House Passes Pro IP Overwhelmingly
from the well-that's-no-good dept
Last week we questioned why Congress seemed to think that the White House should be playing the role of copyright cop. Yet, apparently, the House of Representatives didn't think it was a question worth asking, as it has passed the PRO IP bill by an overwhelming vote, 410 to 10. It seems like our Congressional Representatives felt that, once they got rid of one bad portion of the bill, that the rest of it must be perfectly fine. This bill has a ton of problems, expanding copyright law and the executive branch's authority in ways that are pretty clearly unnecessary. It is, in effect, a bill to prop up the obsolete business model of one particular industry, so it's rather disappointing that our Representatives have rushed through to approve it with little discussion or debate over whether it's even necessary. Either way, it seems unlikely to get much further, as the Justice Department has already come out against the bill, one would hope that even if the Senate approves a version of the bill, the President would veto it.
In the meantime, though, given just how much damage arbitrary expansions of copyright law have done, you would think that Congress would at least want to spend some time exploring the issues before rushing through new laws. Tragically, it seems that entertainment industry lobbyists still have politicians convinced that stronger copyright is naturally "good."
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by r fmc on May 8th, 2008 @ 11:06pm
You can't say you love your country and hate your government. - Bill Clinton
FUCK THAT
The highest manifestation of life consists in this: that a being governs its own actions. A thing which is always subject to the direction of another is somewhat of a dead thing. -Saint Thomas Aquinas
MUCH BETTER
and finally
Men in authority will always think that criticism of their policies is dangerous. They will always equate their policies with patriotism, and find criticism subversive. - Henry Steele Commager
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I wish I could say that this is a surprise by Lit_Teacher on May 8th, 2008 @ 11:14pm
Well, while I may WISH that Congress would spend time exploring issues before rushing through new laws, I've long since given up any hope that it may actually happen.(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
by Anonymous Coward on May 8th, 2008 @ 11:23pm
realize too that congress has a lower approval rating than the president. 90% disapprove. fire them all (cept ronp and dennisk, i guess)
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by Rekrul on May 8th, 2008 @ 11:39pm
I really hope this stupid bill doesn't get passed, but I don't have much hope. So far, the content industry has gotten pretty much everything it's wanted, so why should this be any different?
Hey, we already take people's cars, money and even homes for suspected drug crimes, let's start taking peoples computers, cash and homes for copying movies and music...
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In there! by Bent Over on May 9th, 2008 @ 2:48am
Them commies are just gettin started, their coming for everything. It's a crying shame, that a nation with so much edgeamacation, can be so retarded. just goes to show any dumbass can be a poletic... an VOTE! Stroke's the word And it won't be gentle, if ya know what I mean.
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Write your reps by Monarch on May 9th, 2008 @ 4:43am
I just wrote my rep and told her I will not be voting for her in the coming election for the piss poor job her and her colleagues have been doing. Probably not worth the bits it was written in, but hey it's at least something!
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A Government by eleete on May 9th, 2008 @ 5:12am
Of the Corporations, By the Corporations, For the Corporations. This is gross, why have a discussion about it, the checks cleared !
e
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by Overcast on May 9th, 2008 @ 5:48am
Yep - still doesn't mean I have to buy a thing.
It's sad to see innovation stifled by narrow minded politicians, though.
Soon enough - they'll be passing laws that prevent us from making comments like this too - just watch.
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Re: I wish I could say that this is a surprise by mobiGeek on May 9th, 2008 @ 6:20am
So with an election coming up soon, what are you doing towards rectifying this situation? [Assuming you are eligible to do something about this]
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Re: A Government by Anonymous Coward on May 9th, 2008 @ 6:20am
Ever see a TV show called Jericho? It's about an evil US corporation that attempts (mostly successfully) to take out 23 major US cities with nuclear bombs in order to shatter the existing government, and recreate it how they see fit. In essence, the corporation becomes the government, or tries to anyway. Granted, it's just a fictional dooms-day drama, but it does make you wonder just how far some corporations will go to get what they want.
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Nov 5th by Old Guy on May 9th, 2008 @ 6:25am
Is it a coincidence that Guy Fawlke's Day is the day after elections?
