I suppose there ought to be a post about the SOPA/PIPA controversy, since this is a web log, and I did actually write to my congressman and senators this week and ask them not to pass the bills in question. I don’t know that I have anything to add to the millions of pages that have already been written about the language and intent of the bills themselves, but it struck me today as I was reading the MPAA response to the “blackout” protests of January 18 and 19, that there was at least one aspect of the situation that seems to be getting lost in the background noise – the way our world is changing, and the way some people who should really know better are acting as though if they just stomp their feet and scream for long enough all of those mean Internet people will just go away…
Consider, for example, the official responses of the MPAA and RIAA to the online protests over the anti-piracy legislation. Both organizations are calling the protests “an abuse of power,” which is really quite precious coming (as it does) from organizations which are prone to throwing huge amounts of money at political issues in order to get their own way, as well as suing people for sums of money that most national governments could not produce. But whether such protests are themselves abuses of power (you could make a case for either side), it’s hard to imagine why anyone associated with either industry would think that Internet giants like Google or Wikipedia would care about their opinions in the first place. Especially since the proposed anti-piracy laws have the potential to destroy the lives and livelihoods of thousands or millions of people who make their living online…
For all that the free speech issues surrounding this legislation are appalling – and they are – the due process aspects may be even worse. If a given company believes that someone on the Internet is using their intellectual property without permission they can always send that individual a “cease and desist” letter; if the online entity (whoever it is) continues using the material the owners are welcome to sue in civil court, and press criminal charges where applicable. All of this requires evidence, or at least probable cause and search warrants; it may also require depositions, discovery, and enough legal activities to make sure that the legal profession doesn’t go away any time soon. But none of it allows a private company – or even a government agency – to arbitrarily shut down an online business because that entity might be connected to pirates, without a trial, a hearing, evidence, warrants, or anything more legitimate than the word of an agency that is already known for abusing power and intimidating people…
We’ve heard a lot of debate in recent years as to whether record companies have any relevance in a world where anyone can record music and distribute it over the Internet, and while it seems likely that it will be a while before private citizens can make movies on their own, the failure of Blockbuster Video and the rise of Netflix streaming video service suggests that DVDs are going the way of vinyl records and reel-to-reel tapes. I don’t know how much power these two industry groups have left, or how much longer they expect to have any power, but I can’t imagine that they actually believe they can intimidate an entire community of hundreds of millions of people who live and work in online companies and groups…
There was a time, not that long ago, when the MPAA and RIAA could do as they pleased, and no one had the money or the power (popular or political) to oppose them. But those days are fading now, and neither of these agencies appears to have any idea of how widely disliked they have become, or how little relevance they are likely to have in the new century. I don’t know how the motion-picture and recording industries will operate going forward, or how they expect to remain relevant (let alone powerful), but I can say with some certainty that public tantrums and political support for unpopular legislation probably won’t work…
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