Boss Hogg, **AA style
p2p news view / p2pnet: I’ve been lurking in the background and reading your news and views for quite some time now and agree with most of your opinions regarding file sharing.
I’ve also tried to get friends, acquaintances and family to understand the imminent danger we could find ourselves in if Canadian copyright laws are changed to reflect the US DMCA or other draconian regulations outlined in the WIPO agreements.
It’s been an uphill battle for the most part because very few take the time to ferret out dissenting opinion and rely solely on mainscream media to get information regarding the copyright debate in Canada. The average person is limited to reading (and believing) the blatant lies and propaganda that originates from the huge, well-funded PR machines of the **AA or their equivalent global counterparts.
It’s a shame that some of the most intelligent people I know choose to restrict their knowledge in this way. I try to point out the alternatives and steer the crowd toward the truth that I know is out there, but it can be very difficult. Because I don’t have the resources. Because I don’t have a gimmick. Until now…
Whenever I get into this kind of discussion with anyone these days, I sieze the moment and use an old pop-culture icon to get my point across, and I refer to the old and almost forgotten (until the movie came out) The Dukes of Hazzard.
Can you picture it?
Boss Hogg – The corrupt leader who wants the power and the money and runs the county the way he (and only he) sees fit.
In my scenario, this “part” is played by the **AA. These power-mongering organisations want to restrict the freedoms of people worldwide. Sure these guys have been tried and found guilty of price-fixing and other indictable offences but they continue their campaign against the world. “Our way is the only way” is their continued battle cry. Think globally:act locally.
And then blackmail and extort other sovereign nations to toe the line..or else. Consider the challenges that Russia is facing at this moment trying to enter into the WTO. Russia desparately wants to join the WTO but “Boss Hogg” is adamant that that will not happen until a foreign sovereign nation cowtows to U.S. “business demands”, shuts down a legal service (AllofMP3.com) and gives into demands deemed necessary for the survival of “the Boar’s Nest”. Isn’t a boar a large overfat bad-natured pig? Sounds right to me.
The good people at “The Register” already refer to the RIAA as the pigopolists. Maybe the connection has been made before. Well then, let’s see if we can continue the comparison.
Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane considers himself to be the law in Hazzard County but everyone knows he’s just Boss Hogg’s bird-dog. He knows the law but continually gets caught up in the machinations of his corrupt superior. Does this sound anything like the U.S. DOJ or more recently the Swedish police force acting under orders from American cartels. Indeed, it’s an exact match.
The current law in Sweden does not prohibit a site such as “Piratebay.org” from operating, but Boss Hogg sent Roscoe to shut it down because Hogg wasn’t getting his cut of the (non-existant) profits.
I can see it. I can believe it.
That just leaves you, Jon, to play the role of “Uncle Jesse” (well at least the beard fits : ).
Yours sincerely,
“Cooder” (the dirty garage guy always willing to help out)
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July 3rd, 2006 at 10:08 pm
first question that comes to my mind is ‘will this guy get sued for using a copyrighted character like Boss Hogg on this website?’
Then i’d wonder if the **aa’s will sue this site owner for defaming/libel/slander/eating babies/etc for the comparison.
or what the hell, will Boss Hogg sue for being compared to the Double A douche bags? Sure Boss Hogg is corrupt, but only in a small town way, I don’t recall him going after children – even he had limits.
July 4th, 2006 at 1:49 am
Fun analogy. Just FYI, a boar is simply a male pig with his cajones intact.
July 4th, 2006 at 4:36 am
He shouldn’t worry about getting sued if he or she takes proper precautions by using anonymizing services such as Tor/Privoxy or even from a hijacked wifi access point. Yes Tor/Privoxy is slow, but it (for now) allows encrypted posts to travel across a large anonymizing network with computers in several (not necessarily cooperating countries) before arriving at the destination site. Since people can no longer depend on laws, legislators, or courts to protect their rights, they must depend on technlogy (or arms).