The Sultans of Spin
p2pnet.net news views:- p2pnet is running a survey called The Sultans of Spin, with Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG’s RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) as the centre-pieces.
“Considering P2Pnet’s demographic and the phrasing of some of the questions (to be fair many of them include direct quotes from RIAA materials), it’s not surprising that early results are skewing strongly against the record labels’ organization,” says Eliot Van Buskirk on Wired’s Listening Post. “Spreading the word about the survey can only make it more scientific, so here are the links ….”
Well, “they ARE a very particular demographic and they make up a considerable portion (the majority?) of the people the RIAA, et al, are trying to reach, IMHO,” I say in a couple of emails. “Perhaps the results will go a tiny way towards counter-balancing the masses of English imparted by the labels over years : )”
Meanwhile, “Picked up this site from Wired’s Listening Post blog, and I have to say that both sides of this argument are pathetic,” says a comment post, going on:
I’m no songwriter or musician and I don’t work for RIAA. I don’t “share” music with friends or download music from P2P sites, so please, no “Shut up, TROLL!” comments.
I am however an artist, and I work for ad agencies, magazines, newspapers, etc. Most of what I do is commisioned for a specific purpose and the issues of what rights are being sold are discussed up front. I ALWAYS retain the copyright to the works I create as I do upon occassion re-sell something I’ve done for one client to someone else, provided it does not violate the terms of the original sale of rights.
So this all brings me to the point I’d like to make that “sharing” is just the term people who are pissed off or angry or just too cheap to actually pay for the product have come up with to cloak what they’re really doing, which is stealing.
I’m sorry, but lets call a spade a spade. Just becasue the big, bad record company doesn’t put out music in the format you want or forces you to buy an entire album of crap so you can get that one song you like, doesn’t mean it’s ok for you to just take it. It’s called theft, and it is illegal despite whatever pretty word you want to call it.
Having said that, I’m no fan of RIAA or of the way many in the music industry do business. Yes it’s aniquated and many of them seem to be heartless, money-grubbing leeches, but guess what? It’s their product and they are free to do whatever they want, charge whatever they want and sell it in whatever fromat they choose. Know why? Because they hold the copyright.
You can bet your last dollar that I’d be pissed if someone took something I created and started using it for their own purposes because they were a “fan” or because they felt they had some right to it. Let me tell you right now, unless you hold the copyright, ya don’t.
Of course, I’d like to think that if there were millions of people clamoring for something I created, I’d damn sure figure out a better way to get it into their hands and be FAIRLY compensated for the hard work I put into it.
That doesn’t mean I think you should have to pay for something over and over again, or that you should be forced to buy a pile of crappy work just to get the one good thing you want, but you should have to pay SOMETHING. I worked to create it, and yeah I love it if the thing I created speaks to you, but what is it worth to you? I expect to be paid, and there’s nothing wrong with that. The fact that you’re “sharing” doesn’t make you some kind of digital Robin Hood. It makes you a thief.
If you don’t like the way the record companies sell their products, don’t freakin’ buy them. They’re in business to make money, and if they’re to retarded to realize that they’re driving their business over a cliff, then let them.
Just wait for them at the bottom and pick up the pieces for whatever new business model that emerges. Eventually they’ll get it through their heads. and off products they way people CLEARLY want them. Apple and EMI seem to be listening, and yeah it’s baby steps, but they’ll get there
In the mean time, patronize companies who do offer products the way you want them, and maybe they’re off the beaten path, but you just might uncover something cool in the process.
Ahem…(steps down from soapbox).
Let the flaming begin.
“I agree with much of what you say, but not all,” says a response, going on:
“I’m sorry, but lets call a spade a spade.”
- oh yes please, lets do that.
“It’s called theft, and it is illegal despite whatever pretty word you want to call it. ”
- Ok were off to a bad start here, we just called a spade a backhoe. It’s called infringment not theft. Theft is stealing, infringment is using a copyrighted work without permision. One is a criminal offence and the other is civil.
As well I don’t believe format shifting is infringment. I paid for the right to listen to it, I don’t think any copyright holder has the right to tell me I can only listen to something while hopping on one foot, with my left finger in my right ear, and a bucket of wate onj my head, anymore than I think they have the right to tell me I must repurchase in order to listen on a different device.
“… but you should have to pay SOMETHING. ”
- yes and people are willing to pay for it, if it’s good, and priced fairly, and in a format that they want. Raising prices for an inferior format cause ya need to get a bonus is not the way to go.
“The fact that you’re ’sharing’ doesn’t make you some kind of digital Robin Hood. It makes you a thief. ”
- it makes you neither, it possibly makes you an infringer.
“In the mean time, patronize companies who do offer products the way you want them, and maybe they’re off the beaten path, but you just might uncover something cool in the process. ”
- agreed
Stay tuned (and BTW, I like Van Buskirk’s survey title better than my own ; ).
Jon Newton – p2pnet
Also See:
Listening Post – Survey: How Did Copyright Infringement Become Equated with Robbery?, April 9, 2007
If your Net access is blocked by government restrictions, try Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at thIs the endSurvey: How Did Copyright Infringement Become Equated with Robbery? (of the Net) nigh?zze University of Toronto’s Munk Centre for International Studies. Go here for the official download, here for the p2pnet download, and here for details. And if you’re Chinese and you’re looking for a way to access independent Internet news sources, try Freegate, the DIT program written to help Chinese citizens circumvent web site blocking outside of China. Download it here.
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Tired of being treated like a criminal? They depend on you, not the other way around. Don’t buy their ‘product’. Do bug your local politicians. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls, faxes, IM, stop them in the street, blog. And if you’re into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep’s doorstep, making sure you’ve contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance. Don’t just complain. Do something!
April 10th, 2007 at 4:00 pm
What does masses of English mean?
April 10th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
Lots of spin.
8. Sports. (sometimes lowercase)
a. a spinning motion imparted to a ball, esp. in billiards.