'Gotta jump in here....
All the hype is distracting from the root cause of "the problem:"
copyright-enforcement-based (CEB) business models.
The CEB model was fine when (and so long as): (1) it enjoyed
governmental protection and enforcement backing, (2) reproduction
and distribution of copyrighted material was difficult enough soas
to make it easier to buy than to pirate, and most importantly, (3)
the government in #1 was far-reaching and powerful enough to entice
all other nations to abide by its particular copyright law(s).
Electronically-based media technology has progressed to the point
where it is now easy (and cheap) enough to make and distribute
pretty much
any copyrightable medium. (Not just soft MP3 songs,
but CDs, printed matter, etc.) So much for item #2.
The majority of countries in the world today do not care to abide
by or attempt to enforce U.S. copyright law within their borders.
They have found it vastly too expensive, with zero return. (When
was the last time you heard of, say, the Chinese gov't being given
M$ by the RIAA for halting music piracy??) There goes #3.
Several large mega-companies in the US are almost solely CEB for
their profit. These are established companies with clout and B$,
hence, a voice with the US politicians. They have managed to
blinder the policymakers in the US to what those other countries
have discovered: the CEB model has become impossible to cost-
effectively enforce. (I mean, come on here folks! Congress just
extended copyright protections an additional 20 years (now 95
years!) to satisfy the corporate money grabbers!
This flies in
the face of the very intent of the copyright law, which was to
protect the creator's investment during their lifetime!)
The clock is ticking on #1....
Hence as I see it the CEB model was doomed to collapse from
the first moment a corporation rather than the creator themselves
bet their future on CEB money. Current technology has only
shortened the life yet that much more by making #2 piracy cost
near zero (which is damned hard to beat, commercially! :yowch
If this still doesn't sound like it rings true to you, then think about
the US, and the US ONLY, where most of these CEB businesses
reside are doing things like:
- As mentioned earlier: extending copyright duration another 20
years, well beyond the original "lifetime" intent once again.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonny_Bono_Copyright_Term_Extension_Act
- Making it
illegal to copy even on-air HD broadcasts starting in
July OF THIS YEAR without a per-instance or subscription license.
I.e. You cannot use an "HD VCR" to time-shift TV shows anymore.
http://wired.com/wired/archive/12.02/start.html?pg=7
- Disallowing discounted prices for the repurchase of copyrighted
material in a previous format (for which you've already paid the
copy rights, right?) The CEB corp's successfully argued that -
get this - distribution in a different format or on different media
constituted a new creative instance of the material!!! What BS!!
Good news on this one, though: the courts have disagreed somewhat:
http://www.fgks.com/newsletter.asp?pageID=2&newsletterID=2
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I strongly abide by copyright restrictions, but I fight for my Free
Use rights, too. I have also shifted more of my music purchases
to small bands and individuals who sell their own material without
going through the established CEB corporate denizens.
However I consider those inevitable hordes downloading "illegal
content" to be the banner bearers of the future CEB-free world,
or at best one where copyright law is back protecting the content
creators and not the CEB corporations that they inadvertently
begat.
'Nuff said. G'nite Gracie!
