Comment Entertainment industry hypocrisy (Score 1) 206
This whole issue concerning CSS and the recent furor over DeCSS brings to mind something that I've been saying about the entertainment industry for years.
The entertainment industry: People who speak like socialists and act like the worst kind of robber-baron capitalist.
Who among us has not been nauseated by the incessant ribbon campaigns, emotional appeals for more regulations and taxes, and other soft-hearted whacko socialisim promoted by the Big Names in entertainment? How often do we listen to said Names scream about "censorship" whenever anyone dares to criticize the material they produce? Who are the biggest contributors to the ACLU, ostensibly the (self-appointed) Defenders of Free Speech? I think it fair to say that the American entertainment industry is almost uniformily leftist, and I also think it fair to say that the majority of people in this industry tend to support increased government spending (of taxpayers money) on a long laundry list of "causes".
Interesting, that. Hollywood Big Names are willing and eager to promote social/political positions that deprive the public of their economic and (in some cases) political freedoms, but they sure get damn sensitive when it's THEIR bottom line at stake! When it comes to matters of "intellectual property" and "free" expression (of politically correct material) the same people change their tune pretty fast. All of a sudden their true colors are revealed - they are just as greedy and selfish as the "cruel, heartless, bigoted, sexist and homophobic" masses.
Y'know, the fact that most of Hollywood is socialist really does not bother me that much. I disagree with most of these people's stated political posistions, but, as one who is (little-l) libertarian minded, I'd be the first one to defend their right to express these opinions. What burns me is the rank hypocrisy of these people - demanding "free expression" from one corner of their mouth while devising a system (CSS) expressly designed to CURTAIL the freedom of the consumer.
The entertainment industry: People who speak like socialists and act like the worst kind of robber-baron capitalist.
Who among us has not been nauseated by the incessant ribbon campaigns, emotional appeals for more regulations and taxes, and other soft-hearted whacko socialisim promoted by the Big Names in entertainment? How often do we listen to said Names scream about "censorship" whenever anyone dares to criticize the material they produce? Who are the biggest contributors to the ACLU, ostensibly the (self-appointed) Defenders of Free Speech? I think it fair to say that the American entertainment industry is almost uniformily leftist, and I also think it fair to say that the majority of people in this industry tend to support increased government spending (of taxpayers money) on a long laundry list of "causes".
Interesting, that. Hollywood Big Names are willing and eager to promote social/political positions that deprive the public of their economic and (in some cases) political freedoms, but they sure get damn sensitive when it's THEIR bottom line at stake! When it comes to matters of "intellectual property" and "free" expression (of politically correct material) the same people change their tune pretty fast. All of a sudden their true colors are revealed - they are just as greedy and selfish as the "cruel, heartless, bigoted, sexist and homophobic" masses.
Y'know, the fact that most of Hollywood is socialist really does not bother me that much. I disagree with most of these people's stated political posistions, but, as one who is (little-l) libertarian minded, I'd be the first one to defend their right to express these opinions. What burns me is the rank hypocrisy of these people - demanding "free expression" from one corner of their mouth while devising a system (CSS) expressly designed to CURTAIL the freedom of the consumer.
