DRM & Intellectual Property

[fictional]

So... [via faris_nallaneen], it looks like Apple is doing good things for the end of DRM. How does this fit in with the fiasco over youtube, and song fingerprinting? I think it's ridiculous, personally. Aside from the vidding as fair use thing, how many times have I fallen in love with a song from a vid and then trotted over to itunes to purchase it?

When do you think business models are finally going to understand how to deal with "new" technology?

What is going on with the internets?

Comments

[rm.livejournal.com]

Briefly, because I'm tired and don't want to get into a wankstorm with someone or other who will surely eventually stroll over here, I will say that aside from the obvious issue of not getting new media, I think there are also the people who do get it and are afraid of it -- not because of monetary risk, but because of the cultural context.

Because one lens to look at all of this through is economic, yes, but not about dollars and cents, but about the controlling of pleasure.

Anyway, yay Apple.

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

Apple is like the only one out there who's trying to sell to this market, rather than getting the market to adapt to it. And I don't even like Apple that much.

[guinness-duck.livejournal.com]

"When do you think business models are finally going to understand how to deal with "new" technology?"

About five years after said technology is obsolete and they are busy suing whatever is new.

[kel-reiley.livejournal.com]

yep

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

*grin* You are so right. Which sucks.

[thaddeusfavour.livejournal.com]

That's great to hear!

You already know my opinion of the big music companies. If i believed in Hell, I 'd want them to rot in it. ::grr::

Don't get me wrong. I certainly don't think it's right to steal someones intellectual property, but I do agree with fair use. The vidders are promoting the music (as you mentioned) and I can't see how that can hurt either the artist or the company.

[kel-reiley.livejournal.com]

most artists, at least on the lower end, make most of their money from live shows - it's the record companies that benefit most from the CD sales
youtube vids allow access to a much larger audience that migh tnot have ever heard the music otherwise - and since even the software that can download and save streaming media from sites like youtube it ends up being crap quality, so this is a bad move on the record parts of the record companies, by alienating a new market

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

It seems so clear to me, i don't understand why they can't see it.

[kel-reiley.livejournal.com]

obviously, we are more brilliant than anyone and, therefore, should start plotting to take over the world

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

Excellent. *rubs hands together & cackles manaically*

First, we must build a Lair. Every group of supervillains has a layer. Next, name badges (and cool pseudonyms).

What next?

[kel-reiley.livejournal.com]

awesome gadgets and leather trousers
and i get to wear a cool hat

[lyorn.livejournal.com]

For us, it's first-hand experience. Everyone of us has, I guess, gone to concerts or bought CDs of some band because they found them on YouTube or on some file sharing service or something similar. For the artist, it's assumptions about "what people do", and the music industry spends a lot of advertising money to push their tale of "They listen to your music on YouTube instead of going to shows/buying CDs". And as the story seems to make something resembling sense and explains why you might have trouble making ends meet (and it's not your fault) alternative explanations are not looked for.

Sometimes, simply telling them might help. A story a friend told me:
She went to see a band she had discovered on YouTube. The band, in between songs, told the audience that they were horrified about having bootlegs of their show on YouTube and wasn't that an evil thing to do?
My friend later had an opportunity to talk to some of the band members (when buying a complete set of CDs and DVDs) and say "Without those bootlegs I would never have known how cool you are. It is only because of YouTube that I'm here and buying a heap of merchandise."
It seemed to have some effect.

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

You're totally right, and I agree that talking to people does help, with regard to individual artists. But often, it's the record company that is the one freaking out over song fingerprinting, like the latest bout with the WB and youtube, which is why suddenly hundreds of vids are getting yanked with no warning to the vidder (which sucks.) And the corporations seem determined to stick to their business model (which fits older technology) and digging in their (rich, powerful) feet in, instead adapting to new markets, and the new business models that are necessary, so that new technologies can thrive, and yes, people can make money off of them.

[lyorn.livejournal.com]

And the corporations seem determined to stick to their business model (which fits older technology) and digging in their (rich, powerful) feet in

Yes, a combintaion of laziness, short-term thinking and deep pockets is likely the driving engine behind this whole mess. Especially as deep pockets do not only buy laws, but vocabulary. "Stealing", WTF.

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

Right, because there's a difference between stealing intellectual property and using it. GAH.

I don't even object to people making money; everyone's in it for the dough, right? But I wish they would learn how to do it. Because there's a lot of money to be made, if they'd just change their model, and not try to choke everything off trying to jam it into the old model of selling little pieces of plastic.