New York, NY (May 9, 2008) – As if yesterday’s bit about Project Playlist getting sued wasn’t enough, this one affirms without a doubt that the industry is still trying to set itself up for one final salvo before they kiss the old ways goodbye.
Aha, overly dramatic, yes… but it’s a rainy Friday afternoon, what else do I have to do?
The House of Representatives has passed a bill that would “allow law enforcement authorities to seek the forfeiture of property used in copyright infringement.” The article goes on to say that, “the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act, or PRO-IP Act, would also create a new Office of Intellectual Property Enforcement representative, often called a copyright czar; the bill would also expand a U.S. Department of Justice program that gives local law enforcement agencies grants to fight computer crimes, including grants for copyright infringement enforcement. The bill allows both civil and criminal forfeitures of property used to commit copyright infringement.”
I would interpret that to basically mean that they’ll come take away your computer if you’re caught stealing music. Or worse. This isn’t the “everyone-pay-the-IP-Piper-for-music-other-people-steal” plan we talked about here, but it’s a step in that direction. It clearly gives more control to the government to monitor what’s going on (and now act on it), stopping short of that IP-tax. Will you see more lawsuits? Maybe, assuming this enters into law. But I think there’s something bigger to consider…
People are going to complain about the tighter restrictions this would bring, but what is the government supposed to do? In the macro-picture, you have a $10 billion dollar industry (physical and digital sales, mind you) that’s in the middle of a colossal crash and burn, but it’s an industry that is tied into almost EVERY other industry in THE WORLD. In doing some research, I read that non-profit arts generate $166 billion nationwide, and while I’m not sure what “non-profit arts” means for our purposes, the information contained within the press release is exactly the point I want to make: Music makes the world go round. You want a soundtrack for your TV show? Who do you call? You want to set the mood at your restaurant? Talk radio isn’t gonna do it. Who’s going to pay for part of that tour to come to town? Verizon, sure… but how about the beer and soda vendors who depend on those dollars to make rent? You want to dance in the club? Better have the right to play the music everyone wants to hear or you ain’t getting your drink/two-step on. You’re not even gettin in to take a piss (no money, no plumber). Almost everything music does is intertwined with another industry, and if you kill the profitability of one industry, you put a good chunk of the economy in jeopardy.
This isn’t a conspiracy theory rant or a defense of big business; it’s really just common sense. People will always steal and executives will always overcharge, both sides clapping gleefully at their victory. With the Internet leveling the playing field, though, there’s a disproportionate number of the population winning. But it’s in that winning that others are being destroyed.
Ordinarily, that would just be called capitalism, and it would be OK because the nature of the beast says the fittest survive. But in a capitalist economy, those at the top produce (I’m guestimating) ten times as much as they consume (and thank God they consume a lot – look at the boating industry)… leaving the rest to produce in slightly less increments yet still consume to the point where they don’t go broke. Thus making the economy roll. However, when you have a portion of the economy simply taking and not putting anything back into the industry that impacts so many other industries… that’s a problem.
Whether this legislation will prove to be another Band-Aid on the gunshot wound, I don’t know. The economy will have to figure out it’s current state of flux, and when it rights itself, people are going to face some really big questions. The next generation definitely has some exciting and daunting challenges ahead of it. And the leaders in their fields of tech, government, entertainment, big and small business will all have to be willing to accept new ideas if the economy wishes to keep up with the globalization the Internet has introduced.
But don’t be economic girlie-man… there’s still time to get to the choppah, survey the situation and do it right for the sequel. Just hope Gary Busey is not involved.
