Month: October 2013

by Walton Milam, Associate Staff

Though the Superbowl typically provides the best television advertisement of the year, the 2014 political races and particularly the Virginia gubernatorial election are giving the NFL championship a run for its money.   From Voldemort like voice overs to overly done images of the candidates sharing their vast knowledge of Virginia agriculture and manufacturing techniques, these candidates make it clear that they are the key to a more prosperous Virginia and that their opponent is downright evil.  Terry McAuliffe and Ken Cuccinelli have managed to spend what are likely millions in television marketing without making a single argument, instead relying on a litany of inductive fallacies that leave me laughing every time.[1] [2] 

Sadly, these commercials must be indicative of what political entities believe will sway voters.  Given the immense money spent by political groups across the nation to determine what campaigning tactics yields results, I think politicians vying for 2014 positions are likely catering to the demands of voters who are affected more by emotionally charged ad hominems than a candidate who ventures to make an argument.   The televised town halls meetings associated with Obamacare left me with impression that American political discourse is devolving to the “rabble- rabble” type meetings that occur on Southpark rather than a market of competing ideas that supposedly lead to a more fruitful society. 

Unfortunately both voters and politicians face incentives that give little reason to think the nature of political campaigns will change.  Voters face the prospect of choosing a “superior” candidate or facing the stigma of foregoing their civic duty to participate in elections.   This dilemma will likely force voters to give into the lesser of two evils and vote in November.  Hopeful politicians must get elected to have any impact and are willing to do what is necessary to achieve their end goal, including waging political warfare that does not actually get to any meaningful issue.

The perplexing issue facing voters is how to change demands so that politicians vying for office will be forced to switch campaigning tactics so that there is meaningful argument that involves improved government rather than alleged personal issues facing their political opponents.  Perhaps the best approach is the one put forth by PJ O’Rourke, to abstain from voting as it only encourages the political machine that their campaigning tactics and efforts are worthwhile.[3]

As mentioned supra, the prospect of abstaining from elections altogether is viewed with disdain as many consider election participation a fundamental element of American democracy.  O’Rourke’s idea then, though well-taken, will not sit well with a majority of voters and thus will not likely be a mechanism through which the nature of political campaigning shifts.

Long terms solutions might come through an improved education system through which both voters and potential elected officials come to understand the importance of using argument rather than fallacy.  This solution will have little impact in the short run and seems even more bleak as education policy stems from the same elected officials waging campaigns today. 

Though a solution seems distant, I think it is important to understand that the lack of inductive argument is a major issue in political races and all facets of society.  While I am entirely confident that this blog post will have a statistically insignificant impact on the 2014 Virginia Governor’s election and the commercials associated with it, I think informal discussion of argument and fallacy can only be helpful.[4]

At least the Virginia race is sure to provide us with more entertainment.  I can’t wait for the debates.   

By Dimitri Karles, Associate Staff

The universal appeal of video games is impossible to deny. According to data collected by the Electronics Software Rating Board, the regulatory body that oversees the video game industry, 67% of US households play video games.[1] This ubiquity has led to record sales and industry-wide revenue eclipsed $10.5 billion in 2009.[2] Many entities, from independent developers to giant publishing houses, comprise the video game industry, and each one has the potential to influence the industry. However, there is one company whose influence pervades the industry to a greater degree than any other. Nintendo not only has some of the most recognizable gaming mascots in the world, but has also released a number of best-selling consoles. As such, the gaming community, in a rare show of solidarity, is generally positive in its views towards the Japanese gaming giant.

In May of 2013, however, Nintendo took actions that drew the ire of a large part of the gaming community[3]. One of the recent phenomena of the gaming community sees YouTubers posting videos of footage of new games, with or without commentary, which they share among their followers[4]. The community frequently refers to these clips as “Let’s Play videos” and calls those who upload them “Let’s Players.”[5] A number of these “Let’s Players” run ads on these videos, in turn generating revenue dependent on the number of views the video garners.[6] On May 14, however, a Let’s Player posting to the ZackScottGames channel discovered that the ad earnings from videos he posted of Nintendo games had ceased.[7]

After the news broke, and after the denizens of the Internet reacted as they are wont to do, Nintendo released a statement explaining the situation. Rather than completely blocking Let’s Players from posting copyright content on YouTube, Nintendo chose to insert its own advertisements “at the beginning, next to or at the end of clips.”[8] This meant that Let’s Players would no longer be able to gain revenue from videos containing content containing Nintendo copyright material, and, in turn, many Let’s Players stopped posting such content.[9]

Did Nintendo make the right choice? Should it have left well enough alone and continued to allow Let’s Players to post copyright content? Or, was its decision to exercise its intellectual property rights sound corporate policy? Though there is solid precedent that abandonment of a copyright can only be accomplished by some overt act, Nintendo was justifiably concerned about the future of its copyrights had it continued to allow Let’s Players to post copyright content without comment.[10] So, did, as the Internet predicted, these policies spell doom and gloom for the corporation at the center of this “controversy”? As it turns out, only nine days after he reported the cessation of his ad earnings, the same Let’s Player was back to earning ad revenue on those videos.[11] Was this just Nintendo’s way of sending a message to the gaming community that they would do everything in their power to retain their intellectual property rights, regardless of any potential backlash? We might never find out the answer to that question, but, as the world becomes increasingly reliant on digital media, we have to figure out how this situation fits into the larger context of digital rights management and the gaming community.