The war for internet control
By Thomas Hürlimann · 2012 · This is just the essence of my German article
1. Governments and big corporations try to establish total control over internet traffic under the coverup of entertainment copyright.
2. Sharing of entertainment (music, movies, games) is not the big problem the industry and governments suggest us. Their numbers of economic losses are completely wrong:
A) Most downloaders would not otherwise ever buy what they download, if download would not be possible. Meaning: 1 download is not = 1 lost sale.
B) Their numbers never calculate the immense value the industry gets by free advertisement fom sharing, blogs, comments, forum posts etc. which easily eliminates any possible loss.
C) Sharing is PR. No one ever mentioned this in the invented numbers of "piracy losses", but the PR value of file sharing, forums, social media, fan sites – all the things fans communicate - may well be as much as the invented numbers of losses.
D) Those who have understood the internet, see file sharing not as a danger, in contrary, as the possibily it really is. Iron Maiden uses it to win more audience for their concerts, which is the real thing they do: Playing music. Who today still thinks he can just mix up a new CD and wait for the millions to drop in, simply lives in the wrong time. The oportunities of today lay with musicians who like to play live. This opens a wide "market" for much more artists, especially those who are not able to compete with the PR millions of the industry.
3. Who sells creations, owes to society.
Those who create products, music, films, books, even science, can only do this by using letters, words, electricity, musical instruments, recording devices, cables, drawing and writing devices, the internet and so on – all things developed by society over generations and license-free to them to use. The conclusion is that therefore any invention and creation owes to society. Copyrighting and/or patenting such creations, so that society can not creatively reuse them, is blocking the flow back to society where its basics came from. Therefore, who protects creations in such a way and gains insane amounts from it (industry) must at least pay a fee to society to license its part of his creation. Otherwise he must make sure that society is free to improve upon or creatively use it (GNU General Public License).
4. The war against copyright/filesharing causes immense losses to society.
A) Filesharing allows artists to get independent from a dominant entertainment industry. Restricting filesharing is restricting artists and holding an obsolete industry in power.
B) The industry tries to manipulate the law for their purpose, on society's cost and individual freedom.
C) Money generated by the copyright/filesharing war never goes to the artists but to an industry who has become obsolete and only still exists because of laws manipulated under the coverup of the copyright/filesharing war.
Richard Stallman "Ending the War on Sharing"
5.) Copyright blocks innovation.
A) Any art, work or invention is only possible because of the arts, works and inventions done before by others, by the society. Therefore any creation owes to society.
B) Because of A), society must have the right to improve or manipulate any creation.
6.) Artists deserve fair payment.
A) The entertainment industry pays itself more money then to the artists who create the works they sell.
B) Artists are perfectly well paid by donations from works they share free on the internet. Most artists receive more money this way then they ever received by the industry.
C) It can not be the goal of an artist to become rich, even less to make the management of the entertainment industry rich. Artists deserve a fair payment to make a good living and continue to do what we love to do.
7.) If the industry wants to sell content, it should do it right but certainly not like this:
This happened when I tried to purchase a complete season of Breaking Bad on Amazon. And it happens on most shops I ever tried. I am ready to pay for it and they don't want to sell it to me? Well, then I get it from a file sharing source. Customers don't have any appreciation for regional restrictions or DRM. We want a plattform where we can easily download any movie or music, customer-friendly, without restrictions. Not wanna give us that, its the content industry shooting their own legs. Customers wander off and get their stuff elsewhere.
So I say it again: There are no financial losses because of "piracy". There are only financial losses because the content industry does not offer what the customer wants. The "piracy problem" is an invention of the industry, out of pure laziness to learn and deliver. They thought they have the power to force us but ultimately they must adapt to customers wishes or go under, like any other industry too.