Andrew Martin wrote:
> I agree with you that there are many positive aspects of illegal (no
> quotes) downloading for artists. It certainly helps disseminate music
> to more people and this is great for a touring band/act. Also, a lot
> of acts don't make any real money off of album sales because of the
> way their record deals are structured. This problem is, though, that
> recording and touring are two completely different things. An artist
> shouldn't have to tour just to make money if they are only interested
> in writing and recording (think later Beatles, Brian Wilson, Steely
> Dan et al.). It's really their decision to make if, when and how much
> they have to tour. Likewise some artist have no problems giving away
> their recorded music and that's great too, but it's their decision to
> make, not yours. I'm not sure how outdated the model is or not, but
> it doesn't give you license to try and break the model. A crude
> analogy would be going to the grocery store and saying, "well, there
> is a glut of milk in the world marketplace so I should just steal this
> gallon of milk because the model is outdated." It's still stealing.
Markets are based on limited resources. It's a fundamental concept of
economics.
Digital data allows for near zero cost _perfect_ unlimited copies, with
the only real cost being that of storage. Digital media is not resource
constrained.
Current copyright law was based on the premise that unlimited copies of
analog media was resource constrained and/or imperfect. This is how
"free use" managed to slip by those who would have you pay for media
again if your copy were somehow damaged.
Digital media providers want to force artifical scarcity on customers
using breakable techniques like Digital Rights Management.
The real question, in my mind, is how an industry can base its business
model on that of artificial scarcity in a market that isn't easily
regulated to force that scarcity on consumers.
Yes, international copyright law makes it "illegal" from a societal
viewpoint. But what happens when the majority of your populice demand a
change? See the swedish "pirate party":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_Party
Do current copyright laws make copying "licensed" digital media illegal?
Yes. There is no arguing that.
On the other hand, societal laws change over time. As things stand now,
the laws are stifling innovation and the progress of a digital evolution
of society.
I'm a bit cynical by nature though. While I'd love to have everyone
understand this and agree that current copyright law is bad for society
as a whole, I've sadly come to grips with the fact that those with the
money control our governments and would rather us live like the dumb
sheep they have fashioned us to become.
That's my $0.02, anyway.
- Ian C. Blenke <ian@blenke.com>
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