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Internet giants place full-page anti-SOPA ad in NYT

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Re: Internet giants place full-page anti-SOPA ad in NYT

#31

The tech industry has enough money to buy 10x more lobbyists than the entertainment industry. This would be a wiser investment than the ads.

I know it may seem that way on the surface, but the proponents of this bill are larger than you think.

The MPAA represents companies with a combined market cap of $250 billion dollars. That's small enough for us to beat, but Pfizer ($150bn market cap) and Microsoft ($220bn market cap) are also major proponents. All together, there's a LOT of muscle behind this act, lobbyists alone aren't going to cut it.

Re: Internet giants place full-page anti-SOPA ad in NYT

#32
post #9

Where is the url in there for more information/followup? Wasted opportunity. I don't mean to diminish this effort but just imagine this kind of response every time we decided to declare war somewhere far far away. I'd be impressed. Certainly sending people to be maimed or killed is just as critical?

Have a look at http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h3261/money - which companies / interest are supporting - who received money from them - who's opposing - who the opposing groups sponsored etc

Re: Internet giants place full-page anti-SOPA ad in NYT

#36

The tech industry has enough money to buy 10x more lobbyists than the entertainment industry. This would be a wiser investment than the ads.

My guess is this approach will work well for the tech industry in the short term. The real change needs to happen in the system and with those who represent us. I'm looking forward to a (hopefully) more computer-literate generation of representatives being elected in the coming years.

Re: Internet giants place full-page anti-SOPA ad in NYT

#37
post #3

Web companies should know how to write a readable text, it's pity they could just come up with something like that. This text is not coincise, it doesn't draw the attention of the reader to any specific point and it shows several other shortcomings, if the message ever comes across I am pretty sure this page won't help.

It might just be that verbose text does more to differentiate this from normal advertising, and perhaps enforce the impression of these companies writing from a position of expertise.

Large image, looks like advertising, easy to overlook.

Dense columns of text, looks like bland content, easy to overlook.

Ogilvy-styled image, headline and text, looks like advertising.

Headline and then text that looks like the letter it is, hey, let me just skim this and see what these guys are upset about. Wow, Facebook and Twitter. And so it goes.

Re: Internet giants place full-page anti-SOPA ad in NYT

#39
post #31

The tech industry has enough money to buy 10x more lobbyists than the entertainment industry. This would be a wiser investment than the ads.

I know it may seem that way on the surface, but the proponents of this bill are larger than you think. The MPAA represents companies with a combined market cap of $250 billion dollars. That's small enough for us to beat, but Pfizer ($150bn market cap) and Microsoft ($220bn market cap) are also major proponents. All together, there's a LOT of muscle behind this act, lobbyists alone aren't going to cut it.

Not to sound naive here- but why does Microsoft support this if all the others don't?
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