Chris Dodd: SOPA blackout an 'abuse of power'
Former Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd, currently chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, condemned the SOPA "Blackout Day" as a "gimmick" and an "abuse of power" by the Web companies participating in the protest against pending anti-piracy legislation.
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While supporters of the legislation - including the MPAA, the Recording Industry Association of America and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce - have argued that legislation is needed to tackle the problem of foreign "rogue sites" that peddle counterfeit products to Americans, opponents of the legislation argue that it would jeopardize free speech.
Dodd - who received special treatment from mortgage companies during the subprime mortgage meltdown, companies he condemned as "abusive" - issued a statement on the eve of Wednesday's "blackout," in which he said that the blackout day was a "dangerous" "gimmick" "designed to punish elected and administration officials who are working diligently to protect American jobs from foreign criminals."
"It is an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on them for information and use their services," said Dodd.
"It is also an abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace today," said Dodd, "It's a dangerous and troubling development when the platforms that serve as gateways to information intentionally skew the facts to incite their users in order to further their corporate interests."
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As an aspiring fantasy novel writer, I oppose piracy of art and intellectual property but I also oppose police brutality on the internet.
Is there a reasonable balance between protecting free speech and a creator's original work? I don't know.
I watched Chris Hayes show over the weekend and the proponents assured Hayes and his viewers that it was only foreign sites that dealt with distributing pirated work that would be affected, but Jon Stewart showed how some of our Congress folks are already using photos and other images without the author's approval. It's so easy to "pirate" others work via the Internet.
I do think that the Day-wide Internet blackout was a good "teaching" tool for Internet addicts and those making our laws to pay more attention to the consequences of the bills Congress creates and votes on. |
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