- Aiden Ross is a scumbag.
That's what a lot of people are saying right now.
And, for those unfamiliar with Aiden,
he's a very popular streamer,
and he's kind of best known
for being the kinda Wish version of Andrew Tate.
So, much so that he'll cosplay as him
and like sniff his crotch sweat
where he used to be sitting.
A guy who despite not having the ability to read
and or say the word fascism
constantly platforms people who espouse those views.
- A far right authorization on...
(Aiden verbally stumbling)
Oh, my god.
Ultra analyst.
Analyst.
So, I don't know what that means, brah?
I swear to God.
I don't know what the (censored) a fascism is.
- But, the reason Aiden's in the news today
is people are saying he is guilty
of the cardinal sin of online creation,
abusing the copyright system.
At the center of this,
you had political commentator and streamer, Hasan Piker,
saying, "Do not fuck with me, Aiden Ross."
This after Aiden and his people
appear to have gone on a copyright strike spree,
even claiming a video on Hasan's channel titled,
"Andrew Tate CANNOT HANDLE My Questions".
And, in that video, Hassan's debating Andrew Tate,
it's a portion of a Zoom call
that had many other creators on it,
including Aiden, right?
But, the focus of that video
is Hasan debating Tate,
and Hasan sharing a screenshot of an email that he got
saying that his video was claimed by Thumb Media Affiliate,
a company that people say is apparently known
for falsely copyright striking videos on behalf of creators.
- This is the video.
I'm right here.
The entire content of this video is me debating Andrew Tate.
If anything,
I should be able to (censored) content claim Aiden Ross
for trying to (censored) pose this as his own content
as all he did was sit there like a (censored) dumb ass.
I'll see you in court, you stupid (censored).
Striking this is incredibly (censored) scummy.
It's like my editors edited the (censored) outta this video
and it's also quite literally me versus Andrew Tate.
It's a (censored) Zoom call.
That is so psychotic.
- With him saying, yes, you can see Aiden's social handles
and Hasan's uploaded the video,
because Hassan forgot to screen record it.
So, he used Aiden's upload,
which is at least possibly the cause for the claim here.
But, Hasan arguing that's beside the point,
because it was a Zoom call where they were all on together
and no one person should own it.
And, saying by Aiden trying to claim that this is his,
he's ruining a precedent that creators have set
and followed in the community.
- He's (censored) up the bag for himself.
That's the point.
This will open up an opportunity if it goes to courts
for people that he collaborates with
without signing a (censored) release form to sue him.
So, every Instagram model
that has ever appeared on Aiden Ross' streams
could turn around and sue him
for every (censored) dollar that he has.
Do you understand?
- And, Hasan dropping a very big and meaningful threat.
- I will literally personally pay the legal fees
of other (censored) Instagram models
and people who now hate Aiden Ross,
who have appeared on his stream,
to sue him for every (censored) dime he has
if he keeps this dumb (censored) up.
- But, also separate from where this video is coming from,
you have people arguing
that the videos that are getting hit,
they should be covered by fair use.
Are you reacting to and transforming a piece of content?
But, even after all that legal stuff,
you have people saying
there is just an unspoken agreement between creators.
You don't do this, right?
And, not just between like big colleagues,
but especially with small creators, right?
'Cause, one of the reasons this whole situation blew up
is that Aiden apparently issued a copyright strike
against a smaller creator
by the name of Internet Anarchist.
But, the douche bag even
bragging about that claim at one point.
- Put a W in the chat.
We stole $8,000 from him.
W.
- That clip going viral and Internet Anarchist tweeting,
"YouTube needs to do something to stop people like this
from opening abusing the system to bully smaller creators."
So, there, it appears that this attention
has garnered a good update.
That claim against Internet Anarchist was closed.
So, thankfully, that part's resolved.
But, this smaller creator aspect, it's a very big thing.
Okay, so you know how we mentioned
the Thumb Media Affiliate company up top, right?
They were the ones who seemingly
claimed Hasan's video for Aiden.
Well, they are apparently doing the same thing
for videos about IShowSpeed,
who's another massive creator.
And, those claims specifically
seem to be going after personalities
with much smaller audiences.
Many others, including, once again, Hasan,
slamming IShowSpeed for going after these small creators.
