Viacom is suing YouTube (Google) for $1 billion for copyright violations. People (not YouTube) have posted clips (not entire shows unless the shows were under 10 minutes) on YouTube without Viacom's permission.
As a result, many YouTube visitors were turned onto Viacom regular programing as well as many other programs like, The Office, 24, Desperate Housewives, The Family Guy, Ali G, and Lost.
While some of these people would have started watching these programs without the help of the Internet, most people use the Internet to get caught up on episodes that aired before they started watching.
How does one begin watching 24, Desperate Housewives or Lost without going back to past shows.
Viacom must be mad at people for watching their programming? I am aware that many of these shows do not belong to Viacom, but I think it demonstrates how little old media (TV, Newspapers and Magazines) understand the power of new media (Blogs, Internet, TiVo, and Video sites).
If broadcasters begin suing websites for rebroadcasting their shows then people will have to accidentally discover new programs by setting their TiVos or DVR for the wrong time or the wrong night – something that is pretty much impossible because TiVo is smarter than the average VCR.
Of course people could just make it a point to stay home and watch TV on the actual night and time that a show airs… Ya, right.
I predict (yes, another Adam Cochran prediction) that within 2 years there will be a major hit show that is not found on TV or Cable. It will be Internet only. This will be followed by Internet only newscasts.
Within 5 years individuals will be the new networks. We will use Google as our TV guide.
Is it any wonder why the many in broadcasting and the government want control over video, audio and other high-powered uses for the Web? This is not a conspiracy theory – it is an ongoing debate in both houses of congress. Just as there are lobbies for control of natural resources, military and money, there are also major lobbies and debates going on over who should control the information and the Internet.
Don't panic. But be aware. Search our site and Google for the term Net Neutrality and you will discover how many groups want power over the way the world gets its information.
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Most of these types of shenanigans involve people trying to control the flow of information so they can control your mind so they can steal your labor through self-perceived-as-clever devices such as “government,” “law,” “money,” “taxes,” etc. An excellent book for those new to these areas of thought is “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand, who was born in Russia, and whose father’s pharmacy was stolen by “the State,” and who then came to America and became a successful author and defender of capitalism.
While we are considering how the universe around us in fact actually functions, and in which direction “society” ought to go to progress toward the eventual attainment of full human spiritual and intellectual potential, consider ideas like this: if we could figure out how to stop quarreling (e.g. trying to steal each other’s labor) and stay well and healthy, lawyers and doctors would have to find something else to do with their time. What a thought, yet entirely within the realm of theoretical possibility for human kind.
Another “heretical” thought: what if the nine jerks who are overseeing, regulating, inspecting, controling and taxing the one poor soul who is actually engaged in REAL production (aka real LABOR) had to acquire valuable skills and engage in the production of real goods and services useful to human beings? Just think how wealthy everyone would be. If we all spent half as much time working as most people do trying to get out of work, we’d all be rich!
Last thought: robots. The future of human spiritual and intellectual progress lies in the advancement of robot technology. (Computers are robots. So are cars, tractors, machines, etc.)
In short, virtually EVERYTHING depends on the freedoms of thought, speech, and association, and the free and unregulated flow of ideas and information. Who knows what little piece of information will spark a flame in the young mind of the next Isaac Newton, Madame Curie or Albert Einstein? Yes, there needs to be such a thing as intellectual property. But in no way is it inextricably necessary that intellectual property rights should trump a free and unregulated Internet. Net Neutrality IS inextricably attached to the overall progress of the human species. It is literally a life and death issue, and we need to defend it as such.
See the http://www.drudgereport.com/flash.htm webpage.
You’ve got to wonder which self-serving politicos will be the first to make serious efforts to implement the same tyrannical scam here in the good old U S of A.
If Patrick Henry were alive today, he would probably say “Give me Net Neutrality, or give me death!” The Founders would have had an absolute ball on the Internet (and they would undoubtedly have kept it free and unregulated)!
It all started in earnest with that old slickster, Bubba, saying, “That depends on what the meaning of ‘is’ is.” Literally overnight, America became educated as to the wannabe-clever political manipulation of language itself.
The old media (OM) ? read that “establishment” media ? is purely agenda driven. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the OM’s agenda does NOT gravitate toward individual freedom and prosperity, which is why it is up to the individual “little guy” to acquire the skills necessary to survive and prosper in the information age. It is disgusting to watch talking heads ? who apparently take quite seriously the notion that they know more than anybody else and are more “right on” (yes, I grew up during the hippie era) than anybody else ? push collectivist socialistic agendas of which they are obviously unprepared to fully consider all the ramifications. They are so arrogant and stupid (arrogance tends to make one stupid) that they actually think that if they tell us what we want to hear (as opposed to, say, the TRUTH), we’ll tune it and listen. Can you believe that?!
Long story short, I now get all my news online. The OM is too slow, and like dial-up, it’s yesterday’s news today. In contrast, like high-speed cable, I’ve gotten used to consuming news in real time. The OM has lost me forever, except for occasional brief glimpses just to see what latest language-twisting pranks the enemies of individual freedom, education, and commerce are up to.
Adam is 100% correct. This is no “conspiracy” talk, just factual reality. We are truly blessed to live in such exciting times! The only down side I can see is the ongoing process of having to continually hump the seemingly never-ending advancement of the computer-literacy learning curve. Oh well, that’s what Rick’s and Adam’s classes are for. See you there!