The creative industries, particularly the movie and music industries, are well known for their political involvement and lobbying efforts. Former politicians like current MPAA Chairman, and former Senator, Chris Dodd, are chosen to head various copyright lobby groups to use their connections to full effect. Even Vice President Biden is known as a long time supporter of the music industry's copyright lobby, the RIAA.
A group of anonymous but concerned citizens, worried about the incestuous relationship developing between politicians and the copyright lobby, have just launched a website called Political Prostitution to highlight just how politics have been hijacked by the copyright lobby.
The website highlights several recent high profile copyright cases, listing the "victims" of the copyright crusade, victims that include Megaupload, Richard O'Dwyer, Ninjavideo and SurfTheChannel.
The "complete disregard for sovereignty of other nations", the website writes, is one of the major reasons why the website was set up. While Megaupload's Kim Dotcom awaits extradition to the US in New Zealand for "crimes" that his Hong Kong based business allegedly committed, the story of University student Richard O'Dwyer is even more disturbing. He currently faces extradition to the US for actions that are not even illegal in the UK, for running a website that had little if anything to do with the country he is set to face trial, and possibly a 10 year prison sentence, in.
And elected officials, the web campaign says, are the ones ultimately responsible.
"People in power are selling themselves to the highest bidder and completely disregarding public opinion of their own citizens for policies that are supposed to ‘protect the average citizen’ where in reality, all they do is instill levels of control and punish the average person for something that is not even a crime in their home country," a spokesperson for the group responsible for the website told TorrentFreak. "We called it ‘Political Prostitution’ because we believe that what’s happening right now is exactly that."
The group has also produced a video showing just what could happen in the near future if the copyright lobby gets their way. Showing the fictitious American Motion Picture Association (a not so subtle reference to the Motion Picture Association of America) presenting their new president, who also happens to be a former Senator, and the dramatic consequences for copyright infringers in this "new world order" if their political lobbying efforts achieve fruition.
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