Dogfather
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2 edits | Best gov't corporations can buy
This will only end when only individual U.S. citizens are permitted to contribute to campaigns. So long as unions, foreign nationals, corporations and other corrupt special interests are allowed to bribe contribute as they do, gov't will NEVER represent the citizens. |
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TamaraB
Question The Current Paradigm
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| It's called fascism
Another sign of the times, and of our failure as a people to protect and defend our democracy.
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." -- Benito Mussolini
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N10Cities
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clubs: | Ummmmm....wasn't Mussolini a fascist? |
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TamaraB
Question The Current Paradigm
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| said by N10Cities  :Ummmmm....wasn't Mussolini a fascist? Duuuhhhhh..... That's the entire point! Fascism is the merging of corporate and government power. It's when the government and the corporate world are one and the same. Like what we have here today.
Bob
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Matt
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| said by TamaraB :said by N10Cities :Ummmmm....wasn't Mussolini a fascist? Duuuhhhhh..... That's the entire point! Fascism is the merging of corporate and government power. It's when the government and the corporate world are one and the same. Like what we have here today. Bob Not quite. If you remember your World Civ II class, when the major economies switched from Mercantilism (closer to what you described) to Capitalism, the objectives were to allow private entities to trade freely. The government's role was to protect the ability of that free trade and while I don't agree this is a worthwhile use of that protection by the RIAA/MPAA, it is by classic definition their right to ask.
The fact that you take a quote from Mussolini which he used to try and JUSTIFY fascism, and then state that is how our country is currently operating, is despicable.
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WiseOldNerd
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1 edit | and then state that is how our country is currently operating, is despicable.
No Despicable is any elected politician accepting any thing money, goods, services from any business that wasn't paid for by the politician from their personal earnings.
And any elected politician that says they are not influenced by the freebies is a blatant liar! |
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TamaraB
Question The Current Paradigm
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| reply to Matt
said by Matt : ... that is how our country is currently operating, is despicable. What is despicable is the fact that corporate lobbyists bribe congress into passing bills which protect corporate profits. That government bails out failing corporations, while leaving citizens to not only fend for themselves, but to pay for corporate failings. Help for Fannie mae, but none for those facing foreclosures, tax breaks for big oil, but none for the middle class. And now, wanting to protect MPAA/RIAA in civil actions. It IS how we operate.
When a government is both run by and run for corporate welfare, it is by definition a fascist government. That's what's despicable, and is what is happening right now.
Bob
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MrMoody
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1 edit | reply to Dogfather
Re: Best gov't corporations can buy
Right you are. Unfortunately there are two problems. One, why would lawmakers cut off their own gravy train? And two, the media brainwashed sheeple always vote for the guy who spends the most on slick ads.
And so the middle class sheep continue to be gradually fleeced of their prosperity and power and we continue our slow descent back to feudalism. Your grandchildren will be the tech age equivalent of sharecroppers.
To get back to the specific topic, copyright law was originally intended to BALANCE the rights of the authors with the good of society (and it is my opinion that this is the only valid purpose and justification of ANY regulation). This is why there were time limits, fair use and timeshifting/recording rights. Our first mistake was allowing copyrights to be transferable. Now they have become a means of protecting profit, extended essentially indefinitely. Fair use and timeshifting will go away sooner or later too. They almost succeeded in the latter in DTV with the copyright flag.
Soon society will never get any benefit from any intellectual product, ever, only the rich who cheated the creator out of it for a pittance.
Edit: ambiguity |
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TKJunkMail
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| reply to Dogfather
»news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10039···1_3-0-20
A U.S. Senate panel on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a bill backed by the recording industry that would give federal prosecutors the power to file civil lawsuits against peer-to-peer users who violate copyright laws.
By a 14-4 margin, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted for the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act, which would create stricter IP laws, as well as increase the ability of the White House and Justice Department to enforce those laws. All four dissenters were Republicans: John Kyl of Arizona, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, Sam Brownback of Kansas, and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma.
The Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America have supported the bill. On Thursday, the National Association of Manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce also expressed their approval of the vote.
In general, the bill toughens civil and criminal laws against counterfeiting and piracy. For instance, it amends current trademark law to double the statutory damages in counterfeiting cases.
The act also expands the power of the White House by creating an IP Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) position within the executive branch. The IPEC would direct other agencies in a coordinated strategy to fight counterfeiting and piracy.
The bill also adds five new International IP Enforcement Coordinators to act as liaisons to foreign countries with respect to U.S. IP law enforcement.
The House of Representatives passed a similar bill earlier in the year called the "Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act." Here is a link to the proposed law:
»thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:S.3325:
Here is the link to the House version that has already passed:
»thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z···#summary
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Dogfather
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Laguna Hills, CA | Wow, I wish I could give some money to politicians to get laws passed that benefit my business. Unfortunately if I do it, it's called bribery and I go to prison. |
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MrMoody
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The act also expands the power of the White House by creating an IP Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) position within the executive branch. The IPEC would direct other agencies in a coordinated strategy to fight counterfeiting and piracy.
