PROFILE
FROM Sandra Aistars
Is a Secure Future of Broadcasting, an End to Innovation? Media conglomerates were quick to cheer today’s Supreme Court decision in the Aereo case this morning. Aereo is the tech startup that’s been making news, and enemies in the broadcasting industry, with an innovative cloud-based antenna and DVR system. Essentially, the justices decided that Aereo’s streaming service violated copyright law and amounted to theft of broadcast networks’ programming. The case was viewed as having the potential to change the future of broadcasting, but left the current business model virtually intact.
Internet Piracy: Will SOPA Change the Web as We Know It? There's a major battle on Capitol Hill involving big money with Republicans and Democrats on both sides of the issue. It's all about Internet sites that profit from stolen movies and music. Movie studios and music producers say copyright theft is costing them $58 billion a year. They're backing laws proposed in the House and the Senate to give the Justice Department the power to shut down websites that profit from stolen material. The Internet industry says it's concerned about piracy too, but it claims the proposed laws are a real threat to freedom and openness on line. Can that material be protected without destroying the freedom that makes the Internet so important to so many users? Photo: Netflix is one of several companies that's threatened by Internet piracy. Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Internet Piracy: It's Hollywood versus Silicon Valley America's so-called "creative" industries are battling it out on Capitol Hill with a lot at stake for consumers who depend on the Internet. The movie and music industries, some labor unions and the Chamber of Commerce want to crackdown on Internet piracy, which is costing some $58 billion a year. They're backing laws proposed in the House and the Senate to give the Justice Department the power to shut down Internet sites that profit from stolen material. While the Internet industry says it's concerned about piracy too, web giants like Google and Yahoo — joined by consumer groups — claim the proposed laws are a real threat to freedom and openness on line. Would Washington have the power to police the web, like China? Are there other ways of protecting the rights and income of producers and artists?
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Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.