Chris Dodd to Obama: Hollywood will stop supporting you because you were soft on SOPA and PIPA

Former Senator Chris Dodd, now head of the MPAA, is pissed at Obama. He's threatened to withhold entertainment lobbyist money from Obama's upcoming re-election war chest over the administration's lack of support for SOPA and PIPA. As an ex-Senator, Dodd is prohibited from directly lobbying Congress for a couple more years, and some insiders tell me he feels that this hamstrung his efforts because he couldn't sit down over lunch with lawmakers who directly owed him personal favors and demand that they stay firm on SOPA and PIPA.

"Candidly, those who count on quote 'Hollywood' for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who's going to stand up for them when their job is at stake," Dodd told Fox News. "Don't ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don't pay any attention to me when my job is at stake."

EXCLUSIVE: Chris Dodd warns of Hollywood backlash against Obama over anti-piracy bill (Thanks, mindofbryan!)

(Image: Blackmail - South Congress Avenue, a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike (2.0) image from swanksalot's photostream)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: blackmail is such an ugly word • christ what an asshole • Copyfight • corporatism • law • mpaa • pipa • sopa • submitterator

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http://twitter.com/matcatastrophe mat catastrophe

Well, bye.
andrewsingleton

How DARE these politicians be kinda sorta wishy washy on an issue! We paid for ‘em they should firmly be on /our/ side! Who do they think they represent anyway the voters?
- Guest
  
  I think maybe you missed the point here.
  - http://twitter.com/matcatastrophe mat catastrophe
    
    Looks to me he got the point. Maybe I’m missing yours?
  - blepom
    
    I think you forgot to turn on your sarcasm detector.
    - Guest
      
      I see the sarchasm, and it’s directly in the way of me having seen his point as valid.
      
      Dodd isn’t a politician anymore, he’s the talking head for a corporate person that wants to take down another bulwark of liberty – namely, a law that rightly separates politicians from accumulating and exercising undue influence after they retire.
      
      Great fun, i see it now.
      - petsounds
        
        I think the point you might be missing is that there’s very little difference between a member of the US Congress and a corporate lobbyist or executive. The politician goes in with an agenda of amassing political favor and relationships which he can then use to further the corporate agenda of whatever industry he fawned over the most while in Congress in order to get said job in the private sector.
      - http://profile.yahoo.com/BZH72W4FOZZUHMRD53OR4VS3LA Sdfv
        
        Thanks for RUINING it for everyone, mdhatter03.
http://twitter.com/MrAaronSwainEsq Aaron Swain

Not so “candidly” after all.
http://mychemicaljourney.blogspot.com The Chemist

Wait, wasn’t Chris Dodd the one who kept calling for transparency and less corporate influence on lawmakers? The one who promised not to become a lobbyist? That Chris Dodd?

I guess everyone has a price. At least Chris Dodd does.
- http://twitter.com/james4765 Jim Nelson
  
  But that’s not lobbying. Because freedom. And Apple Pie. And we made Rambo, and Rocky, and The Dirty Dozen. It’s not lobbying when you’re defending the American Way Of Life!
  
  What are you, a dirty commie? Any proper red-blooded, God-fearing American would want Hollywood to continue to make the right kind of movies, and make money, while they’re at it! Because that’s America, too. And it’s not lobbying when you’re defending the last bastion of American culture from those dirty pirate-terrorists smashing your childhood dreams to bits.
  
  The sad part is, I can’t even write as ridiculously as his speechwriters, and they think they’re right…
  - http://twitter.com/LennStar_de LennStar
    
    In a way they are even right. Mickey Mouse und McD. did more for American (cultural) Conquest of the world then the whole most-money-on-earth armed forces. And they not only did not need money, they earned some!
    - MarcVader
      
      Citation needed
      - digi_owl
        
        you can find Disney, the big colas and the big burgers in just about every nation on earth…
      - Jerril
        
        @turn_self_off:disqus I can also find a shawarma joint every two blocks in this city, and a Chinese restaurent every five or ten. Doesn’t mean we’ve been culturally dominated by Lebanon and China.
  - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_EYMEKYZM2NMCL2IG6UCLJ3XGCE GameMaster9002
    
    I, too, watched Thank You For Smoking. Nick Naylor is my favorite character. Which flavor of ice cream do you like, chocolate or vanilla?
- http://openid-provider.appspot.com/lordbyteme Lord Byte
  
