refWrite backpage: Technics: Internet: New ways copyr+t needed for digital-info age (Part 2)

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In a May 22,2k6 blog-entry, Dr Michael Geist's thawt on creativity in the cybernetic context of the web was discussed around several points he made regarding blogs and blogging. I promised then that I'd return to his seminal discourse, not a scholarly work for a law journal but a public lecture at Hart House, University of Toronto on Mar30,2k6 (Geist is Professor of Internet and E-Commerce Law, University of Ottawa). So, without ado, here's Part 2.

Conventional Businesses

Geist specifies seven kinds of businesses important to his theme. Here's his list of
kinds of businesses:

1.) Print Media
2.) Book Publishers
3.) Television
4.) Radio

Entertainment industries (those most relevant to copyr+t issues)
5.) Video Games
6.) Motion Pictures
7.) Music

"...[T]here are good news stories emanating from each of these industries as well."

1.) Print Media

Geist notes that "Print readership is flat in Canada and on the decline in the United States, forcing newspapers to identify new ways to attract readership. In the U.S., several leading newspapers, including the New York Times, have online readerships that exceed their print circulation. Trend lines suggest that most papers will follow suit in the next year or two. ¶ ...[N]o one can predict which print media business model is the best fit for the Internet...." Comparing four early-on print news source which had anticipated early-on that the Internate required change in their "business model" (Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Fortune, Forbes), Geist says, "the Forbes experience is clear – the Internet has the potential to become an important revenue source for those that embrace its unique culture and adopt an open approach." Forbes alone made its online offerings complete, open to the extent that you can enter their archives to search without paying a fee. I agree that this fact is h+ly significant, and thank Geist for making it so clear. But as a daily-life consumer of a myriad of newspapers and magazines gone online, I must h+lite the damnable practice of these outfits requiring info on gender, income status, and a host of other personal facts--plus a username and a password that has to be stored somewhere on my computer and accessed everytime I want to read public info the lack of knowlege of which conceivably could hurt me. There's a very negative side to not being able to check out info sources, news hoarders, with out providing personal info, credit card numbers, and money. Geist doesn't touch on this.

2.) Book Publishers

Says professor Geist, "Book publishers are also struggling to come to grips with the impact of the Internet. Book sales in Canada have remained stable with Statistics Canada reporting sales of 2.554 million in 2000, rising to 2.740 million in 2004. Despite the limited increase, there is reason for optimism in this sector as well."
On the other hand, I've read only one complete book since I got my first computer six years ago.

"...[I]nnovative publishers are embracing alternative models to distribute and promote books. For example, in September 2005 I edited a collection of 19 essays on Canadian copyright reform called In the Public Interest: The Future of Canadian Copyright Law. Irwin Law, the Canadian publisher, agreed to make the entire book available under a Creative Commons license. The book is available in print form for $50, but each chapter can also be freely downloaded at no cost from the publisher’s website.

I had the pleasant experience of receiving an email from a Dutch professor who had translated his Dutch book of two years ago in English. He included the Table of Contents and the Introduction as an Attachment. I opened and read the material. Replied and requested the offered text of several hundred Adobe Acrobat Reader pages. Soon I received them and read physicist-philosopher M. D. Stafleu's Protestant Ethics: Relations and characters in Protestant philosophy the last third of which is an outline for a Protestant Christian ethics in experimental physics, quite differnet from those circulated in other Christian thawt-communities. All for free. Book publishing has changed, and it can occur on the micro-level thanks to the Internet and digital-publishing technology. I've finished the first half of the Stafleu title already, but will read the entire book with much pleasure as time permits.

TechNotes, by Owlie Scowlie:

3.) Television

Geist: Despite the challenges, the Internet again provides opportunities. Websites such as YouTube.com, which enables users to post video content, has blossomed almost overnight as one of the Internet’s most trafficked websites. Although the site carries considerable original content, there is no shortage of clips from conventional television shows. Some television networks have demanded that the site remove the clips for copyright reasons, however, others are content to generate “buzz” about their shows in the hope that it will translate into more viewers. ¶ If the experience with iTunes in the United States is any indication, television downloads does have a positive correlation with viewership.

