Jesse Townley's Favorite Techdirt Posts Of The Week
from the my-name-in-lights dept
This week's favorites mostly fall into 2 categories: Big Picture stories and "[fill-in-the-blank] Behaving Badly." The combination of these approaches to tech-related news is what keeps me checking Techdirt every week. Plus, I like seeing my name in lights, ha ha ha…
A short introduction: I am the General Manager of Alternative Tentacles Records, a small underground, punk, twang, indie, and mostly left-wing record label that is owned by Jello Biafra. AT began in 1979 with this single by the Dead Kennedys. We are not a member of the RIAA, A2IM, or any other music industry group. My opinions do not represent those of Jello Biafra or any other AT artists or staff. They're based on my experiences as a band member on various indie labels and working at a couple of labels, as well as being a DJ for 20 years on the excellent local college radio station KALX Berkeley. Also, as GM of a small label, I keep a very close eye on technology--our website is embarrassingly hokey, but we've been expanding to Soundcloud, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and doing our best to keep our reputation clean and our fans loyal. By the way, Connect with Fans (CwF) and give them a Reason to Buy (RtB) has always been the rule in punk rock. Without your reputation, you're nothing. If your rep goes down the tubes, you're a sellout, a has-been, and/or a rip-off artist. Sure, there'll always be some ignorant punters who will support you, but the vast majority will shun you.
First up is a Big Picture story that is positive, in a Techdirt kinda way. If Piracy Is So Devastating, Why Are We Seeing An Unprecedented Outpouring Of Creativity? from Tuesday. It's an important reminder that people are creating content and uploading it to various social networks & platforms every second. But the piece of this that rings wrong to my ears is the glib jab at "copyright industries and cultural commentators"-- sure a twitter novel or YouTube webisodes are new, "real" content, but it's not a stretch to make a value judgement that my 10 word Facebook post is not as creative as, say, the latest album by your favorite band. (Strike that, that depends on how witty I am and which band you love! [/tangent]) Even hinting at an equivalency is a sour note in an otherwise observant, thought-provoking post.
Another Big Picture is half-upbeat, half-depressing--it's the Constitutional one titled Yes, Copyright's Sole Purpose Is To Benefit The Public. I'm enough of a civics geek to have strong emotions about the Constitution & misunderstandings of it bug me to no end. (As you may imagine, my head hurts when I read about the latest attacks on the Constitution by particular Arizona sheriffs, the last few Presidents, various Congress people, and too many others.)
I wish the following paragraph was required reading for anyone intending to post here:
"I have trouble understanding why so many people... have so much trouble separating out the purpose from the method. Yes, the clause grants the power to Congress to create copyright law -- but for a specific purpose: "to promote the progress of science." Nowhere does it suggest, nor even hint at, the idea that copyright's purpose is to benefit creators. Rather, that is the method. So, to claim that the protections of the author are greater than or even equal to the benefits to the nation, is a clear flip-flopping of the method with the purpose. Of course, in doing so, it not only flip flops the method and the purpose, but it completely distorts the nature of copyright law, and leads to maximalist-style positions, where absolutely no consideration is given to how the public benefits (or, more importantly, is hurt) from specific changes to copyright law."A quick negative Big Picture post before moving onto the truly trash-talking posts- er, "[fill-in-the-blank] Behaving Badly." It's related to the previous one but is international in scope, which I think is a key strength of Techdirt -- stepping outside of whatever's dominating the US/North American headlines/social media networks.
It's summed up by the title, Just Because It's Now Cheaper And Easier To Spy On Everyone All The Time, Doesn't Mean Governments Should Do It! It's a nice summary of an actual "slippery slope," complete with points on that metaphorical slope where the slide into a surveillance state could've been halted if people had realized what was going on, if there was oversight by a part of the government that wasn't law enforcement: Could've, could've, didn't.
