Wikipedia's "Corporate Pawns"

Large portions of the internet -- most notably Wikipedia -- have announced a "black out" today in protest of SOPA (the "Stop Online Piracy Act"), a proposed bill which they say would do massive damage to the basic infrastructure of a free internet, paving the way towards enhanced copyright trolling, reduced innovation, and even outright censorship. If you go to Wikipedia, you'll find that the site is mostly offline except for information about SOPA and why it needs to be stopped.

The social media driven backlash has begun to take its toll, as two former supporters of the bill (Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and John Cornyn (R-TX)) are now backing off, and momentum definitely seems to be in the corner of the anti-SOPA crowd (incidentally, the debate over SOPA really does seem to cross ideological borders -- while SOPA's main architects are Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), the primary alternative to SOPA on the floor, the OPEN Act, is cosponsored by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR)).

And so we get this response from former Senator and current MPAA Chris Dodd (D-CT):

Only days after the White House and chief sponsors of the legislation responded to the major concern expressed by opponents and then called for all parties to work cooperatively together, some technology business interests are resorting to stunts that punish their users or turn them into their corporate pawns, rather than coming to the table to find solutions to a problem that all now seem to agree is very real and damaging.

It is an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on them for information and use their services. It is also an abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace today. It’s a dangerous and troubling development when the platforms that serve as gateways to information intentionally skew the facts to incite their users in order to further their corporate interests.

A so-called “blackout” is yet another gimmick, albeit a dangerous one, designed to punish elected and administration officials who are working diligently to protect American jobs from foreign criminals. It is our hope that the White House and the Congress will call on those who intend to stage this “blackout” to stop the hyperbole and PR stunts and engage in meaningful efforts to combat piracy.

Ah yes, the famously "corporate" wikipedia -- especially in comparison to the well-known altruists at the MPAA. This is, to say the least, impressively tone deaf. And I can't help but comment that the design of the MPAA's blog would have look dated in 2004. Is it any wonder that they're getting their heads handed to them in the public debate?

Navy Destroyer Rescues Iranian Fishermen from Pirates

Chalk up another victory for the big deep* blue:

A Navy destroyer rescued 13 Iranian fishermen held hostage by Somali pirates in the Arabian Sea only days after Tehran warned the United States to keep its ships out of the nearby Persian Gulf.

Sailors from the guided-missile destroyer Kidd boarded the Iranian dhow Thursday and detained 15 Somalis after one of the fishermen was able to reveal in a radio communication that his vessel's crew was being held captive.
[...]

Faller said the decision to go to the aid of the Iranians was standard practice for the Navy when alerted that another ship needed aid. "We saw a need and moved in to help people at sea who were in distress," he said.

It is not unusual for Navy vessels to assist Iranian ships, Faller said, adding that his task force had helped an Iranian vessel last year.

Iran had been making noises about American naval presence in the area, but had only praise for the successful rescue operation.

Still, you have to wonder which will be the first GOP presidential candidate to say we should have let them die.

* I guess there is more sky than water, but water goes deeper.

Law and Economics of Pirates, Redux

One of the more famous -- on title alone -- articles to come out in recent years is Peter Leeson's An-arrgh-chy: The Law and Economics of Pirate Organization. But Leeson's article focused on 17th and 18th century pirates. What if you wanted more modern fare?

Turn to The Atlantic, which is presenting "How to Run Your Business Like a Somali Pirate." Featuring real rewards and incentive programs!

Broomball Roundup

They play with weak-sauce rules here at Chicago, but I'm just excited to retake the ice.

* * *

Early reports of a possible coup attempt in Niger.

Crazed South Carolina state Rep. wants to eliminate the use of US currency in his state.

Given that I don't drink at all, I found Alyssa Rosenberg's story of how she learned to drink surprisingly fascinating. Then again, she is just a really good writer.

BBC interviewee: One million Jews are secretly available to aid Mossad assassins.

Phoebe Maltz says she's too tired to give thoughts on the Wieseltier/Sullivan quasi-anti-Semitism throw-down, but even her exhausted contribution is pretty spot-on. Still, you should scope the older, longer version.

It must be tough being a news writer who can't even rely on he said/she said. Sometimes, one side is just wrong.

Whaling protesters as pirates?

This strikes me as pretty thin gruel in terms of a benefit for joining the UNHRC.

