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A threat to Internet innovation and job growth
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SPECIAL TO THE LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: Jan. 11, 2012 | 9:03 a.m.
With an unemployment rate of 13 percent, Nevada is the toughest state in the nation for the jobless. With an economy based largely on tourism, Nevada often feels the effects of a down economy more severely than other states, and businesses in Nevada aren't expecting much improvement soon. A recent University of Nevada, Las Vegas study found that just one-third of businesses expect to see improvement in the first quarter of 2012.
However, spirits across the state should be lifted this week when more than 2,700 companies and well over 140,000 visitors descend on Las Vegas for the annual International CES, the world's largest consumer technology trade show. CES is the global stage for innovation and a proving ground for entrepreneurship. It highlights the best of American and foreign ingenuity, and it illustrates the kind of creativity and enterprise that will restore the American economy.
The companies that showcase at CES are at the forefront of developing the technologies that consumers around the globe are demanding. Whether it's the fastest chips, the coolest smartphones or the lightest tablet computer, innovators are driving industries and the economy. Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Solow showed in 1957 that 80 percent of growth in economic output is attributable to "technical progress." Today, we call this intangible growth effect "innovation," and nowhere is it more celebrated or better displayed than in Las Vegas at CES.
It's appropriate, then, that CES is held in Las Vegas, some 2,400 miles away from the nation's capital, where innovation is underappreciated, misunderstood and often stifled. Las Vegas is also the home to shows for National Association of Broadcasters and CTIA-The Wireless Association, and other trade shows and corporate events centered on technology. Indeed, it is fair to say that in many ways more innovative technology companies come to Las Vegas than anywhere else on earth.
That's why it is entirely welcome and appropriate that Gov. Brian Sandoval will formally welcome CEOs, media and international visitors at the CES today. Tonight he will also address a contingent of government officials from Washington who are here to see the technology and gain a better understanding of the intersection between technology and policy. Indeed, all Nevada politicians with one exception have attended and helped us host the annual global pilgrimage to Las Vegas.
Las Vegas' role as a leader in innovation is somewhat ironic, given that Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, who has never once visited the CES, is a leader in efforts that oppose the type of innovation and technology fueling CES and other events. Unlike the rest of the pro-CES, pro-innovation Nevada delegation, Sen. Reid stands alone. The current innovation-throttling legislative fad is focused on "Internet piracy." Majority Leader Reid said he would bring the Protect IP Act (PIPA) to the Senate floor this month despite it being opposed by virtually every innovation and technology company and almost everyone who understands and uses the Internet.
It highlights how out of touch Washington has become with modern communication and use of the Internet. The goal of protecting intellectual property from digital theft is the right one, but the overreaching measure Sen. Reid is pushing swiftly through Congress will chill Internet innovation, economic progress and job growth. It's a product of copyright extremists pouring money -- more than $91 million in 2011, more than they've ever spent before -- into influencing the legislative process.
There is an alternative. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., have proposed an alternative to PIPA called the Online Protection & Enforcement of Digital Trade Act (OPEN), which would protect innovators' rights while keeping the Internet free and open.
We can be assured that there are some bright spots among our leadership, yet the overwhelming tone out of Washington remains hostile to innovation, entrepreneurship and business. With proposals such as PIPA, new mandates and rules, it is no wonder we continue to lose jobs to more business-friendly countries. Las Vegas, like America itself, is fighting for growth. With government leadership taking aim at business and innovation, our children will not enjoy the life we inherited.
Government has a responsibility not to screw up the one bright light in our economy. Innovators must be free to continue doing what they do best without government interfering to choose winners and losers or handicap markets. Only when government embraces the kind of innovation agenda embodied in the companies on display at International CES will we be able to restore America to its rightful place as the global leader in technology.
Gary Shapiro is president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, the U.S. trade association representing more than 2,000 consumer electronics companies, and author of The New York Times best-selling book, "The Comeback: How Innovation Will Restore the American Dream."
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The prices these universities charge is ridiculous, best alternatives to this brick and mortar universities is something called High Speed Universities they charge much less
This whole IP thing is such a lawyer/lobbyist playground.
