Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Santorum voices support for SOPA-like Internet regulation
Hotair ^ | 01/09/2012 | Tina Korbe

Posted on 01/09/2012 12:13:27 PM PST by SeekAndFind

At a campaign stop this weekend, in-the-spotlight GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum said he supports increased Internet regulation. According to Santorum, our rights aren’t “absolute” and stop at whatever point their exercise begins to infringe on the rights of others. Piracy represents an abuse of intellectual property rights — and that abuse should have consequences, Santorum says.

So far, so good. Everybody agrees that piracy is a problem.

But Santorum seems too ready to look to regulation for the solution to the piracy problem, suggesting that government interference might be an effective way to thwart piraters. That, to me, seems short-sighted, given that rampant piracy is at its core an indication of inferior service from legal sellers. Let actors, musicians and others whose intellectual property is routinely ripped off come up with a more effective way to serve customers and, suddenly, piracy won’t be such a problem. Take a look at the example of comedian Louis C.K. whose faith in his fan base and willingness to offer his product in an innovative manner has been richly rewarded.

Thankfully, Santorum stopped short of a full-throated endorsement of the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act. (He isn’t familiar enough with provisions of that bill to have an opinion about it one way or the other, he said.) But that the first solution to piracy he can fathom involves more regulation is still troubling.

View video of Santorum’s comments here.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: banglist; bigearmarker; biggovernment; bigregulator; bigspender; constitution; cronycapitalism; economy; gingrich; goa; googlenewtlautenberg; gunownersofamerica; internet; jewspreservfaownrshp; jpfo; newtgunfreezones; newtlautenberg; nra; palin; policestate; regulations; santorum; socialistsantorum
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-50 next last
To: livius

Thanks Livius.

Now I’ll be pulling for Gingrich - for what that is worth at this point.


21 posted on 01/09/2012 1:22:34 PM PST by ZULU (LIBERATE HAGIA SOPHIA!!!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: kingu
Truthfully, online piracy is a direct result of the insanity of pricing out there.

There's another factor too. I bought a collection of Clint Eastwood movies and found that several of the DVDs got stuck - rendering them unwatchable - on the first play. That's not the only story I have. I still have VHSs that have been played as much as vinyls and still work.

I've never used Torrent, and actually have went out of my way to pay for digital content - e.g., by deleting a music file I sent to someone else and paying up again to get a new copy. But I can see why someone would be ticked off enough to pirate DVDs. Had DVDs lasted as long as video tapes, I think piracy would have been contained. Getting a DVD that siezes up after three, two or even one play(s) says the seller don't really care about the customer. As a result, enough customers get irked into not caring about the sellers.

22 posted on 01/09/2012 1:29:49 PM PST by danielmryan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Will88

“It’s weird, some seem to think music and movies are a human right, the same as the air we breath.”

Yes, and it’s weird that many so-called Conservatives have adopted the Liberal, Leftist and populist new-age philosophy that the intellectual property of this age (music, movies, TV, books, art) “belong” to “the world” and “property rights” to any of it are simply roadblocks to human progress - when history shows the opposite to be true.


23 posted on 01/09/2012 1:30:27 PM PST by Wuli
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: livius
Let me correct your statement:

SOPA would deal with the problem ultimately by shutting down whole sectors of industry [the pirates] , regulating others to a stand-still> [them out of existence], would spill over into paralyzing even [while protecting] simple information exchange.

24 posted on 01/09/2012 1:37:38 PM PST by Wuli
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: Wuli
Let me correct your statement:

If SOPA passes, Obama could shut down Freerepublic.com the next day, without any evidence of infringement whatsoever. And it could take years and millions of dollars to get the site back up.
25 posted on 01/09/2012 1:53:20 PM PST by microgood
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: Wuli
The idea that piracy is justified because technology makes it so much easier, and therefor it is the fault of the owners of the pirated goods, not the pirates, for not adopting a different business plan IS NOT A CONSERVATIVE OR FREE MARKET THEORY SOLUTION.

The problem with this argument, is that the entire notion of intellectual property is itself an anti-market idea. It creates an entirely artificial scarcity, awarding effective monopoly rights over the application and distribution of ideas and content which are infinitely reproducible once created.
26 posted on 01/09/2012 1:57:38 PM PST by Utmost Certainty (Our Enemy, the State | Gingrich 2012)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Wuli

Very naive position. At minimum, SOPA is redundant since there are already enforceable copyright laws on the books. We don’t need another layer of it, and it needs to remain beholden to copyright holders to enforce their claims—this is not a duty that the taxpayer should be footing the bill for, which is what SOPA does.

