It's only Week 2 and already there are blogs and tweets buzzing around like crazy with ideas, opinions and debatable issues being raised. Of the ones I've read, it has been passionate discussion about the ethics surrounding the gaming industry. If you feel like reading some more into this, Kyle, Tegan and Samuel all voiced some interesting opinions and the comments that ensued are equally as interesting. It really is a topic which I think could be debated about long into the night... and yet amazingly - that idea is but one tiny fragment of the entirety of debatable issues when it comes to global communication networks!
Lessig's article "Four Puzzles From Cyberspace" touches upon four more themes, each one presenting "a window into one aspect of cyberspace." Contrary to the apparent opinion of the class yesterday, I actually did enjoy reading this. In particular, the two things that struck a chord with me were surrounding the topic of Regulation and the contradictory nature behind the virtual and physical persona.
Let me explain. Lessig discusses the idea of regulation through the example of the state of "Boral" where gambling has been made illegal. With the advent of the internet comes problems with regulating this law as while the governor has the power to "move the server out of her state" she has not "succeeded in reducing Boralian gambling." Why? The internet makes it hard to regulate who is responsible, and even though the server is no longer in the state - it can still be accessed. Space is no longer able to be regulated.
This made me think about sites such as Pirate Bay, which are able to exist by taking advantages of this "loophole." It really is an amazing concept and I don't think anyone is really complaining because, well, it gets people the music, the movie, the program that they want and need. Well, actually no - there are probably quite a few people complaining what with copyright issues and the inability for the artist or producer of the material to even know who has accessed his or her work.
Being a graphic designer and musician (albeit not a great one), I can in a way empathise with this problem. It takes a lot of hard work and time to make the work and it really would be good to know just how popular it is and who your audience is. Back in the day, it was easy to know who watched a television show because you could look at tv ratings. Now? Thanks to the internet, people could still be watching it on tv but they could also be watching it at home on their computers, or on Youtube or a million other sources. Before, one could tell how popular a song was by the sales of the CD and the attendants at a concert. Now? Well, let's see, we have avenues such as Youtube to see a concert, file sharing sites such as Piratebay, online players such as Grooveshark, the list goes on.
I am in no way condemning all of this at all. I am a rather poor Uni student and I won't say I have never used any of those avenues myself. I just wish there was a way for all of this to be regulated in an easy way so the statistics of "media audiences" can be given accurately to those who would appreciate it; it is their work after all. Sites like last.FM which track what people are listening to (with their permission of course) is probably a good start and the way of the future.
All gee, this has gotten a little longer than I expected. I suppose I will keep my rant and rave about the contradictory online persona for another day. Thanks for reading!
6 comments:
I thought this post was really fascinating post. I thought it was interesting how you mentioned television, and how YouTube plays such a big part in the online world. Also, thanks for linking to my blog. I appreciate it.
Interesting points on the Lessig reading Annie - especially how you link the non-regulability of virtual space with copyright :)
No worries Samuel, and thanks for your comment! and to you Ted.
Good blog post. Thanks for the hyperlink reference :)
I really like how you targeted the issue of not being able to regulate the accessing of empty space - yes the server is out of the state but people inside the state can still access it. Raises the issue of what true control really is on the internet.
As for songs and movies on torrent sites like Pirate Bay, you can still track how many downloads a particular file gets, but its difficult to track where it goes after that (whether someone copies it on their computer and transfers it to a friends' computer, etc etc). This doesn't make the issue any better though since torrents are free. Good points :)
I second with Sam. I also found your post quite interesting. As like you said, I can also see both sides of the story, especially in regards to P2P (i.e. piratebay) vs. music labels/writers. Though in my opinion I beleive that the ability to go back to a world where we all pay for music is over, particularly as these days people need to prioritise money and cant afford to waste $25 on an album.
They way that I see it is that record labels and ecommerce sites will need to discover new business models to create revenue for artists. Like you mentioned sites like last.FM are a start, though advertsment is likely to play a large role in the model. Maybe also fill out a survey to get the album for free???
Though on the other side, I beleive that if a person likes an artist enough, he/she will support will want to support that artist through buying their music/ attending their concerts live. I know I would for my favourite ones!! :D
Kyle in regards to your torrent comments, I know that a users IP address can be recorded by the torrent tracker website, though sites like piratebay, which are fighting with the record labels, are refusing to give out user IP addresses.
At one stage sites like itunes had DRM (digital rights management) to help stop people from sharing and "backing-up" their music. I also remember that in 2005 Sony embedded spyware into its music as part of its DRM program. I suppose we could question wheres the ethics behind that? :/
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