UAA, Bandwidth, and a lack of understanding
Amidst all the controversy that is going on here on campus about the bandwidth that is wrongfully going to be lowered, there is one perspective that is being lost – that piracy is good for business.
When Napster began in 1999, it revolutionized the way that business was done in this country. All of the media sites like Hulu, Netfli, and iTunes can thank their lucky stars that Napster opened the floodgates. They brought down the record companies in just two years. It created a new massive paradigm of online business, and taken away the monopoly that companies had on entertainment.
One of the biggest positive effects that piracy has had has been it’s usefulness as a market tracking device. Napster was one of the best. It showed that there was a huge demand for online music. Rather than being sold plastic CDs for $20, one could simply get the one song that they wanted. It was a revolutionary idea. Napster was able to give insight into the music industry that had never existed before then. Next up, let’s examine the Usenet groups. These are sites that offer a wide selection of an entertainment product and you pay for use. Sites like Spotify, MOG, Hulu, Netflix, and iTunes are among these. Even YouTube owes part of its creation to online piracy.
The model of all these sites is that people pay very little and can get whatever they want. While many would still opt to get it for free, there are many others who wants to stay within the bounds of what is ethical and pay, but don’t want to pay much. Piracy created competition that we didn’t see before.
And the greatest success story of all is that piracy can evolve into legitimate business. YouTube has been proof of that. Clips, trailers, songs, and other things are being shown on YouTube, and getting royalties on it as well. The fact is that piracy is something that is good for us, but when you listen to people like Richard Whitney talk about it, it is pure evil.
The University has a responsibility under federal law to be responsive to any reports of copyright violation. The primary organization involved is the Recording Industry Association of America, RIAA, but individual complaintants (complaintants?) are, there’s a long list of them, that sent us complaints.
There you have it. The RIAA. The record companies. These people still aren’t getting it. The success of iTunes just hasn’t sunk in with these people. It is almost pathetic how ill-informed these people are. However, what is interesting are some of the outright lies that Whitney has told in his statements.
For people that are doing legitimate services, we wanted to make sure that people who are streaming Netflix and Hulu and things of that nature have absolutely no implications for if we were to ratchet back the rates. And we know, absolutely without a question that Netflix and Hulu will work just fine at 768k…
Oh? That’s why Netflix says that the minimum speed should be 1.6 Mbps for streaming, while Hulu stands at 1m for streaming. You gotta love when hypocrisy is exposed by the companies themselves. For HD quality, on either side, 4 to 5 Mbps. Oh, and what about if you want 1080 screen on Netflix? Well, that says that you should have at least 8 Mbps.
So, Whitney is lying to the students, and is trying to say that he has assurances that it will work. Might want to check your facts, Rich.
Here is the fact – piracy is not bad. The government needs to get with the program and learn that not only is piracy a good for business, but creates business. And the University needs to be fair, and not punish all of the students for the few who are breaking an archaic law.
Peace out,
Lefty
Lefty’s Voice: Save the Internet!
There are times in history when a person is required, even if they hate politics, to rise above and beyond the call of duty. There are times when a person is required to do more than what they had done before. This is one of those times, because this goes far beyond the world of politics. It affects the freedoms of each and every one of us! It affects all of America, and will not only destroy business, but also put our people in bondage. I am, of course, talking about the Protect IP Act and SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act).
On the surface, both of these acts sound, honestly, dumb. Piracy is a good thing. This has been proven. Without online piracy, websites like Hulu, Netflix, and iTunes would never have evolved. Napster opened the floodgates on something that is universal – the pursuit of cheap entertainment. And it has been good business all over the place. It did bring down the record companies, but they were monopolizing music. Piracy has changed the world for the better and for always.
However, it is absolutely clear that this is nothing more than a ploy against the freedoms that people have. With these new bills, websites that are perfectly legal under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) will face legal threats. YouTube vloggers and channels that put up clips from the news (which is perfectly within the real of Fair Use) will be the first to be censored. And to prevent any legal action, websites will deliberately block anything that could be construed as violations.
It also goes further. If just a few links that infringe on these new rules are posted, an entire website can be blocked. So those who like watching YouTube, that could be blocked. Reddit, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, any and all of them can be blocked completely. To protect themselves, websites will automatically self-censor more, preventing startups from launching. Websites will no longer be able to count on the DNS (Domain Naming System) for security, which was working just fine before.
And if you are a person who posts your own music, you can be sent to jail! That’s right, if you aren’t licensed to put your music online, you can be sent to jail as a felon. So independent musicians who post links on Facebook, you could be sent to jail! Any non-commercial user can be charged with a felony for posting things online.
Since the day when I was able to pay attention, it was resoundly clear that this government hates the First Amendment. They hate it. They hate the people can do what they want and tell the government that they are dead wrong. They have always hated it. I wonder very much what the Founding Fathers were thinking when they wrote the Constitution. They must have either been incredibly ignorant, or incredibly wise. Because at this very moment, their dream of a free nation is about to die.
It is being supported by everybody. SOPA has 21 Democratic supporters, 16 Republic supporters, and 1 Independent supporter in the Senate, while the Protect IP Act has 7 Democratic supporters, and 16 Republican Supporters in the House. These people are totally fine with throwing the First Amendment in the trash. And the mainstream media isn’t covering this! I haven’t heard one damn story on MSNBC, CNN, or Fox about this. Only the independent media is talking about this, and the talk is very small. It seems like this huge affront to the Constitution might just happen and nobody outside of those who are paying attention will know about it.
Companies like the ones who own Reddit Tumblr, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, and many others are fighting back against this. There are a number of activist groups. The YouTuve vlogger community has jumped on the bandwagon, from both sides of the sociological and political fence. There are multiple links that are aiding in the fight against the destruction of the First Amendment, but we need YOUR help! We need everybody. I will provide links to opinions and to ways you can fight back.
Opinions –
My Favorite Vlogger
http://youtu.be/ijqjHo3_H8s
Nostalgia Critic
http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/nostalgia-critic/33243-top-11-reasons-he-wont-review-digimon
Anonyous’ voice
http://youtu.be/HgTO9Eds09Q
Huffington Post article
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christina-gagnier/sopa-and-protect-ip-what-_b_1099471.html
Ways you can fight back –
Tumblr
http://www.tumblr.com/protect-the-net
Reddit
http://www.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/me5e9/
A great website
http://americancensorship.org/
The vote has happened, and it has only been to delay. There is still time to make yourself heard! We must rise above and beyond the call of duty now, right now! This is the only chance we are going to get! I think I’ll end this with a quote,
“The Bill of Rights was ratified on December 15, 1791–don’t let them die in 2011!” -TJ Kincaid
Peace out,
Lefty
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Media, Personal, Politics
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