  He said LESS corporate influence, in other words not by the companies he doesn’t like.
  - http://profiles.google.com/draco18s Khadrix Silverwing
    
    Meaning Google, the EFF, Wikipedia, and BoingBoing?
- http://noctilucent-studios.blogspot.com/ Noctilucent Studios
  
  Sad thing is, I think it comes with the territory of being human. We ALL have a price.
  - YanquiFrank
    
    No. No we don’t.
  - http://twitter.com/Dope_Danny Danny Smith
    
    Yeah, no.
Bink Binkerson

Senator A from my state was against the bills, received only $5k from the entertainment industry. Senator B supported them (officially “undecided”, even now) and received $100k. Correlation is not Causation. Yeah, bullshit.
- andrewsingleton
  
  And yet the- Whatever Lamar Smith is was only getting paid 50k.
  
  Oh well. No retirement benefits for you Lamar. Shoulda tried harder. :)
  - elix
    
    And yet the- Whatever Lamar Smith is was only getting paid 50k.
    
    I suggest dog-felching corporate muppet, but feel free to suggest your own.
- scatterfingers
  
  $100k, that’s it? That’s chump change.
Noodlehead

If it was any other election year, the President might be kind of worried to be losing this money. However, considering the love that today’s Republican candidates have for shooting themselves in their own feet, I can’t see Obama doing anything but laughing at Dodd’s little threat.

Even better, all Obama has to do is go to YouTube, nick some videos of things the GOP candidates have said, and splice them together to create his own campaign ads. How much money does someone need to do that?
- http://fungibleconvictions.com/ Andrew Whitacre
  
  What would be fun is if Hollywood stomped out of the house and went over to the Republicans’ place to let off some steam and drink a few and then the Republicans started coming on to Hollywood and Hollywood was like, “I’m so pissed, fine, let’s see where this goes” and Hollywood and Republicans get tipsy and end up in bed together and Hollywood wakes up the next morning hungover and sees the condom wrapper was never opened and can’t remember what happened and ends up preggers and gives birth to SOPA nine months later and forces Republicans to pay patrimony for the next 18 years.
- ocatagon
  
  It’s not the cost of making them, it’s the cost of airing them. Unfortunately, most voters still make their decisions based on TV commercials.
  - AnthonyC
    
    I would say that the majority of voters make their choice before the election starts.
    
    You may well be right about the ones who are as yet undecided, but somehow I doubt most people have such a strong separation between “what I see on glowing box number one” and “what I see on glowing box number two.”
    - ocatagon
      
      Then why spend millions of dollars on television ads?
      - AnthonyC
        
        Let me correct myself: tv ads will reach a wider audience than youtube videos, and allow you to reach particular demographics of your choice based on when you air them.
        
        But if two people are demographically similar, and one sees an ad on tv and the other online, I suspect you’re about equally likely to sway the views of either.
http://profiles.google.com/mccleary11 Dan McCleary

My favorite thing about the “Honest Leadership and Open Government Act” of 2007, the law that has hamstrung Dodd’s efforts to lobby former colleagues in Congress?

Dodd voted for it.
- scatterfingers
  
  I wish they could somehow strengthen that bill. Frustrating people like Dodd is a good thing, and should be pursued at every opportunity.
  - http://profiles.google.com/mccleary11 Dan McCleary
    
    Totally agree. The law imposes a two-year “cooling” period before ex-Senators can lobby the executive branch, a one-year period for Representatives, and no limits for either on lobbying the executive branch. Yet self-congratulatory lawmakers talked about the law in 2007 like it shut down the revolving door between Capital Hill and K Street.
- estragon_nyc
  
  Chris Dodd: “I worked for the Constitution before I worked against it.”
Shinkuhadoken

Christ, what an asshole.
snagglepuss

Pretty brazen on Dodd’s part – And tactically stupid. All his little outburst does is shine a brighter light on the mendacity and ruthlessness of the scumbags that are pulling his strings – In other words, EXACTLY what the protests against SOPA and PIPA were focusing on. He might as well have run up a skull & crossbones and screamed “HERE WE ARE ! WE’RE THE BAD GUYS !!!”

