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The Copyright Alert System is Working

May 28, 2014 By

copyright intellectual property piracy piratingGeorge Landrith, President of Frontiers of Freedom, made the following statement on May 28, 2014 about the Copyright Alert System:

“The Copyright Alert System (CAS) is a voluntary initiative between leading Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and copyright holders designed to reduce pirating of digital material — often music, movies and shows. The CAS uses a progressive series of six graduated notifications aimed at educating consumers when unlawful pirating appears to be occurring on their servers or accounts. The good news is that this voluntary effort is working. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Economic Freedom, Entrepreneurial & Regulatory Freedom Tagged With: , ,

Internet Piracy Sites are Stealing Copyrighted Content and Ad Revenue

February 28, 2014 By

Intellectual Propery Piracy

by George Landrith 

Internet piracy has become a big business. It has also become more sophisticated in the way it steals. Rather than selling the music and movies of others, often they provide it for free and use the increased internet traffic to obtain surprising advertising revenues. This allows the pirate to claim he isn’t selling anything. But he makes a handsome profit stealing the property of others — movies, music, books, etc. According to a recent study by the Digital Citizens Alliance (DCA), in 2013, these piracy sites reaped an estimated quarter billion — with a B — dollars in advertising revenue. Even small piracy sites can pull in over $100,000 a year in advertising revenue and it is almost all profit.

Some might think that this is great news — free music and movies for everyone! But the truth is this theft harms everyone. Everyone you ask? Yes! Everyone, except maybe the pirate. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Economic Freedom, Entrepreneurial & Regulatory Freedom, Internet Freedom Tagged With: , ,

Obama Using the IRS to Quash Dissent

February 4, 2014 By

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by George Landrith

When the House Ways & Means Subcommittee on Oversight grills the Internal Revenue Service’s John Koskinen next week about his scandal-plagued agency, it would do well to ask him to defend its proposed guidelines for the operation of “social welfare groups.” If finalized as written, these guidelines would effectively “gag” many organizations that engage in the nation’s policy discussions.

The IRS now claims that the targeting of conservatives was the result of ambiguous rules rather than a deliberate strategy to silence conservative groups that might oppose the Obama Administration’s policy objectives. While the IRS has been stonewalling Congress on the targeting scandal, it has been secretly preparing these new rules to expand its power and legalize its past abuses. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Constitutional and Political Freedom, Economic Freedom Tagged With: , , , ,

Congress was Right to Ring in the New Year by Ending Wind Subsidies

January 5, 2014 By

wind-turbine-money

George Landrith, President of Frontiers of Freedom, commended Congress for allowing the decades-old practice of wasting billions of taxpayer dollars subsidizing the wind industry to expire with the New Year.

Landrith remarked:

“2013’s end marked the expiration of the investment and production tax credits for the wind industry. As we ring in the New Year, Congress took advantage of this opportunity and permanently ended these wasteful tax credits. These subsidies did nothing but hide the true costs of these projects, subsidized corporate rent seekers, and dramatically increased the cost of electricity for taxpayers.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Constitutional and Political Freedom, Economic Freedom Tagged With: , , , , ,

Intellectual Property Rights and Regulation of Technology

November 17, 2013 By

Intellectual Property - Brain

by George Landrith

One of the most important parts of the Constitution is one of the least recognized. While American’s appreciate the importance of free speech and free elections, few realize that America may well have become the world’s unmatched economic superpower because the Founders wisely authorized Congress to protect intellectual property rights. This, in turn, provided the incentive to innovate and create.

Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution authorizes Congress to “promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries….” With this under-appreciated constitutional provision, the Founders made the U.S. the engine of innovation that drove technological, economic, and medical advances for the entire world.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Constitutional and Political Freedom, Economic Freedom, Science and Public Policy Tagged With: , , , ,