[OT] Internet Censorship

[Lynn Fredricks]

> OK. This touched a nerve.
> 
> *"I used to record off the air and it was OK"  ,   "everybody 
> does it"  ,
>  "the music today sucks anyway",  "the music business is corrupt"*
> 
> All excuses used to justify the stealing of music.  Not very 
> funny to me, a 40 year music business worker. This was a 
> profession for thousands that has totally gone away.
> 
> There is no fair comparison between the innocent taping off 
> of the radio and trading digital music en masse.
> The former barriers were hassle,cost,  quality and speed, all 
> of which were eliminated by digital formats.

The various arguments you note able also target only music. There are many
kinds of IP that being thieved on the internet, using the same sorts of
methods.

I have another business that owns thousands of pieces of digital IP
(including some music, and some things Ive created myself). Regularly we
find it being uploaded to various free upload sites like hotfiles and then
linked to from warez sites. These warez sites then generate revenue from
online ad companies that serve ads on those sites. It is not fun to discover
your sales suddenly "leaking out" because someone is giving away your stuff
AND generating revenue from it. Many kinds of IP have a limited life span
based on saturation, too. When the revenue drops like that, there's no money
to pay the artist.

As you've said - it isnt about the sort of sneakernet sharing of yore
between friends and imperfect copies. It is the anonymous sharing with
thousands +, and often with a profit motive for "anonymous" that has nothing
to do with the love of whatever has been stolen. If you played the
sneakernet game before, whats been happening in the last 5+ years has
nothing to do with what you did.

Best regards,

Lynn Fredricks
Mirye Software Publishing
http://www.mirye.com