible. It has nothing to do with protecting or creating content.
      • by devent ( 1627873 ) on Friday March 02, 2012 @04:13AM (#39218565) Homepage

        I don't really care if the RIAA comes up with a super duper bill that will solve the world starvation or bring the world peace.

        My problem is the whole concept of copyright, how it is enforced and how it invades my privacy and my property rights.

        Fist of all is the term of copyright is overblown and kills our culture. How is a copyright term of over 100 years going to encourage anything? It just kills the public domain and thus our culture.

        Second, is the dragonical punishment for copyright infringement, even for private, non commercial infringement. Private, non commercial infringement should either be allowed or should have a punishment fee like 50$.

        Third, it's the invasion of my privacy, with DRM and with EULAs or TOS. When I buy your stuff, it's mine to do what ever I like in my own home, for private use. That is, I can copy it as much as I like, I can format shift it and I can give it to my friends. I can play it how, when and on what device I like.

        Finally, when I buy it, it's mine. I can sell it or lend it. It's my property.

        And I don't care how many artists have to starve to death or how "unfair" it is. An artist have no right to be paid indefinitely over a one time job, neither have she the right to be paid or to make a living from her art. And no, that will not be the end of all art as we know it.

        So just fuck of RIAA MPAA GEMA and what not. I don't need you, I don't want you, and I don't need your laws.

  • by DanTheStone ( 1212500 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @05:52PM (#39215287)
    From what I recall, those broadcast journalists didn't even cover the bills. I'm sure they would greatly prefer the internet doing the same.
    • by NIN1385 ( 760712 )
      Freedom of the press is an illusion, has been for a long time now.
      • by fnj ( 64210 )

        Oh, the press is perfectly free. Free to be apologists, accomplices, and cheerleaders for scum.

  • by bbtom ( 581232 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @05:53PM (#39215301) Homepage Journal

    Wikipedia admin here that was quite involved with the shutdown. RIAA guy thinks we were 'deluded'.

    Here's what actually happened. We had a discussion on Wikipedia for a few weeks. We asked the Wikimedia Foundation to instruct their General Counsel to prepare us a detailed listing of exactly what the problems are for Wikipedia with the bill. He did so, and produced a document listing a variety of problems that SOPA might cause for Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia projects. We then had a vote as to whether or not to take action.

    By 'deluded', he means we as a community decided to ask a lawyer to look at the bill and tell us what he thinks, and then decided to take action. If that's delusion, I'm not sure what counts as sanity any more.

  • by Nugoo ( 1794744 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @05:54PM (#39215307)

    Let's hope not.

    black-march.com [black-march.com]

  • Door in face (Score:5, Informative)

    by StripedCow ( 776465 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @05:56PM (#39215327)

    SOPA is just part of an exercising of the "door in the face technique". See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Door-in-the-face_technique [wikipedia.org]

    Soon, they'll loosen their demands a little and suddenly governments will be okay with it.

  • by xs650 ( 741277 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @05:57PM (#39215335)
    Nothing encourages like success. More people are aware and ready to participate the next time RIAA tries to bribe a heaping pile through Congress.
  • by Golgafrinchan ( 777313 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @05:59PM (#39215361)
    Hey Cary: the jerk store called, and they're running out of you!"
  • by NeveRBorN ( 86123 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @05:59PM (#39215365) Homepage

    Clearly,

    Since the way we communicate has changed greatly since the arrival of the internet, and there people afraid to embrace that change, we the denizens of the internet are in the wrong.

    Seriously, My daughter's arguments for why she shouldn't have to do her homework are more well thought out than Mr. Sherman's.

  • by MickyTheIdiot ( 1032226 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @06:02PM (#39215389) Homepage Journal

    ...it was that the public was PROPERLY informed for the *very first* time.

    In other words, the public *wasn't* misinformed on these ideas for the very first time.

    And look at the amount of effort it took. It proves the posit that we've all been saying: corporate monopoly of information is one of the worst things that can happen to a free society. There is no real marketplace of ideas in the U.S. This is one of the few times in scores of years there has been anywhere near a fair debate on an important subject, and certain players had to scream LOOK AT ME LOOK AT ME to get it.