No wonder Hollywood grinds out so much garbage, with big thinkers like that running things. Obama may have lost the support of a few in the top echelons of Hollywood, but I think he’ll pick up even more support from the big stars and activists, like Clooney and Pitt & Jolie, as a result of his stance.
- andyhavens
  
  He can’t run up the skull and crossbones. It’s the intellectual property of the very pirates he’s trying to thwart. That would just be stupid.
  - ialreadyexist
    
    He only cares about copyright infringement when someone else is doing it, not when he’s doing it.
  - snagglepuss
    
    …I trust you were being sarcastic.
    - http://profiles.google.com/draco18s Khadrix Silverwing
      
      I think it was irony, actually. ;) A little joke on the situation.
      Also, the Jolly Roger is in the public domain, I believe.
- scatterfingers
  
  I love how Dodd talks about Hollywood as if it’s some sort of monolithic machine with him at the wheel. It’s really not like that at all.
  - elix
    
    His ego needs to be taken down a peg or three. I suggest we put Robin Williams back into the Mrs. Doubtfire getup and put Chris Dodd over his knee for a well-deserved spanking so he can get over himself and not act like Hollywood is his personal army. Or, skip Williams and just get Betty White in there with a paddle.
    
    …hopefully that isn’t his fetish.
    - http://profiles.google.com/draco18s Khadrix Silverwing
      
      If it is, there’s a whole host of other, squickier, things we can do…
- Loan Audits CAL LMH
  
  I wouldn’t be so quick to applaud Obama – he also said that he wouldn’t sign NDAA and he did. I think we need to keep a sharp eye on this because they will try to slither it through in some other bill. Dodd is neander-tard – a Luddite in the worst sense. His old media bullshit is supposed to trump the enormous amount of money that California and the federal government makes off of new media companies.
  
  They aren’t visionaries – they’re regressives.
  - http://profiles.google.com/draco18s Khadrix Silverwing
    
    Don’t be so quick to criticize either. Of over 500 campaign promises, he’s kept 162, compromised on 50, and only broken 56. Another 64 are stalled (usually by the GOP controlled house, or the deadlock in the senate). Of the remaining 176, only 2 have had no action taken by the president (of those 2, one of them is “directing reconstruction efforts of the White House after a disaster;” no disaster has yet occurred to trigger the promise).
    
    That’s a very good success rate. VERY good.
    - Bobby Martin
      
      Can you provide a link?
arbitraryaardvark

The struggle between ‘Hollywood’ and the internet is an ongoing one. I think one of the most cost-effective things the anti-sopa crowd could do would be to hire private detectives to investigate Dodd, to see if there’s anything he could be charged with. Lobbying too soon after leaving the senate seems like something to look into. A conviction, and proof beyond a reasonable doubt, isn’t needed, just probable cause so that a prosecutor somewhere could bring charges and have a trial. Maybe there’s nothing there and he’s squeaky clean; I don’t actually know. Perhaps kickstarter is the way to organize this?
- andrewsingleton
  
  Me making one on my own would be a terrible idea. Tempted to put a kickstarter up anyway but I’ve no idea what’s needed, money that needs spending, etc. Enlighten me.
  
  Or someone who actually knows which way is up here can do the job.
Damien

How about
Chris Dodd and his ilk fuck off?
I’m glad SOPA and PIPA are down for the count, and although my gut tells me some paid-up politicians will try to try and bring them back in some form, the world is aware of how desperate and increasingly underhanded the major music/movie studios have become. The reality is, they’re a dying business model, and they are increasingly irrelevant to the needs of people who just want access to media/music/movies.
Yes, I’m aware that they have a shitton* of money at their disposal, and that can buy a _lot_ of politicians on Congress, but that’s not a good enough reason to acquiesce to the daft PIPA/SOPA scam. Congrats to those who protested, and keep up the pressure!
–
* I’m from Australia, where we measure things in metric units. For anyone in the USA who’s wondering, 1 imperial shitton is approximately equal to 1.6 metric shittons.
- andrewsingleton
  
  As i said before (and i only just now realized I’m still using my boingboing account that needed t obe made to post submitted material) We should press the momentum gained from the protests into doing something useful like reforms or something. This’s getting rediculous. I’m tired of living in a new Gilded Age.
- TimRowledge
  
  Imperial ton = 1016Kg
  American (short) ton= 907Kg
  Metric tonne = 1000Kg
  So no, not quite correct. Not even for shit. Not even for Austrailans – not even for Queenslanders….
- http://profiles.google.com/draco18s Khadrix Silverwing
  
  You may be interested in ACTA, then.
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Counterfeiting_Trade_Agreement
Sam Blanchard

Politicians can expect backlash from the Media Industry for not sacrificing constitutional rights to due process and free speech.

