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I was on BloombergTV talking SOPA today - how'd I do?

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Re: I was on BloombergTV talking SOPA today - how'd I do?

#111

Post by kn0thing »

geogra4 wrote: post #100
kn0thing wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was trying to hit my audience of bankers, daytraders, and wealthy people, but I'm very mindful of these Uncle Arts, because in the end they're the ones who will win the day: http://navantigroup.com/content/world-changing-power-reasona...

I think you did a very good job shoehorning the key phrases 'wealth creation', 'big government' and 'private sector' into your appearance so that you could get the bloomberg audience on your side. Nicely done.

Thanks. Not my usual crowd, but we've certainly got common ground here.

Re: I was on BloombergTV talking SOPA today - how'd I do?

#112

Post by kn0thing »

credo wrote: post #41
edw519 wrote: post #19

Alexis, you did great. Cool, calm, collected, and sharp. You did a great job advocating what most of us here understand and champion. But here is the problem I see with this whole SOPA debate... I didn't see anything that would help my Uncle Art understand what this is all about in his language and why he should care. This is what he sees: - There is a bill in congress. - It's to stop people from stealing other peopl…

Here is what Alexis seemed to be saying in the interview. - SOPA is bad for websites that rely on user-generated-content (and entrepreneurs like him) - We (i.e. tech community) intimidated GoDaddy and forced them to back away from their support for SOPA - One guy made a million dollars by requesting donations on PayPal instead of demanding payments from all users. This is a great example of innovation. The private se…

I don't want karma, I want useful criticism. We need to win public support. Granted, BloombergTV is far from mainstream, but we're taking babysteps.

We aren't for piracy, we're just aware of how futile trying to legislate against it is. I think we can make a case for this that articulates the genuine problem and still resonates with the average American.

Re: I was on BloombergTV talking SOPA today - how'd I do?

#113

Post by sage_joch »

kn0thing wrote: post #107
sage_joch wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A better analogy might abstract away the merits of copyright infringement, and focus on who got punished for that infringement. Maybe something like: "Imagine if the government shut down Walmart because one of its customers was caught handing out ripped Beyonce CDs."

Yes.. I like this. What do you think about this one? http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3426990

I don't think it's a correct analogy, since the copyright infringer isn't doing any possible (or perceived) damage to Disney. I think the pattern should be: "Company X gets shut down because one of its customers broke Law Y at the expense of Company Z".

And the best Company X I can think of is a sports franchise. (A customer base that is too large to monitor in real time, and that forms a community that would get shut down along with the business.) So what are Y and Z? I don't think they even have to differ from the reality. "Imagine if the government shut down the Boston Red Sox because one of its fans was handing out ripped Beyonce CDs." Or maybe the fan should be selling fake Rolexes, since that probably actually happens.

Re: I was on BloombergTV talking SOPA today - how'd I do?

#114

Post by jarrettcoggin »

I really do agree with a lot of the points you made. The one thing I think you failed to mention was that the in the past, these same companies that are backing SOPA/PIPA fought previous technologies, such as public radio, VCRs/DVD Burners, and DVR/TiVo. Ultimately, those channels did not hinder or kill the industries they are fighting to protect, but rather provide them new methods of distribution and new sources of revenue. They can choose to spend that money on technological improve rather than on lobbying/litigation/drafting legislation. We already see companies embracing the new technology and making great improvements (Apple with iTunes, Pandora, Spotify, etc.), but the other companies aren't keeping up with or using the technology to remain in the game and/or relevant until they have no other choice.

Another point a coworker made is that we are squeezing the inefficiency out of these systems. Models of business that worked well 10-50 years ago don't work nearly as well or at all now because there is technology in place that eliminates the need for some or all of the distribution methods in place that they are trying to protect.

Re: I was on BloombergTV talking SOPA today - how'd I do?

#115

Post by foxylad »

kn0thing wrote: post #86
edw519 wrote: post #19

Alexis, you did great. Cool, calm, collected, and sharp. You did a great job advocating what most of us here understand and champion. But here is the problem I see with this whole SOPA debate... I didn't see anything that would help my Uncle Art understand what this is all about in his language and why he should care. This is what he sees: - There is a bill in congress. - It's to stop people from stealing other peopl…

Thanks. I love this feedback and agree that connecting with normals is vital; it's something that comes up again & again with my girlfriend as I "pitch" her on how to discuss these bills. The struggle I have with metaphors like yours is that it doesn't accurately describe piracy (because it's not the same as theft). This feels a bit disingenuous, but definitely makes for a great soundbyte. It's a catch-22: the though…

Right there is why the bad guys always win - they don't care that an effective metaphor is not strictly accurate. We are ham-strung by our integrity, which is a sad state of affairs.