- But, this is transparent greed, you know what I mean?
Like you're a multi (censored) millionaire
and you're milking small content creators.
- And, again, if this is outright theft,
you're just taking a piece,
you're not doing anything to it,
you're putting it somewhere else,
and you're monetizing it,
yeah, I get that.
But, when something is fair use,
you fucking leave it be.
That's scumbag behavior.
And, hey, I think everyone gets like one pass.
Sometimes, you're working with a company
or a group that accidentally overextends,
but when you have people like Aiden Ross
so transparently celebrating this,
fuck that person.
You're gonna have hangers on
who just kind of wanna siphon all that clout.
But, there is a genuine hate
for people like this in the industry.
But, hey, that's the story, some of my takeaway,
and of course now I pass the question off to you.
What are your thoughts here?
And, while you leave that comment,
I'll say, oh, man,
I got ahead of myself.
Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show, it's Tuesday.
I hope you having a good one.
And, I'm not just saying that,
'cause I wanna give you a friendly reminder that,
over at beautifulbastard.com,
you got a few days left
if you wanna snag one of these awesome graphic tees.
By next Monday,
I'm gonna abracadabra those things outta here.
I'm putting a link in the description,
so you can snag one of those while you can.
But, hey, buckle up, hit that like button,
and let's keep talking news.
And, then the war on porn is getting real,
with, yesterday, PornHub blocking users in Utah
from accessing the site over a new age verification law.
And, that law, which goes into effect today,
requires websites hosting adult content
to verify that users are 18 or older.
Well, that means under this new policy,
every time a resident visits a porn site,
they will be required to provide a government ID,
where you not just clicking a box.
And, companies that do not comply
can be held liable if they're sued,
because a minor was able to access their content.
So, if you're in Utah
and you tried to log on for your nightly Pornhub
or midday Pornhub,
or I'm not gonna judge you,
but whenever you did it,
you are instead met with a video from adult performer,
Cherie Deville.
And, not because she was like an angry stepmom
stuck in a washer dryer.
Rather, it's a video of her explaining
why access has been blocked for Utah residents.
- While safety and compliance
are at the forefront of our mission,
giving your ID card
every time you wanna visit an adult platform
is not the most effective solution for protecting our users,
and, in fact, will put children and your privacy at risk.
In addition, mandating age verification
without proper enforcement
gives platforms the opportunity
to choose whether or not to comply.
As we've seen in other states,
this just drives traffic to sites
with far fewer safety measures in place.
Very few sites are able to compare
to the robust trust and safety measures
we currently have in place.
- With Cherie also going on to say
that in order to be effective,
any legislation needs to be enforced
against all adult content platforms,
and arguing that the most effective way
to protect both kids and adults
is to identify users based on their device
and allow access to certain content
based on device identification,
and even including a link to its help center page
on how to set up set up parental controls
on desktop and mobile devices.
But, with that, Cherie concluding...
- Until a real solution is offered,
we've made the difficult decision
to completely disable access to our website in your region.
- And, the big key thing here
is many experts also agree with these claims
that age verification is not effective,
and instead it actually drives children to unsafe sites
while simultaneously exposing adults
who provide highly sensitive personal info
to data breaches, hacks, and extortion.
And, others arguing, this could just be the beginning,
with one expert telling Axios,
"I think this has a huge chilling effect
on anybody who's operating in the sexual wellness space
as well as obviously sexual speech of all kinds,
including adult content."
And, y'all, this goes way beyond Utah, right?
Louisiana was actually the first state
to enact a law requiring ID based age verification
for websites that host adult contact.
With that going into effect back in January,
and, since then,
Mississippi and Arkansas
have also signed copycat bills into law.
And, this as similar proposals
are working their way through legislatures
in more than a dozen other states,
with experts saying these proposals
don't just limit sexual speech
and harm the livelihoods of adult performers.
As the New York Times explains,
"These restrictions could also remake the internet
for millions of adults
ushering in a tectonic cultural shift
to a stricter age gated online world."
And, adding, "Civil liberties groups say
that certain bills could make it difficult
for Americans, including minors,
to view online information
they have a constitutional right to see,
violating free speech principles."
Right?
And, that's because many of these bills
go beyond just regulating platforms like PornHub, right?
