NY-26: Jon Powers Tries to Silence His Critics
by Matt at Aug 27th, 2008
Earlier this week, I got the following email:
From: Fighting Change
Date: Tue, Aug 26, 2008 at 1:02 PM
Subject: Help Me - Powers Avoids Criticism
To: matt@thebuffalobean.comDear Buffalo Bean,
I am writing you this e-mail because you may be the only one who will print this. I had an anonymous YouTube website that was meant to draw attention to some of Jon Powers’ hypocrisies. The reason this was anonymous is because I didn’t want my family and kids to be harassed about my calling out Jon Powers. It looks like Jon Powers will stoop to anything to avoid criticism.
It appears now that Jon Powers couldn’t stand the attention or criticism because his campaign has gotten my account disabled because of supposed “copyright infringement.” I believe they did this by claiming videos that were already on YouTube were protected.
They specifically targeted two ads I put up that had gotten the most views. The first was called “Jon Powers - Then and Now.” This pointed out that Powers’ new bio ad didn’t include any mention of War Kids Relief even though a bio ad that appeared last year on Powers’ YouTube site DID mention that. The video was up 4 days before it was pulled. Everything in the video was in the public domain. There was no reason to pull the ad.
In response to the video being pulled, I put up another video, called “Jon Powers - Another Failure of Leadership” which poked fun at Powers for pulling the previous video. It wasn’t long before that video was also pulled, and my YouTube account suspended for “copyright infringement.”
It’s obvious that Jon Powers doesn’t like criticism, and is trying to bury it and not answer questions about his life.
I hope you will share this with your readers.
I had actually posted the former YouTube video in a blog entry last week. As you can see, the video is “no longer available.” If you go to the YouTube page, this is what you see:
So, what was the video that Jon Powers was so afraid of? In response to the email, I asked Fighting Change to send me the original videos. I got them. So here’s the video Jon Powers doesn’t want you to see:
Now, is it really about “copyright infringement” or is it about Jon Powers trying to silence his critics? Well, let’s consider this. A couple days ago I posted, in full, Jon Powers’ latest ad on YouTube. Have I been accused of copyright infringement? No. Has my account been suspended? No. Why not? It’s not clips, it’s posted in its entirety. He’s got a better case for “copyright infringement” against me. Of course, since the ad attacks Davis, it’s probably okay for me to post it… right?
Of course, for Powers to go after YouTube videos that are critical of him with a bogus “copyright infringement” claim is quite hypocritical, when his latest ad includes clips of old Jack Davis ads.
Hypocrisy? Looks like it.
As long as Jon Powers is a candidate, I will make sure this video, and any other he tried to silence will be available for people to see. If Jon Powers’ campaign wants to come after me I welcome the fight. Come on, Powers… bring it on.
As long as you have paid advertising for Davis… you will make sure that video stays up… right?
Is Davis in bed with the GOP yet, or is he still trying to turn off the lights and find his way over to the bed?
I like how you’ll advertise a false website - then stand up for a slanderous video. Very ethical. But it’s your blog, your choice.
Did you contact the Powers campaign to get their side of the story?
Did you notice that your correspondent claimed that everything was “in the public domain” when, in fact, it wasn’t?
Arguably, use of the copyrighted videos (always assume everything is copyrighted) might be permissible under the fair use doctrine because it’s being used for the purpose of commentary or criticism, but it seems as if your correspondent may have used too much of the copyrighted videos to justify that use.
Either way, the ads are stupid. Ask the video’s maker what he’s done for Iraqi war kids and then have him get back to me.
Doesn’t youtube give you a chance to fight the claims? They don’t just suspend an account for one complaint either. This guy must’ve had multiple complaints or videos that broke the rules.
What about the fake website Davis has up? It’s still up, so the “silence” his critics thing doesn’t hold too much water.
Why didn’t this guy fight the complaint? Sounds like a Republican dirty trick to slander someone, lord knows its the only way the can campaign.
looks like Fighting for Changes photos shows up in a Davis ad — obviously a paid advertisement for Davis.
Bean - you’re a f**king scumbag just like Davis. and so is fight for change