In this post, I dedicate to the ongoing fight between large conglomerate alliance of major recording label and studio companies (henceforth I label them “entertainment companies”), and the customers.
First up, Canada. There has been a major talk there in a law that effectively makes file-sharing (which is not in itself an illegal activity) criminal. The wording of the stated law makes it highly ambiguous, and can be exploited by companies and groupings (like the RIAA) to abuse the law onto unsuspecting people. The frightening prospect to this piece of news, however, is that the minister that introduced the bill, Jim Prentice, is not forthcoming on addressing the flaws of the current business model that most entertainment companies practised. As quoted from the Ars Technica article: “More troubling is a report from Canadian professor Michael Geist, who says that his sources tell him that Prentice plans “to delay addressing the copyright concerns of individual Canadians for years.” Given this revelation, it’s no wonder that given the huge political clout these entertainment companies have on any government boards, it’d be impossible for normal citizens to have effective power options in exercising their dismay at the entertainment industry’s fatal flaws. I, for one, would like to see the people involved in the creative process of a show, music or film, have their share of the profits, instead of the “big fat cats” who have not contributed any input to any creative processes of the shows they have legal ownership of. Next, in the US. A new legislation is also in the works, enforcing government agencies to confiscate electronic media like computers and DVD drives, and impose a more stricter penalties on copyright infringer. The act also proposed an International IP Enforcement branch, to allow IP officers to be sent overseas to assist in IP theft crackdown efforts. With all the talk about copyright, intellectual property, and their associations with the RIAA, MPAA, and the subsequent fiasco related to the copyright war front, I feel that some of the congressmen in the States a bit too thick-headed to even contemplate on the issue deeper. I should however, declare my deep hatred against pirates who are infringing copyrights for profit, because ultimately, copyright owners and those involve in the creative process will not had their dues paid. Same goes to ignorant people who bought off that pirated DVD for dirt-cheap. (In response, the industry do really need to check itself out. People won’t rush to buy pirated material if they don’t do something about the exorbitant prices of DVDs, and evidently, they should seriously look into the MacDonald’s “Big Mac localized pricing policy” if they want to find any solution to the IP war.) On a blame-shifting news, also in the States, SAFE Act. I am a champion of causes that protect minors from harmful exposure of child pornography (those bloody monsters are never enough with children, those bastards), and I don’t want such acts to happen in the first place. That said, the source of contention seemed to be around one statement whereby however it is interpreted, people who offer Wi-Fi or LAN café services might also be included in the prosecution. But the legislation only targets those who know that child pornographic material was transmitted in their network, but never acted responsibly on it. So, no big deal here. Lastly, my gripe with people attracted to inaccurate facts (sorry to go on a tangent). According to a study, YouTube viewers are more attracted to videos that disseminate opinions and claims rather than actual facts. The study used two types of videos — one that disseminate information about the dangers of vaccination (which is based on anecdotal, and consequently questionable evidence), and the other about the good benefits of vaccination (which is are largely truthful) — to see how many people are well-informed about facts. The study concluded that many people are attracted to the former. [Source taken from Ars Technica] I must say: sensationalism always catches more people than true facts. I guess it all boils down to people’s fascination with conspiracy theories, and fancy videos that appeals to their inner “rebel.” I don’t understand why people must be so anti-vaccine about it, because, conspiracy theory or otherwise, vaccination still saves peoples’ lives, “give and take the ones that are really rejecting the vaccine for medical reasons.” Or maybe because the in-thing now is “infotainment.” Whatever.
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