mac309 compete with piracy
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MAC309 slides. Drawing on the recent work of Lessig (2004, 2006, 2008) and Mason (2008), the session looks at some of the problems associated with 21st century copyright and piracy. Draws on material covered in MAC281 - see my tags for detailsTRANSCRIPT
The Pirate’s Dilemma: Compe3ng with piracy
MAC309
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‘War on piracy’
• Aggressive rhetoric of the content industry in recent years
• Adamant that piracy ‘threatens’ the ‘survival’ of culture/media industries
• Policing of alleged copyright infringement via legisla3on
• Extension of copyright terms
2
Can the war be won?
• Maybe not… • If that is the case, what can be done?
• Wage a more vigorous war and make examples of kids?
• Rethink through how copyright works in a digital future?
3
Piracy as ‘punk capitalism’
• Piracy can mean illegality • Piracy can also mean innova3on
• Piracy will not go away, so how should it be confronted?
• Copyright law not fit for purpose – (see Lessig, 2004, 2006, 2008; Mason, 2008; TapscoW & Williams, 2008)
4
Let’s go crazy
• February 2007 • Stephanie Lenz and her 13 month old son Holden
• Uploaded video to YouTube • Within 4 months an employee of Universal Music Group saw it and wrote to YouTube
• Video was taken down
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See Lessig 2008
Let’s go crazy
• Quality? • Detrac3ng from sales? • EFF took up the case and filed a counter‐no3ce against Universal
• Universal’s lawyers refused to back down • Risk fine of $150,000 • Is this worth Universal’s while? • hWp://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/08/judge‐rules‐content‐owners‐must‐consider‐fair‐use‐
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Copyright history
• USA 19th Century • Founding fathers ignored European patents • USA known as bootleggers • Referred to as ‘Janke’ (Dutch for ‘pirate’) • William Fox fled to West Coast form New York to avoid Edison’s expensive patents – (Mason, 2008: 36‐7)
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Copyright history
• John Philip Sousa • Composer
• June 1906; Library of Congress • Tes3fied about the state of copyright
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New technologies; old laws
• Player piano; gramophone • Mechanical music had copied original work
• Ar3sts weren’t reimbursed
• Sousa pushed for copyright law to go further (but with limits)
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• “When I was a boy … in front of every house in the summer evenings you would find young people together singing the songs of the day or the old songs. Today you hear these infernal machines going night and day. We will not have a vocal cord [sic] lep. The vocal cords will be eliminated by a process of evolu3on, as was the tail of man when he came from the ape”
• Cited in Lessig, 2008: p24‐5
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Technology transformed our relaBonship to culture
Amateur Consumer
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Technologies of consumpBon
• Culture would be – less inclusive – less crea3ve – less par3cipatory – less democra3c
– the preserve of an elite • Instruments were tradi3onally taught
• Love of music developed through learning
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20th century
• Cultural produc3on con3nued to be professionalised
• Huge growth in media/cultural industries
• Decline in par3cipa3on
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Successive technologies of consumpBon
Sheet music/live instruments
Player piano/gramophone
Radio/television
Tapes/CDs
Video/DVD
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1900
2000
Value? $626 billion
• Once again, new digital technologies are transforming our rela3onship with culture.
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Net GeneraBon
• “The ability to remix media, hack products, or otherwise tamper with consumer culture is their birthright, and they won't let outmoded intellectual property laws stand in their way”
• (TapscoW & Williams, 2008: 52)
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Now?
Amateur
Consumer
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Culture as a 2‐way street
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The infinite album?
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Digital data
• Internet facilitates new forms of communica3on and data exchange – Piracy creates chaos – Piracy forces debate – Piracy adds value
• Look to the example of pirates for solu3ons?
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Copyright out of control?
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Pirates….
