November 21, 2004
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Read this: http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,65704,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_2
And read this too while you’re at it:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-11-11-marvel-sues-over-avatars_x.htm
Now you tell me again as so many people do that the entertainment
industry is a dying doomed beast resorting desperately to evil tactics
because they are unwilling to evolve to face the inevitable future of
online media. I’ve heard this argument a million times and I’ve got to
say quite frankly it’s garbage. Not only is it a bad argument, it is a
dangerous argument. It is the argument of those who are already
claiming victory long before the battle is over. It is the
argument of those unwilling to accept the truth that is in front of
their face. People who think they can wish away the law suits. They
think if they just sit around and do nothing for long enough things
will magically become better because technology conquers all.Ha. Yeah right. There is a battle raging where our perceptions of
morality and creativity are at stake. And you know what? It doesn’t
look like the battle is going so well for those who believe in freedom
of creativity. It doesn’t look like it is going so well for people who
believe that the right to share, even to masses of strangers, is
as valuable a moral principle worth defending as the right to earn a
living. Or more.I do agree with part of the argument. These media industries are using
evil tactics. They are blatantly acting in a manner that should be
condemned by all but for some reason we are treating them as if they
are the victims and that they are only doing what they should to defend
themsevles. We are treating them this way because this is what they
actually believe. It is what they have to believe in order to justify
their acts. Yes it makes no sense but your average person really
does buy the idea that a person who downloads a file is no better than
a petty thief and that if you are stolen from you have the right to do
whatever you want to the thief no matter the circumstances even to the
point of destroying their livelihoods, crushing their reputation and
self-esteem, and even throwing them in prison.I also agree media industries are not evolving as they could to adopt
to the changing the technology. I agree that they aren’t doing this
enough, but I don’t agree that they won’t ever or refuse to change.
That is underestimating them a great deal. Media industries are quite
willing to adopt the new technologies. Provided they do so on their own
terms. That is once ever other upstart company or distribution model
that threatens to attack their complete and total control over the
distribution of media content to the world is crushed under their boot
then they won’t have a problem with evolving. In fact they are
evolving a bit now. They are adopting new technologies even as the
fight to crush others who use the same. It is their fundamental belief
that they have the right to control media from now until forever and no
one can take it away.That is what this is about. What it has always been about. Power.
Everyone wants power in the new internet culture. Its just that some
companies have the money and power to ensure that they get that power,
no matter how late in the game they are entering the arena. And their
winning!I really wish that we could just say to the entertainment industry soemthing like this:
“OK entertainment industry. Take a deep breathe. Now
take another. Slowly. Now look around you. Are your businesses
collapsing? Are your artists starving? Is it the case that no one buys
DVDs or music CDs or video games or computer software? Is it the case
that no one watches or pays attention to commercials? Is it the case
that no one buys extraneous merchandise related to their favorite
stars? Is it really the case that the internet has completely replaced
movie going experience, the concert experience, the watching of
television? Does it even really look like it’s going to anytime soon?
You have time! Plenty of time to embrace and extend. Plenty of time to
become a major player in a world where distributed networks are the
heart of content distribution. You won’t lose your business. You won’t
go broke. At worst the economy will reach a new equilibrium with
certain new companies having some degree of power as well and maybe
with all the old companies not quite making as much relative profit as
they otherwise would have. But even that is unlikely . Your comapnies
are entering into a race where although you are entering late your
starting off much closer to the finish line than all your opponents.
You don’t have to panick. You don’t have to employ dirty tactics to
ensure you win. You don’t really need to petition the government to get
strict legislation that benefits you and hurts everyone else. You don’t
need to sue people left and right and engage in a smear campaign to
make your opponents look bad. If you don’t need to do these things in
order t o win? Why do them? Just calm down . Don’t act hastily. Just
let things happen. I guarantee you the future that will arise won’t be
nearly as bad as you fear it will be.”I wish we could say that and they’d listen. But they won’t. They might
if they were just afraid or confused about the new technology and its
impact on them. But they aren’t. They know the risk to their empire is
minimal at best. They know this is nothing about survival or
righteousness despite their rhetoric. This is all about control. This
is all about power. Copyright is their clear means to power and they’ll
milk it to no ends.We live in a dangerous times. While we are worried about republican
justices, gay marriages, spreading democracy, and wars against
“terror”, we are getting our fundamental rights to share, create, and
experience snatched out from under us.This is the most important battle. How this turns out will have a huge
impact on how humanity develops two hundred years in the future. Don’t
dismiss it. Don’t get distracted and look away. And for god’s sake
don’t pretend we’ve already won when their’s so much more left to do.
