Last week, MPAA CEO Christopher Dodd spoke in San Francisco about fostering better collaboration between the entertainment and Internet industries.  Not surprisingly, two voices from the tech industry, TechDirt and the Electronic Frontier Foundation rang out with rebuttal. Mike Masnick, editor of TechDirt, called Dodd a “predictable dissembler” and proceeded to attack him personally for “lacking the vision” for his role.  ...

I have many friends in the filmed entertainment industry working at all levels of production and in just about every department.  Some of them follow my blogs with interest, others just to be nice, and others I suspect wonder why I bother at all.  There are many reasons why I choose to focus on matters related to the digital age, ...

Okay, this video is three years old, but it’s still relevant because it represents a persistent, underlying faith in an “economic model” that enables even well-meaning people to think they’re doing the world a favor by pimping for the Web industry.  What Mike Masnick, editor of TechDirt, says in this video is that if your business makes a product that ...

I really shouldn’t Google myself with a mouthful of coffee because spit-takes are bad for computers. Until this morning, I had no idea that a guest post I wrote back in June inspired the top-ranked offering TechDirt considered among the “funniest and most insightful comments of the week.” But I have to agree with Mike Masnick that, when it comes to ...

Anyone who follows the ongoing tug-of-war between Hollywood and Silicon Valley will inevitably encounter variations on two cherished themes of the Web-centric:  1) that Hollywood is corrupt, monopolistic, and greedy; and 2) that Hollywood is incapable of embracing technology.  If we are to believe that either or both of these generalizations are fair, then what are we to make of ...

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