All Your Book Are Belong To Me!
Stanley Kubrick got it… the Labour government doesn’t:
“I think the big mistake in schools is trying to teach children anything, and by using fear as the basic motivation. Fear of getting failing grades, fear of not staying with your class, etc. Interest can produce learning on a scale compared to fear as a nuclear explosion to a firecracker.”
Kubrick – 1928-1999
The full horror of Labour’s attack on home educators is only becoming apparent today. Without a shred of evidence, there is now a presumption that home education is a tacit cover for child abuse. That the child fundamentally belongs to the State, and that parents are essentially incapable of looking after their own offspring.
Officials will now have the statutory right of entry to our home. They will be able to demand that we register with them – we will be forced to accept an annual “inspections” – where we will be forced to present the officials with a “plan” which, should it fail to find favour with the official concerned, will result in the “revocation” of our “license” to home educate.
This is totalitarian lunacy.
Children’s Minister: Home education ‘may be cover for abuse’“Baroness Morgan, the Children’s Minister, said home teaching could be a “cover for abuse” in extreme cases.” - The Daily Telegraph |
I freely admit I don’t know Baroness Morgan, the Children’s Minister.
I don’t know whether she is married or has a partner. I don’t know if she has any children or not. I don’t know how she likes her coffee, if at all.
But frankly, that’s not really the point, is it? Whatever our views – and I do respect those who disagree with me on this – I think we can all agree on two things.
First, the potential always exists for child abuse. (If that’s not an oxymoron… “potential”… “ex
isting” and so on – but let’s not get into that cogito ergo sum stuff right now).
And second, we must protect the children. From abuse and the potential for abuse. From people who see the potential for abuse. From those who potentially see the potential for abuse. And from the potential potentiators of potential abuse.
Every right-thinking person must surely agree with me on this, I think.
For these reasons, I call for Baroness Morgan to be regulated.
Surely, in a caring society, we should at least do this for the children.
We must enact legislation that compels Baroness Morgan to register with her local authority. As a first step, she must be subjected to yearly inspections. Thereafter, I would suggest 24-hour CCTV monitoring with the option of intrusive body searching. A transient indignity, perhaps.
But remember.
If it protects the children, it’s worth it.
Some Interesting facts About Delyth Jane Morgan:
(From TheyWorkForYou.com)
Dear fellow activists
It has now been just over a year and a half since we set up “I Am An Activist” in conjunction with Anita’s memorial service in London. We have also kept anitaroddick.com updated to highlight injustice from the plight of the Angola 3 through to the torture of Guantanamo detainees.
Both Anita and I were passionate about the political process, but without donating cash to any one party. We strongly supported humane and far sighted politics. It is to this end, and as a further commitment to Anita’s “just do something” style, that I decided, with others, to initiate a new organisation called 38 Degrees.
I now ask you to take action with me and join http://www.38degrees.org.uk. It costs nothing to join and offers you an unrivaled opportunity to take part in the UK political process. 38 Degrees will hold politicians and others in power to account by giving you easy ways to make an impact on the issues you care about. I think you will like our first campaign action which is a demand for a new UK “recall law” [http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/recall/] to give us all the right to call a fresh vote and sack disgraced MPs.
We were always dismayed and angry at Tony Blair and his Government as they brushed off one million marchers against the Iraq war. The current MP expenses fiasco gives us the feeling we are governed by a bunch of morally bankrupt bandits. We can’t even trust them with the petty cash. It is time to take back Britain and give ourselves, the people, the tools we need to participate in the process and protect our future.
38degrees.org.uk will work along side a growing number of people powered organisations that have inspired and helped us set up and get going. If you are based in the USA please sign up with MoveOn.org, if based in Australia sign up with Getup.org. or if you consider yourself a global citizen please sign up with Avaaz.org.
Only by making MPs answer to us properly can we start to take the sleaze and complacency out of politics so please take action with me to put people back in charge of this country and our politicians.