(And that's exactly why my music industry comrades' "slippery slope" argument falls down. They assume that there are no possible checks on technology's mad slide towards free everything all the time besides brute & ultimately useless government regulation. The fact that artists and labels like me are resisting the RIAA & A2IM's restrictive view of copyright is key--we have to make a living too, as artists and as small companies distributing creative works. We're not naive idiots & are figuring out ways to keep our fans excited and our bands music out in the world in multiple formats.)
Now for the "[fill-in-the-blank] Behaving Badly" stories. Let's start w/ the government. A couple made me see red, in part because I, like most non-rabid Republicans, was hopeful that putting a Constitutional law professor into the White House would be enough to halt the Bush 43's destruction of civil rights after 9/11/01. Once Again, The Administration Vindictively Charges A Whistleblower As Being A Spy is the kind of story that illustrates that in key ways Ralph Nader's famous equivalency of Republicans & Democrats was accurate. (Don't get me wrong, overall Bush 43 was worse for civil rights because he attacked social freedoms and labor rights as well.)
This story is especially frustrating because it's going after a brave government worker who blew the whistle on frickin' TORTURE practiced by our government. Guh.
The common sense civil libertarian in me also bristled at the New York Convinces Game Companies To Kick Registered Sex Offenders Off Gaming Services story. As a species, we've gotta stop hyperventilating about the worst of the worst and realize that, as the post points out, a sex offender could be a lot of people. Someone caught nakedly, drunkenly pissing in an alley (not me, I swear!) or a performer whose act includes nakedness, or a couple of teens having oral sex, or a teen receiving a naked picture of their s.o. on their phone are all potential sex offenders, depending on whether the local D.A. is running for reelection. This kind of silly political posturing just embarrasses everyone involved and diverts attention from more worthy government efforts (see: create jobs, feed hungry, battle foreclosure crisis).
Now to a favorite target of Techdirt's, the music industry, of which I'm a part. As a community radio DJ, I know first hand the idiocy and unintended consequences of the DMCA. So when the big boys dive back into the royalty rates, I get really nervous and start ducking for cover. The idea of different royalties and different types of royalties being required based solely on the delivery system doesn't make sense, even though my day job depends on income from creative works and you'd think that every little bit helps. Bzzt! Wrong. Even if we did get paid some of these royalties (ha ha ha!) it'd be strangling a proven promotional outlet (radio) in order to squeeze out a few nickels. Music Industry Creates New Royalty Rates is the kind of dry analytic discussion of the Copyright Royalty Board that you have to be a special breed of geek to understand. And the unintended consequences of possibly requiring locker services to pay for us consumers to store music we legally bought in their services could be huge. And for us content creators -- why would my band have to pay extra to Soundcloud to stream a song we wrote? This is a detail that needs to be kept on top of.
I'm a fan of sampling and remixing and reusing culture, so I always love it when there's a cool new mash-up or play on words. That's why the next "Businesses Behaving Badly" is Dolce & Gabbana Sue Dolce & Banana. I have none of the resources of Dolce & Gabbana, but if a veterinary supply company wanted to market neuticles called "Alternative Testicles," I'm pretty sure we'd delighted and hype them as a clever twist on our established brand name.
The last story I wanna highlight is a rare first-person account from an artist, A Perspective On The Complexities Of Copyright And Creativity From A Victim Of Infringement by Erin McKeown on her experiences with protecting her creative work and how her ethics and the law intersect in her ongoing case in Eastern Europe.
Her conclusion is a key part of the approach that artists and creative companies should be taking in this scary, new world.
"I'll say this: if you asked me, we might have worked something out. When I found you, we might have worked something out. Who knows, maybe we could have advanced the conversation around copyright and made a radical contribution toward a different type of economy. Instead, it will drag on in court. And I will fight it in court as long as I have to."More cooperation, more communication, more collaboration, less soul-draining legal fights.
Rock on,
Jesse Townley
General Manager
Alternative Tentacles Records
Re: Re:
During the lawsuit between my boss Jello Biafra & 3 other ex-Dead Kennedys, their lawyer made the claim that since JB can't read sheet music, it's impossible for him to have written any music for the band. (This was a way for the other 3 to claim writing credits for the music)
Now, ANY musician can tell you that reading sheet music is NOT required in order to write a song, from a member of a garage band to the highest level classical player.
