Re: [OT] The record industry, RIAA and US law
On Fri, 11 May 2007 11:10:18 +0200
Joe Hart <j.hart@orange.nl> wrote:
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> Celejar wrote:
> > On Thu, 10 May 2007 19:50:53 +0200
> > Joe Hart <j.hart@orange.nl> wrote:
> >
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> >> Joe wrote:
> >>> Joe Hart wrote:
[snip]
> >> However, going so far as to say that it is closer to the USSR than to
> >> the USA is going quite overboard. As for freedoms, can you go anywhere
> >> in the world you want to? Oh, that's right. You cannot enjoy legally a
> >> Cuban cigar, nor can you legally visit the pristine beaches in that country.
> >
> > Lovely. When we slapped the USSR with the Jackson-Vanik sanctions
> > because of its civil rights offenses, did that upset you because your
> > freedoms were thereby restricted?
>
> The USSR ceased to exist before I left the USA, so I have no idea how
> those sanctions *would* have affected me.
Well, I see that all that it really did (and does, WRT Cuba) is require
higher tarrifs on their goods, so it results in you, the consumer,
paying higher prices, but not being legally unable to buy the product.
But my point remains the same; I consider it a form of moral cynicism
to criticize the US for restricting its citizens freedom in the name of
fighting a rather unfree system of government. Of course, as I've been
saying to Johannes, that's still a restriction of freedom, albeit one
in a noble cause.
> >> Really, I have seen both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, I lived 30 years
> >> in the USA, and I know the laws, and I thought I was free when I was
> >> there. It is just in the last few years I have come to realize that the
> >> American propaganda machine was in full swing. It still is. Tell me,
> >> why is the World News dominated by American news when it comes on the
> >> television? Why is CNN International different in the US than it is in
> >> Europe?
> >
> > What does the news coverage have to do with freedom? Are you alleging
> > government control of the media here? And you *still* haven't really
> > explained why you feel so much freer there than here, other than your
> > ability to ask your doctor to kill you, and before that, to download
> > libdvdcss. [I'm not convinced the McCarthyism situation here is as bad
> > as you think it is.]
> >
>
> No, I don't this it is, but it has been. Good example of the "escorts"
> during the Iraq invasion. The US did not want to have war showing up in
> the living rooms of the American public like it did during Vietnam.
> They learned a good lesson in that respect, still there are more people
> that do not support the war than those that do.
Restricting reporters access to combat zones doesn't violate the
classic concept of freedom of the press; then can print whatever they
want, but we just keep them away from certain news ...
> As for the McCarthyism, perhaps you are correct. I have not been in the
> United State (except for vacations) for several years, and my only
> source of information is my mother, who is not a typical example of one
> living on the front lines of conflict.
>
> However, I see a big gang problem happening in some urban areas, and I
> certainly wouldn't want to be hit by a stray bullet. Which brings us
> back to the gun laws.
>
> Since I am American, I say this: Make guns mandatory. If everyone has
> one, when a criminal brandishes one, a large number of citizens can
> draw. The problem is that the ordinary citizens do not have guns and
> have no defense against the criminals that do. Here (and in most of
> Europe) guns are much more difficult to obtain, but the hard criminals
> can still find them, therefore the police carry guns.
>
> However, there are a small number of hard criminals. One is much more
> likely to get stabbed than shot by a would be attacker here. Neither is
> of course desirable, but I don't see any government outlawing a steak knife.
>
> Joe
>
>
> >> Joe
> >
> > Celejar
Celejar
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