More Conserva-Fraud: These People Lie With Every Breath

Say the tech nerds at Ars Technica:

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who has already introduced a bill to gut the FCC's net neutrality rules, this morning issued a tech policy call to arms for her fellow conservatives. Atop her agenda: ramping up intellectual property rights and passing "Rogue Websites" legislation to "go after organized online criminals who steal from American creators and rights holders."

More conservative bullsh*t. Yet another "freemarket" conservative trying to stitch up the market and smother competition for the benefit of the mega-corporations. We live in a country that is now so beholden to the wealthy that innovation is breathing its last, dying gasp. Why? Because no-one can launch a tech start-up, no-one can launch a new product or service anymore without being sued out of existence by intellectual property fascists and patent squatters (can you say 'Microsoft'?).

With US manufacturing jobs long since emigrated to cheaper climes... with even service industry jobs now shipped off to Asia, innovation - that lucrative business of thinking new sh*t up - was America's last chance to thrive. But if Blackburn gets her way, even that's likely doomed.

Ideologies aside, and if the 'innovation industry' really is our future, where the f*ck is the logic in screwing it all for the sake of padding a few rich c*nts bank accounts? And how do anti-American, anti-(real)business conservatives like Blackburn get away with pretending to be pro either? Just asking.

And Then...

[Via Tech Dirt] A group of companies sent a letter to to Attorney General Eric Holder and ICE boss John Morton today (with cc's to VP Joe Biden, Homeland Security boss Janet Napolitano, IP Czar Victoria Espinel, Rep. Lamar Smith, Rep. John Conyers, Senator Patrick Leahy and Senator Charles Grassley), supporting the continued seizure of domain names they don't like, as well as the new COICA censorship bill, despite the serious Constitutional questions raised about how such seizures violate due process and free speech principles.

Anyway, here's the full list of companies that support censoring the internet, because they're too lazy to compete in the marketplace or innovate when that market changes:

* Nike - Beaverton, OR
* Achushnet - Fairhaven, MA
* Curb Music Publishing - Nashville, TN
* NBC Universal - New York, NY
* Viacom - New York, NY
* Callaway - Carlsbad, CA
* Cleveland Golf - Huntington Beach, CA
* Rosetta Stone - Arlington, VA
* Activision - Santa Monica, CA
* Adidas Group - Portland, OR
* Xerox - Norwalk, CT
* Hastings Entertainment, Inc. - Amarillo, TX
* Fortune Brands - Deerfield, IL
* Coty Inc. - New York, NY
* EDGE Entertainment Distribution - Streetsboro, OH
* Oakley, Inc. - Foothill Ranch, CA
* PING - Phoenix, AZ
* Louis Vuitton - New York, NY
* D'Addario and Company - Farmingdale, NY
* Monster Cable Products, Inc. - Brisbane, CA
* Tiffany and Co. - New York, NY
* Farouk Systems, Inc. - Houston, TX
* Beam Global - Deerfield, IL
* Chanel USA - New York, NY
* True Religion Apparel, Inc. - Vernon, CA
* Concord Music Group - Beverly Hills, CA
* Village Roadshow Pictures - Beverly Hills, CA
* National Basketball Association - New York, NY
* National Football League - New York, NY
* The Collegiate Licensing Company/IMG College - Atlanta, GA
* Anderson Merchandisers - Amarillo, TX
* Trans World Entertainment Corporation - Albany, NY
* Timberland - Stratham, NH
* Major League Baseball - New York, NY
* Lightening Entertainment/Mainline Releasing - Santa Monica, CA
* Sierra Pictures - Beverly Hills, CA
* Voltage Pictures LLC - Los Angeles, CA
* Worldwide Film Entertainment LLC - Westchester, CA
* Nu Image, Inc. - Los Angeles, CA
* Burberry Limited - New York, NY
* Big Machine Records - Nashville, TN
* The Little Film Company - Studio City, CA
* Columbia Sportswear Company - Portland, OR