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."
One time experience? (Score:5, Insightful)
That's easy enough to accomodate. Stop pressing for draconian censorship legislation and this will never happen again.
Re:One time experience? (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Nope.avi (Score:5, Insightful)
You want it to be a "One-Time Thing"? (Score:5, Insightful)
I think I speak for the entire Internet when I say (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Nope.avi (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Broadcast journalists? (Score:5, Insightful)
SOPA protests were just a start (Score:5, Insightful)
It wasn't misinformation... (Score:5, Insightful)
...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.
Re:I think I speak for the entire Internet when I (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
He's right. (Score:5, Insightful)
> 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.
Dear Mr. Sherman (Score:3, Insightful)
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.
??
Cary Sherman: (Score:5, Insightful)
I suppose it's a sign (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Sherman blames the Internet (Score:4, Insightful)
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.
Re:One time experience? (Score:0, Insightful)
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.
You mean the Death Eater impersonating Mad-Eye? He never taught the class.
Re:Funny... (Score:2, Insightful)
It was, next time it will have a brand new name!
Re:Would you kindly... (Score:4, Insightful)
Come on slashdot, self-police our nutjobs.
Re:Would you kindly... (Score:5, Insightful)
Try and take them. ;)
Sorry, we believe in the liberty to be a moron. We don't like it, but it's your right. If people would stop voting for corrupt sly assholes and actually paid attention to what they do, guys like this wouldn't get a foothold. Ain't a gun-applicable problem yet, but give it another 15 to 20 and it might be.
Re:One time experience? (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
As someone who once respected IP law... (Score:4, Insightful)
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.
Re:Funny... (Score:4, Insightful)
Then he'll get his wish--the next protest won't be about SOPA, but rather about the new bill! :)
Re:One time? (Score:4, Insightful)
Two words: PATRIOT Act.
True, we may not have forgotten it, and I'll never forgive the treasonous assholes who foisted it on us, but that doesn't mean we did anything effective about it.
Re:One time experience? (Score:5, Insightful)
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!"
Re:One time experience? (Score:5, Insightful)
anonymous formed because these groups ARE actively shutting down free discourse whenever it threatens their business interest.
Re:One time experience? (Score:5, Insightful)
You should go to your local Obama campaign headquarters and tell them that.
Re:One time experience? (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re:I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but.. (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re:One time experience? (Score:4, Insightful)
"we fought with soldiers against soldiers"
You need to go back to school. We fought with frontiermen and minutemen against soldiers.
Re:Nope.avi (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re:One time things make a difference. (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Would you kindly... (Score:5, Insightful)
SOPA can't be made permanent by a Supreme Court ruling. It's merely legislation, and legislation can always be repealed. The way to remove SOPA is to elect people who will repeal it. Even Constitutional Amendments can be repealed, although that is fairly uncommon (but it has happened at least a few times).
In any event, no fighting is required. Yes, it may be hard to remove the people in power without guns if they are entrenched in the system, but all you technically need are votes.
Now if they start seriously cheating on the elections...and I don't mean one or two contested elections... that's the time to start consider the guns, because then, there is almost no recourse but that. Just remember that the French Revolution started with the best of intentions, and ended up causing rivers of blood both in France and elsewhere. Let's not get too hasty in our appeal to the gun, even if we should defend our right to have that ability.
The Universal Library (Score:5, Insightful)
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...
Re:I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but.. (Score:5, Insightful)
"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.
Re:One time experience? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:One time experience? (Score:3, Insightful)
The second is that vetoes often expend political capital.
The only "political capital" that should matter is the elected official's "political capital" with the people who elected him.
Everything you wrote is basically Nuremberg thinking in action.
Re:One time experience? (Score:5, Insightful)
Hate to break it to you, Pollyanna, but the people who elected him would not re-elect him when they found out that he vetoed a bill to provide healthcare to wounded veterans. The average American voter is an easily manipulated moron.
He did the absolute best he could do to diminish the effect of the law, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. If you don't like it, then don't sit out the midterms. The idiot "liberals" who handed Congress over to the Repubs in 2010 by staying home are responsible for every bit of harm the GOP has done.
Re:Would you kindly... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but.. (Score:2, Insightful)
"The fact is, content and tech need each other."
I call bullshit. Technology does not need copyrighted content to survive or flourish. If profit motive won't drive technological advances, the human spirit will.
Re:One time experience? (Score:5, Insightful)
The whole point was that the Death Eater was so good at his impersonation of Moody that he taught the class just as Moody would have. So the best Defense Against Dark Arts teacher Harry Potter had was in fact a Death Eater. And that, Ms. Morissette, is irony.
(the map being able to see right through the disguise, and no one noticing until far too late... now THAT was bad writing)
Re:One time experience? (Score:3, Insightful)
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.
Re:One time experience? (Score:4, Insightful)
what is the wisdom (or was the wisdom) in the idea of an all or nothing bill approval?
sounds like it was DESIGNED to be gamed.
I hear lots of respect for our constitution and method of justice, but the more I look, the sicker I get about it all. it may be better than what many other countries have, but its FAR from the best we could do or could have done. it a '1.0' effort if there ever was one. and the fact that its so damned hard to change is also a bug in the system.
it seems we run on inertia and fumes and the gas tank has been empty for a long time, now. (sorry to mention gas; I know its also a touchy subject these days)
Re:One time experience? (Score:5, Insightful)
"we" don't make laws. "we" have not had a say for generations, to be honest.
this is the problem.
Re:Times have changed: secrecy is dead (Score:4, Insightful)
there's no more ammo box stage. you seriously think any citizen group can fight ANY modern 1st or 2nd world country's government?
when the balance of power existed, gov lived with us. now, they live over us and its never going to go back again.
ammo box is a null idea. it was great while we had it but its GONE. gone gone gone.
Re:One time experience? (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, the line item veto can also be gamed. Let's say that Obama and the Democrats propose a new bill. It raises taxes on the rich by 1% and uses that money to fund food banks. To get the Republicans on board (pretend for the moment that the current GOP strategy isn't to oppose everything with Obama's name on it), they also include a section in the bill that cuts corporate taxes by 1%. After both houses of Congress pass it, Obama could just line item veto the tax cut part, while keeping the part he wanted.
Essentially, the line item veto allows the party that controls the White House to negotiate in bad faith. By making bills all or nothing, you make it possible for Congress to trust in the knowledge that the other side will keep their end of the bargain. The current system sucks, but line item vetos would be worse.
Re:I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but.. (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re:One time experience? (Score:5, Insightful)
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"
Re:What is his thought process? (Score:3, Insightful)
What's even worse is that some people think that piracy (something I can't see anyone believing is worse than jaywalking) is so bad that we need draconian, rights-violating legislation to combat it (it won't work, either).
Some artists even support SOPA. And if you're not an artist yourself, I've seen them say, "You're not an artist! Therefore, your criticism is invalid!" as if you must be an artist to reject draconian laws that will affect everyone. This mentality of dismissing all criticism because someone isn't in the same group as you (content makers) is retarded. They don't even see their own bias (as if someone who thinks they directly benefit from such legislation isn't biased).