Because, porn sites are not the only places
where you can find porn.
In fact, a recent survey by Common Sense Media
found that one in three teens seek out porn
just by looking on social media.
So, as a result, many of these proposals
that we're talking about here
could limit access to social media sites
both directly and indirectly.
So, in order to comply,
we're looking at a future where social media sites
could essentially be forced to implement
much more strict age verification programs,
like requiring government ID.
And, with some of these bills,
they're so vague as to what content is harmful,
which is why you have so many opponents saying
they're using this veil of like porn is evil,
save the children,
as a way to crack down on the livelihoods
and riots of everyday American adults.
With all this, I gotta ask,
what are your thoughts on this news?
And, then landlords are people too, y'all.
We gotta stop dehumanizing this marginalized community.
No, that, an obvious joke to pretty much everyone
except these landlords in Ontario,
several dozen of whom protested in the streets
for faster evictions, right?
'Cause, they're upset
that a pandemic moratorium on eviction hearings
caused a backlog in the courts.
Meaning according to them,
tenants who don't pay rent
have been occupying apartments for months.
So, with completely straight faces,
they held up signs reading things like "Stop robbing,
stop stealing, stop abusing."
"Landlords deserve fair laws."
And, yes, landlords are people too,
as well as one reading "tenant evil",
with a drawing that showed a tenant
whipping a small landlord
who's pulling a building like a rickshaw cart.
And, on top of all that,
you had a person with a megaphone
doing a call and a response shouting, "my property",
to which the crowd chanted back "my rights".
But, while for many of you,
this seems like bizarre world,
the Landlord and Tenant Board
does take these concerns seriously,
and to speed up cases,
they had already said
that it would add 40 new adjudicators this month
and shift to virtual hearings.
Though, there, a watchdog group criticized the move saying
that it's inaccessible for people who have a disability,
don't speak English, or lack high speed internet,
and adding that over several months into 2021,
tenants were present at only 44% of virtual hearings,
compared to 86% of landlords.
But, the policy aside,
the sense of victimhood
and like the lack of self-awareness
from some of the landlords,
it's astounding, right?
Like I understand that certain laws
and certain systems need to be put into place
to prevent abuse,
but at the end of the day,
it's just hard to empathize with the haves
feeling like they're being victimized by the have-nots.
Especially when we're talking about a system that,
at its core,
is just halves trying to figure out
how they can milk have-nots of every dime they can.
Like I'm not gonna villainize everyone that owns property,
but I'm not gonna go to your pity party.
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And, then Elon Musk's Starship is in a bit of trouble,
right?
Elon says that the next Starship could be ready to launch
in six to eight weeks,
that is if he gets FAA approval,
and several environmental groups
are now suing the agency to stop it from doing just that.
This, after last month's inaugural test flight
to the first fully integrated Starship,
the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built
ended in a massive fireball.
Now, SpaceX supporters claim that this was a success
given how far it got,
but activists argued that it just proves
that the program is far too dangerous to continue.
So, the plaintiffs are asking the court
to throw out the FAA license,
allowing SpaceX to launch 20 Starships per year
for the next five years.
And, pointing out that in the last five years,
that Starship program
has had at least eight explosions at the site.
Explosions that spewed debris all over the surrounding area,
which environmentalists say is home
to many federally protected and endangered species.
And, this most recent explosion
hurling large concrete chunks,
stainless steel sheets, metal,
and other objects thousands of feet from the launch pad
according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
And, that plume of pulverized concrete
also sending material over six miles northwest.
With residents' support,
Isabelle also reporting particles of ash
raining down on their neighborhoods.
Also, while that brush fire that was sparked
in Boca Chika State Park
only burned three and a half acres,
others caused by rocket mishaps have burned dozens.
But, it also doesn't end there,
because environmentalists are also concerned
that even the recovery efforts
meant to clean up the mess could cause further harm.
With trucks and heavy equipment barging through
to pick up residual metal and concrete.
You also have people angry that the FAA permits SpaceX
to shut down Boca Chica Beach,
an otherwise public site,
for up to 800 hours per year,
which lawsuits has effects local indigenous people's ability
to hold ceremonies in the area.
You've also seen housing prices in Brownsville
rising sharply over recent years,
which many residents blame on Musk and SpaceX
drawing an influx of newcomers.
