8/21/2007

11 Responses to “At Least 25% of L.A. County Consists Of Socialist-Loving ‘Thieves’”

1. I before E my friend.

   Kevin (4890ef) — 8/21/2007 @ 3:54 am

   
   

2. picky picky picky Kevin…

   Ooooo Look at Mr. “I’ve never made a typo at God-aweful in the morning”…

   🙂

   Scott Jacobs (c0db90) — 8/21/2007 @ 5:24 am

   
   

3. calm down, buddy.

   nothing in the article suggested to me that downloaders of copyrighted material and purchasers of knockoff clothing and accessories are “socialist-loving”. i’m guessing they cover the entire political spectrum. i’m also wondering about “socialist-loving” versus ordinary “socialist”. i could never be a socialist (although i do support single-payer healthcare) but if the right socialist lady entered my life, it wouldn’t be a deal-breaker.

   the survey was commissioned by the u.s. chamber of commerce. when you get a little older, you’ll come to realize that surveys and polls are advocacy tools and their findings can be massaged to fit the goals of the customer paying for them. 25% of angelenos seems high. on the affluent west side i can accept that one out of every four people is a kid with a player full of bootleg mp3’s or the kid’s mother with a fake prada bag; over in the barrios, no way.

   intellectual property law has evolved to criminalize previously lawful conduct in the “fair use” area, and to extend the term of copyright itself well past the “limited time” intended by the framers. disney would like to protect mickey mouse in perpetuity, and it has the money to buy congresspeople to do this. the purpose of copyright is to extend the benefits of exclusive ownership to the author/creator of the content, not to endow an immortal corporation with a perpetual income stream, and it’s a zero-sum conflict between the interest of these corporations and that of the public. when any lawmaking body sells out to corporations, it’s perfectly natural that people will push back, and your energies would be more fruitfully directed toward understanding this and restoring a balance which respects the rights of individual consumers. you don’t have to be a corporate tool carrying disney’s water.

   assistant devil's advocate (341d21) — 8/21/2007 @ 7:15 am

   
   

4. No wonder they have so much crime when the damn soft on crinimals

   krazy kagu (43a7ee) — 8/21/2007 @ 12:34 pm

   
   

5. I think there’s a lot of liars out there taking that survey. There’s no way the real number is as low as 25%, especially not in L.A.

   PatHMV (7f2300) — 8/21/2007 @ 1:20 pm

   
   

6. ADA – The headline was meant as irony. Though I admit that fact might be lost on those who aren’t familiar with my own views on the subject. [I should note that I am the same author of the post linked to over at AgainstMonopoly.org.]

   Perhaps I should have included ‘socialist-loving’ in quotes as well.

   I chose that headline because those are the labels I am often called myself for defending a more robust sense of fair use and shorter overall copyright terms. (Sometimes communicated to me by other readers of this site.)

   That said, I agree with everything you have stated in your comments here (even including the notion single-payer health care and not giving a crap if my girlfriend happens to be a socialist).

   Justin Levine (20f2b5) — 8/21/2007 @ 1:37 pm

   
   

7. Please, ‘Thieves’ is so judgemental.

   Let’s call them “free-lance socialists”.

   N. O'Brain (9056e2) — 8/21/2007 @ 5:27 pm

   
   

8. “The 25% piracy rate of Los Angeles County residents surveyed in May and June was slightly higher than the 20% nationwide rate the chamber found last year.”

   That’s a lot of thieves and socialists.

   DRJ (bfe07e) — 8/21/2007 @ 7:41 pm

   
   

9. There are some in the “biz” who would label anyone who uses a TiVo to skip a commercial as a “thief”, so I don’t know how to judge this.

   Kevin Murphy (0b2493) — 8/21/2007 @ 10:33 pm

   
   

10. I don’t have a TiVo yet, but I think I would feel an obligation to watch the commercials, because that’s how I’m getting the free program. That commercial is part of the bargain.

    However, in the real world, I’m not sure how long it would be before my “honesty” would break down due to impatience to see the rest of the program.

    I think you must buy any music or program material you want to possess, but after the purchase there should be liberal fair use such as copying to other media for your own convenience (not so others outside your home can use it).

    Ken (245846) — 8/22/2007 @ 12:30 am

    
    

11. My comment seems to have disappeared. Anyone care to fish it from the spam folder?

    Socrates Abroad (2d977a) — 8/22/2007 @ 1:42 am