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so... by Anonymous Coward on May 9th, 2008 @ 6:47am
Who were the ten people against it?
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by Anonymous Coward on May 9th, 2008 @ 6:59am
Fuck the 2 party system.
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Damn Bush! by Gaas on May 9th, 2008 @ 7:47am
If the house was just controlled by Democrats, this would never have happened!
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by Dan on May 9th, 2008 @ 7:50am
I don't have much faith that a presidential veto will happen in spite of the justice department.
If the office of the president cared about IP issues, Clinton would have vetoed the DMCA. Now a republican president is going to go against big business? I don't think it's going to happen.
His cronies will tell him it's a good thing and he'll blindly sign it without any thought.
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Re: Re: I wish I could say that this is a surprise by Lit_Teacher on May 9th, 2008 @ 7:53am
The same thing I do every year there is a city, county, state or federal election - voting.
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And yet... by Anonymous Coward on May 9th, 2008 @ 8:03am
as voters, we still do not blame ourselves for putting these hoodlums in office. Yea us!
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Re: Damn Bush! by eleete on May 9th, 2008 @ 10:07am
Unanimous does not mean that all the Democrats WANTED to vote no, but went with supporting the bill... Seems to me neither party brought their brains to work that day. But I think your comment is a bit amiss since both sides were almost 100% for it.
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Re: Bush by eleete on May 9th, 2008 @ 11:23am
Blindly push the nucular button on IP ?
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Re: Re: Damn Bush! by eleete on May 9th, 2008 @ 11:33am
based on this
Rep. Frederick Boucher [D, VA-9]
Rep. John Doolittle [R, CA-4]
Rep. John Duncan [R, TN-2]
Rep. Jeff Flake [R, AZ-6]
Rep. Dennis Kucinich [D, OH-10]
Rep. Zoe Lofgren [D, CA-16]
Rep. Gwen Moore [D, WI-4]
Rep. Ronald Paul [R, TX-14]
Rep. Ted Poe [R, TX-2]
Rep. Lynn Westmoreland [R, GA-3]
Rep. Donald Young [R, AK-0]
More Repulicans Did not vote than Dems, hmmmmmmm.
e
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How many of you actually vote? by Anonymous on May 9th, 2008 @ 5:00pm
If you really want to make a difference, then do so.
Remember you can only truly whine, and complain about not getting your way if you actually made an attempt to get it in the first place.
Do you also Whine, Bitch, and Complain about not getting a raise at work when you never asked for one in the first place, or actually improved your work efficiency?
No.
Of course you don't because that would be stupid right?
Remember only you can prevent forest fires -Smokey the Bear
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WONDER HOW THIS STUFF GETS PASSED ?? by eleete on May 10th, 2008 @ 2:52am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG6X-xtVask
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by Lucretious on May 10th, 2008 @ 5:38am
Dan Glickman gushes:
"strengthen our nation's economy"? Talk about reaching.....
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Re: power and practices by oregonnerd on May 10th, 2008 @ 8:41am
Odd that with all the anti-drug laws...there's not one against power. Certainly it leads to stranger dreams and more dangerous practices.
--Glenn
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Re: Re: A Government by oregonnerd on May 10th, 2008 @ 8:42am
((did))
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copyright by oregonnerd on May 10th, 2008 @ 8:51am
To some extent at least this is asinine. This is only for published works, as far as I can tell, and also makes the assumption that anything not formally published is at best insignificant. The writer who goes along with Emily Dickinson (i.e. "The business of poets is writing poetry"--and then if at all perhaps getting published) would most likely see denial of access to the public as a strike against the writer.
http://writing.borngraphics.com/voices.pdf
This isn't to say that publication is against writing. The artistic merits of the referenced ms. aren't the question; access is. It's poetry and free verse to boot so the ordinary reader here probably won't be much interested in it save as an example.
--Glenn
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IP inaccurate by MLS on May 11th, 2008 @ 10:36am
Merely as a point of clarification, the name of this bill voted upon by the House (which means it has a long way to go to even be enacted by Congress) is terribly misleading. This is not about "IP" generically. It is specifically about copyrights under federal law and a legally questionable incursion by the federal government into the area of trade secrets, an area that has traditionally been the province of the states as sovereign entities.
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