    • by Jason Levine ( 196982 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @08:14PM (#39216367) Homepage

      And, in the RIAA's eyes, that's the problem. How dare the Internet (meaning Wikipedia, Google, and the others that spread the word), make people aware of the awful law they were trying to push through? Don't these people know how it goes? The RIAA brib.... I mean lobbies a few members of Congress. They then get those Congressfolk to submit bills that they (the RIAA) have written. Congress passes the bills and everyone is happy. (Where "everyone" equals "The RIAA.") Subverting that process is just unAmerican! (Where "American" equals "what the RIAA wants done.")

  • by rust627 ( 1072296 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @06:05PM (#39215409)

    of broadcast journalists

    ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

  • He's right. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Dr. Tom ( 23206 ) <tomh@nih.gov> on Thursday March 01, 2012 @06:05PM (#39215413) Homepage

    > He also said that Wikipedia and Google users were duped into thinking SOPA was a bad bill because they assume "if it comes from these sources, it must be true."

    That's because, if it comes from those sources, it probably is true. Yes, that's right, we trust Google and Wikipedia more than some record industry executive. Dupe you.

    Now that we've gotten that out of the way, why don't you start letting people download music from your website? You know you could be making money right now, doing that, instead of making a fool of yourself, right?

    But don't take my word for it. Google it.

  • by Edsj ( 1972476 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @06:06PM (#39215419)
    "... and for not spreading information with the same 'clarity and integrity' of broadcast journalists." I'm with him! I don't use the internet to get reliable information. Why waste time checking the source integrity if you can get all the information you need from Fox News? They even do the job to filter 'bogus' information for me! Right? RIGHT?!?? What? Fox News isn't reliable? I don't trust you! You are probably a terrorist from the internet!
  • Dear Mr. Sherman (Score:3, Insightful)

    by bughunter ( 10093 ) <bughunter@@@earthlink...net> on Thursday March 01, 2012 @06:06PM (#39215423) Journal

    The inferred message here is that the RIAA (and presumably the MPAA, et al) will continue to try to pass this crap.

    I have an inferred message right back (holds up a single finger).

    In the wake of ESR's open letter to Chris Dodd [ibiblio.org], do I really need to remind you:

    [D]on't screw with the Internet. Because it will screw you right back.

    ??

  • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 01, 2012 @06:08PM (#39215447)

    They've been spreading disinformation for years on the news. Wikipedia on the otherhand does a much better job living up to standards like NPOV, and all its sub-rules, like no weasal words than any mainstream news source ever did.

    Before anyone questions this what did Wikipedia do that comes close to "hackers on steroids"? This was a modern mainstream news segment. Did anyone loose their job over that? Thats not even touching RFC 1392, for what a hacker even was, something that seemed to be ignored by just about every mainstream media outlet(represented by the RIAA/MPAA that is).
    https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1392

    But hey, what do trade organizations know? I mean they just

    What was the big media's coverage of SOPA/PIPA to begin with??? Thats right, a total blackout. There was no discussion of this on mainstream news. The tactic was obviously sneak it by without anyone in the general public thinking about it until it was way to late.

    As for piracy rules, they are already far too strong. They are basicly forcing start ups and small businesses who don't have the money to hire lawyers out of their own IP by letting well funding legal harrassment campaigns deprive them out of the very IP that is said to be protected?

    Anyone who's ever used a free music track on youtube knows this. This is not content creators going after their work, its trolls and bullys stealing from people using the law via intimidation.

    We need intellectual property law reform, and we need to place limits and what can and cannot be owned, and big time restrictions on acusations of unauthorized use.

    • by DanielRavenNest ( 107550 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @07:55PM (#39216263)

      The Internet community is in the process of creating the "Universal Library". I'm a librarian at heart, and want to see all of mankind's knowledge available to everyone, everywhere, instantly. The benefit of having that far outweighs the loss to particular people who want to keep knowledge enslaved to their ownership. The last decade has seen enormous progress towards that goal.

