The Internet: Everything Has A Price

A new book about an old problem:  Has the internet become an “artistic wasteland” where content has been devalued by distributors who get a free ride?  In my opinion, the answer is a resounding “yes!”

The book, Free Ride, by Robert Levine, is worth singling out, because it addresses how the culture business can fight back.  While I have not yet read the book, I am highlighting and commenting on the review I read in the Sunday Book Review section of The New York Times, simply to give Levine’s strategy a further airing, as we all consider a solution to this problem. 

The issue, Levine says, is “between the media companies that fund much of the entertainment that we read, see and hear and the technology firms” who want to distribute the content, legally or otherwise.  The free-riding distributors “reap all the economic benefits of the Internet by cutting prices and the culture suppliers are forced to cut costs in response.”

The crux of the problem is copyright laws which are poorly crafted and hard to enforce, allowing this situation to develop.  Further, the review points out, copyright protections have become illusory in an age when movies and music are available on pirate sites even before they are released.  Thus media companies have little leverage when negotiating with distributors, whom Levine refers to as “digital parasites.”  A startling example is that despite the growth of online audiences, recorded music in the U.S. was worth $6.3 billion in sales in ’09, less than half its value a decade earlier, the review notes. 

Levine’s solution is the European model, which has a long history of supporting its culture business and taking a strong stand against piracy.  Primarily, it is likely that its copyright laws are enforceable.  Rather than filing mass lawsuits against individuals who upload pirated material, the review suggests, European regulators bring down the most flagrant violators among distributors.  Levine also cites France for its blanket license which adds fees to internet connections, enabling a division of the money collected between the distributors and the artists. 

Levine concludes that while the status quo may benefit consumers in the short term, the internet will eventually become dominated by cultural amateurs — a “world where music, TV, and journalism are virtually free, and where all of us get what we pay for.”

The First Presidential Blogger?

Imagine! The first blogger President. And a blog is right in line with the bold and transparent environment which Obama has tried to create.

He could discuss every new or controversial policy in a blog – and people throughout the world could comment. While he could tackle topics from Iran and Iraq to health and defense, he also could talk about his favorite movies, how he spends time with his daughters, and the foods that he can’t resist. With one keystroke, he could conduct his own “March of Dimes” for the people in Darfur and with the next, challenge a trade in baseball or softball. Press conferences could be conducted on the internet with instant survey reactions to what is being said.

This Presidential internet strategy would model democratic behavior – and serve as an example for the world. It literally is worldwide citizen engagement. As FDR gained support of Americans via the radio fireside chats, Obama has the opportunity to build global support for his vision of a unified world. Idealistic? Maybe. But possible with this new chosen channel.

While the government has challenged Obama’s use of the Blackberry for fear a misstatement or sharp response could be published rapidly around the world, nothing offers better control than a blog. It is final once it is posted. All responses can be calculated.

The only negative I can see is that it indeed will accelerate the shift away from newspapers, TV and radio even more than before.

But the overriding advantage — if Obama is open to it and can find the time — is that citizens of the world will get to know our president in a way that has never happened before. And perhaps that level of communications can bring a level of understanding that has never existed in the world.

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