
foto credit: Mememe
Kodak is on the ropes— a shock for a company that was previously a key player in the American conscious. We all recognize the reality of the situation though. Good ‘ol Kodak just can’t keep up anymore. Film is done. Nostalgia can’t keep you around forever.
The same argument holds true in the latest round of piracy allegations lobbed by the media conglomerates. In a genius move the powers that be tried to pare job creation with piracy elimination. After all, content theft costs U.S. workers $5.5 billion a year by hurting companies’ hiring abilities….according to the organization that is funded by Hollywood studios.
The real cost is ambiguous. The conglomerates are losing money. It is because of the Internet. It is not because of piracy. The Internet simply does what the conglomerates tried to do and it does it better. The conglomerates produce something people don’t particularly want. The studios churn out schlock. Why suffer through what they consider comedy when I can go to Funny or Die? Why listen to Clear Channel’s dreary morning talk when I can download a podcast? Newspaper? I’ve got A2politico.com.
Consumers have gotten hip. We’ve turned away from the traditional offerings. GE, Disney, News Corp, Time Warner, Viacom, and CBS are worried. They hoped political might would save the day. In the name of profits, they hoped to limit the public’s ability to speak freely. Essentially cripple the Internet with SOPA/PIPA and hope the public starts to shell out ten bucks to watch crap like Green Lantern.
The Recording Industry Association of America, who previously hoped they could sue Americans into buying garbage, has teamed with the Motion Picture Association of America to simply ensure their garbage is the only option. But they needed an enemy so they decided to create pirates (they thought about ninjas but there isn’t a website named Ninjabay).
With the story crafted, Washington lined up to take the contributions. Both Democrats and Republicans couldn’t wait to drink from the trough. The political landscape has become so incestuous that it’s tough to tell the private sector from the public. Most frightening? Those Senators with a spine who have come out against SOPA/PIPA are really only saying the bill needs to be refined. That is to say: the bill that allows the government to block what websites you go to; the bill that grants the Attorney General power to punish a foreign entity; the bill that arbitrarily punishes website owners…only needs to be tweaked?
To hear the talking points, virtually all creative material would disappear if piracy continues. Piracy deprives artists the profits of their creative exercise. The Big Six can’t create jobs because of piracy. Bogus. Since the dawn of industry the money has filtered right up to the top. Artists are consistently put in a position where they serve as serf to the feudal elites. Recording, film, and television deals are notoriously lopsided except for a few key players. The Internet has continuously shown that creative content will survive…it just won’t profit the “right people”.
The Big Six have crafted an argument around a red herring. Politicians crafted a bill around those whims for monetary gain and support (Al Franken once wrote a bill especially for me because I bought him six hamburgers and told him he was pretty…true story). It’s about power and money. It’s not about what is in the best interests of the public.
Objective research—not conducted by the industry—has found that most Americans do not illegally download. Particularly when they have a legal option (Hulu, iTunes, Netflix, etc…). The industry makes huge profits overseas, where piracy is worse. Copyright infringement is not rampant. It is not killing the industry. The industry is killing itself.
As the saying goes, there is nothing new under the sun. In the late 1800’s Western Union attempted to use political might and legal objections to crack the telephone. Companies hate to see their dominance fade. Maybe Kodak should lobby Congress to outlaw digital cameras. The logical decision though is to become relevant or move on.