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> exactly one logical conclusion to the everyone-does-it, distributed-everything world you describe: prohibit the very act of conveying digital information in e

> exactly one logical conclusion to the everyone-does-it, distributed-everything world you describe: prohibit the very act of conveying digital information in encrypted form, and require the infrastructure providers to help with identifying and prosecuting those who break the law There is another logical conclusion: accept that since information is now easily shared that those who made their living by controlling the act of copying will be out of business soon. Just like the canonical example of horse breeders and buggy makers being put out of business by the automobile. Like when the guild system collapsed and you could decide to try to earn a living as a blacksmith or carpenter without having to pay and get permission from the local guild. These transitions aren't pretty, jobs are lost, industries collapse, but historically it has always turned out to be a necessary growing pain while something better has emerged. I certainly have a "the internet is one of great things humanity has done" bias but I still don't believe that this is an unrealistic vision. I actually find it much more likely that artists will find a way to be paid and will adapt to a free exchange of bits than that we will find some good way to protect speech and freedom while still policing copyright. In that case you will always have powerful copyright interests with financial interests aligned against the advancement of an open internet. Combine that with needing to run a large scale education campaign the likes of anti-smoking or anti-drunk driving (that, because of the reputation of the copyright holders and a generation who things music is free, is getting harder every day). I see the sense in your version, and it's not crazy. I just don't think we can pull it off. What we can do, since it's been done many times before, is let artists adapt to new technology and find a new business model. And as 3D printers get better and better this is certainly a problem that's going to keep expanding.

Silhouette 14y ago
There is another logical conclusion: accept that since information is now easily shared that those who made their living by controlling the act of copying will be out of business soon. The trouble is that the people who make their living that way aren't just working for the big guys any more. There are little guys out there, whose work can be ripped off just as easily and who suffer public prejudice that was earned by the abusive policies of the big guys over the years, yet who have none of the advantages of the big guys to make up for it. When you put these people out of business, the works you value don't get made any more, because they get other jobs so they can have food to eat and put a roof over their family's heads. Like when the guild system collapsed and you could decide to try to earn a living as a blacksmith or carpenter without having to pay and get permission from the local guild. The difference in this case is that you're not just bringing down the guild, you're bringing down the blacksmith and the carpenter as well. I actually find it much more likely that artists will find a way to be paid and will adapt to a free exchange of bits than that we will find some good way to protect speech and freedom while still policing copyright. Perhaps you're right, and I'll be the first to support abolishing copyright if it turns out that there are better ways to incentivise artists without the same social cost. But the fact is that nothing is stopping people from using alternative business models today if they provide a better incentive than copyright, and almost no-one does. There have been a few experiments with things like choose-your-own pricing, but they have had highly variable success rates. Almost all of the really successful projects were made by artists whose reputation was already built the old-fashioned way. There are a few experiments with things like Kickstarter today, and I wish them luck too. However, for now they consider a $1,000,000 project a huge success, and it remains to be seen how many of these projects actually produce the kind of results that the "investors" expect and how sustainable the model might become. Meanwhile, to put that in perspective, the budget for Batman: The Dark Knight Rises is reported to have been $250,000,000, and Star Wars: The Old Republic allegedly comes in around $200,000,000. No small, independent studio can build projects on that scale anyway, and while a MMORPG like SW:TOR has a certain natural barrier to being ripped off, the same can't be said for other genres of big budget game. I see the sense in your version, and it's not crazy. I just don't think we can pull it off. What we can do, since it's been done many times before, is let artists adapt to new technology and find a new business model. The trouble is, if we don't pull it off, those new business models are going to be things like always-online DRM schemes and locked-down hardware and walled garden app stores. Exactly none of these things ultimately results in better experiences for the public. They just happen to have defensible bottom lines for the businesses.
- freshhawk 14y ago
  > The difference in this case is that you're not just bringing down the guild, you're bringing down the blacksmith and the carpenter as well. I'm fairly sure that when these kinds of transitions happen the associated guild blacksmiths and carpenters, or artists thriving under royal patronage, or live musicians who did not adapt well to recording in the studio, are the ones who get the brunt of the pain. Although, as a group they always survive, while the hangers on and various big guys sometimes don't. That's nitpicky though, I didn't mean to imply that there isn't/won't be significant damage to artists livelihoods, just that the damage to society and everyone else is greater if we continue down the road to the panopticon society necessary to continue to enforce our current copyright system. > if they provide a better incentive than copyright, and almost no-one does It's hard to beat a large scale monopoly distribution scheme. It's entirely possible that artists won't be able to make as much money under any new system as they did in the current one. Maybe there will be lowers highs and higher lows as the business moves away from being so hit-oriented. The one thing that's almost certain is that the distribution of music revenue among artists will be different, I find it more likely that the new technologies influence will be to flatten that distribution. Like you said, Kickstarter is a good example of an experiment that would do this if it does succeed. I also agree that no one has figured out how to make blockbuster movies without a distribution monopoly to fund it, and they might never figure it out. Our generation's era of movies would probably be considered a bit of a golden age for high cost spectacle, like the old studio system was for serials and creating hollywood royalty. > The trouble is, if we don't pull it off, those new business models are going to be things like always-online DRM schemes and locked-down hardware and walled garden app stores. Exactly none of these things ultimately results in better experiences for the public. They just happen to have defensible bottom lines for the businesses. This is a good point, taking the path to locked-down hardware and DRM is an escape route that the existing industry can take/is taking. On reflection I agree, anti-SOPA/anti-surveillance sentiment pushes the industry to ramp up what Doctorow called the coming war on general purpose computation. Depressing thought, but at least some of the ideals that would motivate people to stop one will also motivate them to stop the other. And open hardware will still exist, and have benefits that consumers will like so that's winnable as well.
- freshhawk 14y ago