Emphatically NO!!! "There is an alternative. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., have proposed an alternative to PIPA called the Online Protection & Enforcement of Digital Trade Act (OPEN), which would protect innovators' rights"
Wyden and Issa would not protect innovators' rights. What they would do is force innovators to pay government-sized fees, file in Washington with a small and favored pool of ITC-preferred pool of lawyers, and wait 18 months or more to have the ITC send a DMCA... the same DMCA that the foreign pirates ignored on Day 1.
Do you all realize what would happen to an unknown author's nascent career if she had to compete with "free" for 18 months?
How many mid-list or lower authors could afford to retain a Washington lawyer? Retainers start at $4,000 if not $15,000
What Issa and Wyden are doing is putting justice out of reach for the majority of content creators.
Typical lying editorial. Why not mention the Republicans that support Reid's Bill?
As Shapiro states, OPEN “would protect innovators' rights while keeping the Internet free and open.” In contrast, SOPA has negative implications for technology companies and innovators. SOPA would also have grave health implications for hundreds of thousands of Americans who rely on access to licensed, legitimate Canadian and other international pharmacies.
This is because SOPA inappropriately groups real online pharmacies — licensed, legitimate pharmacies that require a doctor’s prescription and sell brand-name medications — with the rogues that sell everything from diluted or counterfeit medicine to narcotics without a prescription. Countless Americans, especially seniors and those without insurance, can't afford the exorbitant costs of prescription drugs in the U.S. Forty-eight million people in the U.S. neglected to fill their prescriptions in 2010 due to cost. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have come to depend on legitimate international online pharmacies for affordable access to the medications they need to survive. SOPA would cut off this virtual lifeline.
RxRights is a national coalition of individuals and organizations dedicated to promoting and protecting American consumer access to sources of safe, affordable prescription drugs. The Coalition is asking consumers to take action now by sending letters to President Obama and Congress encouraging them to oppose SOPA. For more information or to voice your concern, visit www.RxRights.org.
Is this the same paper that sent Righthaven out to sue every one? Just wondering if the paper had been sold or something.....it sure is different and at least a little hipocritial to write against something you feel so strongly about...so much for morals.
With all do respect.
Small businesses in all industries rely on the Internet being FREE to allow growth and innovation. For this to happen the Internet must be free of regulatory vultures that can change regulation at will once implemented. Imagine a young start up company that cant post a video of their invention because it has a poster of a movie that is copyrighted in the background. Can't happen? Sure maybe with this current proposal it cant, fast forward 1 year and see how fast large corporations use billion dollar lawsuits to kill any company or person that is competition under the umbrella that this soon to be law gives the mega corp the right to do. This soon to be law that uses any image or thing that remotely can be imagined to infringe as an excuse to shut down a site or video leaves Judges which are not sophisticated enough to know the difference between right and wrong as the ultimate decision maker as to the validity of a frivolous lawsuit. Remember that the mega corp can shut down the small company with a lawsuit even if they have no chance of wining it. We have enough regulation. a few months ago Mr. Shapiro was against regulation, no a few $$$ incentives later he is for regulation. I'm convinced that there are no more honest people in power. as soon as they have absolute power they are equally corrupted.
It's all about the power, Bunky. Control Freaks love to take over things one step at a time, so nobody protests. Pretty soon, we have control over the whole thing and you look up and wonder how that happened. It's so amusing!
controlfreaku.com
Despite misinformation being spread by opponents, both bills use narrow definitions and ensure only foreign sites operated for the primary purpose of distributing infringing or counterfeit goods for commercial purposes are addressed. Moreover the bills explicitly prohibit court orders that inhibit free speech, impose tech mandates or duties to monitor sites, change liability under copyright or trademark law or the DMCA. Thus it is hard to imagine how this legislation would be detrimental to U.S. innovation and technology. The American tech sector is dynamic and creative and has a lot more to offer investors and consumers than web sites peddling pirated and counterfeit goods. As such, they have nothing to worry about from this legislation and in fact should embrace it. These bills aim to cut off criminal activity online that turns a profit at the expense of American intellectual property owners and compete with innovative U.S. companies like Pandora, Spotify, Hulu, Groupon, Zynga and others.
If HoHouse Harry GReid could figure a way to get a kickback or maybe one of his sons a job paying big bucks you would see his rush to enact PIPA disappear so fast it would make your head swim.