Maggie's Farm

I can't believe they're still pushing this crap.
I agree, it's likely to pass in some form, but it's so ignorant.

Years ago, when I was at AOL (post merger), there was a very funny - but very serious - event which highlights the stupidity of this corporate behavior.

Harry Potter was being released, and fans around the world were creating their "Fan Sites" to highlight their love of the brand, the characters, the books, and looking forward to the movie series. AOL/TimeWarner did the "right thing" and sent Cease and Desist letters to every site they found, threatening legal activity if the copyright infringement didn't stop.

Since I worked in a department of AOL which was geared more toward the internet rather than that ridiculousness which was AOL originally, our entire group got together to discuss this situation.
Our view, and our recommendation (which carried no weight, but we felt it was necessary to share)? Adopt the fan sites and give the ones which were approved an "AOL/TimeWarner Certification", making each one part of a mini-network of the company itself. In other words, embrace the new media, don't alienate the creativity and ingenuity of young people (some of these sites were BETTER than Time Warner's).

Those letters by the lawyers amounted to nothing, as did subsequent ones for later movies. I believe, eventually, they stopped making threats. But it shows the shortsightedness of corporate hacks when a phase transition takes place in business.

The same is true in movies, TV and music. The idea that you have to make money from the release of music is basically a dying concept, but they are clutching at it despite the pressures holding them back. Embrace the change! There are plenty of ways to still make money off entertainment without worrying about 'piracy'.

I agree that true 'piracy' is wrong. China building fake Apple Stores is piracy at a ridiculous level which should be prevented and stopped. Me downloading music for my MP3 player, but is on an album I purchased many years ago, shouldn't be illegal. In fact, I don't think it is technically. I've seen several cases where 'pirates' were found not guilty when they showed they'd purchased CDs or albums of 'pirated goods'.

Even so, as someone once told me, "if I light a match and start a fire, and somebody lights a cigarette on that fire, and he shares that to light someone else's cigarette, is that fire mine to charge for? After all it was my idea and effort that started the fire, their cigarettes are all piggybacking on my fire." I realize there's a difference between intellectual property and fire. But there is a very subtle point to be made, and one which I am sure the politicians are incapable of understanding or managing well.

I look at it this way:
The GOP doesn't care who they fund, as long as it's a business. While actors and actresses deride the GOP, the corporations generally keep their mouth shut and funnel money (somehow) to the candidates of their choice. The actors and actresses are high profile, the suits who support the GOP are not.

The GOP also believes by 'helping' artists retain their money, these artists will believe the party is looking out for them and possibly shift voting loyalties. It's absurd, of course, because so many artists are self-indulgent and delusional people with idealistic thoughts to offset the tremendous guilt they have at their success (or idealism forged from the fires of not-so-much success that the government 'owes' them a living).

In the end, it's about power, and this isn't the specialty of a single party.