X-Men Divided

It looks like companies are starting to slash their own when it comes to copyright infringement. Longtime FoxNews.com entertainment blogger Roger Friedman was apparently fired this weekend after he posted a review of a pirated version of 20th Century Fox's X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Both companies are owned by News Corporation. 

The Wolverine leak is being investigated by the FBI and it appears Friedman was fired not for any illegal downloading he might have done, but because of his enthusiastic description of how easy it was to obtain a pirated copy.

Sez the News Corp. statement:

Friedman's view in no way reflect the views of News Corporation. We, along with 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, have been a consistent leader in the fight against piracy and have zero tolerance for any action that encourages and promotes piracy

The messy (and developing) details here.

How confusing is copyright infringement, piracy and illegal downloading? Read Reason's coverage to found out.

High Five: Mike Riggs 

Comments

[SpongePaul]

He got fired for telling the truth, i use freetv .com or something like that, its been bookmarked so long. and you can watch almost any movie coming out and any tv show. that is just one of the sites. i used to have more, but they come and go. and btw the copy out is a production copy, or at least the one i saw and some of the CGi at the very beggining is not ready yet. a computer plane flying through an obvious cgi cloud pattern and one other time, but otherwise two thumbs up.

[SpongePaul]

i mean come on they FIRED the man for basically telling people to use google. try it. type in free moviename whatever, and within minutes if you have a modicum of smarts you will be watching whatever from wherever.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The phrase "zero tolerance" gives me such a hardon.

[Solana]

That picture is really, really great.

[John C Jackson]

I only read 2 columns on Foxnews.com- Radley Balko and Roger Friedman.

Radley's column was already cut. Now Friedman is fired? Cool, one less site to visit.

[SugarFree]

Oh, if only we had avatars...

[Tom]

He got fired for telling the truth, i use freetv .com or something like that, its been bookmarked so long. and you can watch almost any movie coming out and any tv show. that is just one of the sites.

Wow, you're so awesome, dude! But what are you gonna do when all that content you like no longer exists, because there's no money left to produce it?

Oh, or yeah, actually -- I'm sure you Always Go Buy The DVD When It's Something You Enjoyed?.

Loser.

[SpongePaul]

nope tom i do not buy the dvds of something i enjoy. I do go to the theater for "good" movies that i want to watch. But for most movies i watch but care not, they could stop making them today and i would care less. I buy and read books, mostly non fiction. movies are a side enjoyment. down on the list under sex hockey fishing reading baseball etc etc. then movies. i have netflix, and usually pop in movies while cleaning. now, the movies i really want to see and enjoy, i do go to the theater, as a choppy 17 inch screen is no match for the theater or wait till the blue ray release. but why pay 10.00 for ticket 6.00 for drink/snack 10.00 for parking when you can be at home waching the b movies online

[SpongePaul]

Ans tom i bet you are one of the people who never run red lights never download mp3s never speed, never watch "Pirated" movies never do anything eh! ok just razzin ya a bit.

[Syd]

Fortunately, I'm more into silent and pre-Codes and the copyrights have often lapsed.

[Nick]

I have no problem with him being fired. You have to know your employer. It was stupid of him to celebrate that which his employer condemns. People have free speech, but that just means he can't be prosecuted for speaking, it does not mean there are no consequences.

[Syd]

And, of course, there's TCM.

[Warty]

That's a really, really strange fist, and it looks like the claws are coming from between Wolverine's fingers. Odd.

[T]

That's a really, really strange fist, and it looks like the claws are coming from between Wolverine's fingers. Odd.

It's a painting of Wolverine holding an ear on his claw in a badly done Van Gogh style and you're complaining because the details aren't right? You nitpick the literary merits of slash in your free time, don't you?

[SugarFree]

Warty,

They have gone back and forth over the years. The current interpretation is that the claws come out between the fingers rather the out from the back of the hand, or almost from the wrist as in the oldest versions of the character.

[Warty]

If they're doing it that way now, SugarFree, then they're fucking wrong and assholes to boot. I hope they get AIDS.

[SugarFree]

Harsh. I'm almost scared to tell you about X-23.

[I smell serfdom]

"There has grown up in the minds of certain groups in this country the notion that because a man or a corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with the duty of protecting such profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary public interest."
~Heinlein's Judge outta "Life Line"

[Tom]

Yep, that's correct: Nobody has a right to have their "profit" "protected." But people do have a right to the fruits of their minds.

The debate isn't about arbitrary, happenstance elements like "profit." The debate is about principles. There are plenty of valid arguments that can be lodged against the principles behind intellectual property. So try some of those instead of tossing out random irrelevant Heinlein quotes.

[Warren]

1)Copyright
2)1st amendment rights

Pick One

[Warren]

But what are you gonna do when all that content you like no longer exists, because there's no money left to produce it?

Uh huh. That's why until copyright came along, nothing was ever written and no music was composed, and today the fashion industry languishes.

[Guy_Smiley]

That picture is really, really great.

What? The painting? That sucks. His claws don't work like that.

[kinnath]

1)Copyright
2)1st amendment rights

Pick One

Bullshit

[perilisk]

"1)Copyright
2)1st amendment rights

Pick One

Bullshit"

Not really, copyright is only enforceable by restricting speech/press rights of "copiers". Unless you're insinuating that the right to free speech doesn't include saying the same things others have said.

Before you say anything about property rights, let me just say that "intellectual property" is implicitly begging the question; the very fact that copyrights and patents are explicitly justified as a means to benefit society as a whole (not as a natural individual right) and that they expire suggests they are very different from property. If anything, they are closer to royalties, with the general implication that all (public) knowledge belongs to humanity as a whole, but that those that develop that store of knowledge should be able to extract profit from it so as to encourage them to benefit humanity when their talents might otherwise be directed elsewhere. This is, however, a pragmatic justification, not a moral one.

Now you may argue that the first amendment and copyright are not in conflict because they are explicitly both allowed by the same document, and that's true enough -- copyright is a legitimate exception to the first amendment, legally speaking (although it could be argued that, if the first amendment supersedes the original constitution where they conflict, then the first amendment must eliminate the congressional power of patents/copyrights -- good luck with that one). But there's no reason to pretend that it's anything else.

[sell everquest platinum]

Doing your job is different from being a hypocrite when it comes to piracy. Set your priorities. On the other hand, coz of this kind of issue Wolverine will sure be a hit.

[ffxi gil]

You can play this game with ffxi gil,

[mbt]

hi,
everybody, take your time and a little bit.