Thursday, January 19, 2012

Six of the Best 217


Richard Clare on Liberal Democrat Voice wants your help in stopping the extradition of Richard O'Dwyer.

Is lack of funding really the only possible explanation for a school's weakness? asks Eaten by Missionaries. "Even the late Labour government's worst enemies would concede that it spent a lot of money on schools in the days when boom and bust had still been abolished. There hasn't been time for the effects of austerity (whether one considers it painful but necessary or ideologically driven) to filter through. So if comprehensive schools have been failing because of lack of funding, then there really is no hope."

Cicero's Songs reminds us that "the deepest instincts of the Labour Party remain collectivist and tribal.".

Writing for Youngzine, Anita Ramachandran notes that 2012 is the International Year of Cooperatives.

"It’s a wonder Dickens didn’t explode and perish long before his death in 1870, at age 58. Quite apart from the act of composing his novels, he was a whirlwind, living a life that is nearly unmatched in its vigour. He had one entire career as a magazine editor, another as an actor and manager of theatrical productions, still another as a philanthropist and social reformer. The record of his private engagements alone — dinners, outings, peregrinations with his entourage of family and friends — is exhausting to read." In the New York Times Review, Verlyn Klinkeborg hears the whirling sound of planet Dickens.

IanVisits peeks behind the hoardings at Blackfriars Station.

1 comment:

Charlieman said...

Richard O'Dwyer deserves protection. The charges that he faces do not deserve extradition. See, for example, Ming Campbell:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2087135/Richard-ODwyer-US-extradition-pact-misused-says-Sir-Menzies-Campbell.html

It is undeniable that Richard O'Dwyer profited from his website. From http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2086800/Richard-ODwyer-extradition-Britain-throwing-son-wolves-says-mother-Julia.html, "In 2008, he set up the website TVShack.net, which, US prosecutors claim, banked him an estimated £147,000 in advertising revenue over three years." Evidence of wealth is provided in O'Dwyer's Facebook comments about BMW Mini racing.

According to different reports, his website provided direct links to copyright material available for download, or to links to links. I don't think that it matters either way.

Richard O'Dwyer is guilty of stupidity. He thought that he could get rich by selling torrents and by selling advertising.

Richard O'Dwyer is guilty of stupidity ten fold. He thought that he was impermeable because, whatever it was, provided him with super legal powers.

Current copyright laws are inadequate to moderate the desires of producers and consumers. But you should not disregard laws for personal or commercial expediency. My desire to watch a TV programme broadcast in the USA does not justify an illegal download -- watching a television programme is not a human right.

Whatever his moral crimes may be, however, Richard O'Dwyer should not be extradited.