Can you say War On Copyright Infringers? Soon they'll be raiding your house, taking your stuff and shooting your pets.
Contact your senators and reps NOW and let them know that government doesn't exist solely to protect corporate profits, and even if it did, we don't need another War On Anything taking away our individual rights and wasting time and effort.
This may sound odd, but the Republican dissenters reinforce my belief that Republicans are less universally evil than Democrats.
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nasadude
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| said by MrMoody :... This may sound odd, but the Republican dissenters reinforce my belief that Republicans are less universally evil than Democrats. you might want to find out why they dissented before you attribute to them "non-evil" actions; those four are some of the most extreme right wing senators in office. It could be they dissented because the bill wasn't draconian enough. on the other hand, their extremism is mostly on "values", so maybe they do object to the Justice Department becoming the RIAA/MPAA Enforcement Department. |
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Luker3
join:2004-10-09
Blacksburg, VA
| reply to TamaraB
Re: It's called fascism
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was made by the government so low income households could get houses from a soaring housing market.
And when you have a privatized capitalist system the government likes to put laws on them so that the government doesn't become second to corporations. But, we have allowed our corporations to get big, and our government is taking a backseat because of it. |
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NOCMan
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Re: Best gov't corporations can buy
I say we fix it by getting rid of this pension for life for serving one term as a senator. To receive the pension you must be voted in to 2 consecutive terms and you can only serve 2 consecutive terms. If you get voted out and come back 6 years later and serve your last term no pension for you.
You can only accept money from individuals with a 3000 dollar cap per individual.
That in itself would fix corporate influence and flush out congress regularly so we can ensure that we see new faces more than once every other few decades. Seeing people in congress for 40 years is disturbing. Is it any wonder all these old heads in congress cant get along anymore after spending decades arguing with the other side. |
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MrMoody
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| reply to nasadude
said by nasadude :you might want to find out why they dissented before you attribute to them "non-evil" actions; those four are some of the most extreme right wing senators in office. It could be they dissented because the bill wasn't draconian enough. on the other hand, their extremism is mostly on "values", so maybe they do object to the Justice Department becoming the RIAA/MPAA Enforcement Department. Bah, everyone's an extremist. What we have now is a bunch of capitalist extremists. Capitalism works, but like everything else it needs to be moderated and balanced to prevent a few from taking unfair advantage and ending up with everything.
As far as values, on the one hand, I don't want the government forcing idiotic 18th century Puritan "church morals" on me.
But on the other hand, I think so-called "values" are a relatively unimportant issue on the list of this country's problems, and maybe a person who supports them has a little more integrity and a little less chance of being corruptible. Assuming he's not one of the many hypocrites ...
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S_engineer
join:2007-05-16
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| reply to Luker3
This is not fascism
Your using the same argument against the RIAA & MpAA as you could use against Apple, Google, or Intel. These are quite simply monopolistic corporations trying to protect their product. While their tactics are deplorable, they are entitled to do so.I keep hearing the anti-corporation crowd bark how bad these companies are. Like the above post " we have allowed our corporations to get big, and our government is taking a backseat because of it."
THIS IS WHAT BUSINESS DOES...IT GROWS!
These corps also EMPLOY, and INSURE millions of people.
As far as Mussolini goes, he wasn't a true fascist. he blended elements of fascism with elements of traditionalism for his Italian utopia~!
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Dogfather
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1 edit | reply to NOCMan
Re: Best gov't corporations can buy
How about no pensions at all for Senators? No raises either. They shouldn't even draw a paycheck unless they pass a balanced budget. |
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n2jtx
join:2001-01-13
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| reply to Matt
Re: It's called fascism
said by Matt :The fact that you take a quote from Mussolini which he used to try and JUSTIFY fascism, and then state that is how our country is currently operating, is despicable. At least he did not quote Hitler. That usually signifies the end of a thread. |
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jmn1207
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| reply to Dogfather
Re: Best gov't corporations can buy
said by Dogfather :How about no pensions at all for Senators? No raises either. They shouldn't even draw a paycheck unless they pass a balanced budget. Balanced? How about we let them keep 50% of whatever they can manage to leave over as a surplus? Of course, those profits would have to be taxed at 30% or more.  |
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james
join:2001-02-26
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Re: This is not fascism
said by S_engineer :THIS IS WHAT BUSINESS DOES...IT GROWS! Perhaps that is the problem. WHY should a company keep growing and growing? Is this sustainable? Is it good for the company in the long term?
CEOs and share-holders these days dont care about the long term health of the company they run, they just want to make the company appear to make money for 3-4 years so they can get out with a huge retirement package. |
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