SOPA will more than likely establish an abusive precedent for expansion of government powers to simply regulate content they dislike out of the internet.


27 posted on 01/09/2012 2:01:19 PM PST by Utmost Certainty (Our Enemy, the State | Gingrich 2012)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

Looking For Donors


Click The Pic

Are You One?

28 posted on 01/09/2012 2:05:15 PM PST by DJ MacWoW (America! The wolves are here! What will you do?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rwfromkansas

Yeah, you go ahead.

I saw the clip, and he never said that they had to be *governmental* regulations.

Try doing some research next time.


29 posted on 01/09/2012 2:18:46 PM PST by Lauren BaRecall (I declare for Santorum)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: rwfromkansas

I’ve just drawn a line through his name. I could easily imagine Newt supporting this as well, and I wonder where he actually stands on the issue. Now this would be a question worth asking at one of these mostly worthless debates.

I think could trust either Paul or Perry to leave the internet alone.


30 posted on 01/09/2012 2:21:33 PM PST by John Valentine (Deep in the Heart of Texas)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: John Valentine

Gingrich and Paul were both opposed to SOPA at one of the debates (I don’t know about Perry).


31 posted on 01/09/2012 2:42:46 PM PST by livius
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: Wuli

No, not at all. There are already laws to deal with piracy and adding more wouldn’t help, particularly since in some cases this will amount to government pre-restraint on free expression.


32 posted on 01/09/2012 2:46:02 PM PST by livius
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: John Valentine
FWIW, Newt's lead efforts to fight SOPA-like bills before. Fanatical SoCons might dislike that he effectively defended the rights of people to view porn on the internet, but hey.

Trying to find if he's said anything specifically on SOPA lately.
33 posted on 01/09/2012 2:47:31 PM PST by Utmost Certainty (Our Enemy, the State | Gingrich 2012)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: livius

I stand corrected on Gingrich re. SOPA. I’m happy to have the facts, thanks.


34 posted on 01/09/2012 2:57:31 PM PST by John Valentine (Deep in the Heart of Texas)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: Utmost Certainty
“The problem with this argument, is that the entire notion of intellectual property is itself an anti-market idea.”

B.S. No it is not. It is no different than “capital” property, such as an Ipad, with Apples right to determine the sale and licensing of the use of that device.

Intellectual property is not the idea, but the medium into which it is announced - the book or medium of artistic presentation such as a record, a movie, a TV production. etc.

The dissemination of the “ideas” represented therein are not PREVENTED by the ownership rights thereto; it is only standards of either attribution (recognition of ownership) and or just compensation, in lieu of their use, that must be applied, and only for a limited time. In the "marketplace" those costs are minimal and not destructive of "the sharing of ideas" = witness the explosion of knowledge, technology and innovation that has accompanied the human era when the recognition of intellectual property rights has been more the norm than ever before.

35 posted on 01/09/2012 3:18:12 PM PST by Wuli
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: microgood

“If SOPA passes, Obama could shut down Freerepublic.com the next day,”

Nonsense. Ain’t gonna happen.


36 posted on 01/09/2012 3:20:04 PM PST by Wuli
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: Utmost Certainty

If it’s possible to fine those guilty of stealing intellectual property without monitoring speech, I have no problem. I don’t know if you can limit government regulation of it. Bob


37 posted on 01/09/2012 4:04:46 PM PST by alstewartfan (27 of 36 of Romney's judicial appointments were DEMOCRATS!!!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Wuli

How to shutdown freerepublic under sopa

Post a link to a site that has a link to another site that has “pirated stuff” is enough to shutdown a site down a site under sopa,
Just going trough the vast amount of messages that are in free republic archive it would be no problem finding something.


38 posted on 01/09/2012 4:24:53 PM PST by The Right wing Infidel
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind
The internet is a little too, er, frothy for Ricky's liking.

Go Newt!

39 posted on 01/09/2012 4:34:56 PM PST by cynwoody
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: The Right wing Infidel

If that is really truly in SOPA, such chain-of-dependence, and the citing of such a chain-of-evidence would, in my view be easily challenged in the courts, including, in my view, easily obtained stay-of-enforcements granted by the courts while the decision was appealed, and I would anticipate even the current SCOTUS would not support such a chain-of-evidence as a definition of “guilt”.


40 posted on 01/09/2012 4:36:38 PM PST by Wuli
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-50 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson