Wednesday was for protesting SOPA and PIPA, both of which are bad solutions. Â Â
Bad solutions to a good idea. Â
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Because as unpopular as it is to say so, the Internet has more than a little of the Old West taint to it. That lawlessness that seems charming to some, romantic to others…but deadly dangerous to those who live in the thick of it all. Â
When people argue about free speech and the Internet, that somehow seeps into the consciousness of the nation, leaving more than a few people with the idea that Everything On The Internet Is Free. Â By the end of the day Wednesday there were more than a few weary souls expressing their adamant belief that while SOPA/PIPA is a terrible idea, the piracy situation on the Web is even worse. Â Â And those people are right. Â Â
I write words for a living and so far there have been only a few instances of my words being used to create content for someone else, and only one instance to my knowledge where that person was profiting from it. Â A few years ago someone started a “Nashville Journal” website designed to look like a print newspaper. Â The “articles” were actually blog posts by various local bloggers taken directly off their blogs in entirety. Â The ads surrounding these articles generated revenue for the owner of the website…none of which was to be paid to those who actually WROTE the content. Â When I asked the site creator to no longer feature my work he said that I should be thankful for the publicity and go away. Â That’s the usual battlecry of wordthieves on the web. Â “Just thank me that I’ve bothered to even read your piddly little blog.” Â We’re too little to matter. Â
On the other end of the spectrum you have the large entertainment conglomerates who spend millions of dollars producing films, TV shows and music. Â Their product is routinely downloaded, uploaded, torrented and shared across the web in a giant bazaar of outright thievery. Â And here is where I think it might get a little bit more complicated, and where I think perhaps these corporations are encouraging thievery and piracy to their own detriment. Â
Please don’t misunderstand me. Â I think stealing is very very wrong. Â But I also think that by exploiting the various channels of electronic media, premium content owners have greatly misunderstood the marketplace and are pricing themselves into a problem. Â By overcharging for premium content and wrapping digital use restrictions around that content, these publishers and producers have been robbing consumers for nearly a decade. Â People who used to pay $15 once for a hardback book are now being told that if they want to read it on their Kindle it’ll be $15 and if their husband wants to read it on his Nook it’ll be another $15 and if they want to have a copy in iBooks2 that’ll be another $18. Â Same book, same household. Â Â Then you have the problem of people who missed the first episode of Alcatraz, which aired for no direct cost to the consumer on Monday, January 16th. Â Sure, they can still watch it. Â For $3.99 on Amazon UnBox. Â
This business of recharging consumers for something they already own has created quite a few pirates out of a great many honest people. Â
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Now lest you think I’m saying that it’s okay to steal and that the rich guys have it coming–I most definitely am NOT saying that. Â But I am saying that as the web grows more popular the content producers may want to think about ways to maximize their market share that don’t bleed the consumer dry. Â (HuluPlus is a great model. Â For about $10 a month you can watch TV shows you missed the first time around, complete with commercials. Â This is how my husband and I caught up on ‘Grimm’ and ‘Up All Night’. Â Now we watch the first-run stuff. Â We wouldn’t have been so eager if we’d had to pay $5 an episode.) Â Â
I also think that the punishment is unequal, and if there were a better way to police the web…like ACTUAL police…the thievery problem would get better across the board. Â Large movie studios have big fines and punishments for content thieves, but smaller content producers like my friend who runs a knitting website have no law enforcement recourse when her copyrighted knitting patterns are reproduced. Â Â
One of the key problems with SOPA/PIPA was that it gave corporations too much authority–they could instantly shut down any site SUSPECTED of stealing from them and keep that site offline during the trial. Â Guilty until proven innocent. Â Smaller producers wouldn’t have any recourse at all. Â They’d still have to call a lawyer at their own expense, investigate at their own expense, etc. Â Â
Fair Internet Piracy laws should retain the “innocent until proven guilty” standard and an enforcement system that works equally well for content providers of all sizes. Â The web is a new frontier and it’s time to start policing it as such.
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