Hollywood is starting to realize that large swaths of the American population oppose SOPA, possibly due to the fact that nearly half of all Americans have admitted to illegally downloading at least one song or movie. In a desperate attempt to turn the public tide in their favor, Creative America, an astroturf group, has today launched an extensive advertising campaign in support of SOPA.
More below the squiggle.
Their first ad can be viewed here.
This ad is propaganda, pure and simple. They bring up a whole bunch of "facts" about piracy, but they never bother to back them up with evidence. Luckily, PRNewsWire provided us with a script so that way we won't have to subject ourselves to bullshit. I'll just point out some of the more idiotic ones.
A 2007 study found that the theft of movies, music, packaged software and video games alone translates into 373,000 foregone jobs and $58 billion in lost economic output annually.
I believe I remember Stephen Colbert saying that these numbers are total bullshit.
"'Make no mistake: [intellectual property] crimes are anything but victimless,' [Attorney General Eric] Holder said. 'For far too long, the sale of counterfeit, defective, and dangerous goods has been perceived as 'business as usual.' But these and other IP crimes can destroy jobs, suppress innovation, and jeopardize the health and safety of consumers. In some cases, these activities are used to fund dangerous – and even violent – criminal enterprises and organized crime networks. And they present a significant – and growing – threat to our nation's economic and national security.'"
"Tainted medications from illegal online drug sellers have been found to contain dangerously high levels of arsenic, tin, aluminum and even rat poison."
If the pharmaceutical industry learned to adapt to a changing marketplace instead of living in a delusional fantasy world and filing DMCA claims left and right, we wouldn't have this problem, now would we?
The Facts: The Stop Online Piracy Act (H.R.3261) in the House and the PROTECT IP Act (S.968) in the Senate provide measured, needed tools to go after criminals, will preserve millions of American jobs and promote innovation and commerce on the Internet.
"...will preserve millions of American jobs and promote innovation and commerce on the Internet."
Pfffft- AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! If anything, SOPA will actually destroy innovation and jobs. No one is going to invest in the next YouTube if they know that it will be shut down after only one copyright complaint. SOPA, if passed, will cause irreparable damage to the only sector of our economy that's in good shape, and for what? To maintain the horribly obsolete business model of the entertainment industry? Hollywood, I'm sorry if you're going down the shitter, but your inability to adapt to a changing marketplace is no excuse to destroy the internet as we know it.
As one final tidbit, I noticed how their ad on vimeo doesn't allow comments. Their "facts" are bullshit and they know it.