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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?

#41

Post by credo »

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 sector should innovate like this guy (i.e. they should rely on business models that request payments, not require payments)

I realize that SOPA has zero support on HN and that my criticism of Alexis' interview-responses won't be popular. However, imo, a better approach to win public support would be to come up with specific solutions for the copyright problem and also acknowledge that copyright holders do have some legitimate concerns.

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

#42

Post by klinquist »

dominostars wrote: post #34
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…

Agreed. The shoplifting analogy isn't even necessary, just an accurate depiction of what is so scary: "If just one user uploads copyright material to youtube, SOPA allows the government to shut down all of youtube. Even if youtube removes the material as quickly as possible."

This is similar to how I described it to my relatives as well. They know enough about Facebook to understand - I told them that if I took a picture of a painting in a gallery and posted it on my facebook wall, the government could take down all of facebook.

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

#43

Post by klinquist »

jlank wrote: post #35
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…

Another analogy: "If someone gets pulled over for speeding in their Ford Mustang, Ford is liable for their illegal behavior"

"The government could immediately shut down all Mustangs on the road"

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

#45

Post by beernutz »

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…

Am I the only one that was upset at her seeming to dismiss you as a "hoodie wearing geek" at the end there?

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

#46

Post by MichaelApproved »

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…

I agree, make it simple and something the layman could understand. I'd adjust the analogy to "If someone shoplifts a DVD from Best Buy, this bill allows the government to shut down the store."

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

#47

Post by bad_user »

ashcairo wrote: post #31

Great job with the Louis CK example, highlighting the solution being innovation not castration. Might be good to add how hysterical the music industry was with piracy a few years ago and how the problem was solved legitametly by the innovation provided by Apple's iTunes store.

Well, actually iTunes is not such a great example for the music industry because iTunes got them by their balls with Apple having significant leverage when it comes to negotiating with music labels. Not only that, but the music industry lost significant control over what hits to promote - because the iTunes chart is now an important validator of hits.

But the music industry is to be blamed for this - for a long time all the music you could buy from iTunes was DRM-enabled. This worked in Apple's favor, contributing to the popularity of iTunes, because once hooked, the millions of iPod customers couldn't switch to something else easily without losing the music they've bought.

So who pushed DRM on (honest) customers, punishing them for not pirating? They made their own bed, now they are bitching about it.

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

#48

Post by tptacek »

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…

SOPA may have zero support on HN (it's not a well-written law) but the MPAA and RIAA have more support than you might assume.

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

#49

Post by TobiasCassell »

DevX101 wrote: post #37
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…

Despite my differences with much of the Republican party platform, one thing that they are damn good at and I respect them for is an ability to communicate with their target base. Where's there's a hot topic issue, the Republicans will come out in lockstep with voices on the same wavelength. They use clear and simple language with a single antagonist. In the really big battles they even coin phrases like 'Obamacare',…

"Despite my differences with much of the Republican party platform, one thing that they are damn good at and I respect them for is an ability to communicate with their target base."

Yes- they are so good at this, its a great lesson in conveying with power.. George Lakoff beautifully explains how they do this in his book- "Don't Think of an Elephant!: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate".. You also mention they get the other political parties to use "their" terminology as well, George Lakoff goes through this in the book as well. I found a ton of communication lessons in the book, and I dont think the tone will alienate anyone, even though its clear the author doesn't lean too far to the right. A great book to read if anyone is at all interested in how the Right owns the game...

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

#50

Post by ShabbyDoo »

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…

The problem I have with the shoplifting analogy as presented is that someone unfamiliar with SOPA might conclude that the website at risk must also be the victim of the crime. How about analogies to other crimes like stealing from another customer, assaulting another customer, etc. What's ironic is that the bar/nightclub industry is effectively governed by such a law. It seems that, when patrons decide to do bad things in a bar, the government can revoke the establishment's liquor license. Even the number of police visits to an establishment due to customers' bad behavior has been used against the establishment. While I might have sympathy for the government if the bartenders were encouraging drunkenness, few other establishments must worry about their own culpability when a customer does something bad on premises.
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