Forward this email to all your friends and maybe even your enemies.
Let’s light some fires and take a grip on our future.
Many thanks
Gordon Roddick
38 Degrees is the critical angle which triggers the avalanche!
Not content with pissing off authors and publishers by allowing their site to become a repository of stolen manuscripts – I’ve written about the latest developments in BookBrunch – Scribd now seem to be taking aim at literary agents.
I’ve just received this tweet from Scribd’s Jason Bentley, their so-called “Director of Customer Care”:
Best feedback from new Scribd Store author: “Can’t wait to fire my agent! This is MY game now!!!”
Many thanks for that, Jason. Prior to this, I had thought that Scribd were trying to create something of a good impression with the publishing community. Apparently not.
Kind of a revealing quote, Jason.
Photo by karpov the wrecked train
A 22-year-old London man with swine flu was today “in a bad way” in hospital.
The student, the first person in the capital diagnosed with the virus, had been on holiday with friends to Cancun in Mexico.
Health chiefs said on Wednesday the man from Barnet, who has not been named, was only suffering “mild” flu-like symptoms.
But today his spokesman revealed the 22-year-old patient at the Royal Free hospital is now experiencing severe sickness and vomiting.
Agent Max Clifford told the Evening Standard: “He’s in a bad way at the Royal Free and is suffering from awful sickness and vomiting. It’s not good news.”
- Evening Standard, 1st May
The hospital says he has “mild” flu-like symptoms.
His agent (a hospital patent with an AGENT?) says “He’s in a bad way… suffering from awful sickness and vomiting. It’s not good news.”
This would have nothing to do with jacking up this guy’s “exclusive story” price tag, would it Max?
I’m sure you’re a more reliable source of info than the hospital…
Scribd CEO Trip Adler
(This was originally published in BookBrunch on 17 April 2009)
Memo
From: Peter Cox, Litopia Writers’ Podcasts To: Trip Adler, Scribd CEO
Hey there, Trip!
I hear that you’ve taken a stand at the LBF this year. That’s excellent news. I’m only sorry you backed out of our live, on-air discussion a couple of weeks ago. A whole lot of writers certainly were keen to hear what you had to say for yourself.
However, that was your decision.
I have a feeling that, somehow, our paths will not cross at this year’s LBF, so here are some questions that I’d like people who do meet with you to ask. I hope you appreciate the advance notice – and I’m certain you’ll come up with some really good answers. And of course, if you ever do want to come on our podcast, there’s always an open door and a warm welcome.
1) When you launched Scribd some two years ago, you were warned that you were hosting blatant copyright violations – Harry Potter, Dan Brown et al. With admirable frankness, you admitted at the time that “we can’t control it” . What I’d like to know is – do you think you can control it now? Why, exactly, has it taken two full years (and a ton of negative publicity) for you to take down all those Harry Potters?
2) Excuse me, Trip. I need to amend that question. Why am I still seeing Harry Potter copyright violations on your website? I’m looking at “Harry Potter Et L’Ordre Du Phénix” and “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” . That’s a bit, um, disturbing – isn’t it, Trip? Oh, hold on – just spotted “The Tales of Beedle the Bard” as well. I’d say that your “automated copyright protection system” needs a tad more development , wouldn’t you?
3) The one and only time we spoke on the phone, Trip, you denied that your site hosts copyright violations. I’m curious to know if that’s what you really think? Or was it – what shall we say – a Trip of the tongue?
4) Trip, do you need a little help using your search function? I only ask , because I’ve found it really good, and dead easy. For example, you just type “Harry Potter” and – hey presto! – all the results come up, quick as a flash. Now don’t be shy to ask for my help, Trip – I know these things can seem a bit intimidating at first, but I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it pretty quickly. For example, I’ve just found a John Grisham , lots of Sydney Sheldons , a Salman Rushdie (better watch out for those fatwas, Trip!), a Nick Hornby , dear old Mitch Albom , Michael Ondaatje … It’s really great – I never thought it would be so easy to steal books! I love how your site makes it feel so guilt-free. Two clicks, and you’ve stolen from an author. But you know what? It really doesn’t feel like it!
