Poker Perambulation

Lets start with the first part.  Need a few thousand for a march?  Simple.  Go online.  Pundits then report the evil dictators then tried to disable the Internet but heroic efforts and so on.   The triumph of man and mankind, right?   Then we get to Chamber pots.  I’ll keep it simple.  That’s about another technical advance — Indoor Plumbing — disrupting the marketplace.  Be still my heart and aging kidneys.

Ok, with my usual attempt for confusion behind us, what do I mean — an ongoing conundrum. It means the good guys won one against the bad guys.  In this case it is the movie, recording, media mogul folks.  You know those nice folks that gave us MGM musicals and Bedtime for Bonzo.

They paid off  lobbied congress to make a mockery of copyright’s intent.   Fair use was a faint memory.  Law offices went from ambulance chasing to  suing granny for millions.    Same old same old bought and paid for to benefit mankind special interests.

Here is a little quote of the new media mogul for the media moguls (Former Senator Dodd) in the newspaper of record:

He acknowledged his side had committed a misstep by allowing Hollywood to become the face of laws that were intended to protect not just movies, but also more mundane products — for instance, home smoke alarms — that are frequently counterfeited abroad, sometimes with disastrous effects.

That is misdirection.  Isn’t The Customs Service getting plenty of heat from Prada and First Alert over enforcing very specific laws?  Are the courts turning a blind eye to all those existing laws and added regulations on the books?  Evidently.

Read the article closely.  It is a gas.  I’m not sure if it quite up to the crap spewed by Jack Valenti but he was a giant in this arena.  Poor Dodd isn’t even allowed to talk to his friends on the hill until 2013.   That seems to indicate there may be some truth to mind reading.   Or maybe action speaks louder than words.

Well, what it all really boils down to is that we won one.  That is an uncommon happening these days.  We lost when they passed a law that allows American Citizen to be held without due process as terrorists.  (Did you know that law has been passed?)  So, our win was a small one but it was a win.   Thank you, Internet.

SOPA and PIPA aren’t ever going to be dead.  They will become a new campaign with all the rhetoric about it being to our benefit.  A bit of breathing space.  Read what the former senator says and weep.  About the only bit of honesty I found was his sour grapes about the White House piling on — after the fact.

ADDENDUM:

Have you bought your Kindle or Nook yet?   Great technology.   OK, now….  Have you looked at the prices of ebooks from the major publishers?

Typewriters and pencils are out.   The books are written, edited, printed using technology.   Linotype machines are passe.  But, there are still massive presses churning through tons of costly paper to create the hard cover/soft cover world.  With ebooks that cost is gone — a substantial savings.  So why when I look at a paper back for $7.95 is the ebook also $7.95.

Couldn’t they share their windfall a bit?  Learn from the RIAA and MPAA stupidity of making your nut on the backs of your once loyal customers.  It is a new day.  You don’t own the only ball and get to make all the rules.  The sandlot is in revolt.

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