| << Holding open a door | 2003 > January | PCS visionTool >> |
Wednesday, 22 January 2003
Art wants to give itself away, humans want to get paid ::
Todd Dominey comments on the recent RIAA/Verizon incident:
Essentially, the judge is allowing the recording industry to demand from internet service providers lists of their subscribers, subscribers they “suspect” of distributing content, without the need for a copyright holder to file a formal lawsuit. If the case fails under appeal, it will likely mean that anyone and everyone with an internet account could have their private information turned over to the entertainment industry for them to hold you - the consumer - in judgment. And if there is a knock on your door, would you (or anyone really) have enough money to adequately defend yourself?
This is right on. I’ve been sued by a corporation concerned about its intellectual property rights. The case was quickly dismissed and the corporation agreed to pay our legal costs. They apparently thought the costs were excessive, and we had to counter-sue to get anything at all out of them. The judge split the difference between our costs and what the corporation was offering. This valuable education in the ways of the legal system was not free.
If the RIAA is so sure that this Verizon subscriber is breaking the law, why don’t they file a lawsuit? This is the normal way, and surely they can afford it. Perhaps there is a legitimate concern that the suspect would learn of the RIAA’s actions before being searched and have time to destroy evidence? There has to be a better way than suspending the Fourth Amendment.
I finally got a 3G cell phone (cheaper plan!) and decided to see what the fuss about the wireless web was. I was amazed. Sprint charges to rent ringtones and screensavers. I’m a musician and I have a digital camera, so I set out to figure out how to put my media on my phone. They make you jump through hoops; you have to create a special file and get it served with a special MIME type (text/x-pcs-gcd), that points to the actual Standard MIDI File or JPEG image on a web server, e.g. MyMIDI.gcd:
Content-Type: audio/midi Content-Name: My MIDI File Content-Version: 1.0 Content-Vendor: me Content-URL: http://www.mydomain.com/mymidifiles/MyMIDI.mid Content-Size: 27167
Along the way I made a mistake in the way I was generating these files, and for some reason my phone refuses to notice that I fixed it, reporting server errors. It seems willing to flush other things from its cache so I have to suspect this is an intentional digital rights roadblock.
All of this to protect MIDI files (not exactly stunning renditions, especially through a tiny little cellphone speaker) and miniature JPEG’s. I suppose they’re looking ahead to when handheld devices have better sound and graphics.
I recently heard it said that the ultimate aim of all creative endeavors was the web site. While this invokes images of the heady, narcissistic early days of the web, it also points to something more profound. Humans are storytellers; we entertain our friends with the tales of our lives. We like to create and share things. Art is made in moments with no thought of gain for the creator; it’s made for the joy of creating. The web gives us a way to share it, and it’s increasingly easy to do so.
Then we realize there are bills to pay and try to figure out how to sell our creations.
The screwy thing about the direction in which things are moving is that it makes wrangling with these digital media, including defeating digital rights roadblocks, feel like a creative endeavor too, especially when it helps me use my media. A form of addiction to process. I suppose it’s creative if it helps other people enjoy their media, but perhaps I would rather I had made some music last night instead of figuring out how to make my cellphone play MIDI.
| << Holding open a door | 2003 > January | PCS visionTool >> |