Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)

[JoeRedskin]

Originally Posted by Mattyk

Thanks for the link.

Signed and I hope everyone takes a second to do the same.

Can't do it from work but will do so at home.

[NC_Skins]

Originally Posted by JoeRedskin

And then the other shoe dropped .... Kung Fu Panda Lawsuit
(A jury found for Dreamworks - i.e., the plaintiff had failed to show by a preponderance of the evidence that DreamWorks used Mr. Dunne's "Zen Panda" idea in developing Kung-Fo Po. Although it may yet remanded for a new trial, a jury of LA City citizens - not the judge, not the big evil corporation, not the screaming mob - after reviewing the evidence said "Nope - DreamWorks didn't steal the idea".)

Dear god did you even look at his work and the time line? He registered that back in the 90's man. Look at the characters he created and the ones that are in Kung Fu Panda. Of ****ing course they stole the guy's idea...lol Anybody in their right mind can see that and your notion that because some jury decided against him means they didn't steal it. Hey, they also thought OJ Simpson was not guilty of murder too!!! Really? That's your defense?...hahahaha

[NC_Skins]

Speaking of stealing technology and ideas. Do you know how much stuff that Apple stole from others yet have the audacity to sue others for the same thing? Give me a break.




Also.

Jury Sides With DreamWorks Animation in 'Kung Fu Panda' Case (Exclusive) - Hollywood Reporter

The jury took about three days to reach a verdict in favor of the studio. The jurors decided that DWA and its executives did enter into an implied-in-fact contract, but the panel found that the studio didn't use Dunn's ideas, so the question of damages was moot.

See, this is the biggest bullshit. They agreed the company entered into a verbal contract with the guy, but didn't use his ideas even though that's exactly what was pitched to them and was used? You shitting me? There is no justice in this country.





Different guy claiming they stole from him as well in regards to the same movie. Hell, he even has the rejection letter from them in 1999.

Illustrator sues DreamWorks Animation over fun-loving panda character - latimes.com

Gordon featured some of the characters on clothing he sold in a Boston store called Animation Station and were part of a portfolio of work he sent to various publishers and studios, including DreamWorks, which sent him a letter of rejection in 1999, the lawsuit said.

[NC_Skins]

SOPA blackout: Bills lose three co-sponsors amid protests - latimes.com

[FRPLG]

Originally Posted by mlmpetert

Heard this on the radio this morning.

SOPA Sponsor Lamar Smith’s Campaign Website Violated Copyright Laws

I think rational people agree that something needs to be done to better enforce and control online piracy, however, the proposed law seems to give much more power then what’s actually needed. I don’t understand why people keep thinking giving more power to the federal govt is a good thing?

I have a good friend from Thailand that was on a visa while in America. She moved back to Thailand about 8 months ago and hates it partly because of internet there. She doesn’t have American internet, its severely restricted. Restriction is a bad thing.

Because the law was written by Hollywood studios and various record labels and they certainly aren't particularly unbiased. If they could a law written that forced everyone to pay them whenever they even heard a song, or heck, even hummed one they probably would...it's good business. The problem is that our idiot law-makers don't know enough about any of this to understand what they're actually sponsoring.. or care enough to understand.

Imagine how little they understand when it comes to banking laws and things like that if they aren't intelligent or educated enough to comprehend the actual consequences of something like this that isn't rocket science.

[FRPLG]

Originally Posted by NC_Skins

You know how they could do something about piracy? Make their product cheaper. When you overcharge for your product, people are going to steal it. Greedy ass movie companies should understand this. In fact, I find it one of the most ironic and hypocritical things ever for the movie industry to complain about theft and piracy yet it's entire foundation came from the theft of Louis Lumiere's invention.


Even now, the movie industry steals people's ideas and stories to cash in on them. They are no different than any other major corporation when it comes to squeezing the people for every cent they can while showing little to no morals in how they accomplish it.

