Piracy and South Park

Many of us loooove South Park, right?

When I started reading the first chapter, it reminded me of one of the South Park episodes where the boys find out about online piracy and that celebrities were losing money because no one was buying their CDs.

One of the celebrities said to the boys, "Because people are illegally downloading songs I wasn't able to buy my private island for my birthday".

HA!


Think about it, how march harm is piracy doing to celebrities?  This might sound cruel, but they have enough money anyway.  Sorry I don't have as much money as them to buy a CD so they can buy a private island, jet, huge mansion, etc.

At least that's what South Park taught me.  Thought it was note worthy.

Suing a 12 year old...

I started to read the first chapter of the Generation Digital book, and it said that the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) was suing hundreds of young adults, teens, and kids for illegally downloading music.

Here's my problem with the situation:  the RIAA was suing KIDS who probably didn't know much about the law, let alone that they could get in so much trouble for it.  They didn't know what was coming for them...

That's heartless of the RIAA to sue kids (like poor 12 year old Brianna LaHara), having them stand in court facing fines for something they may not have fully understood.

Even a rapper thought they were crazy...

The White House Has YouTube Channel?!

I discovered that the White House has a YouTube channel!


I saw it on YouTube's main page, the top video on the sidebar was an hour long video on the State of the Union.

And here the government wanted to pass SOPA/PIPA (and now ACTA) that would eventually shutdown YouTube...


Anyone else see the irony?

SOPA/PIPA, More info

Yes, these laws have been shelved, but we may run into a similar problem (like with the ACTA law).

Here's a video a friend found on Vimeo. Here's the link.


PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

SOPA/PIPA Rises Again!

So I'm sure many have heard that SOPA and PIPA have been shelved because of the amount of hate that people had for them.

Well, sadly these things come in THREES!


This one is called ACTA, Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.  This one appears to allow other countries to use this act....greeeaaaaat.  But it basically does the same thing (but it sounds like it's not just limited to the Internet...I think it can strike at ANYTHING), it's designed to boost the already advanced copyright laws...

We've got two down, one to go!

Books vs. eBooks?

So in class we were talking about whether Google was making us stupid.  The conversation then veered off into the Internet in general (and how you can just Google search books or keywords to get the info you want).

Then I got to thinking:  What about the rise of eBooks (the elimination of paper books, you can just buy a book off the internet and get it on your tablet, iPad, phone, etc., for a much lower price)?  How will regular paper books be affected?

The sad truth is, paper books could be eliminated.  With the rise of demand for "going green", almost everything has been made to eliminate waste and overuse of resources.  Books are no exception.

There are avid supporters of both, but I'm just going to write my thoughts on it.

Yes, eBooks are nice (especially for those darn expensive textbooks!), and they save paper, cost less, etc.

However, if people don't read everything on the Internet, how can they read an eBook? I don't think I can.  All that brightness and pixel made letters (instead of ink stained onto a page in thick blots), I think my eyes would go bad (or worse).  Reading things on a bright screen (like on the Internet) just makes my brain go all fuzzy.

Here's where the whole "Is Google making us stupid" argument comes in.  If people just scan web pages, and go someplace else for more info, why won't some people do the same for eBooks?

That's why I still support paper books.  I can actually put it close to my face and it won't possibly blind me...

But how much longer will books be around?  With the rise of the Internet and digital media, and the many uses you can get out of such media, may very well eliminate paper materials altogether!

Harry Potter vs. SOPA/PIPA

First off, I really enjoyed the chapter from Jenkins' book "Convergence Culture" on the Harry Potter wars and fanfiction.

I got to thinking, Warner Bros. had tried to shut down sites that "exploited" the property rights of Harry Potter back when the movies were underway.  This led to fan writers accusing them of violating their freedom of speech, unfair prejudice on small sites, etc.

So can SOPA/PIPA still do the same?  Take legal action to shut down these sites that Warner Bros. has already deemed safe and fair?

Rowling appears to have supported the existence of fanfiction, and Warner Bros. soon was forced to follow.

But SOPA/PIPA has not.  


Not only can these new laws potentially shut down Harry Potter fanfiction sites (assuming someone else bypasses Rowling and Warner Bros., if at all possible), but then can shut down any fanfiction known to man!

Will Harry Potter be at risk again?