the MPAA strikes again
This week saw another salvo of lawsuits against BitTorrent communities by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). The interesting part about this latest legal action is that it was primarily against TV show sharing, not movies. Is downloading TV shows, many of which are freely available over the air, illegal? That's debatable, depending on where you live. Should such activities be illegal? Don't get me started. About the only things that are crystal clear about downloading movies and TV shows are these simple facts:
1 - There is a market out there of people who want to get their video content over the internet.
2 - This market is big. Big enough that the industries see it as a significant loss of revenue.
3 - The industries are making absolutely no attempt to offer services to this market that would turn lost revenue into a profitable business. They are instead intent on plugging their ears and singing "La la la" whenever people talk about new business models, and flexing their huge legal arms to make sure their physical-medium monopoly is maintained.
On the upside, this week also saw US courts denying the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s "Broadcast Flag" legislation. The basic idea is that all digital TV programs (which are scheduled to completely replace analog TV by 2007) could be "flagged" as a broadcast, and that VCRs and the like would recognize this flag and refuse to record the shows. The legislation would have made it illegal to manufacture recording devices that did not implement this technology. The court decision said that the FCC is responsible for regulating the contents of our airwaves. Period. They don't have power over regulating consumer electronics. Don't worry, though. The MPAA promptly began lobbying to give the FCC this power.
1 - There is a market out there of people who want to get their video content over the internet.
2 - This market is big. Big enough that the industries see it as a significant loss of revenue.
3 - The industries are making absolutely no attempt to offer services to this market that would turn lost revenue into a profitable business. They are instead intent on plugging their ears and singing "La la la" whenever people talk about new business models, and flexing their huge legal arms to make sure their physical-medium monopoly is maintained.
On the upside, this week also saw US courts denying the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s "Broadcast Flag" legislation. The basic idea is that all digital TV programs (which are scheduled to completely replace analog TV by 2007) could be "flagged" as a broadcast, and that VCRs and the like would recognize this flag and refuse to record the shows. The legislation would have made it illegal to manufacture recording devices that did not implement this technology. The court decision said that the FCC is responsible for regulating the contents of our airwaves. Period. They don't have power over regulating consumer electronics. Don't worry, though. The MPAA promptly began lobbying to give the FCC this power.
