Hollywood Agent Ari Emanuel Wants a Magic 'Stop Piracy' Button 269
closer2it writes "At this week's All Things D conference, Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher invited Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel. He spoke about things like TV not dying, cord-cutting being some kind of myth, and that googlers are smart guys and they should do something about the stealing of content. Josh Topolsky, from The Verge, apparently challenged him (video) on this point, asking: 'Aren't you saying that the road is responsible for the fact that someone drove on it before they robbed my house?' Emanuel didn't like this analogy, and even ended the reply asking Topolsky where he works. Mike Masnick also wrote a piece about the interview. I guess that if the Internet has enemies, I'd say Emanuel gives them a face."
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Topolsky (Score:4, Informative)
Really? You must have been watching a different video.
Topolsky's argument and analogy made sense. Emanuel didn't have a counter argument so he resorted to name calling and bullying from his self-styled throne. He was in a room full of his cohorts and admirers, and he had an obligation to listen and present an intelligent response. He didn't.
Sorry, but bullying only makes him look like an ass.
Re:And Just Why...? (Score:5, Informative)
No, he wants to know where you work so he can complain to the politicians that your company is costing his company money.
Which is exactly the strategy that Cary Sherman of RIAA [internetevolution.com] suggested when SOPA failed.
If it's about "Hollywood vs. freedom", Hollywood loses.
But if the debate can be reframed to "MPAA vs. Google", or "RIAA vs. Telcos", Hollywood wins, because they can just point the finger and say "Look, we're only saying the things we say because we work for Paramount, Universal, and other MAFIAA organizations. But you're only saying that because you work for Google, a telco, or an ISP, you're a lobbyist just like us!" and with the debate framed in a context that the politicians will understand, Ari and Sherman can easily demand a law that transfers wealth from "Northern California" to "Southern California" (by transferring the cost of preventing piracy from "Southern California rightsholders" to "Northern California companies whose customers happen to infringe on those rights").
Re:im certain (Score:4, Informative)
I thought about doing that, but then I realized I'm cutting-out all the important people who ALSO helped make the music: The audio engineer, the extra instrument players, and additional backing vocals. The only way those people get paid is to buy the CD or MP3
Those people are work-for-hire 99.9% of the time. They get a fee for their day's work and that's it. They don't get an additional royalties for sales. Once in a blue moon an engineer can get points on a release (i.e. royalties) but only if it is a rain-maker like Flood or something, and guys like that aren't hurting for your change.
I appreciate the sentiment, I really do, but I agree that it is better to buy from the bands directly.
Re:im certain (Score:4, Informative)
Ah... ever heard about this place called not-USA?
For all your Hulu and Netflix and innovative services like that, we get jack shit. So when we are told to go away from those, we go where they don't care where we're from: thepiratebay. Thanks for playing.