Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2003 00:48:48 -0500
From: Rick Bradley <rick@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [IP] RIAA, MPAA, and Control of the Internet
To: Dave Farber <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
* Dave Farber (dave@xxxxxxxxxx) [030908 22:45]:
> From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren@xxxxxxxxxx>
> >First, when individuals make publicly available copies of music,
> >movies, and the like in manners that exceed their legitimate fair use
> >rights, they may be committing a crime (note however, that defining
> >the scope of fair use rights remains a highly contentious exercise).
> >
> >Second, the folks at the RIAA, MPAA, and other organizations who have
> >been asserting escalating demands on ISPs, Internet users, and
> >Congress are not stupid, nor evil. They are, in the main, simply
> >terrified.
The folks at the RIAA (I can't speak to the other entities) are, to my
ears, very much evil. I live in Nashville, and as such occasionally
chance upon the opportunity to get the point of view of someone familiar
with the music industry. Just two nights ago I sat across the table
from such a person (whom I'll do the favor of keeping anonymous) -- a
singer/songwriter with an impressive resume. She denounced
file-sharing, which noone at the table admitted to undertaking (an odd
bunch, mostly over 25, and I'm even inclined to believe most of them),
and then proceeded to tear into the record labels.
Some 18 albums, numerous top-10 and number-1 hits (performed and/or
written) over the course of a couple of decades, and not one penny in
royalties. $0.00. She finally opened her own publishing house, found
her own independent distributor, and *wham*, $35K royalty check in the
first year.
Then she got into tales that sounded like something out of the
Soprano's: distribution companies deliberately killed by the major
labels, people shut out of the industry for not playing along, and even
some idle speculations on how a tour bus could get hit by a Mac truck,
and why Courtney Love has had a career downturn after she spoke out so
eloquently against the RIAA.
"The worst thing about it is that these people don't even like the
music. Most of the guys who run the country labels go home and LAUGH at
the artists they're promoting. These people have NO love for music."
Her tirade on the list of charges deducted from royalties, starting with
breakage ("when was the last time you bought a 78??") and on into some
of the more esoteric mega-cajones charges I'd ever heard, came across
like a Dennis Miller rant.
I'm no fan of the music industry, but I still left with an even worse
taste in my mouth. The RIAA, from this artist's point of view, is as
close to the Mob as you can get while still leaving the piano wire in
the piano.
> >Nor have we seen the full extent of the "weaponry" that will be
> >brought to bear by either side. "Copyright flags," proposals to
> >hobble A/D (Analog to Digital) converters, and a range of other
> >efforts to try "nail down" the Internet will be flowing forth. At
> >some point, we can expect to see the reemergence of broad-based
> >attacks on the use of encryption, since crypto and related techniques
> >can render moot many of the proposed controls.
All of these things have come to pass already:
The Commerce Department for years regulated cryptography, and there are
still some remnants of that regulation about. Phil Zimmermann knows a
bit about our prior regulations on crypto. [0] The copyright flag (more
commonly known as the "broadcast flag") to patch the so-called "analog
hole" has seen a lot of action, thanks in no small part to Sen. Billy
Tauzin. [1] Same with hobbling A/D converters, thanks in no small part
to Sen. Fritz Hollings. [2] This completely ignores the state-level
"SDMCA" bills [3], already passed in a number of states, but facing
strong opposition nearly everywhere else.
That said, every indication has been that the Internet moves faster than
its opponents -- faster even than its promoters. Not only are the
horses out of the barn, but the barn itself is moving at Mach-3.
Politically, the RIAA and the MPAA are very astute. Their very business
is star-building, ad campaigns, and public relations. The head of the
MPAA is foremost a man of politics, after all. [4] However, after
regrettable successes (such as the DMCA), they've found themselves
stymied politically, legally, and most of all, technologically. If they
had taken their campaign to the end-user in 1998, as we then thought was
inevitable, they may have made greater gains, ultimately to lose them.
Now any gains come at a high price, and it seems obvious from the ground
that the damage done to bad business models is irreparable.
Broadcast flags for analog broadcasts are technologically unworkable,
for the same reason you can't tell me something and just hope I'll
forget it. Senator Fritz found out quickly how politically unworkable
mucking about with A/D converters was going to be -- not to mention the
fact that the technology is unimplementable. Even the movie industry's
vaunted "SDMI" watermarking technology collapsed into smoldering slag on
even cursory examination by the technical community. [5]
Ultimately though, any technology pushed by the content industries has
to be overcome the resistance of the electronics and telecommunications
industries (ironically companies like Sony sit on both sides of the
fence). Electronics manufacturers get to sell mp3 players, memory
sticks, "convergent" living room appliances, wireless gear, etc., due in
large part to p2p uptake, which has created standards in mp3, divx, and
even Ogg. Telecommunications companies know that larger files drives
demand for fatter pipes. This isn't to mention the benefits to the
computer industry, much less Apple.
Here's the kicker though: when we get down to the bottom line the
music industry makes in a year what the phone company makes in a month.
The movie industry, despite all the bluster of Jack Valenti, isn't
significantly bigger than the record labels. Bill Gates alone could buy
Hollywood, Music Row, and the Whiskey a-Go-Go with Microsoft's cash
float and still make most of his employees millionaires with the
balance. In a recession.
Knowing this, and keeping vigilant, I don't fear for the Internet. I'm
just annoyed that the RIAA is trying to prolong their death scene like a
bad carnival actor.
[0] http://www.philzimmermann.com/index.shtml
[1] http://bpdg.blogs.eff.org/
[2] http://www.politechbot.com/docs/cbdtpa/
also: http://www.eff.org/IP/SSSCA_CBDTPA/20020322_eff_cbdtpa_alert.html
"CBDTPA" ("Consume, But Don't Try Programming Anything" a.k.a.
"Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act")
[3] http://tndf.net/ , http://www.peoplesright.org/efnet/ ,
http://www.efga.org/ip/sdmca/ , etc.
[4] http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/interviews/episode-13/valenti1.html
[5] http://www.cs.princeton.edu/sip/sdmi/faq.html
Rick
--
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