Quit Whining About SOPA and PIPA. Where's the Public Outrage Over Internet Piracy? - Seattle Music - ReverbBy Duff McKaganThu., Jan. 19 2012 at 5:30 AM
| Duff McKagan is Guns N' Roses' founding bassist, and the leader of Seattle's Loaded. His column runs every Thursday on Reverb. His memoir, It's So Easy (Simon & Schuster) is out now. |
?Sitting in my usual chair, watching my usual a.m. updates on CNN's Headline News, Wednesday morning, I, like every other American tuned in to at least one form of media, was inundated with verbiage about anti-piracy legislation known as PIPA and SOPA.
The legislation's meant to combat theft of creative works like movies and music from overseas web sites. But when I turned to the Twitter and Facebook, I saw an overwhelming dog pile of support against the bills. Excuse me, but where were you all when piracy started to decimate the music industry? Why didn't you take a stand against that? Those free records felt good, huh?
More At:
http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/reverb/2012/01/quit_whining_about_sopa_and_pi.php
I know that there are a lot of people in the music business that have arguments against piracy. I see those arguments and understand a little from where they come from. However, I know associates who have worked in the piracy business and they are not these space cadets who " steal " material for the sole purpose of re-selling it to make a profit. They are fanatics who want more music. And unfortunaetly, the business is really not set up to provide more for the customer.
Piracy will always be part of the music/movie business. The problem really isn't in the lone person who copies something and places that product on the internet. The real problem lies within the media compaines themselves as well as the local governments who choose to do nothing for protecting artists ( film and music and other arts ). For example, most folks don't know that record companies provide free copies of discs to local libraries--this of course cost the musician or artists their wages. Same thing with movies, especially foreign film companies. And of course, the record and movie companies see nothing wrong with this. Another example: The Italian governme…Read more
I know that there are a lot of people in the music business that have arguments against piracy. I see those arguments and understand a little from where they come from. However, I know associates who have worked in the piracy business and they are not these space cadets who " steal " material for the sole purpose of re-selling it to make a profit. They are fanatics who want more music. And unfortunaetly, the business is really not set up to provide more for the customer.
Piracy will always be part of the music/movie business. The problem really isn't in the lone person who copies something and places that product on the internet. The real problem lies within the media compaines themselves as well as the local governments who choose to do nothing for protecting artists ( film and music and other arts ). For example, most folks don't know that record companies provide free copies of discs to local libraries--this of course cost the musician or artists their wages. Same thing with movies, especially foreign film companies. And of course, the record and movie companies see nothing wrong with this. Another example: The Italian government provides copyright protection for works of art that are reproductions ( in fact, I have three CDs from Italy that clearly show the stamp of approval from them for protection ).
Years ago, a book came out that detailed the " piracy " business and it was a pretty eye opening story for me. The book certainly wasn't defending boots. But the book did point out how record companies were just as reponsible for their own downfall. For example: What do you call a company ( cough-SONY-cough ) that helps to produce MP3 technology and then produces more technology to upload said MP3 files for CD manufactoring or internet consumption. . . ? Am I the only one here who sees the irony in this??
I appreciate artists like Duff for pointing out that this is indeed a problem for artists around the world. But maybe one way of solving piracy is to stop charging so much for artist materials. For example, movie tickets cost more than a fortune nowadays. The public doesn't need to go out and buy a ticket just to enjoy themselves. Want to go see the Rolling Stones? Here's a 300 dollar nose bleed ticket!
SOPA and the like will not stop or curb piracy. The problem is much larger than that. As far as getting free stuff. . .I still see people going out and buying CDs, records and movies. I don't see them complaing about the extra materials they get when they play their favorite discs. But I see piracy as the cost of doing business with companies. It doesn't mean you have to download free stuff.
But someone gave way to allow us to do it. . . .