Re: I was on BloombergTV talking SOPA today - how'd I do?

#116

Post by molmalo »

kn0thing wrote: post #86
edw519 wrote: post #19

Alexis, you did great. Cool, calm, collected, and sharp. You did a great job advocating what most of us here understand and champion. But here is the problem I see with this whole SOPA debate... I didn't see anything that would help my Uncle Art understand what this is all about in his language and why he should care. This is what he sees: - There is a bill in congress. - It's to stop people from stealing other peopl…

Thanks. I love this feedback and agree that connecting with normals is vital; it's something that comes up again & again with my girlfriend as I "pitch" her on how to discuss these bills. The struggle I have with metaphors like yours is that it doesn't accurately describe piracy (because it's not the same as theft). This feels a bit disingenuous, but definitely makes for a great soundbyte. It's a catch-22: the though…

Hey, what about this?

I think a very accurate, yet simple metaphor would be something like:

Imagine this: If a man sings a Lady Gaga song in a park, then Universal Music Group will be able to close the park.

(Turn it into: "If a girl sings a Lady Gaga song in her school, then Universal Music Group might ask to close the school." and you may win every mother's support =P )

Or also: If a thief tells someone where he left a stolen wallet, government may close the buidling where the talk took place.

PS: Hi everyone, I'm from Argentina, but I really care about SOPA because it may set a very bad precedent in Internet legislation. Right now, in a lot of countries, this kind of bill would make the proponent look like someone come from Iranian or Chinese government. A fascist person looking for a way to censor the Internet. But if this bill passes, a GLOBAL consequence will be that politicians in other countries (like Argentina, in my case) will say: "Look, this law was approved in the USA. And they care about Freedom of Speach, so, it's not a big deal. -End of story-". And of course, they will use laws like this, to censor much more than just piracy. I dont want to sound fatalistic, but if this bill passes... well, we can start saying goodbye to the Internet as we know it.

Re: I was on BloombergTV talking SOPA today - how'd I do?

#117

Post by i_cannot_hack »

kn0thing wrote: post #86
edw519 wrote: post #19

Alexis, you did great. Cool, calm, collected, and sharp. You did a great job advocating what most of us here understand and champion. But here is the problem I see with this whole SOPA debate... I didn't see anything that would help my Uncle Art understand what this is all about in his language and why he should care. This is what he sees: - There is a bill in congress. - It's to stop people from stealing other peopl…

Thanks. I love this feedback and agree that connecting with normals is vital; it's something that comes up again & again with my girlfriend as I "pitch" her on how to discuss these bills. The struggle I have with metaphors like yours is that it doesn't accurately describe piracy (because it's not the same as theft). This feels a bit disingenuous, but definitely makes for a great soundbyte. It's a catch-22: the though…

It might feel disingenuous, but an analogy does not always have to be perfectly aligned with reality (since, of course, it just an analogy).

If the analogy is somewhat askew, but still suitable, just beginning it with "A _crude_ analogy would be ... " should amend that.

Either way, I do not believe that the faults in analogy would be any real disadvantage in a debate. Here's why:

• Old Grandpa would not be tech-savvy enough to notice the flaw at all, but he would still understand the intended message of the analogy

• The knowledgeable people that support you would understand what you really mean, and either way would have no interest in pointing out flaws in your arguments

• The knowledgeable people that oppose you (e.g Hollywood) would not want to point out the flaw for anything in the world, because then they would have to concede that piracy is not theft (a notion they are working very hard on establishing).

But if you want a more fitting analogy, how about something were people plan illegal activities in the store, instead of shoplifting? The police finds out that some customers have been discussing smuggling in a toystore that you own - the whole store gets shut down without anyone contacting you first.

Re: I was on BloombergTV talking SOPA today - how'd I do?

#118

Post by dgeb »

davej wrote: post #108
kn0thing wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been offline for the last few hours, just came back to start picking through the notes. I like this Mickey Mouse analogy most of all the ones I've seen so far. Concise and relatable (and accurate).

I agree that the Mickey Mouse analogy is probably more accurate than the shop-lifting analogy but I can't help thinking that it sounds a bit frivolous and contrived on first listen (if you analyze it then it makes perfect sense, but soundbytes shouldn't need analysis). The shoplifting analogy seems more immediate and straight-forward to me. I understand that the shoplifting analogy equates piracy with theft but the d…

I guess my analogy is a bit contrived, but definitely less than this legislation ;)

If we abstract analogies too far, I worry that people will ignore them. I tried to leave Uncle Art with very few dots to connect by only changing the "host" business in my analogy.

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