Posts by Craig Ranapia
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I recall reading somewhere in the lead-up that our recently-passed law makes it illegal again to avoid regional encoding of DVDs (which like staggered release dates brings only harm for consumers). Progress?
This is where I start getting confused. As I understand the law, it’s perfectly legal for me to (say) go on holiday to London, drop a bomb at the BFI Filmstore on films that are not available in New Zealand (and which local distributors would probably not find commercially viable to distribute in New Zealand) and import them as long as I pay relevant duties and they don’t fall foul of censorship legislation. But I can’t actually play them on my legally purchased region-free player?
No, I don’t think that’s progress in any sense that I understand.
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Hard News: The file-sharing bill, in reply to Sacha,
Expert discussion about the copyright legislation by TUANZ CEO Paul Brislen and the Science Media Centre’s Peter Griffin on Radio NZ this mornng – stream, 20min or MP3, 7.2MB.
I found it rather odd, however that (I think) Paul cited Doctor Who as a case study in old media fail, when the BBC has pretty aggressively moved to make “piracy” less attractive – the new series is screening in the US the same day as the UK première, Australia a week later and (if Prime following the same script as the last series) we’re going to be waiting weeks not months. Which I don’t actually think is totally unreasonable.
Domestically, I’d also note the final series of Outrageous Fortune was on DVD literally the day after the finale was broadcast. I think that's more of a win-win for all parties than an ill-conceived and unworkable piece of legislation that shouldn't have passed at all, let alone under urgency.
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Muse: Hey Greg O'Connor, Krup You!, in reply to Sacha,
Nah, they’re Maaaries this time.
And it's interesting how Coddington pulls out the incitement line (in the most incoherent and dishonest way possible) that she hotly rejected when people suggested her own work was irresponsible and beat up hostility towards Asian immigrants.
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Elsewhere, Deborah Coddington is predictably fatuous and intellectually dishonest.
But the message on his Facebook page warranted challenging. "Freedom of speech is a human right," it claimed. Quite, but context is everything and that freedom does not extend to shouting "fire" in a crowded theatre. Sensible musicians would think of that before choosing lyrics which provoke police officers doing their jobs.
Even one of Taane's supporters, who thought the police might have over-reacted, admitted the song might have been a "poor choice".
I often wonder who the writers and singers of songs like this call when their houses are burgled or families are attacked. Do they look at their ravaged property, or shattered loved ones, shrug and say, "Let them get away with it. Don't call the cops. F*** the police"?
I often wonder what possessed Coddington to pull an Asian crime wave out of her arse -- then have a prolonged sulk when it was comprehensively debunked. But I guess Coddington's not the only pundit for whom free speech is only for people who look and sound and think like her...
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We launched this morning, and in the first four hours we’d already had our first rape threat, and been called sluts twice. It’s a blast.
And depressing -- perhaps I'm just getting old, but I remember when trolls made a fucking effort. "Oi, slutz U just need a gud root" is as tediously predictable as it is nauseating.
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Busytown: A new (old) sensation, in reply to James Butler,
Of course, writers can have “entitlement issues” too…
Oh, crap – yes, Howett has been getting some epic (and richly-deserved) urine extraction around teh interwebz recently. She’s not the only author who needs to have this piece of wise advice from Samuel Johnson tattooed on the inside of her eyelids: Authors place themselves uninvited before the public, and solicit fame at the hazard of disgrace.
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You think they had a point? Maybe he never would have finished it without all the badgering.
I suspect the end of the Second World War and his appointment as the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature in 1945 had a little more to do with it. I don't think Oxbridge dons, who wrote a mildly successful children's novel on the side, had to worry about demented fans much in the 30's and 40's. :)
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Busytown: A new (old) sensation, in reply to BenWilson,
Edit I remember Tolkien complaining that his American fans took things way too far.
Took him seventeen years to deliver that sequel to The Hobbit, what's it called? :).
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BTW, Sean, I find the following rather disturbing:
Conveying members’ concerns to the Police Department, the media and the public. While individual members are restricted in what they can say publicly, there are no such restrictions on the Association.
Might want to think about what those "restrictions" are -- and whether it's such a bad thing they exist.
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Will you stop? You are erudite and brilliant and a shining star, and I won’t have this putting down of yourself.
I heartily endorse this statement.
Jacqui, here’s a suggestion.
Instead of feeling all “stoopid” picture yourself as a bad-ass knowledge zombie, chowing down on a free 24-hour buffet of clever-brains – a good number of them folks who usually charge by the hour for their expertise. You don't even have to stalk the silly frakers; they fall right into your trap!
Sounds pretty clever to me. :)
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