SOPA Support Dries Up, But MegaUpload.com Get Bucket of Cold Water
Published January 24th, 2012 | 
As anti-SOPA protests became more vocal and demonstrative, several supporters backed away from the online piracy bill, including the White House. This casts doubts on the passage of the bill. But perhaps just to make an example and show the world that it is still serious about taking down online pirates, the Justice Department decided to shut down MegaUpload.com. This site provides a service to individuals to upload large files. Once uploaded, these file can be shared. For instance, you can download videos, games, music, applications and other files. And, yes, some of these files are uploaded illegally. But many files are legal. Does that mean that the site, itself, is run by online pirates? It’s an important question which needs to be answer as at least four of the site’s operators have been arrested. Did these individuals directly pirate the illegal files and upload them? I think ultimately, these charges will be dropped. I think there’s a legal argument to be made. Just my two cents.
The Nook on the Hook
Published January 5th, 2012 | E-readers are perhaps most innovative creation since log furniture and, while e-readers are helping Amazon expand its publishing business, Barnes & Noble is getting out of direct publishing. That’s right, pretty soon, B&N will not be publishing anymore Barnes and Noble Classics or anything else. It seems the the big book retailers is planning to put all its eggs in one basket and support the Nook Reader. Currently, the Nook, which trails the Kindle in sales, is the most successful thing Barnes and Noble has going for it. With more bookstore closings on the horizon and its Sterling Publishing arm losing money, the booksellers is mulling over a decision about a Nook spin-off to protect its one true asset from the fallout of its failing business.
I don’t claim to be an expert on the book business, but I’m thinking this move is a bit premature. Consider that Barnes and Noble is a failing business because the economy has been bad and because the retailers customer service sucks. The economy is improving (slowly, sure, but improving nonetheless). It would be more prudent for the bookseller to address customer service concerns and hire employees who actually know books and literature and pay them a living wage. Because, once the economy improves, Barnes and Noble is in a better position for offer customers services that Amazon cannot because it has no physical stores. Don’t get me wrong, Amazon is great at what it does, but Amazon is already wholly dependent on online and digital sales (they have no alternative). It is unlikely that Barnes and Noble will ever overtake Amazon in the e-book business. The only thing it has that Amazon doesn’t is brick n mortar stores with real human beings working in them. Barnes and Noble can interact directly, face-to-face with customers. It can provide atmosphere. That’s a significant advantage because, while e-book sales will continue to grow, physical books will never disappear completely and there is something to be said about browsing and shopping for books in a real store and being able to ask questions. Amazon’s lame user reviews are no substitute for real human interaction. That’s why I think it’s premature to bet everything on The Nook, a device that despite its modest success, has yet to prove it’s more than just another alternative to the Kindle.
The Cost of Doing Business
Published December 29th, 2011 | Even Danica Patrick in a bikini couldn’t help GoDaddy.com when the famous Internet company thought it was a good idea to support SOPA. Thousands of GoDaddy clients banded together to show the domain registrar exactly who’s wearing the man boots and who’s wearing womens boots by organizing a boycott. In a span of a few days, GoDaddy lost over 20,000 accounts when the disgruntled protesters transferred their domains to other registrars. GoDaddy blinked and withdrew its support for the Stop Online Piracy Act. It goes to prove that if you want to change minds don’t waste your time with marches and impassioned pleas to politicians who couldn’t possibly give a fuck about your interest. No . . . you want change, then cost the motherfuckers lots of money. Make’em bleed cash. See how fast they cave.