At this point politicians should also expect a backlash from the voters to be wary of the ones willing to sacrifice the rights of the entire country to benefit the likes of Ewe Boll.
- http://www.facebook.com/Catgrin Christine Fisher
  
  Yep. As a Californian, I wrote to both my Senators (who are of course both “ayes”), and didn’t once mention “free speech” as a topic of concern. I discussed the quiet amendment of existing laws, the advertised misdirection of naming versus action, gave examples of how they changed the onus of copyright enforcement, and provided an example of how PIPA could prevent consumers’ ability to redress problems with corporations – and I kept it all under one page.
  
  Boxer didn’t respond.
  
  Feinstein returned a form letter with a stand out sentence, “The bill does not violate First Amendment rights to free speech because copyright piracy is not speech”, and she mentioned that she would be , “working with California high-technology businesses to improve the bill and to address the concerns of high-tech businesses, public interest groups and others. I recognize the bill needs further changes to prevent it from imposing undue burdens on legitimate businesses and activities, and I will be working to make the improvements, either by working with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) or through amendments on the Senate floor.”
  
  So, she’s trying to play both sides by acknowledging that PIPA sucks, and requires modification, but she’d still vote “aye” for it as it stood. I’d like to say I’m surprised, but this is the heart of the movie industry, so it really is no surprise at all.
nixiebunny

I’m glad that the issue of money is being discussed openly finally. When it becomes apparent to the unwashed masses how thoroughly the political process is controlled by industries through bribes^hcontributions, they might be a bit more interested in doing something about it at the polls.
- ialreadyexist
  
  Unlikely unfortunately. Maybe if they missed a few meals or their favorite form of entertainment were in jeopardy (like the Internet). Until then, back to sleep.
disneycpalumni

Isn’t it illegal to pay/bribe to try and get your own laws passed?
- Daniel Smith
  
  In a word, no. These yahoos have rigged the system so that they can dump huge amounts of money into candidates coffers, all completely legally. And as can be seen by Dodds comments, they expect those candidates they have bought to stay bought.
franko

that’s ok – I’m sure not ALL of Hollywood was pro-SOPA/PIPA anyway. besides, Hollywood isn’t where the money is these days.
blepom

Holy crap. They aren’t only detached from reality, they are so sure that nothing will happen to them that they can badmouth the freaking president of the US of America!! Try doing that yourself and watch how your skull is reduced to paste by security officers.
The media industry is officially insane. Someone needs to cut their freedoms instead of ours.
- ialreadyexist
  
  The media has been badmouthing presidents since…forever. That part is nothing new.
Rob Knop

“Don’t ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don’t pay any attention to me when my job is at stake.”

That’s a pretty bald admission that campaign money is directly exchanged for legislation. I don’t know if I’ve seen it so directly stated outside of Lawrence Lessig’s efforts to remove this kind of corruption!
- YanquiFrank
  
  Yeah. That’s what struck me the most — the bald-faced admission that campaign bribes, er contributions, directly lead to support for corporate legislation. These guys constantly deny that the bribes they receive sway their opinions, and that they are always looking out for mom and apple pie. Dodd’s little hissy fit just shows how untouchable they think they are that they can openly admit the connection.
shutz

“Candidly, those who count on quote ‘votes’ for support need to understand that this population is watching very carefully who’s going to stand up for them when their job is at stake,” the American People told the President. “Don’t ask us to show support for you when you think your job is at risk and then don’t pay any attention to us when our rights are at stake.”

OK, I’m Canadian, so please, if you’re American, and you agree, at least “second my motion” or something…
- andrewsingleton
  
  Well given all of my Representatives jumpded over themselves for SOPA. You’re preaching to the choir.
SHeadius

Corporate Capitalism.

Bribe Congress to further keep the rich in power.

Only way it’s going to end is not pretty I’m afraid. I’m game though!
- Wreckrob8
  
  Agreed. It won’t be pretty. I’d go further – pretty nasty, in fact. What choice do I have?
  - lavardera
    
    What choice do you have?
    
    Torch, or Pitchfork?
  - http://twitter.com/TheQuietQuirk Yuki
    
    You could always join Anonymous.
seyo

Can we all (except for the likes of Dodd of course) stop referring to these as anti piracy bills? Because that’s not what they are. It is imperative that the discussion be re-framed, because even with all the opposition to SOPA/PIPA the core framing still focuses on piracy which is a diversion tactic. A strawman. A lie. We need to frame this bills as what they truly are: corporate imposed censorship bills. Freedom of speech killers. I leave to better tagline writers than me, but it needs to be direct, short, clear, and as scary sounding as the consequences of these bills would be in reality. Especially now that the are critically wounded, it is time to seize the narrative which they still control.
- http://www.hisnameistimmy.com Tim in SF
  
  You are 100% correct. There is so much misinformation in this debate.
  