Israeli foreign ministry apologizes for snubbing J Street-linked American Congressman. This is yet another case of Deputy FM Danny Ayalon unilaterally embarrassing his country.

Hold Those Fireworks

The WaPo on the end to the Somali pirate standoff:

Three deft sniper shots ended a drama that appeared initially as another example of a muscle-bound U.S. military unable to adapt to today's unpredictable security threats. In the end, U.S. Special Operations Forces easily defeated lightly armed, untrained men in a battle that U.S. officials say will not end piracy.

I'm not sure I've ever seen more pessimism crammed into a paragraph nominally about a positive happenstance.

Wow, Jews are Stingy!

I really had to flag a post (not a direct link -- not sending traffic their way), which comes from the feverishly anti-Semitic ... right? Left? I can't tell at this angle. It all blends together. Anyway.

... It doesn't take many grey cells to see that the US and Israel are up to some of their usual mischief in creating this pseudo-crisis about Somali pirates. When the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) held sway over Somalia, piracy had been virtually eradicated.
[...]
Add in the fact that Israel's ZIM Integrated Shipping Services is one of the world's largest maritime operators..... What's that? You don't know who ZIM is?

ZIM is one of the Israeli owned companies that hot footed it out of the WTC one week before the attacks, even agreeing to give up their $50,000 dollar deposit on their lease....

Can we say it more like Dr. Evil? $50,000. Now remember, we're talking about what is likely a billion dollar company. And we're expected to take the loss of $50,000 as a giant, billowing red flag. Hell, I bet these guys would have taken the failure of Jewish WTC employees to loot the take-a-penny-leave-a-penny tray as proof they were implicated in the attacks.

It'd be amusing if I didn't have to look over my shoulder in case these brownshirts ever rise to power.

Balloon Truth

On that Somali pirate rescue, Balloon Juice speaks the truth here:

Maybe I am alone, but I hardly view this as a test of the President. Unless I am mistaken, all he had to do was sign off on rules of engagement and stay out of the way, and I don’t mean that to denigrate Obama, but because that really is all any President could do. We have a massive Navy with several hundred ships, highly trained professionals in the SEALS, highly trained professionals in the FBI and in the crews of the naval vessels tailing (and in one case towing) the raft, and you just need to let them do their job. This didn’t happen because heroic efforts by Rahm Emmanuel and David Axelrod in consultation with Obama produced a dashing plan a la the The West Wing. This happened because our very entrenched military and national security apparatus can handle little things like this without flinching.

And here:

Anyone who thinks that several most likely illiterate Somali thugs, armed with AK’s and probably geeked to high heaven on khat, decided to attack a flagged American container ship as a test because there is a perception that Obama is weak, is just a full-fledged idiot and should be institutionalized.

Yo Ho Ho

I've heard of American cities funding themselves through speed traps. But the east Texas town of Tenaha, on the border with Louisiana, has one-upped that considerably: it's getting some extra cash through piracy:

Law enforcement authorities in this East Texas town of 1,000 people seized property from at least 140 motorists between 2006 and 2008, and, to date, filed criminal charges against fewer than half, according to a review of court documents by the San Antonio Express-News.

Virtually anything of value was up for grabs: cash, cell phones, personal jewelry, a pair of sneakers, and often, the very car that was being driven through town.

Some affidavits filed by officers relied on the presence of seemingly innocuous property as the only evidence that a crime had occurred.

Linda Dorman, an Akron, Ohio, great-grandmother had $4,000 in cash taken from her by local authorities when she was stopped while driving through town after visiting Houston in April 2007. Court records make no mention that anything illegal was found in her van. She’s still hoping for the return of what she calls “her life savings.”

Dorman’s attorney, David Guillory, calls the roadside stops and seizures in Tenaha “highway piracy,” undertaken by a couple of law enforcement officers whose agencies get to keep most of what was seized.

Guillory is suing officials in Tenaha and Shelby County on behalf of Dorman and nine other clients whose property was confiscated. All were African-Americans driving either rentals or vehicles with out-of-state plates.

Guillory alleges in the lawsuit that while his clients were detained, they were presented with an ultimatum: waive your rights to your property in exchange for a promise to be released and not be criminally charged.

He said most did as Dorman did, signing the waiver to avoid jail.

This is a more brazen use than most, but asset forfeiture laws in general have a high potential for abuse, given that they require relatively low standards of proof for authorities to confiscate items they believe (or "believe") are connected to criminal activity.

Via