This section of Geist's catalogue I found most unsatisfactory. As a consumer of news, I can't get anything but leftwing liberal news programs on my cable connection. For the longest time, the Canadian radio and TV regulators actually suppressed the broadcasting of American conservative news channels like Fox.com. Now, I can pay extra to get Fox on cable, but only as a package of more news shows, among which Fox was technically the poorest in reception. In other words, copyr+t stirctly conceived is not the only problem with access to TV; the CRTC has a monopoly of copyr+t one mite say, and the cable companies have monopolies in their geographic coverage zones. I am looking forward to breaking thru these barriers, but to do so via the Internet requires both the shows orginators to offer freely, and the money and technical expertise to get the show into one's computer and onto its screen or onto the TV screen. This can be accomplished to some extent. But actually is not feasible for people of limited expertise and financial resources. So, I'm condemned to the leftwing propaganda box for the time being.

4.) Radio

While radio as such "has also suffered declining ratings, particularly among younger demographics (no surprise to anyone who walks around a university campus only to find everyone plugged into their own iPods)." One wonders why this has not benefitted seniors, and niche listening communities. On the other hand, as Geist notes, webcasting and podcasting have skyrocketed "with more than one-third of the population listening to a webcast on a regular basis."

5.) Video Games

Geist: "One of the overlooked success stories in recent years has been the phenomenal growth of the video game market. ... Not only has the video game market developed into an important economic engine, but Canada is now home to dozens of video game developers. Foreign video game makers are increasingly establishing development divisions in Canada, demonstrating that well-trained talent, not tougher copyright laws, serve as a primary attraction to would-be investors."

6.) Motion Pictures

Geist notes that "DVDs have become a huge revenue source with consumers snapping up millions of copies of popular movies in DVD format. Moreover, the popularity of DVDs has allowed the industry to mine its back catalogues, generating new revenues from older movies that were gone but apparently not forgotten. ... The industry has also begun to utilize the Internet as a distribution channel. For example, CineClix is a Canadian-based movie download site specializing in independent films. Without waiting for new copyright laws, the service offers dozens of indie films not readily available elsewhere for instant download." Another factor missing from Geist's analysis thru-out is the social dimension; more and more people don't want to go out, especially at nite, to a movie theatre, especially middle-aged people and seniors. More than that, even among young, movie clubs are forming that meet in homes of people with large screens, where h+ definition technics and DVDs and large living rooms are combined with pot-luck snack and lap-dinners provided by the guests.

7.) Music

For me, this next section of Geist's remarks is the meat of the matter:

More than any other industry, the music industry has become synonymous with the risks and rewards of the Internet. The Canadian Recording Industry Association has emerged as the leading proponent of copyright reform, claiming that peer-to-peer file sharing has led to billions in lost sales in Canada.

The actual financial impact of music downloading has long been difficult to ascertain. In August 2003, CRIA issued a press release claiming $250 million in losses over the previous three years. Three months later, another press release claimed $425 million in losses. By 2004, CRIA General Counsel Richard Pfohl told a university audience that the figure was actually $450 million per year since 1999, totaling roughly $2 billion over the prior five years.

In fact, the guesswork surrounding record sales is unnecessary since CRIA posts its members’ monthly record sales data directly on its website. ... [T]he percentage decline is a relatively modest 8.6 percent. While a $431.7 million decline over a six-year period may still hurt, the source of that decline must also be examined.

The next of Geist's thawts is most important, is not original to him, but his citation of the idea deserves full appreciation - in bold - "The uncertainty associated with the financial impact of file sharing comes about since the losses tied to file sharing are only those that displace a potential sale, not all downloads.As a matter of fact, most downloads of music are probably never even listened to. Just as many inveterate book buyers bawt far more volumes than they could ever read, to the regret of many trees. A surplus of downloads merely puts a future choice on the spur of the moment or a whim within the listening possiblities of the particular downloader, filesharer, music lover. And again, relatively speaking a form of conservation is involved.

Moreover, those losses must be offset against downloads of music that (i) involve sampling before purchasing, (ii) that are no longer for sale, (iii) that are in the public domain or available with the express permission of the copyright holder, and (iv) that are compensated in Canada through the private copying levy.

Geist concludes this section summatively: " ...an internal music label study found that between 2/3 and 3/4 of recent sales declines had nothing to do with Internet music downloads."

Principium Consumers Hub:

I can only add in closing that the copyr+t laws are obsolescent in the face of technical change in all the kinds of businesses outlined by professor Geist. Most importantly, the copyr+t laws are obsolescent to an extent that is hurtful to consumers, but less so in Canada than in the USA. Professor Geist address has more to say, and perhaps that consideration deserves a Part 3 at some future time of blog-entry posting. - Owlie Scowlie.

Futher Resources:

Boycott RIAA, a lot of Hippie-Age Baggage but ...
Digital Copyright Canada

Tags: Resistance to Pluthero's bad blogging practices