Re: Re: Re: Tell the lawyers? No, tell the clients
Unfortunately, too many companies are pretty much run by the lawyers with the people who run the companies merely taking an advisory role to the Legal Gods.
When they came for the free users, I didn't speak up, because I wasn't a free user.
When they came for the $5/year customers, I didn't speak up...
If they can change the terms of service so drastically after an agreement is made, it follows they'll have no qualms about doing it a second time. Or a third. Or...
You cite Baen Books as one of the best models to look at for dealing with necessary business model changes. I can second that, if only by examining how I feel about dealing with Baen.
Baen gives some books away for free, yes, but you can also pay for the free books if you wish. Prices for the electronic editions are about that of a paperback book, and they don't use DRM to accuse their customers of being thieves or "thief wannabes."
Result: I buy literally every electronic book they bring out. I pay for the free electronic books if I don't already own a copy. If somebody wants a copy that isn't available for free download, I try to steer them to the site and buy the book, or read the sample chapters and then buy the book. And I guard my private (unencrypted) copies of the book with an encrypted portable drive that only I and my wife know the passphrase. I've also had a policy over the last few years of buying every new hardcover and trade paperback they bring out and donate them to the local library to attract new addic... er, fans.
In short, emotionally, Baen is family, and gets that level of loyalty as a matter of simple justice.
BTW, I used to buy a lot of music and movies. I literally can't remember the last time I bought a DVD (cf. Netflix), and I only buy DRM-free MP3s from independent music sites like Magnatune or CD Baby.
"artificially limited supply and a made up demand"
Yep. They still regard my wallet as a well into which they can sink a sump pump, will I, nil I. I think I'll just wander over to CDBaby and check out Marston's new mp3s.
Given their record, I don't trust them at this time. Trust also requires a "behavioral profile", a history, of trust granted, trust verified. The entire cultural attitude in Hollywood is "everybody's a thief," and that will handicap them for a LONG time to come.
But it has to start somewhere, because I (and I'm sure other people are too) am getting very tired of having to haul tons of plastic and paper around just to be sure that the treasures of my life will always be with me.
1. Music companies have traditionally ripped off both the musicians and the customer by "cradle to grave" control of the music. They don't trust either of them not to steal their rice bowl.
2. Both musicians and the public have returned the favor.
Let me express this as an example from my own life. I'm currently trying to thin out the physical artifacts of my life: cassettes (remember them?), DVDs, VHS tapes(remember them?), etc. etc. It would be very nice indeed if several terabytes of data were somebody else's professional headache for storage/backup/safety etc. and all I need is a couple of portable gadgets (or a desktop and a PDA, both replaceable at whim with new gadgets)plus the network, in order to have my video/audio/book library with me wherever/whenever I want it.
Given guaranteed access to the contents of those artifacts, do I really need to care where they are or what form they take, as long as I can listen to/read/watch whatever I've paid for when I want to and where I want to and how I want to with pretty much the same reliability we take for granted with power, gas, and water supplies for our homes. The bottom line is, the user must have a sense of control over the above when/what/how, or they cannot claim "ownership" of any of it.
However, as things are, unless you have in your possession and control a physical artifact(cassette/CD/DVD/flash drive/hard drive) that access is not guaranteed.
Now, unless I can trust the entertainment industry to provide that level of access, no such thing is possible. But as far as I can tell, trust requires two conditions to exist:
First, you must be able to verify the results of trusting. For example, if I loan my lawnmower to a neighbor, I can check whether and when he brings it back, and just what condition it's in when it's returned.
Second, the relationship in which trust is expressed must be (reasonably) symmetric, in the sense that if trust is violated, the two parties involved have reasonably equal measures to punish or deter that violation.
Now I can verify whether or not I have access to "my" content. But does anybody have any suggestions for just how one individual can hale the MAFIAA into court and expect that a demand for justice will get answered without being eaten alive by $1000/hour sharks?
Right now, books/DVDs etc are "pay once, access always." Trust was unnecessary for them because you pay for the artifact and it's yours. Nobody has any idea as to how to duplicate that with network-based content.
Until the conditions above are met, the MAFIAA will continue down the path of war on their customers, and we the customers will return the favor.
Lawyers are useful, you just have to keep them on a leash. Of course in some cases, a leash about 9 feet long tied to the limb of a tree that's about 20 feet off the ground is about right.
