A lot of people are having to endure the hellscape that is late stage capitalism. All we want to is just relax from our daily existential crises and watch a movie. However, that’s becoming harder and harder to do. Every streaming service is raising its prices. Going to a movie theater nearly requires a bank loan for the tickets alone. A lot of people have to rely on other sources to get their entertainment. Well, it turns out the MPA doesn’t like that and they want to try and shut it down…again.
Remember SOPA?
Let me take you back to what may as well have been a simpler time. It was 2011, the only thing we really worried about was the Mayan calendar taking us out. I was, coincidentally, unemployed at that time. Virginia was hit by an earthquake. But, despite all that, a U.S. House bill was making its rounds. H.R. 3261, also known as the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), was an attempt stop everyday Americans for finding some sort of relief in the face of Capitalists who wanted to nickel and dime us. Keep in mind, this was before the explosive amount of subscription services showed up.
Luckily, a lot of people showed up to fight back against it. Between Wikipedia, Google, and nearly 7,000 other websites shut down their sites on January 18, 2012 to send a message to Congress. Anonymous claimed to have DDOSed pro-SOPA companies and groups like CBS and RIAA the next day. On January 20, 2012, it was announced that the bill was dead.
MPA tries again
But, because the movie industry can’t help but make a remake, SOPA is back, too. Or, at least that’s what they want to do.
At this year’s CinemaCon, Charles Rivkin, the Motion Picture Association (MPA) Chairman and CEO, revealed his new dastardly plan. The MPA is going to work with Congress that will force Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block sites that normally host what they consider illegal content.
He believes this plan will work because it’s used in 60 other countries “including leading democracies and many of America’s closest allies.” To him, the plan didn’t work before due to “lack of political will, paired with outdated understandings of what site-blocking actually is, how it functions, and who it affects.”
But do not fret, legitimate businesses. This won’t affect you. When the rule is up and running, “film and television, music and book publishers, sports leagues and broadcasters” can just ask your ISP to block sites hosting the content. They’d need convincing evidence that the site is doing something nefarious before any actions can be done and that perpetrators will have their day in court.
Given what’s been going on with people who like to talk about “democracies” and “allies”, especially America’s, you kind of know who this is mainly going to benefit in the long run. If the content that was being provided to Americans weren’t so prohibitively expensive and we made enough to afford it, we wouldn’t have to steal it. I do not understand how the people who claim they are the best and brightest don’t see the obvious solution to the problem.
But that may be because all they see are dollar signs.
Source: Engadget