Man Who Says DreamWorks Stole 'Kung Fu Panda' Wins Round in Court - THR, Esq.

Seems hollywood had no problems stealing from this man and making billions of dollars off him either.



Piracy Isn’t Killing The Movie Industry, Greed Is | TorrentFreak

Free isn't cheap...it is a market-killer.

They long ago figured out that they charge "too much" but the question is when is "too much" not enough to get people to stop buying tickets. They haven't found the real spot where they are really charging "too much". Right now they are trying to legislate away the impending "too much" barrier that technology is quickly making a reality. Instead of reacting to a new market condition and figuring out how to change their business to continue to succeed they are trying to simply ignore the new condition and get it to go away. News flash...it isn't EVER GOING TO GO AWAY.

[NC_Skins]

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[mooby]

Originally Posted by Mattyk

Thanks for the link.

Signed and I hope everyone takes a second to do the same.

Done and done. It's the minimum we can do.

[TheMalcolmConnection]

I'm curious, have you guys met anyone who actually supports this? Aside from the people pushing it through Congress, EVERYONE hates it.

I don't see how every single member of Congress wouldn't think, "Whelp. I better enjoy this term because I won't be elected to a second one."

[itvnetop]

Originally Posted by TheMalcolmConnection

I'm curious, have you guys met anyone who actually supports this? Aside from the people pushing it through Congress, EVERYONE hates it.

I don't see how every single member of Congress wouldn't think, "Whelp. I better enjoy this term because I won't be elected to a second one."

I asked the same question... Everyone that interacts on some type of forum or social network should be against this. Alas, I've got a buddy that supported SOPA on his FB (ironically). He's the VP of post at a major cable station, but I'm not sure if his position has changed since then.

[TheMalcolmConnection]

Originally Posted by itvnetop

I asked the same question... Everyone that interacts on some type of forum or social network should be against this. Alas, I've got a buddy that supported SOPA on his FB (ironically). He's the VP of post at a major cable station, but I'm not sure if his position has changed since then.

The only people I can see supporting this are major recording and movie industries. How did he say this affects him? I have read a lot about this and I just don't see how directly cable companies are affected.

[itvnetop]

Originally Posted by TheMalcolmConnection

The only people I can see supporting this are major recording and movie industries. How did he say this affects him? I have read a lot about this and I just don't see how directly cable companies are affected.

He's also in the music production biz, but I think he's always been the biggest opponent of piracy. Even though SOPA totally misses the forest from the trees regarding piracy, I think he believes making web site owners more responsible for content is a step in the "right" direction.

[NC_Skins]

Originally Posted by TheMalcolmConnection

I'm curious, have you guys met anyone who actually supports this? Aside from the people pushing it through Congress, EVERYONE hates it.

I don't see how every single member of Congress wouldn't think, "Whelp. I better enjoy this term because I won't be elected to a second one."

Because politicians don't give a shit about their constituents. They care about who's lining their pockets and handing them cash for their campaigns. Only when there is a huge outcry will politicians back down. Until that time, they can continue on with the status quo.


Hell, as shady as politicians are, I wouldn't surprise to see this type of stuff stuck into some other legislation they are trying to pass.

[Dirtbag59]

Originally Posted by TheMalcolmConnection

The only people I can see supporting this are major recording and movie industries. How did he say this affects him? I have read a lot about this and I just don't see how directly cable companies are affected.

And the sad thing is record companies and movie studios have been screwing their talent out of royalties for years with one sided contracts and shady accounting. Then a bunch of college kids start downloading movies and music and they have the nerve to cry foul.

Originally Posted by mlmpetert

SOPA and PIPA pages also work without problem.

