But slow pacing gave the Internet and free speech advocates time to wake up and mobilize, turning what might have been a relatively simple exercise for Mr. Dodd and his allies into a bitter struggle. The delays violated a cardinal rule among professional lobbyists, who generally believe the worst enemy of a proposed law is the legislative clock.
Mr. Dodd said that the entire industry was surprised by the intensity of the objections that arose in the last couple of weeks. “This was a whole new different game all of a sudden,” he said. “This thing was considered by many to be a slam dunk.”
The article points out something interesting: Thanks to a 2007 law, Dodd is barred from directly lobbying members of Congress for two years because he’s a former Senator. He could lobby the White House, but that clearly didn’t work because Obama’s staff went against him. This makes us wonder what Chris could throw at Congress as MPAA head once the rule is lifted. Dodd also suggested tactical errors were at play: With Hollywood the face of this bill and not, say, heavily-counterfeited products, it made things much harder than it could’ve been. To which we say: Save your talk about smoke detectors, Chris. The internet was the issue dealt with in this bill — and poorly.
We are writing to ask you for help on an issue that is one our top business priorities – content theft on the Internet, which is a major threat to the strength of our business. Our major guilds and unions are joining us in the fight to keep our businesses strong so that the tidal wave of content theft does not kill jobs. But if the current trend continues, it’s not too strong to say that this threat could adversely affect our business relationship with you.
Thanks to Google+ user Emmett Lollis for putting it up. We’re looking to see if we can find any other details about the letter and confirm it’s real. The letter seems focused on entertainment content over news content. EDIT: The letter’s original source appears to be an anonymous comment on TorrentFreak. Phone numbers are listed on the letter; will offer up more info as we get.
Second update: Some checks on names; Phil Tahtakran is listed as a lobbyist for Comcast and General Electric, who together own NBC Universal. John McCay’s public LinkedIn profile shows that he is the “Vice President, Corporate Communications at NBC Universal.” Called both numbers listed, and they led to voicemails for each person.
Third update: NBC Universal does use outside suppliers and they do have their own online portal.
Fourth update: Via Google+ user Occupy Updates, here’s an e-mail thread involving McCay and others attempting to launch an anti-piracy campaign last year. TechDirt did the dirty work on this one, including filing a FOIA request.
sinful-nature-deactivated201206 asks: I dont get why people are being complacent about the IP ACT. We must be more demonstrative. The internet is the one place where we all can be ourselves without guidelines on who we are. Why are people not signing the petition? Why are people not recognizing that this is infringing on the last option of freedom we have as individuals. If the gov't gains the right to infiltrate every aspect of our lives we lose the very thing that makes us who we are. The minority to majority.
» SFB says: The thing is, for many people, it’s a bit of a disconnect to see what PROTECT-IP and SOPA are capable of. And while we can understand apathy (it’s nothing new; see voting levels among 18-24s), but sometimes they need to see the effects of something like that need to be hammered down to the most basic form — something which Tumblr did quite effectively on Wednesday with their remarkable blacking-out of the site and political campaign. Too much stuff happens right under our nose. It’s hard to look away when you’re having fun. And I guess that what I find about the best Tumblrs is that they realize most people are like this and use this to their advantage — by doing the opposite. Don’t pull the wool over our eyes. Make it clear. — Ernie @ SFB (It’s our Office Hours! Shoot us a question over here.)
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