What a farce!!

[Larry]

Wikipedia is on record as opposing authors and publishers rights by its opposition to SOPA. It plans to blackout English language operations tomorrow in opposition. Let's all tell them we oppose their position.

Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, says: "The Internet is the first thing that humanity has built that humanity doesn't understand, the largest experiment in anarchy that we have ever had." Google is also one of the largest intellectual piracy thieves in the world according to federal lawsuits brought by most of the big book publishers and many authors groups, writers and artists. It and others with a corporate greed mentality would love to block SOPA and anything else that interferes with corporate profits. Readers' choice: corporate anarchy or a nation and world governed by laws that protect the little guys, the authors, writers, artists, musicians and photographers of the world from having their works stolen.

Unfortunately, it also appears President Obama has sold out to the corporate greed guys.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

[Rowena, Group Owner]

Good Grief! What a quote. Anarchy does indeed rule the internet, but I never expected one of the "Don't Be Evil" guys to praise it.

Here's what one group intended to put on their black screen (but they later corrected it).

Quote: This site has been blocked in protest of the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) two bills which will allow the government censor the intenet. Find out more at americancensorship.org or the video below. This website will return at 8pm.

[Rowena, Group Owner]

Nah. President Obama is courting the anarchist vote.

[Rowena, Group Owner]

Larry,
This comment heard on CNBC on Tuesday goes to the heart of why Tech innovators are violently opposed to protecting content creators.

As Kevin Systrom of Instagram so unwisely put into words, with Social Media "... the goal is to get as large as possible, as quickly as possible.."

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=...

IMHO, That sort of goal is incompatible with taking the time to respect and protect the rights of copyright owners.

[Joe]

I agree with Larry completely. We're fighting an uphill battle. I'm especially disappointed on receiving E-mail against SOPA from organizations that dub themselves for the little guy. I don't believe the politicians know that much about the internet and piracy and are listening to a lot of propaganda put out by the corporate internet, who are making a profit off of piracy.

[Larry]

Rowena wrote: "Nah. President Obama is courting the anarchist vote."

We shouldn't slam the anarchists by connecting them with the corporate greed guys.

[Larry]

Candace wrote: "Maybe if enough authors staged their own version of a 'blackout' the counterpoint might be heard?"

Candace, I've made similar comments before. Unfortunately, even on Goodreads, the literary pirates appear to outnumber the authors.

[Larry]

Joe wrote: "I agree with Larry completely. We're fighting an uphill battle. I'm especially disappointed on receiving E-mail against SOPA from organizations that dub themselves for the little guy. I don't belie..."

Joe, thanks. I often get very frustrated with many of the shortsighted individuals who think "free" is a great way to get books.

[Rowena, Group Owner]

Here are some searchable titles that would lead to new discussions. I will edit later to add urls.

The New York Times: The False Ideals of the Web
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/19/opi...

The Financial Times: Halt the Silicon Valley histrionics

The Guardian: Behind the music: What if the culture industry shut down for a day?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/music...



The Detroit Free Press: Brian Dickerson: Websites’ fight for freedom may be about profits, too

http://www.freep.com/article/20120119...

Des Moines Register: Technology protection would guard jobs in Iowa

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/arti...

The Financial Post: No Oil Meets No Copyright
http://opinion.financialpost.com/2012...

The Herald Scotland: Wiki boss has picked the wrong fight for democracy

http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment...

Additional stories are available on the Copyright Alliance blog: The Morning After: Perspectives on the SOPA Debate

http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/201...


In addition to sharing and commenting on the above articles, please add your supportive comments to the following outlets:

The New York Times, Room for Debate: The Alternative is Impractical

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/...


NPR’s OnPoint (audio archive of broadcast): SOPA, Internet Piracy and Power

http://onpoint.wbur.org/2012/01/18/sopa


USA Today: Experts disagree on reach of anti-piracy bills
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/sto...

[Larry]

Looks like good stuff. Thanks Rowena. Did you see the GOP debate last night? SOPA was a hot issue.

[Rowena, Group Owner]

Quote of the month – “intellectual property is theft”, tweeted John Perry Barlow of the Electronic Frontier Foundation – .

Larry, was it you who found that?

[Rowena, Group Owner]

Larry,
I thought that Rick Santorum's response was the strongest and most positive (for copyright owners).

Newt's was an ignorant cheap shot.

[Larry]

Rowena wrote: "Quote of the month – “intellectual property is theft”, tweeted John Perry Barlow of the Electronic Frontier Foundation – .

Larry, was it you who found that?"

No. How can anyone construe that "intellectual property is theft?" To me that's an oxymoron.

[Joe]

One of the problems is that there is no single organization that speaks for the e-book/book publishing business such as there is for the music and movie industry. Authors and book publishers are seldom mentioned in any of the blogs pro or anti SOPA. It's as though we don't exist. How can we go on strike with no organization? It would be nice to pull all e-books from the big booksellers such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Fictionwise for a day. I belong to EPIC, but it's pretty small and divided on the subject itself.

[Larry]

Joe, I'm also part of EPIC and you're right. The authors' guild is one group that's representative of authors, but I suspect their main focus is print authors. Also, they have rather high annual dues. Granted, they do have lawsuits against some of the major pirates. Unfortunately, E-Books have grown so quickly it's rife with amateurs who write for fun rather than to make a living. They have no vested interest in a secure future for professional writers. There are also specialized organizations for women's romance writers and the best known, the Mystery Writers of America. I was a member of the last group and in my experience it's not worth the money to join. It's only interested in furthering the interests of the New York City in-crowd of successful authors. Outside of Manhattan it's a non-entity. I also spent a lot of money as an active participant during my first year and the snide experience and comments left me with little regard for the organization.

I totally agree with your strike sentiment, but I'm not a union organizer and have no idea how it could be successfully implemented.

[Rowena, Group Owner]

Larry, Joe,
The problem is that you'd have to get the retailers on board, and it wouldn't happen. The logistics wouldn't work.