WebbertubeSteak: Links for Sunday, 1/22/2012 January 22, 2012

Freakonomics - How Much Do Music and Movie Piracy Really Hurt the U.S. Economy:

These numbers seem truly dire: a $250 billion per year loss would be almost $800 for every man, woman, and child in America. And 750,000 jobs – that’s twice the number of those employed in the entire motion picture industry in 2010. The good news is that the numbers are wrong — as this post by the Cato Institute’s Julian Sanchez explains. In 2010, the Government Accountability Office released a report noting that these figures “cannot be substantiated or traced back to an underlying data source or methodology,” which is polite government-speak for “these figures were made up out of thin air.”

GirlieGirl Army – The Problem With Skinny Bashing:

When I look at this image, I see two beautiful women. Marilyn, of course, was the biggest sex symbol of her time and is undoubtedly lovely. But the woman on the right, the woman who this image seems to despise, is not sickly. In fact, if you look at her legs, you’ll find muscle.  If you look at her stomach, you won’t see ribs poking out. You’ll see a toned abdomen. It’s true that she’s thin. That she fits the size 2 image of woman that is unfairly represented in media as the only desirable figure. But to say that the woman on the right is less attractive simply to advance another body type? That’s not right either. Demonizing one to glorify another isn’t the way to have a real discussion on the female body. In fact, it’s part of the problem. The real question is, why must it be one way or the other? Shouldn’t we all be striving for healthy bodies? And that means a different shape for every woman. The media has us all chasing our own tails in the search of the perfect figure. No matter where you look, you’ll find a reason to believe that your body can never reach perfection. The idea that perfection actually exists is the real myth.

Ars Technica - SOPA, Internet regulation, and the economics of piracy:

One reason is that they already are recapturing much of that revenue through "complementary" purchases. As Oberholzer-Gee observes, recording industry numbers show large increases in concert revenues corresponding to the drop in recorded music sales. That suggests that, as people discover new artists by sampling downloaded albums online, they're shifting consumption within the sector to live performances. In other words, people have a roughly constant "music budget," and what they don't spend on the albums they've downloaded gets spent on seeing that new band they discovered.  For the firms that specifically make their money from the sale of recordings, that may seem like cold comfort, but if we're concerned with the music industry as a whole, it's a wash. Something similar might occur with respect to purchases of merchandise based on licensed film properties.

Reddit – Demonstrating the Advantage of Privilege:

I don't know if you're gay or not, but my favorite example of taking advantage of privilege is something very simple (and, if you're straight, you can try an experiment): walk down the street holding another man's hand. That's it. If you are gay, you'll know how awkward it can be. If not, just suffice it to say that it can be harrowing, unpleasant experience. I've been spit on, had mothers shield their children's eyes, etc ...

WTOC - South Carolina's Attorney General detects voter fraud during primaries:

Wilson says an analysis found 953 ballots cast by voters were people who are listed as dead.