  I don’t think we have a hope of prevailing over the long term as long as people believe the copyright industry’s assertion that file duplication is the same as stealing, and the subsequent conclusion that every single movie file download means Hollywood lost the amount of money to buy a movie ticket, a large bucket of popcorn and a 32 ounce coke.
- http://www.facebook.com/Catgrin Christine Fisher
  
  They’ve been misrepresented in many ways. First they were advertised as partners to the DMCA, but for use with overseas sites that the DMCA had no control over. Then, people actually read them, and realized that these are not solely internationally-focused bills. Here are three ways both bills would affect us at home.
  
  DOMESTIC LAW MODIFICATION: The bills contain edits to existing counterfeit trafficking law to incorporate counterfeit prescription drug trafficking. Very few people have even mentioned this amendment of existing law. Both bills alter other existing domestic laws, and state openly that they do so. It’s easy to compare existing law texts to the new clauses to find the intent of the changes, and it’s upon comparison that the problems within the bills become clear.
  
  COPYRIGHT FLIP: Also, the bills both alter legal perception of how copyright is to be enforced. It’s not just a matter of sites being taken down, they also alter the way and speed in which people can be found guilty of copyright infringement – and take the onus off the owner of copyright material and put it on to public presenters. Some people argue this is fair, as those are the people making material available on the Web, BUT public presenters may wrongly believe they have permission for use, and still be criminally charged. This is why people argue that the bills will cause people to so strongly self-police that the nature of the Web will be completely altered.
  
  CONSUMER CENSORSHIP: Also, individual consumers may lose their currently-successful outlet for redress of problems with big companies. Sites like YouTube have been used this way in recent years, but if a consumer can’t name a company or show a product, how can they tell their story? Based on the bills, the result of doing so would be a blackout.
  
  These are simply BAD BILLS written to maintain a status quo that is long since past. They’re the kicking and screaming of industries not wanting to adapt. If I was going to write a tagline, it would be:
  
  SOPA/PIPA – Assisting Corporate Pirates in Building a Newer, Darker Net.
Daniel Smith

Its a crying shame…my democrat senator supports the bills after having taken 350k from the industry, while my republican representative, normally a complete corporate tool, is neutral, having received no money from hollywood. It is sickening how closely support for the bill tracks with big contributions from MPAA, etc. There is no ideology left in Washington except “I’m getting mine”…….
- John Stephens
  
  Your Senator is an honest politician.
  - Guest
    
    “An honest politician is one who stays bought.” –Robert A. Heinlein
  - Daniel Smith
    
    Apparently not, he’s changed his stance now. Chris Dodd must be really pissed at him.
http://twitter.com/zhasu Zhasu

So it’s not about what’s right and what’s wrong for the people, it is about few people keeping their job.
bluest_one

A perfect and clear illustration of the endemic corruption within the “democratic” process: give us what we want or we’ll not give you that money you need to get re-elected.

Corporations have rendered the principle of ‘one person, one vote’, an emasculated sideshow.

They, and the lobbying they employ are the enemies of democracy within.
Melted Crayons

Dodd’s reaction shows how UNAWARE they are that we have caught on to their corrupt game.
- Tynam
  
  They know we’ve caught on. They just don’t care, because they still own the game.
http://twitter.com/LennStar_de LennStar

I already said it, be I repeat it:
The last sentence on of the blackout-SOPA MPAA Press Release sounds like a thread.

It is our hope that the White House and the Congress will call on those
who intend to stage this “blackout” to stop the hyperbole and PR stunts
and engage in meaningful efforts to combat piracy.”
Kilteddad

$9 mil? Isn’t that what they paid to support Obama in 2008? We (the internet) could raise $9mil easy. Keep your money, Mr. MPAA. we won’t need it.
http://www.hisnameistimmy.com Tim in SF

Aaaand, the White House responded with “Eat a bag of salted dicks.”

http://www.balloon-juice.com/2012/01/20/white-house-to-chris-dodd-and-the-mpaa-eat-a-bag-of-salted-dicks/
- delfinclutch
  
  Chris Dodd eating a bag of salted dicks is one of the few movies I _would_ pay full theater price to see.
  
