
SOPA architect now pushing for “IP Attaché” legislation - narad
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/07/sopa-architect-now-pushing-for-ip-attache-legislation/
======
HistoryInAction
The bill has been held already after two SOPA opponents-turned-cosponsors of
this bill withdrew under fire, led by Ernesto Falcon of Public Knowledge and
much of the activist anti-SOPA crowd. Total time since word first broke: ~2
days. These things /can/ move quickly, which is why I'm paying attention to it
for the startup community.

We're engaging with Rep. Issa and Chaffetz's office to express our continued
concerns.

Contact Troy Stock at Rep. Chaffetz's office
$firstname.$lastname@mail.house.gov

I don't have a staff contact yet for Rep. Issa's office, but I'll update when
I do.

I'll note that the startup community fucked up.

We had a decent opportunity to knock out Smith in the primary. We failed to
engage. We lost $350k, left it on the table, when a PAC approached local
organizers, offered the money if we had been able to identify 15,000 potential
Lamar Smith opponents in the district. Campaigning 101.

We were raising money for ads, and failed to do this basic foundational work,
meaning we failed to get the money, which knocked off at least one major
incumbent in Texas that day (Silvestre Reyes).

As it is, know how much SOPA was worth? Five percentage points, with Lamar
going from 83% in '10 to 77% in '12 during the primary.

EDIT: Look for an update today from TechDirt, assuming Masnick can confirm on
the record our reports that the bill has been held from further action at this
time.

EDIT2: Also, the IP Attache bill is apparently near-copies of pages 70-78 of
SOPA, though I haven't verified this.

------
Zenst
WOW if we protected people health and wellbeing as well as we protect digital
media then the World would be full of healthier people. Kind of messed up
realy.

I'd dare say more TAXable income thru avoidance is lost in a single day than
is lost through piracy in a single year. That would realy put things into
perspective.

[EDIT ADD] Just did a quick thumb in the air statistical google for the UK
[http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-
staggers/2011/11/tax-a...](http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-
staggers/2011/11/tax-avoidance-justice-network) gives us £69.9 billion a year
lost thru TAX avoidance (esitmated) and for piracy the net effect is
[http://www.itproportal.com/2011/11/11/video-game-piracy-
uk-c...](http://www.itproportal.com/2011/11/11/video-game-piracy-uk-costs/)
for games and for movies [http://www.metro.co.uk/news/817878-illegal-
downloading-cost-...](http://www.metro.co.uk/news/817878-illegal-downloading-
cost-1-4bn)

So alot less and yet the effort/publicity for the later and laws compared to
combating the former TAX fraud/avoidance do seem somewhat out of kilt.

Need I say anything else beyond messed up priorities.

~~~
masklinn
> I'd dare say more TAXable income thru avoidance is lost in a single day than
> is lost through piracy in a single year.

Depends what method of accounting you use really, going with the MPAA and
RIAA's statutory damages demands in piracy cases, "losses due to piracy" are
probably in the same order of magnitude as the planetary GDP in the same time-
scale.

------
alttab
As a resident of Texas, I apologize for the continuation of Lamar Smith's
complete:

1) Lack of social and moral awareness

OR

2) Complete corruption by large monied forces.

I swear we all aren't dumb rednecks down here. Most of us are pretty cool. Mr.
Smith on the other hand, is a tool.

~~~
anamax
One difference between Americans and non-Americans is that Americans will
apologise.

Smith is a tool and US politics sucks, but he isn't significantly worse than
the norm in other countries and neither is US politics.

~~~
alttab
I bet you are 100% right. That doesn't mean we have to settle, just because
its worse in other places. I'm sure you can come up with a few examples on
your own where applying that same logic would seem like a terrible idea.

"I have a brain tumor, but its not as bad as some others so I'll leave it
alone."

~~~
anamax
> That doesn't mean we have to settle

And I never suggested otherwise. I just pointed out that Americans apologise
for this stuff while non-Americans don't.

------
bediger4000
Isn't "architect" given Rep. Smith a bit too much credence? It's pretty clear
at this point that Smith isn't actually writing these things, and may not even
have conceived of the strategy to get them in play. He's just doing what some
lobbyists have convinced him to do.

------
pwny
Dear United States of America,

Please stop trying to impose your ridiculous and restrictive policies and law
on us. There a simple reason we don't have the same legislation you do: WE
DON'T WANT IT.

Sincerely, The rest of the world

------
einhverfr
This may be slightly off-topic but wondering what the obviously-continental-
European power plugs (those that aren't USB plugs in the protest image) are
doing in an ad advertising protesting SOPA. Are the French and Germans
supposed to go off-line to protest American legislation?

As for the bill, isn't it pretty obviously a copyright maximalist position
internationally? I wonder what this has to do with the USTR's reversal on that
recently.

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vy8vWJlco
make no mistake:

"imaginary property" != "real property"

importanceof("real property") > importanceof("imaginary property")

mistakenly equating the two, as most politicians do -- because "well, why
should the internet be any different?" -- erodes real property rights (and
civil rights, ...). yes, really: distributor (excuse me... creator) imaginary
property rights absolutely come second to my real physical property and
privacy rights. i don't care how many revenue forecasts aren't met. ROI is not
a right, it's a market risk. you don't like the returns? buy a farm and be
glad the imaginary property advocates haven't lobbied the right to lock your
door away from you yet. you could be infringing my copyright (not to mention
commiting thoughtcrimes, or storing encrypted-looking data) behind that closed
door.

y2k12wtf!

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webjunkie
This makes me sick!

