Piracy is a problem for the movie and music industry the same way cancer is a problem for smokers. So the RIAA and MPAA go slashing and burning their way into territories occupied by moms of students listening to music and watching movies.
This is a no-win battle. After all the smoke and shrapnel and money stop flying, the RIAA and MPAA will look around like a Gahan Wilson cartoon and declare "I think we won" in the midst of a barren and destitute battlefield.
Here's the rub: you CANNOT collect intellectual property fees at the point of consumption. Let me reiterate: you CANNOT collect fees for musician's talents, songwriter's lyrics, engineer's ears, cinematographer's eyes or scriptwriter's storytelling from the consumer. It must be collected at the final point of distribution, not at consumption.
The "digital download paradigm" NARAS recently touted is no paradigm at all. It is a system virtually identical to a century-old process for intellectual property distribution and compensation harnessed and enhanced by ASCAP. ASCAP, either by luck or by design, chose to collect IP royalties at the final point of distribution - the radio station, the restaurant, the theater, the dentist office, from the people who's business was enhanced by the inclusion of intellectual property in their business model. Radio stations attracted advertisement consumers by enticing them with music. Restaurants attract customers by offering customers mood music with their meal. Royalties are paid to ASCAP by the theater, the restaurant, the radio station, and NOT the listener. The distributors pass along this expense to the extent that the market will bear it, but the distributors pay for ephemeral intellectual property.
Fast forward to the new millenium, and nothing has changed, except the distributors have added a few new methods for the same process. Instead of just a broadcast tower or a jukebox, there is the distribution of IP by Internet Service Provider (ISP). When one downloads a song, they are downloading it from their ISP, not from iTunes or Rhapsody or even from their torrent "peer to peer" buddy. iTunes warehouses the songs, and uploads them to the internet backbone whenever someone orders it from them. So-called "pirates" upload songs through their ISP to be downloaded through the recipient's ISP, with BOTH ISPs collecting cash for the distribution of intellectual property. Currently, ISPs are legally indemnified from harm for this coyote-ing of bootleg product, but fail to pay your Verizon or AT&T or Comcast bill, and your downloading days are over.
This is the problem. ISPs are legally allowed to traffic in stolen property and charge an added premium for the desirability this brings to their service. This was granted by our legal system as a means to encourage a young and innovative industry to catch on and gain critical and sustainable mass. We are years past that point. AT&T, Verizon, Comcast et al are not promising little upstarts, and need no boost from legal indemnification for intellectual property trafficking. The government does not need to step in and do something. The government needs to get out of the way and allow copyright and intellectual property owners to pursue lost revenue as a result of this trafficking by ISPs, not moms of dorm room music aficionados.
This is how this war is won. "Piracy" becomes advocacy. "Downloaders" becomes salesmen and women. The technology is already in place to monitor virtually every file transferred between peer-to-peer (more accurately "peer-to-ISP-to-ISP-to peer") music fans. Since intellectual property fees are collected BY the ISP, there is no piracy, there is no crime, there is no guilt, there is no reason NOT to share your favorite artist with your pals.
"Oh no - higher ISP fees!" I hear you cry. You want to continue getting something for nothing. I understand. Grow up. You pay more for a beer at your local pub because ASCAP collects for the music on the stereo behind the bar, or the songs performed by the band in the corner. But you don't go drinking in a silent bar to dance with the songs in your head. Your life is made better by intellectual property, and those who create this better world for you need cash, and you should be happy to pony up.
Congressman Howard Berman is currently sponsoring legislation to toughen intellectual property enforcement. It punish the fans while indemnifying the traffickers, and Berman, the RIAA and the MPAA may well win the battle against piracy. But when the smoke clears and they look around...
No comments:
Post a Comment