
Alexis Ohanian, Reddit co-founder and Web advocate - sethbannon
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/alexis-ohanian-reddit-co-founder-and-web-advocate/2012/09/05/f642f1b6-eb9f-11e1-9ddc-340d5efb1e9c_story.html
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snowwrestler
He's an amazing advocate for the open Internet but I think this statement
sounded naive:

> If the Web is left alone, it will solve the problem of piracy on its own, he
> says.

Competitive market systems solve the problems that they have incentive to
solve. I question what incentive web companies have to solve piracy, if not
regulations. Seems to me that any business model that depends on licensed
content would work even better with pirated content.

I even wonder how much of the web sees piracy as a problem at all. It seems to
me that quite a lot of text online (at Techdirt for instance) is dedicated to
the argument that piracy is a good thing to be embraced, not "solved."

~~~
kn0thing
In the interview, I cited Gabe and Valve's success in Russia by realizing
"piracy was a service problem."

[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114391-Valves-
Gabe...](http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114391-Valves-Gabe-Newell-
Says-Piracy-Is-a-Service-Problem)

That's probably where that language originated, but I agree that as more data
comes out, we'll see piracy as less and less of a problem. The more innovators
showing how to embrace change (and win!), the better. That's a big part of why
I invested in startups like VHX.tv -- so I can have more examples showing why
we don't need laws, esp bad ones.

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sethbannon
Techies, take note. Alexis Ohanian shows that you can absolutely make a
difference by engaging in the political process.

~~~
j_s
Pardon my ignorance, but isn't he less techie and more unbelievably-amazing-
biz-dev guy?

~~~
jedberg
Alexis was the less technical one, but make no mistake: he's no slouch when it
comes to technology.

~~~
wellhesright
Computer Science major, or self-taught?

~~~
kn0thing
Business & history major. I took plenty of CS classes in
highschool/communitycollege/and at UVA, but that was just enough for me to
realize I wasn't in the same league as folks like Steve.

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therealarmen
Full text for those who get hit with a paywall:

\---

 _By Hayley Tsukayama, Published: September 5_

Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian has accomplished what virtually no one else in
Washington is doing these days: bringing the political parties together on a
controversial issue.

Democrats and Republicans have stepped up their support this year of Ohanian’s
cause of keeping the Web free of government intervention. During their
conventions, both sides touted a platform plank affirming Internet freedom.

And last week, President Obama stopped by Reddit for a surprise question-and-
answer session, saying he would “fight hard to make sure the Internet remains
the open forum for everybody.”

“Republicans want to keep the open Internet safe from big government.
Democrats want to keep it safe from big corporations. I say we agree to agree
and move ahead,” Ohanian said in an interview. “It was so successful because
we literally had the Tea Party next to the MoveOn.org guys at these meetings.
They don’t often hang out together.”

Ohanian’s inroads in Washington is a homecoming of sorts for the Columbia,
Md., native. But the 29-year-old never intended to go into politics. In 2005,
he co-founded Reddit.com, where users rank the most interesting content on the
Web. A mere 18 months later, Ohanian sold the site to Conde Nast at a price
tag that some speculate was between $10 million and $20 million. The site
draws about 35 million users.

His introduction to high-stakes Beltway politics came this year when he and
other executives from Silicon Valley stopped a pair of bills that would have
held Web sites accountable if they host pirated content. The effort overcame
fierce lobbying from powerful constituents, including the Chamber of Commerce
and the Motion Picture Association of America.

These groups complained that Web companies were enabling pirated content,
stealing billions of dollars from artists, authors and movie producers. A
spokesman for the MPAA said that while the Web should not be encumbered by
regulation, smart legislation is needed to crack down on piracy.

Ohanian’s views are more uncompromising. He said that the government should
have no role in policing the Web. He added that if Hollywood made it easier
for consumers to get the movies, music and electronic books they want, there
would be no need to pirate content.

If the Web is left alone, it will solve the problem of piracy on its own, he
says.

“If you’re really interested in artists’ rights, look at the Internet and look
at all this great art” that it created, he said. Rhetoric that pits artists’
rights against the open Internet “infuriates me,” Ohanian said, because of the
amount of content being funded by such online incubators as Kickstarter and
Indiegogo.

His work this year on what was called the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA,
earned him allies on Capitol Hill.

“It’s been a pleasure to work with Alexis to stop SOPA and keep the Web open,”
said Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.). “He brings to the table a deep knowledge of
start-up culture and what makes the Internet tick and has a knack for bridging
the gap between those worlds and government. And he got me onto Reddit.”

“Alexis is a technology innovator whose platform is changing the way people
share, collaborate and affect policy change,” said another of Ohanian’s close
collaborators, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). “Alexis and the Reddit community had a
profound influence on the outcome” of the legislative debate this year.

Since leaving the day-to-day operation at Reddit in 2009, Ohanian’s projects
have included the geek-stuff-for-charity site Breadpig and the online travel
service Hipmunk. He also launched a bus tour to highlight the importance of
Internet freedom to the American economy.

The groundswell of support for Ohanian surprised some traditional lobbyists in
Washington. But it was obvious to Ohanian, who says nearly everyone wants the
Internet to be a free and open place.

“The Internet represents so much of the awesomeness this country was founded
on,” he said. “This is not a fight between Silicon Valley and Hollywood.”

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SnydenBitchy
Here’s how he deflects blame from redditors onto the victims of their creepy
Facebook stalking, Photobucket fuskering, and real-life harassment: “Your kids
need to know that any time they take an image and put it in a digital format…
they should assume that it is now public content… That’s the useful thing I
think CNN could have reported on, instead of making up a bunch of jibber-
jabber about reddit.” —Alexis Ohanian

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXZYvrue1BE&feature=youtu...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXZYvrue1BE&feature=youtu.be&t=2m31s)

~~~
jedberg
When someone ships drugs via UPS, do you blame the drug dealer or UPS?

How could reddit possibly have monitored all that content?

Parents need to take more responsibility for the actions of their kids.

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ditoa
This guy has a very bright future ahead of him.

~~~
kn0thing
Thanks! I'll keep on keeping on.

