RIAA+MPAA Thursday

Really, Thursday has nothing to do with the RIAA or the MPAA, or Joe Biden; I just felt like bringing up a point that will be much closer to heart for a lot of people my age shortly after this coming January 20th.  Let me lead into this by saying that I have nothing against Joe... (the VP elect, not to be confused with the now-infamous plumber).  However, though he manages to be a pretty hip guy (sometimes even evoking a Tiger Woods-esque manner in his mechanics)...

...he is still pushing 67, which means he's older than my parents (though by scarily little), which means that he knows about as much about computers and the revolution in online product and file distribution as I know about being a US Senator, which I'm afraid is pitifully little.  However, not knowing much about the issues at hand has never kept a good politician from taking a stance on things (see: George W. Bushi.e. the "War on Terror"), so as many people know, Joe has taken a hearty little stand against online piracy and p2p file sharing.  Carrying the RIAA around on one shoulder and the MPAA on the other, Joe has shown commitment to resolving rampant online theft by supporting things like:

---after this passed, Joe was one of only four Senators invited to a swanky champagne ceremony with a bunch of other politicians who totally appear to be quite tech-savvy.

and, well, a bunch of other things, including some that didn't pass and some that did.  I'm not writing a scholarly paper here (thank God), so if you want more info please just read this cnet news article. While you're at it, check out a letter he wrote to John Ashcroft encouraging him to "vigilantly enforce intellectual property laws on the internet."

My point in directing you to all this is simply that I'm interested to see whether the actions the new presidential duo will take towards eliminating illegal file sharing and copyright infringement will come from Biden's classical, conservative outlook on things or Obama's "we need to look at a new approach and possibly take a new perspective on things" sort of demeanor.  Who will Obama choose as his CTO?  Or has he already picked one?  And how much will Biden and his outlook on things influence Obama?

I am patiently waiting to find out.



until tomorrow...

PS, if you hit all of those links you deserve a cookie.
PPS, I think I have sinusitis.  Yuck.

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