Silhouette 14y ago

There is another logical conclusion: accept that since information is now easily shared that those who made their living by controlling the act of copying will be out of business soon. The trouble is that the people who make their living that way aren't just working for the big guys any more. There are little guys out there, whose work can be ripped off just as easily and who suffer public prejudice that was earned by the abusive policies of the big guys over the years, yet who have none of the advantages of the big guys to make up for it. When you put these people out of business, the works you value don't get made any more, because they get other jobs so they can have food to eat and put a roof over their family's heads. Like when the guild system collapsed and you could decide to try to earn a living as a blacksmith or carpenter without having to pay and get permission from the local guild. The difference in this case is that you're not just bringing down the guild, you're bringing down the blacksmith and the carpenter as well. I actually find it much more likely that artists will find a way to be paid and will adapt to a free exchange of bits than that we will find some good way to protect speech and freedom while still policing copyright. Perhaps you're right, and I'll be the first to support abolishing copyright if it turns out that there are better ways to incentivise artists without the same social cost. But the fact is that nothing is stopping people from using alternative business models today if they provide a better incentive than copyright, and almost no-one does. There have been a few experiments with things like choose-your-own pricing, but they have had highly variable success rates. Almost all of the really successful projects were made by artists whose reputation was already built the old-fashioned way. There are a few experiments with things like Kickstarter today, and I wish them luck too. However, for now they consider a $1,000,000 project a huge success, and it remains to be seen how many of these projects actually produce the kind of results that the "investors" expect and how sustainable the model might become. Meanwhile, to put that in perspective, the budget for Batman: The Dark Knight Rises is reported to have been $250,000,000, and Star Wars: The Old Republic allegedly comes in around $200,000,000. No small, independent studio can build projects on that scale anyway, and while a MMORPG like SW:TOR has a certain natural barrier to being ripped off, the same can't be said for other genres of big budget game. I see the sense in your version, and it's not crazy. I just don't think we can pull it off. What we can do, since it's been done many times before, is let artists adapt to new technology and find a new business model. The trouble is, if we don't pull it off, those new business models are going to be things like always-online DRM schemes and locked-down hardware and walled garden app stores. Exactly none of these things ultimately results in better experiences for the public. They just happen to have defensible bottom lines for the businesses.

freshhawk 14y ago
> The difference in this case is that you're not just bringing down the guild, you're bringing down the blacksmith and the carpenter as well. I'm fairly sure that when these kinds of transitions happen the associated guild blacksmiths and carpenters, or artists thriving under royal patronage, or live musicians who did not adapt well to recording in the studio, are the ones who get the brunt of the pain. Although, as a group they always survive, while the hangers on and various big guys sometimes don't. That's nitpicky though, I didn't mean to imply that there isn't/won't be significant damage to artists livelihoods, just that the damage to society and everyone else is greater if we continue down the road to the panopticon society necessary to continue to enforce our current copyright system. > if they provide a better incentive than copyright, and almost no-one does It's hard to beat a large scale monopoly distribution scheme. It's entirely possible that artists won't be able to make as much money under any new system as they did in the current one. Maybe there will be lowers highs and higher lows as the business moves away from being so hit-oriented. The one thing that's almost certain is that the distribution of music revenue among artists will be different, I find it more likely that the new technologies influence will be to flatten that distribution. Like you said, Kickstarter is a good example of an experiment that would do this if it does succeed. I also agree that no one has figured out how to make blockbuster movies without a distribution monopoly to fund it, and they might never figure it out. Our generation's era of movies would probably be considered a bit of a golden age for high cost spectacle, like the old studio system was for serials and creating hollywood royalty. > The trouble is, if we don't pull it off, those new business models are going to be things like always-online DRM schemes and locked-down hardware and walled garden app stores. Exactly none of these things ultimately results in better experiences for the public. They just happen to have defensible bottom lines for the businesses. This is a good point, taking the path to locked-down hardware and DRM is an escape route that the existing industry can take/is taking. On reflection I agree, anti-SOPA/anti-surveillance sentiment pushes the industry to ramp up what Doctorow called the coming war on general purpose computation. Depressing thought, but at least some of the ideals that would motivate people to stop one will also motivate them to stop the other. And open hardware will still exist, and have benefits that consumers will like so that's winnable as well.
freshhawk 14y ago