Ahoy, Mateys!
So I was thinking the other day about the RIAA, MPAA and the current state of copyright. We've all heard the rhetoric back and forth about the medium, delivery and protection methods of copyrighted works.
Customers want freedom to use their purchases how they want to, regardless of medium or location. Copyright holders want to be paid for their work. These interests don't seem mutually exclusive, but the major copyright holders certainly disagree, and even go so far as to make the glaringly stupid assumption that everybody is pirating their copyrighted works (Key quote: "Each of these devices is used to store unpaid-for material."). They make no attempt to differentiate between honest consumers and outright thieves.
Let's analyze this using the terms the RIAA and MPAA use - piracy. Let's say these mammoth copyright holders are shipbuilders. The ships will be the MP3s. The honest consumers are the businessmen who buy ships and transport goods and people from shore to shore. The thieves who illegally download and distribute stolen copyrighted materials are the pirates who commandeer the ships on the high seas.
The shipbuilders are losing money because the pirates are stealing their ships. So they raise prices. This doesn't affect the pirates, because they're not paying for the ships anyway. As the costs rise, the businessmen lose money, so some of them become pirates.
Due to increased piracy, the shipbuilders are losing even more money. So they decide to line the bottom of every ship with steel (DRM). This makes it harder for a pirate to make a quick getaway. Harder, but not impossible. The pirates continue to steal ships and simply remove the steel linings. And of course, the slower and harder-to-use ships tick off the businessmen, so more of them become pirates.
The solution, of course, is to police the waters and sink the pirates. This is more difficult and time-consuming than taking proper care of your legitimate customers, so the ship builders don't bother. It's easier to whine loudly and use inflated and unverifiable numbers to show how much they're getting shafted.
Then the shipbuilders' best salesman (Steve Jobs) comes along with a brilliant idea - Build fast, quality ships that are easy to use. Then your customers will be happy to pay you for your excellent product.
And what do the RIAA and MPAA say?
Shut up, Steve, and help us make thicker steel.
Customers want freedom to use their purchases how they want to, regardless of medium or location. Copyright holders want to be paid for their work. These interests don't seem mutually exclusive, but the major copyright holders certainly disagree, and even go so far as to make the glaringly stupid assumption that everybody is pirating their copyrighted works (Key quote: "Each of these devices is used to store unpaid-for material."). They make no attempt to differentiate between honest consumers and outright thieves.
Let's analyze this using the terms the RIAA and MPAA use - piracy. Let's say these mammoth copyright holders are shipbuilders. The ships will be the MP3s. The honest consumers are the businessmen who buy ships and transport goods and people from shore to shore. The thieves who illegally download and distribute stolen copyrighted materials are the pirates who commandeer the ships on the high seas.
The shipbuilders are losing money because the pirates are stealing their ships. So they raise prices. This doesn't affect the pirates, because they're not paying for the ships anyway. As the costs rise, the businessmen lose money, so some of them become pirates.
Due to increased piracy, the shipbuilders are losing even more money. So they decide to line the bottom of every ship with steel (DRM). This makes it harder for a pirate to make a quick getaway. Harder, but not impossible. The pirates continue to steal ships and simply remove the steel linings. And of course, the slower and harder-to-use ships tick off the businessmen, so more of them become pirates.
The solution, of course, is to police the waters and sink the pirates. This is more difficult and time-consuming than taking proper care of your legitimate customers, so the ship builders don't bother. It's easier to whine loudly and use inflated and unverifiable numbers to show how much they're getting shafted.
Then the shipbuilders' best salesman (Steve Jobs) comes along with a brilliant idea - Build fast, quality ships that are easy to use. Then your customers will be happy to pay you for your excellent product.
And what do the RIAA and MPAA say?
Shut up, Steve, and help us make thicker steel.
Labels: Apple, copyright, DVD, MP3, MPAA, piracy, RIAA, ships, Steve Jobs
posted by Ricky Anderson at
7:12 PM
1 Comments:
NICE
This feels very well thought out and clear. I have seen too many of these (some I have written) that are simply gripe-fests that non-technical/non-political individuals cannot relate to, whereas this article is clear, consice, and understandable to anyone willing to take the time to read.
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