Last week was very exiting on the global scale regarding everlasting anti-piracy war. Only this time, instead of real criminals somebody else could really suffer. Somebody like Wikipedia for example. The whole activity raises more questions now and maybe the biggest one is who was the real target with this SOPA and PIPA last week and who was really responsible?
Well, I have no doubts about that. It's the politics and politicians. With vast number of parliaments, congresses, senates or whatever these institutions are named in worldwide democracies, the biggest background activity known as political lobby will always be there. This works really simple, you have money and you want some law to be established to expand your business even more? Not a problem, just hire some advocacy firm to lobby your goal and over time, if you are persistent enough you will succeed - politicians belong to those people who "change their minds" easily. They don't really care if somebody else ends badly in the process. So to get more honest system it would be nice to remove politicians and lobbyists from the equation. But is that really possible? It surely deserves special post and I wrote about that in the past titled as Real Democracy System. Basically, to get a better world and really free information flow we need to change the very core of the system. But, would it fix piracy?
No, it wouldn't.
Piracy is something that could not be won by anti-piracy war. The very example of this is the recent arrest of the piracy website owner. Yes, this battle was won, but did it solve the worldwide internet based theft of Hollywood products? No, other file sharing websites and servers still exist and if they close them all as well in the future nothing will be achieved. Sharing files doesn't require servers at all, there are also other systems like torrents shared from individual computers. No anti-piracy law can close them all. It's almost impossible. The law only triggers some fear and remove some big pirates but the show is still there. So if you own some intellectual property you want to share online and earn money from it, is there any way it will be protected from any kind of online theft?
Maybe there is.
But you are not going to like what I am going to propose. It's similar to the above politician thing. We need to change the very core of the system.
How?
It's really simple, intellectual properties that are not made in hardware of any kind should not be sell in a pre-paid form, but instead in a form of post-paid donates. Something what Wikipedia is doing from the very beginning. They are doing great job by sharing all the knowledge there is, and they stay away from "commercializing" the whole business. I am donating the Wikimedia every year and I am more that satisfied with the content, and when I read the wiki the feeling is more than right. Every time.
So, is it possible to do the same with Hollywood blockbusters and cable TV shows? Yes. It is not far from common sense that any motion picture can be distributed online and be paid by internet viewers after they watch it. It's simple, you want good Sci-Fi, check the internet portals, download the file, watch it and afterward pay it according to the moodiness and satisfaction the film triggered. So, after watching Avatar I would donate 30 dollars or even much more without thinking. After watching The Matrix trilogy, my pocket would also be thinner for 20 or more bucks but let's face it, there are also some "master pieces" that I would file a complain and ask for money refund for the time I lost watching it. My time is also not free to be wasted. Who would actually lost in this scenario? Maybe some overpaid actors and other people who are creating the product. I am sure Bruce Willis would have equally great and rich life if his fee is cut in half for his acting, or the Avatar movie would still be great filmed in some other location in the world where production cost significantly less than in expensive Hollywood studios.
Keeping that all in mind, what we are calling internet pirates today would be nothing but one more distribution system of the intellectual properties. Same as movie theaters. I would very much like to have options after new movie or show is released. If I feel it's appropriate to go to the theater I will go and have good time. If I am in a mood to watch it in my living room I will do it without any feeling that I am doing something wrong. After all, not all towns in the world have those shiny malls with a state of the art movie theaters with 10+ screening rooms.
Is there any moral in last week events and this story? Maybe the obvious wisdom here is not how to fight the online piracy or corrupted politicians. It's about changing things in their very core. There is nothing wrong with that. Nothing is written in stone and truly unchangeable.
Well, I have no doubts about that. It's the politics and politicians. With vast number of parliaments, congresses, senates or whatever these institutions are named in worldwide democracies, the biggest background activity known as political lobby will always be there. This works really simple, you have money and you want some law to be established to expand your business even more? Not a problem, just hire some advocacy firm to lobby your goal and over time, if you are persistent enough you will succeed - politicians belong to those people who "change their minds" easily. They don't really care if somebody else ends badly in the process. So to get more honest system it would be nice to remove politicians and lobbyists from the equation. But is that really possible? It surely deserves special post and I wrote about that in the past titled as Real Democracy System. Basically, to get a better world and really free information flow we need to change the very core of the system. But, would it fix piracy?
No, it wouldn't.
Piracy is something that could not be won by anti-piracy war. The very example of this is the recent arrest of the piracy website owner. Yes, this battle was won, but did it solve the worldwide internet based theft of Hollywood products? No, other file sharing websites and servers still exist and if they close them all as well in the future nothing will be achieved. Sharing files doesn't require servers at all, there are also other systems like torrents shared from individual computers. No anti-piracy law can close them all. It's almost impossible. The law only triggers some fear and remove some big pirates but the show is still there. So if you own some intellectual property you want to share online and earn money from it, is there any way it will be protected from any kind of online theft?
Maybe there is.
But you are not going to like what I am going to propose. It's similar to the above politician thing. We need to change the very core of the system.
How?
It's really simple, intellectual properties that are not made in hardware of any kind should not be sell in a pre-paid form, but instead in a form of post-paid donates. Something what Wikipedia is doing from the very beginning. They are doing great job by sharing all the knowledge there is, and they stay away from "commercializing" the whole business. I am donating the Wikimedia every year and I am more that satisfied with the content, and when I read the wiki the feeling is more than right. Every time.
So, is it possible to do the same with Hollywood blockbusters and cable TV shows? Yes. It is not far from common sense that any motion picture can be distributed online and be paid by internet viewers after they watch it. It's simple, you want good Sci-Fi, check the internet portals, download the file, watch it and afterward pay it according to the moodiness and satisfaction the film triggered. So, after watching Avatar I would donate 30 dollars or even much more without thinking. After watching The Matrix trilogy, my pocket would also be thinner for 20 or more bucks but let's face it, there are also some "master pieces" that I would file a complain and ask for money refund for the time I lost watching it. My time is also not free to be wasted. Who would actually lost in this scenario? Maybe some overpaid actors and other people who are creating the product. I am sure Bruce Willis would have equally great and rich life if his fee is cut in half for his acting, or the Avatar movie would still be great filmed in some other location in the world where production cost significantly less than in expensive Hollywood studios.
Keeping that all in mind, what we are calling internet pirates today would be nothing but one more distribution system of the intellectual properties. Same as movie theaters. I would very much like to have options after new movie or show is released. If I feel it's appropriate to go to the theater I will go and have good time. If I am in a mood to watch it in my living room I will do it without any feeling that I am doing something wrong. After all, not all towns in the world have those shiny malls with a state of the art movie theaters with 10+ screening rooms.
Is there any moral in last week events and this story? Maybe the obvious wisdom here is not how to fight the online piracy or corrupted politicians. It's about changing things in their very core. There is nothing wrong with that. Nothing is written in stone and truly unchangeable.