REALITY CHECK: Hollywood Attacks!
AD HOMINEM:
1: appealing to feelings or prejudices rather than intellect
2: marked by or being an attack on an opponent’s character rather than by an answer to the contentions made
This is the Merriam-Webster definition and it seems that the anti-IP crowd knows it well. They are tripping all over themselves trying to pretend (and convince others) that legislation against rogue sites is just for the benefit of Hollywood. And besides, they tell us, Hollywood, indeed, even the entire entertainment industry isn’t that important to our economy and they’re doing just fine.
Wow. So, let me get this straight. A sector of our economy that employs over 5 million people in good jobs doesn’t matter – let ’em eat cake. (Apparently our friends haven’t noticed that we don’t exactly have a surplus of jobs at the moment.) And because it was one of the few parts of our economy that actually grew from 2007-2010, we should dismiss out of hand their pleas to address massive online theft of their creative products. Huh? Logic, anyone?
But the even bigger story is that rogue sites harm businesses and steal jobs across our entire economy. And that is why the support for legislation to tackle rogue sites has incredibly broad support.
Don’t believe me? Well, here’s the proof. Go ahead, click on the link – I dare ya. What’s that? You see all the big movie studios on that list? Yup. Keep reading. Nike? Caterpillar? Rite Aid? The National Association of Manufacturers? Major League Baseball? Dolby? All there. Oh, so its all about big business, then? Nope, keep reading. Who are all those – I’ve never heard of them. Right, there are dozens of small businesses, too, as well as the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council.
Yeah, so it’s all about helping business – what about the consumer, eh? Eh?! Sorry, friend, but the National Consumers League supports legislation against rogue sites, too. And as long as we’re on the topic, so do 43 State Attorneys General, the AFL-CIO, the National Conference of State Legislatures, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National Fraternal Order of Police, the International Association of Firefighters, and on and on and on. Get the picture?