But... it may not matter whether the claims will stand up in court. It's still expen$ive to go to court in the first place, and while we enjoy David vs. Goliath stories, remember that God is usually on Goliath's side.
Back in the 1950s there was a cartoon strip titled "Little Man on Campus" about the vagaries of college life. One of them stands out in my memory of a publisher talking to the villainous "Professor Snarf" about how he could "Change your text a little, produce a new edition and make it a required text in all your courses and we'll clean up" or words to that effect.
Obviously not that much has changed in fifty years.
Such a scheme would destroy their role as "information gatekeepers" to sucke... investors. When company data can be picked up and analyzed by anybody, it gets a lot harder to persuade people that "buy and hold" is a good strategy when you can get the information yourself and see that XYZMegacorp is headed into the swamp.
OTOH, if a lot of different individuals can analyze the data, and publicly discuss why and what their different interpretations are, it's a lot likelier that somebody will be able to point out that XYZ has no clothes BEFORE the investors find themselves hip deep in alligators.
Comcast demanded that I pay for a "package" of five premium channels on top of regular cable service, just to get the one channel I wanted. The Sci/Fi channel lost one viewer and Comcast lost one customer.
Anything I want to watch, I'll rent it from Reel here in Berkeley.
When will the marketdroids learn that you can't FORCE people to want to give you money.
Hollywood, the broadcast industry, and now comedians. In Lois McMaster Bujold's new novel, "The Sharing Knife: Horizon", there is a line which embodies the most trenchant comment I've seen yet on the buggy-whip manufacturer mentality that has come to pervade them.
And you're only clenching your hands so tight because you have so little left in them.
Given the "copyright is forever" crowd's leanings, I wonder when the heirs of the author of the original version of that sketch (involving a dead slave, but same basic joke) from over two thousand years ago, are going to sue the Pythons for appropriating their work.
Look at the War on Drugs, Prohibition, Gun Control, ... Nobody has a drug problem anymore, there are no alcoholics anywhere, and nobody's been shot on a college campus where guns were banned in YEARS!
Its must losing your job for narcing on your company. No references, and possibly having the NEXT company you try to work for calling your current company up and asking why you left.
On the post: Electro-Harmonix Shows You Can Handle Trademark Infringement Without The Legal Nastygrams
Re: Re: Re: Tell the lawyers? No, tell the clients
On the post: Pissing Off Users By Changing Terms Of Service Along The Way
Only One Thing to Do
When they came for the free users, I didn't speak up, because I wasn't a free user.
When they came for the $5/year customers, I didn't speak up...
If they can change the terms of service so drastically after an agreement is made, it follows they'll have no qualms about doing it a second time. Or a third. Or...
On the post: Book Publishers Misguided Complaints About Scribd
Customer Loyalty is STILL the best business model
Baen gives some books away for free, yes, but you can also pay for the free books if you wish. Prices for the electronic editions are about that of a paperback book, and they don't use DRM to accuse their customers of being thieves or "thief wannabes."
Result: I buy literally every electronic book they bring out. I pay for the free electronic books if I don't already own a copy. If somebody wants a copy that isn't available for free download, I try to steer them to the site and buy the book, or read the sample chapters and then buy the book. And I guard my private (unencrypted) copies of the book with an encrypted portable drive that only I and my wife know the passphrase. I've also had a policy over the last few years of buying every new hardcover and trade paperback they bring out and donate them to the local library to attract new addic... er, fans.
In short, emotionally, Baen is family, and gets that level of loyalty as a matter of simple justice.
BTW, I used to buy a lot of music and movies. I literally can't remember the last time I bought a DVD (cf. Netflix), and I only buy DRM-free MP3s from independent music sites like Magnatune or CD Baby.
Baen has a better business model? Yup!
On the post: Music Industry Folks Worried About iTunes Variable Pricing
Great Summary of the Mess
Yep. They still regard my wallet as a well into which they can sink a sump pump, will I, nil I. I think I'll just wander over to CDBaby and check out Marston's new mp3s.
On the post: There May Be Hope For The Recording Industry, Yet
Re: Re: Trust is the real issue
But it has to start somewhere, because I (and I'm sure other people are too) am getting very tired of having to haul tons of plastic and paper around just to be sure that the treasures of my life will always be with me.
