Sence of Worth

[bede@acay.com.au]

Chuck Hamaker wrote recently...

<snip>
>Corporate owners of copyrighted material don't have [a] particularly "good"
>sense...

BTW

To put piracy into some prespective, look to the developments of the
'umble audio compact cassette. You know those plastic cases which disgorge
themselves into your car's tape player just as you were getting
comfortable at the start of that four day drive, eager to get that 'eyes
on the road, hands on the wheel' feel...

Well, the story goes that at the last (circa late 1960's) standards
meeting to ratify the feature-set of the audio compact casette format all
stakeholder were invitied to participate. These same organisations had
been involved for some time in thrashing out the technical problems, so
they all knew about it. This included the likes of the manufactures,
radio, tv and music industry reps as this technology was going to have
significant impact, especially for the release and subsequent commercial
exploitation of prerecorded material - the first alternative to needing a
record player to hear music when you wanted to.

A brand new revenue stream for a stagnant sector - yahoo the suits
screamed, a new world of vertical integration and control! And 'oh yeah,
the artists also got to feed from this stream as well, not much just a
drip or two...

At the meeting the issue of what should be allowed in the hardware
specification included the provision of a 'record' function, rather than
just a playback only capability, which is what the music industry thought
they had secured. One would naturally expect those with the greatest
vestment of interest would work like stink to limit things, they had and
were smug.

As a result the music industry couldn't be bothered to turn up at the last
ratifcation session! So history clearly shows that the root of the piracy
evil was in fact put in place by the music industry's malicious neglect of
their own greedy credo which today we now the ramifications of, some
thirty years down the track...

So when I hear the bleats from the major players in the music and film
business carrying on about 'their' rights and protection being promoted by
a sus cartel of cigar chomping suits, don't have too much sympathy for
them. It's their own interests they serve - no one else (ok, maybe the
shareholders, but not the artists) and in publishing they appear to be
more conservative, but don't let that fool you into thinking they actually
care.

Think about it. Change words music and film for the word publisher.

And as Chuck said..."This is not just about copyright, but about the
future of technology, and of technological capabilities and of course of
limiting future revenue streams to current perceptions of how to be
profitable...Corporate owners of copyrighted material don't have a
particularly 'good' sense of what is even in their own best interests".

Moral of this little story is that to be stupid enough to leave the stable
door open, don't expect the colt from old Regret to be hanging around the
next morning... it will be off to join them wild bush horses.


Bede Ireland