  Plus the soundtrack.
  - snowmentality
    
    Yakety Sax time?
    - http://www.hisnameistimmy.com Tim in SF
      
      Yakety Sax is the perfect music for Chris Dodd eating a bag of salted dicks. Well done, Snow.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Not that surprising. The Obama administration has repeatedly turned its back on the media; seems natural to just keep turning.
andyhavens

I wonder if representatives from the International Union of Book Scrivening Monks were this blatant in their attempts to stop the printing press…
- Wreckrob8
  
  The problem was the spread of knowledge through translations of the Bible. The Church had a vested interest in keeping knowledge of certain texts restricted to themselves and their mates, and to prevent discussion. The restrictions were against translation as a means of preventing the spread of printing. Nothing has really changed.
  Translation of the Bible was a capital offence. I suppose that is quite blatant.
- Shashwath T.R.
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_Ch%C3%A2teaubriant
  
  Blatant enough for you?
asterios9

The part that bugs me is the claim that “jobs are at risk” due to piracy – essentially that this legislation is even needed.

The only sector that has been decimated by piracy is mainstream music, and that happened a decade ago.

Hollywood is fine. TV is shaky but that’s not because of piracy. Journalism and publishing are shaky but not because of piracy.

There’s just no *need* to rewrite the rules of the internet for these whiners.
- http://twitter.com/iBatcave Cave Painter
  
  Actually if you go over to EFF.org and look at the numbers regarding the music industry, you’ll see that piracy did not decimate the music industry – in fact as a whole the industry is making more than they ever made in the past. The key issue is that they are measuring record album sales, and not downloaded iTunes and Indy singles. You should also note that the Artists make more money per single song, then they do if they sell an ‘album’ the traditional way. Piracy is a drop in the bucket when you look at those numbers.
  
  The only people in danger of losing their jobs are music industry leaches (all the middle men and executives at the record labels) as the business model shifts due to changes in technology.
  
  What is making the TV, Journalism, and Music industries shaky is old industries failing to see the changes and adjust for it. Rather than change, they would rather have us all sitting on our couches watching the three TV channels, and listening to music on our HI FI stereo playing vinyl disks.
  
  To paraphrase the late Steve Jobs, “death is nature’s way of allowing progress to happen.” Some of these industries need to be on their deathbed if they can’t change with the times.
dead_elvis

I’m not sure why he’s upset; he can just wait a little while, then get one of his remaining cronies to attach a rider to “The Stopping Terrorists from Murdering Unicorns and Cute Puppies” bill.

This thing isn’t going away. My union sent out a press release to the effect that they thanked the courageous reps who didn’t back down and that they look forward to continuing to work with Leahy and Smith. They aren’t going to go away until something gets rammed through.
http://openid.aliz.es/Anonymous Anonymous

Why isn’t america more angry at Chris Dodd? This man is NOT elected anymore and DOES not have a position in the government. He is a special interest hell bent on manipulating your govt and he doesn’t represent you.
- andrewsingleton
  
  As an American I’m incenced beyond all words or capacity to reason.
- lavardera
  
  I’m more angry at Chris Dodd. Done.
mindofbryan

I suggested we should organize a protest boycott of movies on a particularly important weekend. Spending money on movies is, after all, discretionary spending for everyone.
http://twitter.com/TheQuietQuirk Yuki

Chris Dodd… you just made one of those slips that Nixon did to Frost.
http://profiles.google.com/peter.svedman Peter Svedman

Arbitrage in politics is a great idea. I think that someone really should set up an exchange like NASDAQ or NYSE for politics. In fact, since corporations are people in the US now with the right to speech, why not have some corporations run for office ? Politics is speech, isnt it ?
- Wreckrob8
  
  And speech is politics?
http://2012diaries.blogspot.com/ tristan eldritch

Right. Obama signs an indefinite detention Act that basically enshrines the world of Franz Kafka into US law, and “liberal” Hollywood is going to pull the plug because he was soft on SOPA? What a crock of shit.
- Daniel Smith
  
  They better be careful, or he could have them “disappeared”…..
MauiJerry

Dodd and the others in MPAA/RIAApoff scam biz may threaten politicians, but the new Innovators and Investors have noticed… Y Combinator – a well financed venture capital firm – has announced a new interest “RFS9: Kill Hollywood”. This is an explicit request for submission of startup ideas that will destroy the old school industry…. new distribution, creation, forms of entertainment, etc. If you got an idea and think you could make it as a startup – send it in! Take away Mr Dodd et al’s money and they wont be able to hire congresscritters.

http://ycombinator.com/rfs9.html
SCAQTony

History will look back at this quote as an overt confirmation from a privileged oligarch that the United States is indeed… guess what? An Oligarchy!

