Why Don't Consumers Have A Say?

from the ignore-the-people-it-affects-most dept

The latest Walt Mossberg column in the WSJ points out that while the Senate is holding hearings about copy protection schemes for the entertainment industry, they left out a crucial player. They invited the entertainment industry and the tech industry to testify. But, no one invited the consumers. It's a valid point. If Congress is supposed to be looking out for the rights of the people, and not just companies, you would think they would do a better job talking to the people who pay the salaries of the entertainment industry.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    Oliver Wendell Jones, 14 Mar 2002 @ 10:34am

    This could apply to other industries

    What happens if (heaven forbid) this should get pushed through and becomes law?

    How long until the insurance industry decides that they could save bazillions of dollars each year if all automobiles had new 'technology' added that prevents them from speeding, etc.

    Pretty much everyone agrees that speeding is illegal, and lots of people do it anyways (kind of like piracy).

    Do you think Americans are going to want to buy cars with new, improved 'technology' that prevents them from exceeding the posted speed limit?

    Who knows what other 'technology' could be implemented to help save other industries?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      miguelita, 14 Mar 2002 @ 11:57am

      Re: This could apply to other industries

      Speeding is not "kind of like" piracy. Piracy, by definition, involves stealing; speeding isn't robbing anyone of anything. I agree with your thought, though not with your metaphor.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Mike (profile), 14 Mar 2002 @ 12:02pm

        Re: This could apply to other industries

        Well, not to get into a semantics debate, but I still don't believe that file trading is either piracy or stealing. No one is missing anything if I share a file with someone else. It's not like taking a physical object. You have made an exact copy. In my understanding, you haven't stolen anything if the person you "took" something from isn't missing anything.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Floyd, 14 Mar 2002 @ 12:49pm

          What is missing

          >Well, not to get into a semantics debate, but I still don't believe that file trading is either piracy or stealing. No one is missing anything if I share a file with someone else. It's not like taking a physical object. You have made an exact copy. In my understanding, you haven't stolen anything if the person you "took" something from isn't missing anything.< br>
          The artist, producer, distributer and others who would normally share in the sale of an item are deprived of income.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • icon
            Mike (profile), 14 Mar 2002 @ 12:59pm

            Re: What is missing

            The artist, producer, distributer and others who would normally share in the sale of an item are deprived of income.

            That makes one very big assumption: that I would have bought the CD in the first place. If I never had any intention of buying it, then they're not losing anything.

            Or... another way to look at it. If I open up a pizza place and charge $3/slice, and some guy opens up a pizza place next door to me and charges $2/slice - by your definition of stealing, that guy is stealing from me, because I'm deprived of income that otherwise would have gone to me. I don't get the income because the consumer has an alternative...

            That's not stealing. That's business.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

            • identicon
              Anonymous Coward, 14 Mar 2002 @ 2:47pm

              Re: What is missing

              Why does this subject always touch off such a disagreement on basic principles? Piracy is not exactly the same as stealing, but is illegal nonetheless. I thought the speeding analogy was a good one. Better than the pizza one, although that would be a better analogy if, say, the cheaper pizza place were also called Pizza Hut (trademark infringement), stole your secret sauce recipe (trade secret), duplicated your patented pizza ovens (patent infringement), and stole your menu artwork (copyright infringement).

              link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 15 Mar 2002 @ 5:07am

      Re: This could apply to other industries

      Pretty much everyone agrees that speeding is illegal, and lots of people do it anyways (kind of like piracy).

      There's nothing to "agree" on, it's either forbidden by law (definition of illegal) or it isn't.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    miguelita, 14 Mar 2002 @ 2:40pm

    piracy vs. used cd's?

    i don't get it... how come software "piracy" is wrong, but used-cd stores, which also prevent artists/labels from getting $$, are OK?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Mike Rerick, 15 Mar 2002 @ 7:44am

    No Subject Given

    Unfortunately, the first thing that all politicians care about is getting re-elected. Big companies have lots of money that they can "donate" to a campaign fund. Ordinary citizens don't. Who are the politicians going to listen to?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    thecaptain, 15 Mar 2002 @ 8:25am

    yeah right...consumers.

    " But, no one invited the consumers. It's a valid point. If Congress is supposed to be looking out for the rights of the people, and not just companies, you would think they would do a better job talking to the people who pay the salaries of the entertainment industry."

    Actually, the entertainment industry has pretty much proven (and worked hard to convince Congress) that we aren't customers, that the majority of us are thieves and law-breakers who live to deprive them of their income, as such, I doubt they feel we should have ANY say.

    I always thought that in the US, it was innocent until proven guilty. I guess that went out the door with "fair use" right? SIGH

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.