Chris Dodd Implies US Gov't Should Go After Wikileaks For Publishing Leaked Sony Emails

Variety has a report on the talk that MPAA boss Chris Dodd gave at CinemaCon, in which he appears to at least imply that the federal government should go after Wikileaks for publishing an archive of the leaked emails from Sony Pictures:

He did condemn WikiLeaks’ decision last week to publish a searchable list of the Sony materials, calling it “terribly wrong” and serving “no public purpose.” Dodd noted that many of the emails are from low-level employees who have a right to privacy.

Dodd said that the U.S. government was in the best position to try to go after the website not the trade organization he runs. In the case of the WikiLeaks situation, he praised Sony officials for being “highly responsive” in communicating with the proper authorities.

This is the same Chris Dodd who (before he worked for the MPAA) once gave a rousing speech at Google (of all places) in which he urged them to take a stronger stand against censorship and not giving in to government demands to block content.

Tell the Chinese government that Google.cn will no longer censor information with Google's consent. And should the Chinese government not find that acceptable, then Google.cn would shut down its operations. I understand that you've already moved all of your search records out of China, to prevent them from being turned over to the Chinese government. But what better way to affirm Google's commitment to the free flow of information as a human right, than to send this message to a nation with the largest population in the world?

But now, when a site is revealing some rather newsworthy leaked emails from Sony, Chris Dodd (MPAA version) wants the US government to throw the book at them and try to censor them. In that Google speech, Dodd said:

One way we respond to change, in my view, is to stand up, and to stand up for our principles, which do not change.

Apparently, your principles do change when the MPAA pays you over $3 million per year. I'm sure Dodd sleeps well at night with that money as a cushion, but I do wonder how he reconciles the fact that he sold out his principles.

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