5) How many people really visit your website, Trip? I’ve seen all sorts of figures quoted – up to 55 million people a month. I’d love to see your research on this. For example, do you know what proportion of them come to share their aunt Mildred’s cookie recipes – and what proportion of them come to steal books? I’m just asking, that’s all.
6) One financial website said that your huge popularity may be due to the fact that users “can read copyrighted material there without being tracked”. So if – and this is merely a hypothetical, Trip – if your website’s popularity is at least partly due to the presence of flagrant and continuing copyright violations, then what I’d like to know is – why would any publisher in their right mind want to be associated with you? As I say, I’m sure you’ve got a really good answer for this. Also (and I know this is an extra question, but who’s counting?) three months after your launch, VentureBeat wrote “We previously covered Scribd and expected it to run afoul of hawkish publishers out to protect their copyrights, but Trip says this has not really been an issue.” Do you still think this isn’t an issue, Trip? Honestly, Trip – just between you and me – do you think publishers are total wussies about things like protecting copyright? You can tell me.
7) There’s a story that you started Scribd because you were jealous of fellow-undergraduate Mark Zuckerberg’s success with FaceBook. Actually, it’s the Wall Street Journal’s story, so I assume it must be true:
“I was so jealous,” recalls Adler, now 23 years old. “I thought, ‘I’ve got to find an idea and drop out of Harvard.”
Do you know why I find this so disturbing, Trip? I’ll tell you. It suggests that you’re a young guy in a huge hurry, jealous of your peers’ success, and perhaps none too careful about the incidental damage you may do along the way.
I really don’t know how important books are to you, Trip. I hope your reading has encompassed a bit more than lifeless tomes about raising venture capital and computer programming. I hope that your life has been enriched by an author or two, at some point. I’d really like to believe that. But Scribd’s actions don’t fill me with confidence. Because if you were truly respectful of authors and their work, you wouldn’t make it so devilishly easy to steal it.
And by the way, monitoring your site for copyright violations would be easy, given sufficient willpower and money. Now we know that you’ve raised more venture-capital spondulicks than Croesus could shake a gold-plated stick at, so that just leaves… your motivation. Do you sincerely want to stop copyright violations, Trip?
I don’t know if you’re aware of this, Trip, but the likes of your Mark Twain and our Charles Dickens fought long and hard to achieve a decent level of copyright protection for today’s authors. Just think – in a few short years, sites like yours have the potential to undo much of that hard-won work.
Which, in a way, would guarantee you a place in the history books, Trip. But I’m not sure it’s the place you’d want.
Enjoy your book fair.
PC
“…the court found the defendants guilty of helping users commit copyright violations ‘by providing a website with … sophisticated search functions, simple download and storage capabilities, and through the tracker linked to the website‘ “.
- The Daily Telegraph on the Pirate Bay verdict
Photo by loungerie
Click on the picture to read…
Babar Ahmad offering no resistance when officers came to arrest him at his home in Tooting, south west London, in December 2003 but he was placed in a life-threatening neck hold, had his testicles pulled and was forced into a praying position while an officer shouted: “Where is your god now?”
Daily Telegraph, 19th March 2009
Christ. I thought this was the kind of thing that we were supposed to be opposed to? This is one of the most corrosive effects of the Blair/Bush so-called “War on Terror” – that it’s turning us into the very people our society has always abhorred.
Welcome to a tiny corner of the net that I call my own. I'm Peter Cox, a literary agent and host of the diabolically addictive Litopia Podcasts for writers.
My agency is Redhammer Management and you can often find me chatting and giving advice on Litopia Writers' Colony.
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