      Libraries and publishers have always been at odds, but they don't prevent publishers from making money. It's when the publishers get too greedy and restrict the circulation of knowledge that it causes brain damage to civilization. This is why libraries are funded by governments, donations, and universities - on the whole they are a good thing.

      Organizations like the RIAA are simply going to be roadkill on the way to the Universal Library. Excuse me while I go work on it some more...

  • Cary Sherman: (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Ralph Spoilsport ( 673134 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @06:11PM (#39215467) Journal
    Fuck. You.
  • by shikitohno ( 2559719 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @06:12PM (#39215475)

    of how weak his own position is that his only response is the cry foul and claim everyone who opposed the bill had been misled. We weren't misled. We knew exactly why this bill was such a horrible piece of legislation. If anyone, it was him and the bills backers who were deluded in thinking that people would not get pissed off by such horribly half-baked legislation. We're talking about something that would have essentially made him and his friends judge and jury on copyright infringement online, will little to no recourse for the accused to defend themselves, and even then only after the fact.

    We've seen how well they handled even lesser power in these matters, between frivolous DMCA takedown notices (sometimes on stuff they didn't even own the rights to), and more recently the case of a company claiming birdsong was in violation of its copyrights. The bill demonstrated a blatant disregard for internet security, by potentially crippling DNSSEC. And their response was simply, "Well, you're just going to have to scratch that plan and come up with something else, now aren't you?"

    Given their practical disdain for how the internet works, and a plethora of precedents demonstrating they will not hesitate to abuse any power given them, we simply must have been misled into believing they didn't have our best interests at heart. I find this patronizing, "You just don't worry about it, we know what's best for you." attitude completely offensive. I'll be watching for the next time they try and slip garbage like this through, and you can be damn sure I'll be opposed to it then. Don't call me misled when you're lying through your teeth to me. I don't take kindly to it, and I would hope no one else would either. I'd love to see this inane series of statements by him blow up in his face and lead to even greater opposition next time he and his friends try to force something like SOPA down our throats.

  • by PPH ( 736903 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @06:18PM (#39215509)

    Damned inconvenient, that Internet. Maybe we can have it shut off when we resubmit our legislation to Congress again.

    We've got to get people behaving more like broadcast journalists. So we can just call their sales department and remind them who pays their bills.

  • by tomhath ( 637240 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @06:24PM (#39215559)
    While I'm not a supporter of SOPA, headlines with statements like "In another hilarious comment..." come across as more than a little biased. I hope News For Nerds doesn't sink to Blog For Nerds.
    • by sjames ( 1099 )

      There's only so far backward you can bend to stay with neutral language. After that you just have to bow to the extremity of the situation and call it what it is.

  • by Tihstae ( 86842 ) <Tihstae@gmail.com> on Thursday March 01, 2012 @06:26PM (#39215575) Homepage

    I can't believe he thinks that Congress has a side to tell. Their job is to listen to the people and not come up with their own version of the truth.

    The problem is that Congress' side involves money from the RIAA.

  • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 01, 2012 @06:39PM (#39215685)

    As someone who once respected IP law, I've long since decided that because of your disproportionate response to violators and your manipulation of our government, that you need to be fought. I now pirate any music I like, go out of my way not to pay, and encourage other to do the same. I do this in order to cut off your supply of money, which you use to oppress people. Pass it on.

  • by ppanon ( 16583 ) on Thursday March 01, 2012 @07:28PM (#39216067) Homepage Journal
    Many of the mainstream media outlets in the US are part of corporate conglomerates that also own content provider members of the RIAA or MPAA. Even assuming that reporters still have 'clarity and integrity', their program managers and others up the corporate hierarchy may strongly discourage reporting on the subject accurately due to corporate conflicts of interest. As someone else pointed out, SOPA got no coverage by most mainstream news organizations until the blackouts of Wikipedia, Google, and other large websites made knowledge of it so widespread that it became impossible to ignore and still pretend to be a provider of news.

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