Though, there, others have defended the company's presence,
arguing that this has brought long needed jobs
and economic activity to the area,
which is why if you go down there now,
you'll find people just split
between either loving or hating SpaceX,
with many of those
who are not a fan of SpaceX being indigenous
and linking SpaceX to a long history
of them getting pushed off their land.
- Elon Musk is on his quest to colonize Mars
and it's beginning.
He's beginning by colonizing our community
that's on the front lines of the US Mexico border.
We're tired of living
under the constant threat of flammable rocket explosions,
because of SpaceX.
It's at the point now where I hear a noise,
my family and I,
and we wonder is that SpaceX?
- But, as far as now,
the FAA is overseeing an accident investigation
and has ordered all SpaceX Starships grounded,
until it's certain that the public safety
will not be compromised.
So, we're gonna have to wait on that
as well as this lawsuit.
And, then Hollywood writers are officially on strike,
marking the first time the Writer's Guild
has taken to the picket lines in 15 years
with that last one in '07 and '08
shutting down production for months.
And, the Guild's Negotiating Committee
releasing a statement last night claiming
that the negotiation with the studio representatives
have faltered.
Explaining over the course of the negotiation,
we explained how the company's business practices
have slashed our compensation, and residuals,
and undermined our working conditions,
and adding the studio's responses to our proposals
have been wholly insufficient,
given the existential crisis writers are facing.
The company's behavior has created a gig economy
inside a union workforce.
And, their immovable stance in this negotiation
has betrayed a commitment
to further devaluing the profession of writing.
And, so now this strike is expected to halt production
in the film and television industries,
with some being hit sooner rather than later.
And, this is gonna have an impact across industries, right?
'Cause, jobs in catering
and other industries also rely on productions for business.
But, as far as what you're gonna notice,
late night shows are immediately set to go dark,
and then more standard programming being impacted
further down the line.
Though, a lot of that depends on how long all this lasts.
And, right now, we have no clue
how long it's gonna last, right?
All we can kind of do is look back to the last strike,
which lasted about a hundred days,
and it cost the LA economy $2 billion.
And, today, by all accounts,
it seems like writers and studios
are at a severe standstill, right?
Because, while you have the Guild
claiming that the studios
have just not brought serious offers to the table,
the group representing the studios claim
that they have offered generous increases
in compensation for writers
as well as improvements in streaming residuals, right?
So, this has the potential
to be just as big if not bigger than the last strike.
'Cause, I mean, just think about it,
the industry has changed so damn much
over just the last handful of years,
with writers specifically saying,
with all these changes,
they've gotten the short end of the stick.
And, to put it plainly,
I'm on the side of the writers here,
but, with this story,
whether you agree or you disagree with me,
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
And, then, I actually agree with Ron DeSantis on a thing,
and that's 'cause yesterday Florida man signed a bill
that would impose the death penalty
for people convicted of sexual battery
against children younger than 12.
The key thing, this,
despite the fact that the Supreme Court literally ruled
that it is unconstitutional
for states to use the death penalty
for any crime other than murder in a 2008 case
involving a nearly identical law,
with, specifically, the Supreme Court striking down
a Louisiana law
that allowed capital punishment for child rapists
and explicitly prohibited states
from using the death penalty on child sex predators,
unless they were also convicted of murder.
So, the question is,
why does DeSantis think
that he can just go ahead and implement this law
that violates a past precedent?
Well, it seems like his belief
is that this might actually be different,
'cause, right now,
you have this ultra-conservative Supreme Court
that seems to not care about precedent.
And, DeSantis' office saying in a statement
that he is prepared to take this law
all the way to the US Supreme Court to overrule.
And, then, can we stop?
Can you stop?
I don't know who it is, but stop.
We've got military officials telling reporters
that they are now tracking another mysterious balloon
that has flown over American soil, right?
According to NBC News,
which first reported the story,
the balloon flew over parts of Hawaii,
and is now slowly headed from Mexico,
which sounds like lovely vacation plans,
but you've got military sources also telling the outlet
that they're not sure if it's a weather balloon
or something else.
But, notably, they also don't believe that it's Chinese
and they're still trying to figure out who owns it.
