Sam
We are in a drastically changing landscape right now. The good ol’ boys money is severly f*cked up. Did you think they were just going to sit back and allow it to continue? Conglomerates like that are going to demand change. The type of change that requires lobbyists and the introduction of new legislation within Congress. And that is exactly what they did. According to cnet:
- The Obama administration has drafted new proposals to curb Internet piracy and other forms of intellectual property infringement that it says it will send to the U.S. Congress “in the very near future.”
It’s also applauding a controversial copyright treaty known as the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, or ACTA, saying it will “aid right-holders and the U.S. government to combat infringement” once it enters into effect.
Those disclosures came from a report released today by Victoria Espinel, whom President Obama selected as the first intellectual property enforcement coordinator and was confirmed by the Senate in December 2009. There’s no detail about what the proposed law would include, except that it will be based on a white paper of “legislative proposals to improve intellectual property enforcement,” and it’s expected to encompass online piracy.
The 92-page report (PDF) reads a lot like a report that could have been prepared by lobbyists for the recording or movie industry: it boasts the combined number of FBI and Homeland Security infringement investigations jumped by a remarkable 40 percent from 2009 to 2010.
As much as people like to vilify the record companies, the fact is, America’s largest export is our entertainment industry and it’s being pillaged right now. However, the internet has changed things. Due to the easy access of streaming music online, the demand for having physical cd’s and even mp3’s has diminished. The record companies recognize this and are going to inevitably expect some revenue sharing with these applications. In fact, this is already happening. Take Vevo for example. It is an entity owned by Universal Music Group that is monetizing video content (as well as streamed music). The whole genius is that Vevo is completely integrated into youtube and more importantly it’s search functionality. Interestingly, I believe that this may lead to people releasing more videos albums as opposed to the traditional track 1-12 albums. The whole idea of a video LP is interesting to me, so we will have to see how the concept develops.
This is an exciting development because it is a glimmer of light in a rather bleak economic outlet for the recording industry. I still think that major record companies will have to cut back on both human and monetary resources. The simple fact is that these companies are spending more money than they actually have. (I knew the rap game was merely a microcosm of America).
Within this changing landscape I have to ask myself how will this effect blogs? Inherently, I think the days of just aggregating other peoples content in a rouge unregulated way is over. The labels are just gunna holler at their homies at Homeland Security and shut that sh*t down. I think original content is the future. So the people who create things and the people who invest in them can win again. That’s a good thing. Regardless I also believe new institutions will be created. We need fresh blood and new ideas. It will lead to progression and profits – my two favorite things.
“Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power.” –Benito Mussolini
The bottom line has blurred the fine distinction of property and law. These people and their vast amount of greed has overwhelmed the very right of every man woman and child who breathes. We are entering the event horizon of fascism people. They are already trying to create what they call internet 2.0, this just makes them one step closer. An uneducated population is a dictators best friend.