"Piracy Act" to get vote in US Senate

[LethalWolfe]

Mcfudd,

I've read 3 or 4 articles talking about Alternative Compensation and, in theory, it sounds interesting (but so does communism ). I've yet to read an article that addresses the logics and real world problems this type of model would have to over come. Do you have a link to such an article?

A few basic things concern me. First off, how do you accurate track the trading? Will you be able to track it anywhere on any P2P service and large network (suck as a college network)? Or will all the downloads be funneled through a single, giant P2P service opperated by, or for, the government. It is my understanding that placing any sort of DRM or watermark in a digital file (such as in iTunes) will be stripped out if the file is burned onto a CD in stanard Red Book format. And that Red Book CD's read audio files so you can't have a DRM attached to a song file on a CD. And CD's are where the music that gets down loaded comes from. A new CD standard could be implimented but that would most likely render all current CD players useless.

Secondly, how will this be implemented world wide?

Lastly, how do you ensure that the taxes offer suffcient compensation? Assuming a $5/month tax on my broadband (so $60 per year) and a 10% (?) tax on digital music players (so $40 tacked onto an iPod purchase). That's $100 for a year of unlimited music purchasing. After that it's only $60 a year (until I buy a new music player) for unlimited music downloading. And the pool of money collected from the taxes will mostly likely be a pretty fixed/steady amount.


Again, if you have links to any articles that address these issues I would love to read them.


Lethal

 

[mcfudd]

ACS issues

I've yet to read an article that addresses the logics and real world problems this type of model would have to over come. Do you have a link to such an article?

You raise some very excellent questions. There are issues that need to be addressed. There are problems to solve.

I have included two very good links that sould address many of the "real world" concerns you raised.

1.Overview of ACS "real world problems" and possible solutions.

2.A C-Net news article written by William Fisher looks at both sides of the issue. RIAA viewpoint and ACS as a solution. (Fisher is a professor at Harvard Law School and was the director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society. John Palfrey is the director now.)

I am interested in your comments on these two articles.

 

[LethalWolfe]

Thanx for the links Mcfudd. The first one I had not seen before, but the c|net article I had already read.

I think it is a very novel, and radical notion that is still in extreme infancy. But it's something I will keep my eye on. Like I said in a previous post, digital media has changed the rules and at least these guys are kicking around new ideas. Even though the more I think about it the less I think it will work (at least in its current incarnation).

As I understand it their underlying intent is to recoup the estimated amount of money that is currently lost due to P2P, but the sale of physical items (CDs) would still be the primary income source for artists and labels. But if P2P is "legalized" how will that effect the sale of physical media? Why buy a CD for $15, $10, or even $5 when you can download thousands of songs for $5/month? If P2P is legaized I think it will become, by far, the dominant source for music. Is the ACS able to be the primary river of revenue for the music industry and artists everywhere instead of just a tributary?

I think the future is in downloadable content like iTMS and companies that sell downloadable versions of their software as well as physical copies, but attempting to wrestle P2P into the exact opposite of what it is is not the best course of action, IMO. Some of the current solutions to problems listed in your first post depend on people to "do the right thing." But it's people not doing the right thing that has created this problem in the first place. All it takes is a very, very small amount of people to create tools that are easily used by the average user to turn "Miniplay" on it's head.

Most of my friends wouldn't have a clue how to rip and encode a DVD to a good size for distrobution on P2P, but they, and anyone else with basic computer knowledge, can download and play it. Shows like American Idol still have a problem w/people using auto-dialers in attempts to skew the results.

Like I said, I'm glad people are thinking about a solution and not just whinning about the problem, but this solution is still in extreme infancy and won't be viable for a long time (if ever). In the mean time I think offering alternatives to P2P (like iTMS) or added incentives (at no extra cost) to physical media (like the DVD and access to free MP3's of concerts that came w/Metallica's "St. Anger") are a good stop-gap until a more perminant solution can be found. Of course, being the jaded soul I am, I have to say that probably wouldn't curb P2P usage that much 'cause 95% of the P2P users aren't doing it to "send a message" to the RIAA they are doing it to get something for nothing.


Lethal

 

[mcfudd]

Yea. Many of the ideas being floated are unproven. But, I want a solution different than the one the RIAA is proposing -- sue the hell out of everbody. It is nice to see the liberals at Harvard are getting involved in the debate. Some brilliant minds are trying to solve this one.

The cool thing about the whole P2P issue is that it is very cutting-edge. Copyright law and notions about IP are changing before our eyes. I am just fearful that the rich corporations -- who have the money to lobby Congress -- will force lawmakers into creating a system that kills innovation.