value

my dad sent me an article on an Australian ISP attempting to crack down on piracy.

i hit reply and 20 minutes later had constructed some sort of rant.

so i've posted it not in an attempt to be judgmental, but perhaps just to make people think about where they stand and why.

anyways enjoy
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tis interesting... but its amazing how many 'solutions' to piracy involve (in their essence) people being labeled as 'guilty' until proven 'innocent'.

How exactly do they begin to label people as copyright infringer's. And to what extent is one allowed to infringe before 'authorities' step in. If this is too short than many innocent people will be put in the line of fire. If too short then it will be ineffective on the whole.

As the author of the article almost hints at; the industry needs to spend less time trying to play Dad or God. People are going to commit illegal acts, and cracking down tends to produce more victims than success stories. [and leads us back to 'big brother' tyranny- evil pirates are out there... everywhere...]

In a way its like the 'binge drinking' problem. Its culture. I have been to a pastor's place and found various DVD's that were bought in Thailand/SE Asia. These are by no means legitimate DVD's. But according to that particular pastor's world view/culture/ideology, there is nothing wrong with this.

As it is we have a culture steeped in the desperate search for 'what we want' at a cheaper price.

'Why should I have to pay if i can have it for free' bleeds from the wounds of post-modern society.

A recent argument I heard was to do with downloading television episodes because the person felt that they should not have to miss out on a particular show just because of a local ratings war (or free-to-air vs. cable). So the issue here is not whether you should download television episodes or not but the same 'industry' is saturating us and taunting us with news of things that are being released elsewhere, but continues to play God in deciding when to let us see it (or hear it...) and cries fowl when we attempt to subvert their grip on the information.

Should we pay for what we consume? I guess. But when you consider that more money gets paid to film producers from advertising sources and television stations (broadcast rights) it changes the dynamics of the situation. [or perhaps the importance/value of my 'share']

Kathryn and I chat occasionally about where the world is going on this topic. Media thinks that labels/production houses may be on the way out, perhaps they will simply be replaced with distribution houses. perhaps the internet is simply another distribution house. Perhaps the key is finding out how to get the people with the money to spend it on our product rather than just downloading it. In a digital age, value is placed back on the tangibles. a first edition, a large size vinyl, a special edition dvd, a comprehensive booklet, expensive or at least interesting packaging...

I think if we can restore value of a product in people's eyes we will have gone a long way to fighting piracy.

and perhaps we can just write off the rest of piracy as tyre kickers. testing the product but not convinced enough to buy it.

J

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keen to dialogue about this if anyone's interested...