On the post: There May Be Hope For The Recording Industry, Yet
Trust is the real issue
2. Both musicians and the public have returned the favor.
Let me express this as an example from my own life. I'm currently trying to thin out the physical artifacts of my life: cassettes (remember them?), DVDs, VHS tapes(remember them?), etc. etc. It would be very nice indeed if several terabytes of data were somebody else's professional headache for storage/backup/safety etc. and all I need is a couple of portable gadgets (or a desktop and a PDA, both replaceable at whim with new gadgets)plus the network, in order to have my video/audio/book library with me wherever/whenever I want it.
Given guaranteed access to the contents of those artifacts, do I really need to care where they are or what form they take, as long as I can listen to/read/watch whatever I've paid for when I want to and where I want to and how I want to with pretty much the same reliability we take for granted with power, gas, and water supplies for our homes. The bottom line is, the user must have a sense of control over the above when/what/how, or they cannot claim "ownership" of any of it.
However, as things are, unless you have in your possession and control a physical artifact(cassette/CD/DVD/flash drive/hard drive) that access is not guaranteed.
Now, unless I can trust the entertainment industry to provide that level of access, no such thing is possible. But as far as I can tell, trust requires two conditions to exist:
First, you must be able to verify the results of trusting. For example, if I loan my lawnmower to a neighbor, I can check whether and when he brings it back, and just what condition it's in when it's returned.
Second, the relationship in which trust is expressed must be (reasonably) symmetric, in the sense that if trust is violated, the two parties involved have reasonably equal measures to punish or deter that violation.
Now I can verify whether or not I have access to "my" content. But does anybody have any suggestions for just how one individual can hale the MAFIAA into court and expect that a demand for justice will get answered without being eaten alive by $1000/hour sharks?
Right now, books/DVDs etc are "pay once, access always." Trust was unnecessary for them because you pay for the artifact and it's yours. Nobody has any idea as to how to duplicate that with network-based content.
Until the conditions above are met, the MAFIAA will continue down the path of war on their customers, and we the customers will return the favor.
On the post: Just Because You Can Do A DMCA Takedown Doesn't Mean You Should...
Not Richard III
Henry VI Part 2 Act IV Scene 2
Lawyers are useful, you just have to keep them on a leash. Of course in some cases, a leash about 9 feet long tied to the limb of a tree that's about 20 feet off the ground is about right.
On the post: Google 'Requests' That We Not Copy Works That Are Already In The Public Domain
"Won't stand up in court."
On the post: The Coming Disruption In The Textbook Market
Some of this is old news.
Obviously not that much has changed in fifty years.
On the post: Politician Wants Google To Blur Street View Images Of Buildings; Next Up: Blurring Reality
Why is anybody surprised by this?
On the post: Massive Layoffs Hit The RIAA: Maybe Focus On Building Business Rather Than Suing Customers Next Time?
Poooor babies! (sniff)
On the post: Garbage In... Radical Transparency Out?
The brokers will hate it.
OTOH, if a lot of different individuals can analyze the data, and publicly discuss why and what their different interpretations are, it's a lot likelier that somebody will be able to point out that XYZ has no clothes BEFORE the investors find themselves hip deep in alligators.
On the post: Cable Companies Negotiating To Control What TV Shows You Can Watch Online
Haven't watched TV in over fifteen years.
Anything I want to watch, I'll rent it from Reel here in Berkeley.
When will the marketdroids learn that you can't FORCE people to want to give you money.
On the post: Comedian Smashes Mobile Phone; Fearing 'Joke Stealing'
Copyright Culture
On the post: Pink Panther Studio, Producers And Star Sued For Joke Theft
Uh, Oh, the Dead Parrot sketch is in trouble.
On the post: Some Georgetown Profs Want To Ban Laptops In Class
But... But... Bans Always Work!
On the post: Music Industry Lawyer Upset That Sites Are Able To Point Out The RIAA Took Down Content
Gone from Google's cache, too
Guess the gentleman really means to disappear his embarrassing remark.
On the post: Monty Python's Meaning Of Free: The Holy Grail Of Massively Increased Sales
Eric Flint is 100% right.
On the post: Techdirt Still Doesn't Have To Pay Out Up To $1 Million Since The BSA Hasn't Paid Out Either
One Other Problem Here
1 earful == 0 chance at a new job
On the post: An Outsider Gets A Peek Behind The Scenes Of The Music Industry's Mindset: Optimism Into Denial
"peak" should be "peek"
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