And, a Pentagon spokesperson saying
there's no indication that it was maneuvering
or being controlled by a foreign or adversarial actor.
And, adding that the balloon did not transit
directly over defense critical infrastructure,
or other US government sensitive sites,
nor did it pose a military or physical threat
to people on the ground.
And, then, it's time to boycott CNN.
That is what tons of people are now saying online
since the network announced
that it's gonna be hosting a town hall event
for Trump on May 10th, right?
The event which is set to take place in New Hampshire
will involve Trump answering questions from Republicans
and undeclared voters who plan to vote
in the Republican Presidential Primary in 2024.
A very key thing,
CNN claims that this will be the first time
Trump has appeared on the network since 2016
before he even took office,
with him notably not appearing since,
and even more notably
before he incited a violent insurrection.
So, CNN right now is getting a ton of backlash
for giving him this airtime.
With boycott CNN trending on Twitter
after the announcement yesterday
and users writing things like,
"No one should watch this trash.
This is absolutely ludicrous.
There is no reason to give
the biggest pathological liar in politics,
a platform to spread his bullshit.
Trump doesn't belong on television, he belongs in prison."
And, many more just calling this a "shameful ratings grab".
Though I will say, on that note,
even if you have people saying boycott,
it's very likely CNN's gonna get a huge ratings bump here.
And, if anything,
I would say this kind of proves Trump right, right?
You probably remember,
Trump said that the news media would miss him.
That even if places hated him,
he gave them the numbers they craved.
And, so that's why, in many ways,
you have people saying this is a litmus test
for the mainstream media.
Will they throw out the lessons
that have been learned since 2015, 2016?
Or, will you be blinded by the money
and platform something that almost destroyed America?
I get that time softens how intense we felt on those days,
and so many people have dedicated their time
and their careers
to try and kind of dismiss and downplay where we were,
but this is genuine insanity.
Like you literally had networks
having to cut their feed whenever Trump was speaking,
'cause he was just saying lies for hours,
unfiltered, uncontested.
But, also with all the recent news we've seen recently
of other news orgs either having to shut down
or potentially declare bankruptcy,
I am not surprised.
And, then, in international news,
Hong Kong's getting ready to go to the polls,
but it's hard to see why anyone
would actually bother, right?
'Cause, city and mainland officials
are cutting how many of the city's local district councils
are directly elected to just 20%,
and the remaining 80% being split
between the city's chief executive
and the industry and corporate interest.
Also, that illusion of choice,
that gets even worse for voters, right?
That 20% they get to elect,
to even run,
the candidates need to be approved by mainland authorities.
And, I know you or really anyone with a functioning brain
are going, "This sounds like an undemocratic mess."
But, the city's chief executive, he disagrees.
He thinks it's perfectly fine,
saying, "I do not agree
that pure counting of election votes means democracy.
Different places have their own systems
that must take into consideration
all the characteristics and all the elements of that place."
With all of that being a transparent BS argument,
but in terms of actual political power,
this isn't a huge loss, right?
These local district councils
are considered the lowest rung of government,
and they're there to advise the legislature
and chief executive
on what their areas need, organize community activities,
and on the use of public facilities.
But, when you look at them
as an expression of Hong Kong's democracy,
it's a huge loss, right?
When the fight over
the city's national security law was raging,
the elections of the local districts
were used as a way to protest,
with the voters sending a giant middle finger to Beijing
by electing pro democracy candidates
to 85% of the 450 seats that were up for grabs, right?
So, they controlled the vast majority of district councils,
not that China wanted to listen to that message,
because instead of wondering
why so many other voters were angry,
they just had their hand appointed city leaders
force the winners to swear allegiance
to the city's mini constitution
and its clause about about being part of China,
with nearly all then refusing, and either resigning,
or they were just disqualified.
Despite that, these district council elections
were still seen as a way for voters
to pretend like they were being heard,
even if it was a protest vote.
So, just another step towards the city
losing even the illusion that it's democratic in any way,
just the way the CCP likes.
But, that brings us to the end of today's show
and the news you need to know.
Friendly reminder, you only got a few days left
if you wanna snag something
from the surprise graphic tee drop
over beautifulbastard.com,
links down below.
But, of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco,
you've just been filled in.
I love your faces and I'll see you tomorrow.