Here is a former senator who is literally threatening politicians on both sides of the isle and even the President of the United States to sign on or lose their jobs.
http://www.hisnameistimmy.com Tim in SF

Washington did it’s job – it’s listened to the constituency that lobbied them for months and months and contributed to their campaigns. Who else are they supposed to listen to?

Unless you’ve snail-mailed a hand-written letter to your two senators and one representative sometime in the last month, then stop your whining.

http://www.ted.com/talks/omar_ahmad_political_change_with_pen_and_paper.html
- ialreadyexist
  
  God forbid that we expect our representatives to have a mind of their own and to put the interests of the public ahead of the interests of whoever stuffs their pockets with cash. Is it really too much to ask for them to grow a backbone and have a consistent philosophical stance on the issues that doesn’t waver over time or because of who is yelling at them the loudest?
  
  There were experts after experts after experts telling them that SOPA/PIPA were horrible ideas and they just buried their heads up Hollywood’s ass while screaming, “la la la la la la, I can’t hear you….”.
  
  If they’ll only do the right thing when people are looking, they’re not fit to hold public office.
  - http://www.hisnameistimmy.com Tim in SF
    
    This is the government we have. It’s the best one money can buy.
A Nonny Moose

For anybody who is not yet convinced that the MPAA is evil incarnate, some recommended viewing.
Guest

I think Dodd & his ilk should be encouraged to talk even more. Because the more they open their mouths, the more the revulsion an increasing number of people feel toward them and their organizations is justified.
Bubba73

let the buyer beware
http://imcravingpresidency.tumblr.com/ SedanChair

…
Guysmiley

Easy way to fix this, it’s called campaign finance reform. The current “I bribe you to do what I say so you can afford massive campaign spending” is NOT democracy.
- http://www.hisnameistimmy.com Tim in SF
  
  YES! No corporate donations allowed. None. Not a penny. Only individuals, and only up to a limit, and publicly.
  - http://twitter.com/navygoose Keith Gosnell
    
    That would be a step in the right direction but the better way would be to remove all donations, removing commercials, and any other tv add let them continue there debates on tv and let the normal commercials pay for it. The only other true way to fix our government is to impose terms and term limits on all members of politics, and lowering some of the age limits required to fill these seats so that we can fill the seats with people who know about the new tech and can make intelligent and informed decisions instead of just listening to 2 parties arguing points and making a decision based on who can better articulate their point.
    - Douglass
      
      Considering their…performance on the Daily Show, while I understand that historically voter qualification tests are used as discrimination, perhaps we should have politician qualification tests instead to determine whether they either know enough or can learn enough to serve on a relevant committee.
      
      If you’re stupid enough to think that the Internet is a ‘series of tubes’ or can’t find the country that you want to destabilize on a map then you certainly shouldn’t be given a massive amount of power and just be let loose to do whatever you want at the whims of whoever can pay you off or gets to you with propaganda first.
    - http://www.hisnameistimmy.com Tim in SF
      
      I disagree. I think individual donations with a limit of $500 per person, no corporate donations to campaigns or PACs allowed.
      
      Public financing is done in other countries with good success. We could try mandating that.
      
      Neither will happen – the media makes a billion every election year from advertising. They’ll crush any candidate who wants to take the money out of politics. Dean advocated for that in ’04 and they portrayed him as a crazy screaming nut.
      
      As for term limits, it’s a nice idea in theory, but I’ve never seen any data that shows it has good results in practice. I’d rather have a rep, like mine (Pelosi), who’s been in there a while and knows how to get things done for her district. I’ll take her over any of the 30-something douches I meet at the techie mixers.
Frank W

What if we all just stopped spending any money whatsoever on Big Content, other than Guy Fawkes masks?
soundhound

“Dodd, who became CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America after leaving the Senate in 2011, noted the movie “Avatar” was stolen by online pirates 21 million times. Such acts, he said, threaten to decimate his industry.”

Avatar – #1 on hollywood revenue charts – Total box office sales of $760,507,625

‘Hard Times’ example fail.
thenetprophet

Oh, pretty please Mr. Dodd, pretty please, will you follow through with this threat?

I will also pray you run out of film too!

