A Feast for Conspiracy Buffs

[Seeker47]

This is no longer a "latest news" item, as 'Round 1' on the SOPA / PIPA battle has now been decided in the U.S. (Though doubtless it will resurface in some other form in due course, just as variations on it continue to appear in other countries.) But check out the charges leveled by this rather hyper fellow:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJIuYgIvKsc&feature=channel_video_title

If they have real merit, this is HUGE.

[ranchhand]

Well, if this guy is fabricating he is going to receive some huge defamation lawsuits from all the major network companies, I am sure he is aware of this. And, if true, the last thing these media giants want is a court case which will expose what they did. He appears to have documented and researched his case quite well. This whole thing about extraditing a British national to the USA when he did nothing illegal in the UK smells like a dead fish left out in the sun.

[jagabo]

I remember when CNET ran comparative reviews of different P2P clients. They covered the availability and download speed of popular copyrighted material. And of course, they hosted all the applications. All Richard O'Dwyer (the British national being extradited) did is run a web site which linked to other sites that streamed video. He hosted no material himself.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_O%27Dwyer

[MOVIEGEEK]

The record companies and movie studios were backing PIPA/SOPA but I seriously doubt they distributed the P2P software as the man in the video suggests, I think it's hyperbole. After the huge public outrage over PIPA/SOPA Congress won't try to pass such draconian laws for a long time, in fact there's no interest in overturning VPPA to allow Netflix to share your info with Facebook.

[jagabo]

The record companies and movie studios were backing PIPA/SOPA but I seriously doubt they distributed the P2P software as the man in the video suggests

You can easily look up who owns what today. His facts may not be accurate for the early 2000's when the web sites were hosting and reviewing P2P software.

[jman98]

I think it's quite possible that the media companies did distribute such software, but not by design from the top of the company. In any large corporation it's incredibly easy to have instances where the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Or in the case of grossly incompetent companies like Sony you have this schizophrenic behemoth where the electronics division is very pro-consumer and wants to make useful devices that people will buy and will make the company money and they are directly opposed by the media division which views ALL human beings as potential "thieves" and would prefer that the company not sell ANY electronic devices or if they must that they only sell crippled ones that restrict what the owners can do. The media part of Sony has had the upper hand for a long time, which is why Sony comes out with stuff like Cinavia and produces players that support it.

[jagabo]

I think it's quite possible that the media companies did distribute such software, but not by design from the top of the company. In any large corporation it's incredibly easy to have instances where the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

Of course. But that doesn't absolve them of their responsibility.

[ranchhand]

jman98 said:

I think it's quite possible that the media companies did distribute such software, but not by design from the top of the company. In any large corporation it's incredibly easy to have instances where the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

I find that very hard to accept. I have worked for corporations extensively, and if I did something publicly stupid it wasn't two days before some upper management lackey was demanding an explanation. It's pretty hard to imagine that for years direct links and updated information where to download illegally had escaped the notice of the corporate big boys. Additionally, how many times have the unknowing parents of underage children been held responsible for their siblings' downloading mp3's? Ye old double-standard again.

[olyteddy]

http://matadornetwork.com/change/infographic-why-the-movie-industry-is-so-wrong-about-sopa/

[Seeker47]

You can easily look up who owns what today. His facts may not be accurate for the early 2000's when the web sites were hosting and reviewing P2P software.

Years ago, there was a book (may have even been a bestseller -- I think it was called "Everybody's Business" ?) which was all about who really owns which companies -- even into "vertical integration" where there may be a chain of ownership to work through. That info would only have remained good for a few years at best, and I don't know that this reference had that many later editions. Today, you can do a bunch of internet searches for this, which can be more labor intensive. If there is another good centralized source, with a great deal of up-to-date records of company ownership, that is something I would really like to add to my bookmarks file.

[MOVIEGEEK]

Here's a website that shows what media companies own, it's updated regularly:

http://www.cjr.org/resources/index.php