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.  ...

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 ...

During the squabble over SOPA and PIPA, one of the underlying (and possibly just lying) PR bullets coming out of Silicon Valley was that the actions called for in the bills would “break the Internet.”  And when that wasn’t the claim, the most consistent complaint was that the bills would chill free speech.  But in the wake of violent protests ...

Changing the culture one fan at a time Matthew Ebel would seem to be the living definition of the DIY digital artist.  With 10 albums full of satirical and thought-provoking songs, he writes, composes, and performs based out of his New Hampshire studio, where he also records a weekly live stream program attended by fans from around the U.S. and ...

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