Yeah I like how they did that.

southsouth South/South
When attempting to ban the VCR @MPAA compared it to the Boston strangler and the U.S. public as 'the woman home alone.' forbes.com/sites/joshbarr…
4 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

bengoldacre ben goldacre
Your 2am lolz: MPAA blows irony fuse, claims SOPA/PIPA blackouts are 'Abuse of Power' redd.it/omd1n via @reddit
2 hours ago Unfavorite Retweet Reply

Denial: MPAA Pretends That No Big Sites Have Joined SOPA/PIPA Protests from the living-in-denial dept

Living in what can only be described as pure denial, the MPAA announced today that the SOPA/PIPA protests "failed to enlist big sites." Honestly, there's really not much more to say about that. Google. Wikipedia. Facebook. Amazon. Craigslist. All participating. Let's just stare in wonder at the MPAA's hubris and ability to deny reality.

[Dirtbag59]

Some more stuff on Hollywood Accouting. Copy and pasted from an annonomoys user on TheRegister.co.uk. Keep in mind this is from the same guys that are pushing for SOPA and PIPA.

iiNet wins AFACT appeal • The Register Forums

Some Introductory Excerpts:
'Hollywood Accounting' Losing In The Courts | Techdirt

If you follow the entertainment business at all, you're probably well aware of "Hollywood accounting," whereby very, very, very few entertainment products are technically "profitable," even as they earn studios millions of dollars. A couple months ago, the Planet Money folks did a great episode explaining how this works in very simple terms. The really, really, really simplified version is that Hollywood sets up a separate corporation for each movie with the intent that this corporation will take on losses. The studio then charges the "film corporation" a huge fee (which creates a large part of the "expense" that leads to the loss). The end result is that the studio still rakes in the cash, but for accounting purposes the film is a money "loser" -- which matters quite a bit for anyone who is supposed to get a cut of any profits.

For example, a bunch of you sent in the example of how Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, under "Hollywood accounting," ended up with a $167 million "loss," despite taking in $938 million in revenue.
Etc...

http://www.p2pnet.net/story/41701

We’re finally making progress on the real criminals of entertainment piracy. The MPAA ia losing court case after court case using their infamous ‘Hollywood Accounting‘, and losing consistently, primarily because jury members are finally realizing how sleazy these members of the MPAA really are.

Honestly, how does New Line Cinema think it can gross nine Billion, that’s Billion, on the Lord of the Rings Trilogy worldwide, and then try and weasel out of paying J.R. Tolkien estate for the idea, and Peter Jackson for directing the movie, claiming it ‘lost’ 120 Million? This is probably the reason behind the delay of creating ‘The Hobbit’ movie. If I were Peter, I wouldn’t direct any movie until I got paid for the previous one.

Hollywood Accounting is where the MPAA (insert big 6 assholes here) create a corporation for each movie, ie Lord of the Rings, LLC, and then purposely use that entity to numerically absorb money, and to reflect a loss by creatively making up numbers for advertisement, distribution, additional licensing and/or copyrights for the particular movie. They illegally and grossly bloat these numbers as ‘expenses’ for the Studio to allegedly ‘pay’ from the gross of the movie itself.

After ‘New Line Cinemas’ paid expenses to ‘Lord of the Rings, LLC’, there apparently just wasn’t enough money left to pay the director, or the estate of J.R. Tolkien, who owns the copyrights on the idea, and wrote the books. This ensures that stakeholders in the movie itself get the ’steak’ of the profits, whereas the entitled entities, like the writer, producer, rights holder, etc, are left with the ‘peas’, if that. Typically they only get to lick the plate after the fatcat assholes at the MPAA get their ill-gotten gains first.

United Hollywood: The End of Hollywood Accounting?

The WGA, the Teamsters and California State Senator Sheila Kuehl have just announced the introduction of the "Fair Market Value Bill." The bill seeks to prevent studios from selling programming to sister companies for below market value. This particular strain of Hollywood accounting is designed to shift profits away from the studios (where they must be shared with talent and producers and serve as a basis for pension and health contributions) to networks, where they may be enjoyed without the pesky need to pay one's "partners."
Etc.