Piracy, Part 2: Lethargy as a Legal Strategy, and the OPEN Act
Today’s image is my first attempt at using Manga Studio (software I paid for, I might add) for inking. I still have a lot to learn.
As I said in my last post, I know what it is like to get content removed with no trial. Though I may have had a fair use argument, it wasn’t rock solid. Even if it was, it just wasn’t worth the time and effort for me to fight it.
In cases like this, I was likely the ideal opponent for the MPAA and RIAA. While they have people on-staff whose full time job is to send DMCA notices, mail cease and desist letters, etc ad nauseum, I have a full time job that isn’t related to my videos or my blog. Even if I had the means, I don’t have the desire to fight them as much as others.
And that is their intended legal strategy: the lethargy of the opponent. If they can (1) take down the content first, and then (2) make the fight seem overwhelming, too time consuming, or too much of an inconvenience, they don’t really have to do much to win it.
In my opinion, this is why SOPA and PIPA were so damaging. They allowed companies to take the content down first and ask questions later. That is, they presumed guilt and required you to prove innocence. We’ve already seen examples of companies going overboard with the DMCA; and we should be especially wary of any future legislation that lets them act first and ask questions later. “Later” often never comes.
The interesting question is, now that they are shelved, where to from here?
It seems that Representative Issa have introduced the Online Protection and Enforcement (OPEN) of Digital Trade Act. I’ll form no immediate opinion on the Bill at this time, except to say that Google and Facebook support it, while the MPAA said in their statement that they don’t like it.
It seems to be a good start.
Nice website. I see you’ve deconstructed WordPress to your tastes.
With the manga studio and graphics tablet drawing, I’ve found that nothing beats good old Photoshop in its simplicity and plethora of advanced stuff. It’s a bit of a curve that I tried to resist but I wish I stuck with it early on and didn’t go with alternatives.
I keep a close eye on all this because I work in law and advise quite a lot on IT strategy. I tweeted a couple of weeks ago how American law came in and wrangled Australian jurisdiction regarding some website. What can you.
If you don’t mind, I’m going to subscribe, big gay. We think in similar ways and I like your views.