

Corruption Or Carelessness? GOP Deletes Its Own Copyright Reform Report - thegarside
http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/18/corruption-or-carelessness-gop-deletes-their-own-progressive-patent-reform-report/

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jneal
I'm going to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but I honestly believe my
opinion is the truth. The corporations truly run America by financing the
politicians and if they say pull this paper or lose funding, you are going to
pull the paper.

The big corporations (that run America) don't want patent reform. They buy up
all the patents and force the little guys either out of business or to pay
them large sums of money that shouldn't have to be paid. The patent system
allows big corporations to keep a monopoly.

When I see a company get a patent for page turns, I can't help but put my hand
to my face and just worry about the future of innovation.

~~~
DannyBee
You need to define who you think the "big corporations that run america are":

A large number of big corporations "running america" really do want patent
reform. How do i know? I've been there, in meetings with congressmen and
senators, listening to them push for it. I've watched them do everything they
can to push the bills forward.

I've watched them get beaten down by _other_ big corporations, like
pharmaceutical companies, or patent trolls (Intellectual Ventures).

So please define who the big corporations you think are trying to stall it
are. I know who has stalled it in the past, and at least the first few times,
it was never the usual suspects in the tech industry.

Also note that at least from where I sit, the senators and congressman I've
seen really do want to do the right thing (most of the time). They just don't
know what it is, and they are often being told, by people they trust on both
sides, to do opposing things.

Also, anybody who thinks this kind of politics is about money should be forced
to be a legislative assistant for a few years.

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smokeyj
> You need to define who you think the "big corporations that run america are"

The point is regulation is determined by the highest bidder. Does it matter
who the highest bidder is? It doesn't change the fact that America is a whore.

~~~
DannyBee
But it's not determined by the highest bidder, because money is not the sole
driver of politics, despite what many think.

Do you think Chris Dodd made more money as a Congressman, or do you think he
makes more as the head of the MPAA?

A Congressman would make a lot more money being a lobbyist. Most of the money
they get goes towards reelection campaigns, which are wildly expensive, and
deplete a large percentage of their funds. They are not Congressman because it
pays a lot of money personally. If that was the goal, they'd all do short
stints and move to being lobbyists. Instead, they stay in Congress for a long
time.

Don't get me wrong, i'm not defending anything. I'm more trying to get folks
to see that it is dangerous to equate money with power in America. Power is
power. Money is money. Some of one may get you some of the other. But they are
not the same, and until folks get around to realizing this, they'll never
change anything.

~~~
smokeyj
You're right, money and power determines regulation. Let's just not fool
ourselves into thinking it's something silly like "the consent of the
governed".

~~~
daniel-cussen
Which brings us full circle to Copyright reform.

Copyright (as opposed to patents, pushed by Intellectual Ventures et al) is
pushed by Hollywood. Hollywood, composed of television and radio media, which
heavily cross-hires with film and music. In other words: the same people who
own a radio station might use their knowledge of acoustics, their
installations, their relationship with relevant engineers, bring in
appropriate celebrities, and so forth, so that this form of horizontal
expansion is an effective, and therefore common one. Film and TV, radio and
music, and all four, are frequently in the same hands. So we have the voice
and the asset: entertainment being the asset, news coverage being the opinion-
forming political capital.

Hollywood's greatest political asset is not, as many believe, its lobbying.
Certainly it engages in lobbying; most industries do. But the true, cocky
power of Hollywood is its influence over its viewers.

I forget most of the numbers, but I remember that in Peru, during the Fuji
Mori (dictatorship) years, the government paid bribes to members within and
without it. Within it: judges, and many others. Without it: television station
owners! Yes sir, the largest bribes, far and away, were paid to television
station owners; bribes in the millions, in a country where nobody had
millions. The moral of the story? Media has a lot of political capital.

So what we're left with is, Hollywood would have a strong, even gravitational,
influence over Congress even without lobbying, merely because of the millions
of people it influences into voting one way or another.

In other words, it molds the consent of the governed.

~~~
yuhong
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3491115>

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MikeTaylor
There is a petition to the Republican Study Committee to republish and support
Khanna's report on copyright reform. I've signed: it's at
[https://www.change.org/petitions/paul-teller-and-the-
republi...](https://www.change.org/petitions/paul-teller-and-the-republican-
study-committee-rsc-republish-and-stand-behind-their-policy-brief-on-
copyright-law)

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sp332
Discussion from when the paper was put up:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4797036>

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joshuahedlund
This is a reflection of the growing influence of younger generations within
the GOP and their attempts to rectify much of the old-fashioned GOP hypocrisy
regarding "small government" and copyright reform, military spending,
surveillance, the war on drugs, etc.

Ars Technica had a bit of a profile on the "tech-savvy" Derek Khanna who
authored the memo: [http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/11/influential-
gop-g...](http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/11/influential-gop-group-
releases-shockingly-sensible-copyright-memo/)

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kochb
If this upsets you, you need to contact your representative now and complain,
especially if they're GOP. If they're a good one and they hear some noise over
this, they'll take note of it.

<http://house.gov/representatives/>

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paulhauggis
It's amazing how biased the media is..even online.

There are plenty of things on the Democrat side that are just as
questionable..but they aren't talked about. Why is that?

Here is a good example:

[http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57552225-38/senate-bill-
re...](http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57552225-38/senate-bill-rewrite-lets-
feds-read-your-e-mail-without-warrants/)

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paulhauggis
The responses to this prove my point.

Thanks

~~~
nitrogen
A friend of mine used to think he was the best debater around. His primary
technique? Declaring his argument proven without even making any claims.

