cosmicrat 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Rep. Steve King Decides American Consumers Should Pay For Chinese IP Violations

    cosmicrat ( profile ), 09 Nov, 2011 @ 04:55pm

    Compensation for lost business

    Seriously, though, workers in the movie industry have been complaining for years about "runaway production" by which we mean movies that shoot in Canada (where the wages are lower and the government offers a subsidy) instead of staying in the U.S.. So, following this logic let's levy a tax on movies shot in Canada and distribute it to all the underemployed film workers here (they could fully find our health insurance for a start). Think it'll fly?

  • On the post: Rep. Steve King Decides American Consumers Should Pay For Chinese IP Violations

    cosmicrat ( profile ), 09 Nov, 2011 @ 03:41pm

    Compensate me for my losses too!

    A couple years ago someone stole a stereo out of my car, so let's levy a tax on all pawnshops and use it to pay people who's stereos got stolen. A roommate stole some CDs from me so lets levy a tax on used record stores to reimburse for that. Oh, but wait, this isn't about actual theft but about failure to make sales they thought they might have made! So, let's see, I work in the movie business, last year a major studio considered shooting in my state but ultimately didn't (went to a different state instead). So let's levy a tax on all the movie studios to compensate the workers in all the states they didn't shoot in!

  • On the post: Rep. Steve King Decides American Consumers Should Pay For Chinese IP Violations

    cosmicrat ( profile ), 08 Nov, 2011 @ 03:57pm

    I read this as political grandstanding. He must know this hasn't a snowball's chance. A phrase my union leader used while shilling for SOPA is "we are trying to create a groundswell of anger over the issue of digital theft". The debate on this bill will be manipulated to do that.

  • On the post: Aesop Rock Admits That Copying Others Is How He Makes Music

    cosmicrat ( profile ), 08 Nov, 2011 @ 02:13pm

    Your creation is yours until you release it to the world, then it belongs to the world. That's the natural law.

  • On the post: Rep. Steve King Decides American Consumers Should Pay For Chinese IP Violations

    cosmicrat ( profile ), 08 Nov, 2011 @ 12:54pm

    This might the first glimmer of bold new paradigm in how "artists" get paid: make everything they produce available for free, the levy a general tax on everything and divvy up the proceeds to the content creators! Brilliant! I'm surprised a sitting Congressperson would propose such a radically socialist idea in today's political climate.

  • On the post: Hollywood Front Group Rounds Up 4,000 Letters Sent To Congress, Pretending It's 100,000

    cosmicrat ( profile ), 03 Nov, 2011 @ 12:46am

    Union Support for PROTECT IP/E-PARASITE/Creative America ?

    I am a member of IATSE, the Entertainment Union mentioned. While our union leaders have seen fit to endorse Creative America and it's agenda, in fact no general vote of the membership, no referendum, no general consensus of the rank and file was ever had. We were not asked if we wanted to support this.

    We have received much propaganda supporting PROTECT IP, and recently CreativeAmerica. In the beginning it usually read like it came straight off the MPAA PR Desk, but recently our union leaders have been personalizing it with their own touches. Despite the one sided propaganda blitz, most of IATSE's members are not even aware of the issue. When I talk to my fellow filmworkers and outline both sides of the debate on "PROTECT IP" they almost invariably come out against it and express dismay that the union is supporting it.

    "As with politicians, unions have elections. I guess that if the leaders aren't representing their constituents, then they get voted out."

    Democracy within the unions works about as well as it does on the national level....

    Seriously though, I have only become aware of this issue in the last few months. It wasn't to my recollection an issue in the last round of elections. But you can bet it will influence my vote in the next round of union elections. Still, just like in national politics, I may not have many real choices.

    "I am pro-union. Unions need to be smart and do whats best for their members. Propping up dying business models and their incumbents is not smart."

    Amen to that. I would add: Screwing everyone in a desperate hope to help a small minority is not ethical, and if you are not ethical people will mostly hate you.

    On this issue, do not assume the union leadership represents the opinions of the majority of union members.