DealFatigue Too

Financing the Stuff of Dreams Through Kickstarter. A fantastic piece by NY Times tech columnist David Pogue, be sure to check it out. (via kickstarter)

nevver:

Calvin and Hobbes

parislemon:

Kal Raustiala and Chris Sprigman of Freakonomics discuss the claims that piracy leads to $250 billion a year in loses and 750,000 American jobs lost:

The good news is that the numbers are wrong — as this post by the Cato Institute’s Julian Sanchez explains. In 2010, the Government Accountability Office released a report noting that these figures “cannot be substantiated or traced back to an underlying data source or methodology,” which is polite government-speak for “these figures were made up out of thin air.” 

And:

So what’s the real number? At this point, we simply don’t know. And this leads us to a second problem: one which is not so much about data, as about actual economic effects.  There are certainly a lot of people who download music and movies without paying. It’s clear that, at least in some cases, piracy substitutes for a legitimate transaction — for example, a person who would have bought the DVD of the new Kate Beckinsale vampire film (who is that, actually?) but instead downloads it for free on Bit Torrent. In other cases, the person pirating the movie or song would never have bought it. This is especially true if the consumer lives in a relatively poor country, like China, and is simply unable to afford to pay for the films and music he downloads.  

Do we count this latter category of downloads as “lost sales”?  Not if we’re honest. 

fuckyeahdirectors:

2012 Best Director Oscar Nominations:

Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris

Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist

Terrence Malick, Tree of Life

Alexander Payne, The Descendants

Martin Scorsese, Hugo

bbook:

The Easy Rider Gang goes to Cannes in 1969. When it became clear that the movie might be a hit, Fonda quipped that the Columbia executives stopped shaking their heads in incomprehension and began nodding their heads in incomprehension.

David Binetti

The week the web changed Washington - O’Reilly Radar

(via fred-wilson)

Yet Another Post On SOPA.

I generally don’t blog politics. It can be bad for business. However, the SOPA/PIPA legislation, which pitted new tech against old media, requires a response.

Piracy is a serious problem that may or may not need additional attention (we already have the DMCA to protect copyright interests). However, the legislation as drafted is bad law. While hardly scientific, most if not all of the entertainment lawyers I discussed the bills with agree - even the ones who work at the studios.

If these bills became law then it would be legal for the government to shut down sites without due process. In effect, fair use can be ignored and sites are guilty until proven innocent. Litigation can be costly and few would opt to fight in the face of substantial legal fees and an unprofitable victory.

The clip above is a parody using someone else’s copyrighted work. It’s likely that such works - notwithstanding what you think of this particular parody - could survive on the net.

That’s not how our country is supposed to work and that’s certainly not how this law should work. This legislation can be redrafted to stem piracy without sacrificing our core values.

If you haven’t already, I urge you to read the current drafts of SOPA and PIPA and tell me if you still support these bills.

parislemon:

The fallout from the failure of SOPA and PIPA is just as interesting as the main topics themselves. First, many on the web with loud voices are finally waking up to how corrupt the lobbying/political system is in this country. Second, directly-related, there’s a quickly growing anti-Hollywood sentiment.

The most forceful stance has to be Y Combinator putting out a new RFS (Request for Startups) will one goal: Kill Hollywood. 

It’s an important statement and message given the bullshit the MPAA is up to. But it’s also important to separate film, the artform, from Hollywood, the industry.

Read More

starwarsuncut:

Star Wars Uncut: Director’s Cut

Finally, the crowd-sourced project has been stitched together and put online for your viewing pleasure. The Director’s Cut is a feature-length film that contains hand-picked scenes from the entire StarWarsUncut.com collection.

Many thanks to Aaron Valdez (video editor) and Bryan Pugh (sound design/mixing) for the countless hours they put into this masterpiece.

The Story:

In 2009, thousands of Internet users were asked to remake “Star Wars: A New Hope” into a fan film, 15 seconds at a time. Contributors were allowed to recreate scenes from Star Wars however they wanted. Within just a few months SWU grew into a wild success. The creativity that poured into the project was unimaginable.

SWU has been featured in documentaries, news features and conferences around the world for its unique appeal. In 2010 we won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media.

We can’t thank everyone enough for making this such a special project.

Watch it now.

(via stevewoolf)

burbanked:

apio:

What began as a joke on fb with April turned into me making some For Your Consideration posters. Because Oscar season is nigh and I think it’s time Channing Tatum gets the recognition he deserves.

OH MY GOODNESS I LOVE THESE SO MUCH.

“Tatum’s talent is large, like his neck.”

OH MY GOODNESS.

writerofscreen:

Check out some “For Your Consideration” possible Oscar noms

Frank Zappa as The Big Lebowski? Mick Jagger as Bond? Movies From An Alternate Universe via @karlabry (Twitter)

Obama for America on SOPA

  (via joshuanguyen)

Yes we can.

(via bijan)

(via fred-wilson)

How Copyright Industries Con Congress (via cacioppo)

(via fred-wilson)

nevver:

Taxi Driver