[Golem] [e-privacy] Lobby di societa' che supportano la censura della Rete

[Hal]

Giro un messaggio del nostro amico Marco.


Il giorno gio, 20/01/2011, Marco A. Calamari ha scritto:
> Segnalo da Slashdot un interessante articolo su una delle lobby pro-censura
>  della Rete
> 
> <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110118/12431012712/companies-who-support-censoring-internet.shtml>
> 
> con relativo elenco delle aziende partecipanti.
> 
> Aldila' dell'interessante informazione, come sapete sono
>  sempre stato un sostenitore della memorizzazione
>  di queste cose al fine di compiere scelte oculate
>  quando ci si avvicina agli scaffali ...



Io, di mio, incollo tutto l'articolo nel messaggio. Non è una buona
pratica, ma così rimane sempre e comunque a portata di mano.



The Companies Who Support Censoring The Internet
from the censorship-is-good-for-business dept

A group of companies sent a letter to to Attorney General Eric Holder
and ICE boss John Morton today (with cc's to VP Joe Biden, Homeland
Security boss Janet Napolitano, IP Czar Victoria Espinel, Rep. Lamar
Smith, Rep. John Conyers, Senator Patrick Leahy and Senator Charles
Grassley), supporting the continued seizure of domain names they don't
like, as well as the new COICA censorship bill, despite the serious
Constitutional questions raised about how such seizures violate due
process and free speech principles. While many reporting on this letter
refused to actually post a copy of the full letter, kudos to Greg
Sandoval over at News.com for doing so (full text also included after
the jump on this post).

The companies try to present a united front that censoring the internet
is a good thing. It includes the usual suspects of Viacom and NBC
Universal on the content side and Louis Vuitton and Tiffany on the
counterfeiting side, but there are a few other interesting names: such
as Monster Cable (never met an IP law it didn't want to abuse,
apparently), the NBA, MLB and NFL (sports leagues unite in censorship!)
as well as Voltage Pictures, famous for suing thousands of fans for
downloading Hurt Locker. Activison, which has become increasingly
aggressive on IP issues lately is on the list as well, of course.
Anyway, here's the full list of companies that support censoring the
internet, because they're too lazy to compete in the marketplace or
innovate when that market changes:

    * Nike - Beaverton, OR
    * Achushnet - Fairhaven, MA
    * Curb Music Publishing - Nashville, TN
    * NBC Universal - New York, NY
    * Viacom - New York, NY
    * Callaway - Carlsbad, CA
    * Cleveland Golf - Huntington Beach, CA
    * Rosetta Stone - Arlington, VA
    * Activision - Santa Monica, CA
    * Adidas Group - Portland, OR
    * Xerox - Norwalk, CT
    * Hastings Entertainment, Inc. - Amarillo, TX
    * Fortune Brands - Deerfield, IL
    * Coty Inc. - New York, NY
    * EDGE Entertainment Distribution - Streetsboro, OH
    * Oakley, Inc. - Foothill Ranch, CA
    * PING - Phoenix, AZ
    * Louis Vuitton - New York, NY
    * D'Addario and Company - Farmingdale, NY
    * Monster Cable Products, Inc. - Brisbane, CA
    * Tiffany and Co. - New York, NY
    * Farouk Systems, Inc. - Houston, TX
    * Beam Global - Deerfield, IL
    * Chanel USA - New York, NY
    * True Religion Apparel, Inc. - Vernon, CA
    * Concord Music Group - Beverly Hills, CA
    * Village Roadshow Pictures - Beverly Hills, CA
    * National Basketball Association - New York, NY
    * National Football League - New York, NY
    * The Collegiate Licensing Company/IMG College - Atlanta, GA
    * Anderson Merchandisers - Amarillo, TX
    * Trans World Entertainment Corporation - Albany, NY
    * Timberland - Stratham, NH
    * Major League Baseball - New York, NY
    * Lightening Entertainment/Mainline Releasing - Santa Monica, CA
    * Sierra Pictures - Beverly Hills, CA
    * Voltage Pictures LLC - Los Angeles, CA
    * Worldwide Film Entertainment LLC - Westchester, CA
    * Nu Image, Inc. - Los Angeles, CA
    * Burberry Limited - New York, NY
    * Big Machine Records - Nashville, TN
    * The Little Film Company - Studio City, CA
    * Columbia Sportswear Company - Portland, OR 

These companies are clearly trying to protect their own business
interests, but it seems reasonable to let them know that you don't
appreciate them seeking to censor the internet. If you haven't been
following this story, and want to understand the details, we've
discussed why COICA is all about censoring websites without due process
and in violation of the First Amendment. We've also discussed how the
ongoing (pre-COICA) domain name seizures were riddled with serious
errors that appear to violate the law as well, including seizing the
domains of blogs regularly used and recognized within the music industry
based on evidence involving songs sent by the record labels themselves.

And, of course, none of this is to say that violating copyright or
trademark laws should be allowed. But we have a system to deal with such
things: you file a lawsuit, you have an adversarial hearing in a
courtroom (i.e., due process) and you let both sides present their case.
COICA and these domain seizures look to avoid all of that. And that's a
big, big problem. That these companies would support such censorship and
leapfrogging over due process suggests that they're companies not worth
doing business with.

    We run companies large and small that represent diverse aspects of
America's intellectual property community. While our employees live in
different regions of the country, and work to produce a variety of goods
and services, they have several important things in common - they work
hard, they are committed to quality and innovation and they welcome
competition. However, allowing others to unfairly compete by stealing
the ideas, innovations and intellectual property rights created by our
employees cannot be tolerated. This theft diminishes our ability to keep
and create jobs, and makes it far more difficult to attract the capital
needed to invest in new products and services. In order to protect our
free enterprise system, and the standard of living it has contributed to
our nation, it is critical that we multiply our efforts to identify and
punish the criminals who steal what we create and produce.

    Thus, we appreciate the effort and energy behind Operation in Our
Sites. The actions announced on November 29, 2010 once again
demonstrated that, just as in the physical world, prosecutors and courts
can judiciously assess evidence and distinguish between legitimate
businesses and criminal enterprises that flout the law and profit from
the ingenuity of others. We believe that the online marketplace can only
work for consumers and creators if there is respect for property rights
and the rule of law - and urge you to continue to act against the kinds
of domains that you have targeted. Unfortunately, there are far too many
sites stealing from our businesses but we believe that your efforts will
drive consumers to the many legitimate online ventures and services that
we have worked hard to foster and support.

    We encourage you to work with your colleagues in the Administration
and the Congress toward enactment of the principles central to S. 3804 -
the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act. The legislation
crafted by Senators Leahy and Hatch was unanimously approved by the
Senate Judiciary Committee and will undoubtedly be reintroduced this
congress. The proposal expounds upon the law enforcement techniques at
the heart of "Operation In Our Sites" and will ensure that rogue sites
cannot evade U.S. jurisdiction by escaping offshore to foreign-based
registrars, registries and country codes in order to peddle stolen
American intellectual property back into the U.S. market. In addition,
the Leahy-Hatch proposal provides an entirely new level of protection
for U.S. rights holders by establishing the legal framework necessary to
disrupt the business models of the illicit, offshore sites by starving
them of the financing, advertising and access to consumers upon which
they depend. The carefully balanced measure would allow American law
enforcement officials and U.S. courts to deny thieves the ability to use
the Internet to enter the U.S. market and undermine our businesses while
reaping financial gain for themselves.

    We hope that you will continue dedicating resources to Operation in
Our Sites and work toward the Obama Administration's endorsement of the
Leahy-Hatch legislation.
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