Dodd is under fire for saying that lawmakers who don’t support anti-piracy laws could lose Hollywood’s financial support. A petition by “We The People Foundation,” a New York-based research group, has drawn nearly 21,000 signatures, saying Dodd makes an “open admission of bribery and a threat designed to provoke a specific policy goal. This is a brazen flouting of the “above the law” status people of Dodd’s position and wealth enjoy.
Here’s what Dodd said on Fox News last week. “Those who count on quote 'Hollywood' for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who's going to stand up for them when their job is at stake. Don't ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don't pay any attention to me when my job is at stake."
Meanwhile Dodd’s former colleague, Senator Chuck Grassley, had his Twitter account hacked, ostensibly because he supported the PIPA anti-piracy bill. Hacked Tweets include this one: “Chuck is a supporter of SOPA, PIPA, and ACTA, meaning he wants no privacy for private accounts.”
Certainly pirates and hackers have not been dissuaded by the Department of Justice’s shutdown of file-sharing site Megaupload.com. In fact, hacking group ‘Anonymous’ says it’s setting up servers to launch an alternative to Megaupload, called “Anonyupload.” The group says the file-sharing service should be up and running on Wednesday, and it’s setting up servers in Russia, to remain outside the U.S. jurisdiction. Who knows whether this will happen, but it’s certainly good reason for Hollywood studios to be concerned.
And in yet another dizzying headline about the power of pirates, the Pirate Bay is expanding to now allow people to download physical objects. More specifically, users can download digital designs that can be used with 3-D printers to create physical objects. Announcing this news in a blog post Pirate Bay calls this category “Physibles,” saying “You will download your sneakers within 20 years.” Obviously the number of people who own a 3-D printer is limited, but this just speaks to the fact that all sorts of copyright owners should be afraid, very afraid.
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