4 ms·

I’m guessing that you’re young-ish, then? Because that’s not how it was when I was a kid. That changed in the mid-nineties, and it was a fairly controversial de

I’m guessing that you’re young-ish, then? Because that’s not how it was when I was a kid. That changed in the mid-nineties, and it was a fairly controversial decision. From about 1970 to 93, antitrust regulations were put in place because only three networks could determine over 90% of broadcast media. A judge ended that rule under the rational that upstart networks like Fox and CW were now competitive. https://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/13/business/judge-rules-networks-can-own-shows.html https://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/13/business/judge-rules-netw... Critics said this would be bad because the networks would be incentivized to broadcast lucrative content over quality content, and subjectively I would say that is exactly what happened. But fortunately the Internet came along and made TV kind of moot… but anyway if you are of the opinion that radical centralization and corporate consolidation lead to crummy content, fewer opportunities for creators, and in a macro scale a widening wealth gap, this all just kinda sucks.

lotsofpulp 5y ago
> But fortunately the Internet came along Yes, that’s the difference. There used to be a gatekeeper to reaching your audience, but now there is none. A kid can take their 4K phone and make their own TV show with their friends and distribute it worldwide, or a company can get a professional crew and spend a couple billion dollars and distribute it worldwide. If the contention is that a few companies owning all the content will raise the prices, then that solution would be removing/reducing copyright protections, or compulsory licensing, but in the current environment, who owns what is mostly immaterial to customers.
- tl 5y ago
  > Yes, that’s the difference. There used to be a gatekeeper to reaching your audience, but now there is none. A kid can take their 4K phone and make their own TV show with their friends and distribute it worldwide, or a company can get a professional crew and spend a couple billion dollars and distribute it worldwide. Until Google or Facebook decide that your content is objectionable. Don't worry, punishment is instant and Court of Big Tech appeals process is even slower than actual due process [1]. [1] https://www.jwz.org/blog/2021/05/fucking-facebook-4/#comment-219320 https://www.jwz.org/blog/2021/05/fucking-facebook-4/#comment...
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    Would you rather a business such as Google and Facebook not be able to do what they want with their computers and bandwidth? No one is entitled to someone else’s computing resources. But unless the ISP is blocking access to your computers or from you to the network, then the point is the barrier to distribution is at its lowest in any point in history. Ideally, we’d have ipv6 and fiber connections to home so Google/Facebook would be irrelevant. But that is a governance issue, not a Google/Facebook issue.

lotsofpulp 5y ago

> But fortunately the Internet came along Yes, that’s the difference. There used to be a gatekeeper to reaching your audience, but now there is none. A kid can take their 4K phone and make their own TV show with their friends and distribute it worldwide, or a company can get a professional crew and spend a couple billion dollars and distribute it worldwide. If the contention is that a few companies owning all the content will raise the prices, then that solution would be removing/reducing copyright protections, or compulsory licensing, but in the current environment, who owns what is mostly immaterial to customers.

tl 5y ago
> Yes, that’s the difference. There used to be a gatekeeper to reaching your audience, but now there is none. A kid can take their 4K phone and make their own TV show with their friends and distribute it worldwide, or a company can get a professional crew and spend a couple billion dollars and distribute it worldwide. Until Google or Facebook decide that your content is objectionable. Don't worry, punishment is instant and Court of Big Tech appeals process is even slower than actual due process [1]. [1] https://www.jwz.org/blog/2021/05/fucking-facebook-4/#comment-219320 https://www.jwz.org/blog/2021/05/fucking-facebook-4/#comment...
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  Would you rather a business such as Google and Facebook not be able to do what they want with their computers and bandwidth? No one is entitled to someone else’s computing resources. But unless the ISP is blocking access to your computers or from you to the network, then the point is the barrier to distribution is at its lowest in any point in history. Ideally, we’d have ipv6 and fiber connections to home so Google/Facebook would be irrelevant. But that is a governance issue, not a Google/Facebook issue.