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Who Supports SOPA? A Handy List

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For those of you keeping up on the SOPA mess (which should be all of you), here's s list of companies supporting SOPA and their contact information.

Some of these are not surprisng.  Some I've never heard of – but there's a few I didn't expect.  GoDaddy was especially shocking, but so is Marvel Entertainment (who I normally figured didn't get into this).

– Steven Savage

Must Read: An Examination of GameStop’s Present And Future

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We wonder how GameStop is going to survive in the digital economy. We wish someone would examine that.

Oh, wait, someone has.

The article's definitely worth reading as it goes into the value provided to companies, gamers, and more by the GameStop model. It also shows how GameStop is really "partnered" with big names.

There's also a few suprises (like hardware is the least profitable sector of the GameStop world), and some warnings (it looks like no matter what, GameStop is going to take some hit in the future).

Worth your time.

My takes? Well hey, don't these always come up?

  • As noted at some point, I think Game Stop has to take a hit – DLC is going to cut into their profit margins at some points. They might even be delaying the inevitable for now, but it's coming.
  • Frankly they're the only game in town that can manage to be a "game store" which gives them powerful mindshare and pull. I think they'll survive.
  • To survive they will, at some point, have to keep diversifying or scale back. This may provide you an opportunity career-wise (or a reason to leave).
  • I would consider it possible, if unlikely, some big name may just buy GameStop and incorporate it into a larger effort – that's a mighty big footprint to get.
  • A partnership of some kind could pay off for GameStop. It may sound crazy, but what could they do working with Steam, OnLive, etc.?

– Steven Savage

Occupy, Banks, and the Spotlight

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It's looking like the Occupy Movement has gotten the attention of Bank of America with their new Occupy Your Homes anti-foreclosure protests. What's remarkable is that BofA seems concerned enough to send out a memo – and realizes they're being targeted.

I think they're a bit nervous, and they should be:

  • This rebrands the OWS movement in a way that provides easy messaging and positive image.
  • It calls attention to foreclosure and home issues – and can keep the issues in the news.
  • Anything the bank does backfires.
  • The backfires will call attention to bad banking practices, MERS, etc.
  • Most people aren't too happy with banks.

If this continues (and my guess is it will), then it's going to keep the public eye on banks and their activities past and present. This could lead to deeper investigations (if not just more awareness) of serious problems in the system.

As we all know the banks have a lot of problems still – and frankly I don't think they can stand the scruity and the lawsuits that would follow.  So this shift in tactics could have a lot of effects on the banks and how they're treated.

– Steven Savage