We already know the answer, we just want to hear you say it.
I've been catching up on videos from SXSW'06.
'The Future of Darknets' panel was certainly the most interesting thing here. For once, perhaps by accident, perhaps by design, IP dependants finally ended up in front of a room full of geeks who actually understand the technological, economic and social implications of DRM. It very quickly becomes evident in this exchange that the reason these people have been so unwilling to face such audiences is not because of the obvious threat of a hostile reception but because they cannot answer the questions they are asked. Of particular note is the MPAA rep, Kori Bernards, twisting out of answering the DVD CSS question posed by Freenet's Ian Clarke - this technology does not stop piracy but does stop legitimate users transporting their property to other regions so why is it still being used?
And this is really the issue that is being brought to the fore here - it's not that questions like these do not have answers it's that the people who have to face them are as afraid of the answers as we are of the results. They cannot answer them because the answer is exactly what we think it is, and they fear the public response to the truth.
DVD CSS does not prevent piracy - this is evident on the streets of Dublin where, for a few euro, you can buy DVDs of movies that haven't even made it to European release yet. DVD CSS does provide the industry the opportunity to blatantly price gouge foreign markets. DVD CSS does allow the industry to force advertising on consumers. DVD CSS does give the industry the ability to control markets in an increasingly anarchistic environment.
If you steal a car, the car does not magically gain the ability to travel faster than sound, or run forever on a single tank of petrol. Yet, if you copy a movie via P2P or a darknet, it does gain the ability to play in multiple regions, on multiple systems, to be format shifted, to skip past misleading legal notices and adverts, and to be backed up. If you 'steal' a movie (as the MPAA would have it) you actually get something more valuable than if you had paid for it. That anachronism is the sole legacy of DVD CSS.
That is why the content industries cannot answer questions like these, because the answers are not reasonable and the alternatives give consumers greater power for less money. To admit this would be to kick away the last of their worthless business models' rotted foundations. To answer these questions would be to reveal they are making money though restricting freedoms, not protecting rights.
I'm sure, in future, they'll prove less willing to participate in these things, which can only strengthen the case against them.
I just have to say I'm disappointed how little was said about darknets themselves, I would have liked to hear MPAAs view on that.
Just for the record, I booed out loud at Mark Ishikawa's remark about TiVos
'The Future of Darknets' panel was certainly the most interesting thing here. For once, perhaps by accident, perhaps by design, IP dependants finally ended up in front of a room full of geeks who actually understand the technological, economic and social implications of DRM. It very quickly becomes evident in this exchange that the reason these people have been so unwilling to face such audiences is not because of the obvious threat of a hostile reception but because they cannot answer the questions they are asked. Of particular note is the MPAA rep, Kori Bernards, twisting out of answering the DVD CSS question posed by Freenet's Ian Clarke - this technology does not stop piracy but does stop legitimate users transporting their property to other regions so why is it still being used?
And this is really the issue that is being brought to the fore here - it's not that questions like these do not have answers it's that the people who have to face them are as afraid of the answers as we are of the results. They cannot answer them because the answer is exactly what we think it is, and they fear the public response to the truth.
DVD CSS does not prevent piracy - this is evident on the streets of Dublin where, for a few euro, you can buy DVDs of movies that haven't even made it to European release yet. DVD CSS does provide the industry the opportunity to blatantly price gouge foreign markets. DVD CSS does allow the industry to force advertising on consumers. DVD CSS does give the industry the ability to control markets in an increasingly anarchistic environment.
If you steal a car, the car does not magically gain the ability to travel faster than sound, or run forever on a single tank of petrol. Yet, if you copy a movie via P2P or a darknet, it does gain the ability to play in multiple regions, on multiple systems, to be format shifted, to skip past misleading legal notices and adverts, and to be backed up. If you 'steal' a movie (as the MPAA would have it) you actually get something more valuable than if you had paid for it. That anachronism is the sole legacy of DVD CSS.
That is why the content industries cannot answer questions like these, because the answers are not reasonable and the alternatives give consumers greater power for less money. To admit this would be to kick away the last of their worthless business models' rotted foundations. To answer these questions would be to reveal they are making money though restricting freedoms, not protecting rights.
I'm sure, in future, they'll prove less willing to participate in these things, which can only strengthen the case against them.
I just have to say I'm disappointed how little was said about darknets themselves, I would have liked to hear MPAAs view on that.
Just for the record, I booed out loud at Mark Ishikawa's remark about TiVos