Monday, January 16, 2012

SOPA in NY Times

When I first read the Obama administration's response to the petition asking President Obama to veto SOPA, I thought it was pretty mealy-mouthed and ineffective; it didn't say one way or another whether he would veto.  But I'm pleased to report (via the NY Times) that at least some of the content industry sees it differently:

From NYT:  "The chief executive of News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch, in a flurry of Twitter messages in the hours after the White House announcement, accused President Obama of capitulating to the technology industry. 'So Obama has thrown in his lot with Silicon Valley paymasters who threaten all software creators with piracy, plain thievery,' he posted on his Twitter feed."

What a gift to the Obama reelection campaign!  It's hard to imagine Romney having that kind of petition process in place, and it's even harder to imagine the Romney administration taking a stance that would favor consumers over lobbyists.  The techie vote may well make the difference in this election!

Of course, in reality the Obama administration -- as reflected even in the statement itself -- is going to do everything it can to "stop piracy," and it will almost certainly support measures for doing so that are not in the public's interest.  The MPAA realizes this, as evidenced by its statement:

“Look forward to @whitehouse playing a constructive role in moving forward on #sopa & #pipa,” the association posted on its Twitter feed Saturday night."

Still, if I'm concerned about Internet freedom (which I am), I'd take Obama over a Republican any day.

BTW I wonder who subscribes to EITHER of those twitter feeds.





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