Lord please, I pray keep the lights on in Hollywood if there be one, just one righteous man in Hollywood!
- SomeGuyNamedMark
  
  What?! And risk losing endless remakes of films, film versions of crappy TV shows, and the umpteenth “reality” show? I dare them!
  - Douglass
    
    “Do what we want or else we don’t make another Squeakwell” has to be the most totally ineffective threat I’ve ever heard.
SomeGuyNamedMark

Good, then the president will have nothing to lose pushing through a bill to reset the copyright period to something shorter and more reasonable.

(one finger salute to Chris Dodd)
- ialreadyexist
  
  I submitted this a a suggested story to BB, but it hasn’t shown up. Prepare to be pissed off. Copyrights are getting longer, not shorter. Not only that, things that WERE in the public domain are going back under copyright.
  
  http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/01/supreme-court-rules-congress-can-re-copyright-public-domain-works.ars
Marko Raos

Nonono this is a conspiracy theory. Believing that politicians are habitually being paid to legislate according to corporate interests places you squarely into cookoo land. UFOs and bigfoot the lot of you.
msbpodcast

I might argue that since according to the supreme court, and Mittens, corporations are people and can petition the government and the courts directly, there is no need of the **AAs and they should be abolished.

I mean, since the governments are against unions of people and their collective bargaining, they should be against the union of corporations and their collective power to sue their constituents.
dorkhero

Really? ‘Hollywood’ needs to remember who buys their products! If we stop buying as many DVDs and CDs they will have less money to buy votes. Then again, isn’t that already starting to happen now?

(After this week I am really torn. I don’t want to give a single penny to any media company, yet I really really really want to go see ‘Red Tails’ on a big IMAX screen. Classic WWII warbirds and the brave men who flew them FTW! What to do ?!?)
- http://mychemicaljourney.blogspot.com The Chemist
  
  Go see it, George Lucas funded it himself because the studios wouldn’t pay big money for a movie that stars no white people.
  - IndependentGeorge
    
    It also had the unfortunate side effect of being a pretty bad movie.
http://twitter.com/24HourUnlock 24 Hour Unlock

Hey Hollywood… take a pay cut you money mongrels.. I support online piracy because I cant afford to go see you over priced movies in theaters..
Guest

Threatening the POTUS. Yeah. That always works out just great.

I suspect that, after completely and utterly blowing what was once a slam-dunk with PIPA/SOPA, the only person whose job is really at stake is Chris Dodd’s.
http://www.facebook.com/craig.ranapia Craig Michael Ranapia

Candidly, ‘Senator’ Dodd, people who speak in the majestic plural while presuming to speak for a whole industry they don’t actually represent shouldn’t expect to be taken seriously.
http://about.me/roxanne.weber Roxanne

Funny, isn’t that what the 99% should be saying to ALL politicians right now?
el dueno

Copyright statutes have gotten out of hand where access to materials can be restricted up to 75 years after the death of its author. How does that promote the arts? The reality it doesn’t; it only protects company based on the copyright and the people know it. It was a power grab by corporatests of what use to be in public domain.

I see SOPA as another effort to grab additional rights from the people by eliminating present processes that still require proof of ownership. In essence, SOPA will provide corporations with Natzi-like processes to intimidate and further restrict competitive arts. The stated aim of protecting copyrights is only a cover of the real goal: to limit access to the arts, not promote
them. Criss Dodd’s warning to Obama manifests the copyright industries true intention of restrictions and supression of competitive arts.
Nightflyer

Why choose? I have two hands.

(By the way, I’ve been trying to reply and like from my laptop for days, with no success. I can only manage it on my phone. I don’t know if that’s a laptop problem or a Discus problem.)
DearThey

So this is what Michael Bay’s been aiming for with all of his military masturbatory fodder, for Hollywood to start voting Republican :D

http://dearthey.com/2012/01/22/the-ethics-of-vigilantism-how-anonymous-is-like-batman-israel-its-thin-but-its-there-and-the-american-revolution/
Matthew Cunningham

I think Dodd is a little confused about who in Hollywood he represents. His orginization represents the business interests sure, but I doubt that SAG or AFTRA or any of the other unions that are active in Hollywood are pulling any of thier suport for Obama. Nor do I think you will see a lot of activism from the likes of Tim Robbins or Barbra Streisand in favor of a Republican candidate. The notion that Dodd is some kind spokesperson for all of Hollywood’s interests is absurd and Dodd is the only one who believes it.
Tom_Has_Doubts

Classy fella.