Mozilla's new CEO, Brendan Eich, resigned after controversy developed surrounding donations he made in 2008 to support Proposition 8, the California ban on gay marriage. Should a company's CEO, or any of it's employees, be forced to represent the views of their customer base? David Letterman announced he will retire in 2015. Who should take his spot on "The Late Show?"
Mozilla's new CEO resigns after backlash to anti-gay marriage, Prop 8 donations
The newly appointed CEO of Mozilla, the company that makes the popular Firefox web browser, announced on Thursday that he was stepping down after being the subject of protests from gay rights supporters.
News recently broke that back in 2008, Brendan Eich made a $1,000 contribution in 2008 to support Proposition 8, the California ban on same sex marriage. The proposition was later overturned by the Supreme Court but the damage to Eich's career was already done.
In an interview this week, he did not apologize for his donation and said he was capable of separating his personal beliefs from the inclusive message of the open-source company he's running.
Tens of thousands of supporters of same-sex marriage rights did not agree and launched a petition asking Eich to resign from the company. The popular dating site OkCupid also lashed out against Eich by generating a message that encouraged Firefox users to use a different browser to visit the site.
In a blog post on Thursday, the company's executive chairwoman Mitchell Baker announced that Eich had stepped down as CEO and emphasized that Mozilla's "organizational culture reflects diversity and inclusiveness".
Does that 'inclusiveness' extend to employees who don't share the company's beliefs? Should a company's CEO, or any of it's employees, be forced to represent the views of their customer base? Do you think Eich’s political beliefs should have cost him his job?
Guest:
Rob Enderle, President and Principal Analyst at the Enderle Group, which focuses on business advising and strategizing for technology companies
Top 10: Who should replace 'Late Show' host David Letterman? (Poll)
Late night mainstay David Letterman has announced that he plans to retire in 2015. “The Late Show” host announced the decision during a taping of the show Thursday and released a subsequent statement:
"We don't have the timetable for this precisely down. I think it will be at least a year or so, but sometime in the not too distant future, 2015 for the love of God, in fact, Paul [Shaffer] and I will be wrapping things up.”
His announcement sparked immediate speculation about possible heirs. Late night talk shows have been in reinvention mode for the past decade in hopes of luring those coveted young male viewers. With the recent ascension of Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel to the late night host desks at NBC and ABC, respectively, the pressure is on for CBS to find a suitable replacement.
RELATED: Battle for 'Late Night': LA Mayor wants show here (but no tax credits?)
"David Letterman is not only the longest standing late night TV host in history, he's probably if not as equally as influential as Johnny Carson," said Dominic Patten, Legal Editor and writer at Deadline. "David Letterman changed the landscape. Anyone who is going to follow him is going to inherit his legacy, figuratively and literally."
Who would you like to see as the next host of “The Late Show”? Mayor Eric Garcetti wrote an open letter to Les Moonves, pitching CBS’ head honcho the idea of bringing the talk show to Los Angeles. What are the chances of that happening?
We collected your top picks from the comments and social media. Vote on who should take the helm at the "Late Show"!
KPCC's online polls are not scientific surveys of local or national opinion. Rather, they are designed as a way for our audience members to engage with each other and share their views. Let us know what you think on our Facebook page, facebook.com/kpcc, or in the comments below.
Guests:
Dominic Patten, Legal Editor and writer at Deadline, a news site covering Hollywood and the entertainment industry.
Robert Thompson, professor of radio, film and TV at Syracuse University and Director, Bleier Center for Television & Popular Culture
Dodgers TV still fantasy baseball for DirecTV
Baseball season is in full swing. After starting the season in Australia, the Dodgers will be playing their home opener tonight. Fans lucky enough to be heading to the stadium can enjoy a California rivalry as the Dodgers face off against the San Francisco Giants. Direct TV customers hoping to watch in the comfort of their homes won’t be as lucky.
The start of baseball season was expected to put pressure on negotiations between Time Warner and Direct TV but after a week of games tensions between the two corporations continue to rise. Earlier this week Time Warner Cable told the Los Angeles Times that Direct TV walked away from negotiations over the Dodger’s owned channel Sportsnet LA. Direct TV has denied Time Warner’s claims.
Until TimeWarner and Direct TV can come to an agreement on Sportsnet LA nearly 70 percent of Los Angeles will be unable to watch Dodgers games. Why have negotiations between these two companies been so unproductive? Is there any expected end to negotiations in sight? How will this impact the Dodger’s season?
Guest:
Joe Flint, Entertainment Business Writer, Los Angeles Times
Filmweek: Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Nymphomaniac: Vol. II, Under the Skin and more
Larry and KPCC film critics Tim Cogshell and Lael Loewenstein review this week’s releases, including Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Nymphomaniac: Vol. II, Under the Skin and more. TGI-Filmweek!
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Nymphomaniac: Vol. II
Under the Skin
Guests:
Tim Cogshell, film critic for KPCC and Alt FilmGuide.
Lael Loewenstein, film critic for KPCC and Variety
Hollywood’s new anti-piracy czar on trying to solve the knottiest problem facing the industry
Indie film veteran Ruth Vitale has been tapped to head CreativeFuture, the entertainment industry's anti-piracy initiative.
The venture, known previously as Creative America, is a nonprofit coalition created in 2011 to fight copyright infringement, with the support of the MPAA, Warner Bros., and Viacom, and many other big industry players.
In 2011, the organization backed two pieces of proposed federal anti-piracy legislations, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA), that were shelved after a waves of online protests that culminated in an one-day “internet blackout,” which counted Wikipedia, Google and other high-profile Silicon Valley giants as participants.
Going forward, how will CreativeFuture fight online piracy?
Guest:
Ruth Vitale, Executive Director, CreativeFuture, a coalition of movie and television producers, unions and companies that fight piracy in the digital age