1. Look for gaps outside the market
2. Create a platorm
3. Harness the power of people (ie the consumer?)
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P2P networks
Music industry
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P2P networks Music
industry
iTunes
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Music industry
iTunes
eMusic
Amazon
P2P networks
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UK music market 1997‐2008 (millions)
0
50
100
150
200
01/01/19
97
01/01/19
98
01/01/19
99
01/01/20
00
01/01/20
01
01/01/20
02
01/01/20
03
01/01/20
04
01/01/20
05
01/01/20
06
01/01/20
07
01/01/20
08
Singles
Albums
Data supplied by The Official Charts Company (BPI Press Release: 7th Jan 2009)
The Prisoner’s Dilemma
• Game theory • Economists use to predict markets
• Developed in 1950s by RAND corpora3on • Behaviour determined by self‐interest
• This idea has been a dominant force in economics, poli3cal science, military strategy, psychology, etc
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The Prisoner’s Dilemma
• Two burglars are arrested by the police, separated and taken to the police sta3on.
• Given the following op3ons: – Confess – Stay silent – Grass (aka confesses the other’s involvement)
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The Prisoner’s Dilemma
Prisoner B stays silent Prisoner B confesses
Prisoner A stays silent Each serves 6 months Prisoner B goes free Prisoner A serves 5 years
Prisoner A confesses Prisoner A goes free Prisoner B serves 5 years
Each serves 2 years
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• In reality, people frequently help others out without seeking reward
• Not always self mo3vated – Linux? – Non‐profit organisa3ons – Chari3es – Pirates
• Pirate spot gaps in the market place and fill them
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The Pirate’s Dilemma
• Similar to Prisoner’s Dilemma • 2 compe3ng organisa3ons in same market under threat from a powerful force (piracy) – Eg EMI and Universal vs piracy
• How do they respond? – Compete with each other? – Co‐operate? – Compete with piracy (ie innovate)?
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The Pirate’s Dilemma
Player B competes like a pirate
Player B does not compete, fights piracy instead
Player A competes like a pirate
• Both gain from moving into new market space • Each becomes more efficient • Society benefits
• Player A gains share of pirate’s market • Player B loses market share • Society gains moderate value
Player A does not compete, fights piracy instead
• Player B gains share of pirate’s market • Player A loses market share • Society gains moderate value
• Both make profits in exis3ng market but lose out to pirates • Each stays inefficient • Society gains liWle value
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Mason, 2008
InnovaBon?
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35
36
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Michael Masnick: The Trent Reznor case study • hWp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njuo1puB1lg
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41
42
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How might the content industries go forward? • Microsop and piracy? • Burberry and piracy? • Books and piracy?
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Piracy
Linux
Microsop
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Cited and related links
• Valve Exec Explains How To Compete With Piracy hWp://www.techdirt.com/ar3cles/20090219/1124433835.shtml
• Disney – we can compete with piracy hWp://www.zeropaid.com/news/7726/Disney+‐+we+can+compete+with+piracy
• Spo3fy Aims To Compete With Piracy hWp://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Spo3fy‐Aims‐To‐Compete‐With‐Piracy‐99999
• Spore: most pirated game ever thanks to DRM hWp://torrentreak.com/spore‐most‐pirated‐game‐ever‐thanks‐to‐drm‐080913/
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Sources
• Lawrence Lessig, 2004, Free Culture: The nature and future of crea2vity, London: Penguin www.free‐culture.cc/freeculture.pdf
• Lawrence Lessig, 2006, Code Version 2.0, New York: Perseus hWp://pdf.codev2.cc/Lessig‐Codev2.pdf
• Lawrence Lessig, 2008, Remix: Making art and commerce thrive in the hybrid economy, London: Bloomsbury
• MaW Mason, 2008, The Pirate’s Dilemma: How hackers, punk capitalists and graffi2 millionaires are remixing our culture and changing the world, London: Allen Lane
• Don TapscoW & Anthony D. Williams, 2008, Wikinomics: How mass collabora2on changes everything, London: Atlan3c Books
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