However, they felt confident enough in the jury's experience or lack thereof to state this.
(I doubt it was a deciding factor in the case which JB ultimately lost, but who knows?)/div>
Re: Re: Re: I think it's a good move, except for...
I agree that real name commenters can be jerks too, hence my previous sentence.
You may have picked up some ambivalence about all of this in my posts. That's accurate. I don't feel strongly enough about it to do more than strongly lobby my local media outlets to add real-name comment systems.
I habitually use my real name on those sites because, in part, I'm an elected official so I am ALWAYS thinking about what I'm writing on-line. (okay ALMOST always, ha ha ha)/div>
Re: I think it's a good move, except for...
Yes, I know the immediate response to this is "it should be my choice on a mainstream media news site too" and, well, I guess I see that as a different context.
I don't know, I wish more news sites would do this going forward (not retroactively, as much as I'd love to see who some of these dickwads are)./div>
I think it's a good move, except for...
In our local news sites, trolls who are NOT representative of the general population run rampant while most sane people don't bother. It gives the impression that their opinions are representative, while every election and other expression of public opinion proves the opposite. (It's unclear how many are actually local as well)
It's a shame because there are such possibilities to these news sites for a community to have honest conversations about politics, development, and local government, but we're drowned out by assholes who hide behind an alias.
The only downside is the reversal. They should institute real names from January 1st-on, not retroactively, in recognition of their earlier policy.
Let me make clear that I'm not against being anonymous at times at your choosing, but for me I'd rather read honest open opinions from my community, not snarky hate from cowardly racists./div>
Re: I'm pissed too...
A gift is not a gift if it's forced on the recipient.
The real reason I'm pissed is because it's as if my clothes dryer started adding polka dotted undershirts to my loads of laundry without warning.
I like polka dots. I don't like U2.
I'd rather choose whether or not I get either from my consumer items that I've purchased, instead of having the manufacturer of that consumer item deciding to "give" me something I do not want./div>
Re:
There's national security implications with the White House and flight pattern/aircraft safety issues with airports.
Police stations? Not so much for either./div>
Re: Pure asshole
East Bay Ray is the original guitarist.
The band reformed without Jello Biafra in 1999 or 2000 and have been playing live with a series of replacement singers ever since. There was a nasty, extended legal fight between Jello and the other 3 key members of the DKs that involved my day job, Alternative Tentacles Records, which is owned & operated by Jello. (I don't want to get into the details of that nightmare- there's all kinds of info on-line and I've been having this conversation for the past decade, ha ha ha)/div>
Self-published books in 2013
It's become super-common, and nowadays a vanity press does NOT mean a crap book. Who knew?/div>
Re: Re: "If you didn't take the hint [fill in latest corporate policy]"
Reality shows that corps will move to a monopoly/maximize profits when there are no reins on their activities. Gov't isn't perfect (to put it politely) but to extrapolate from the involvement of gov't regulation with corps that if there were less regulation the corps would be less powerful is insane when you look at history.
Look at the Great Depression, the government's regulatory reactions in the 1930s, and what happened as soon as the 1990s/2000s government lifted many of those regulations. Less regulation, more powerful corporations, and whammo, the current recession./div>
Stories versus data
This is a key point in politics that frustrates a lot of grassroots candidates who are challenging the status quo. They don't realize that you can't just have facts, you have to have an engaging narrative that touches voters' emotions.
It can be really really frustrating, but the only way to counteract the asinine emotional anecdote is to build a more persuasive one grounded in facts./div>
Re: Re: Are you surprised?
Re: badge of quality
Gatekeepers. We filter out the crap and if our track record is to the customer's liking, they're gonna take a chance on a new band (especially since they can check out some of the tunes for free on our website or the band's website)./div>
Fascinating analogy
This is yet another example...
I get that "Ice Ice Baby" & "Can't Touch This" rely on complete melody lines (Queen & Rick James), but smaller samples should be fair use without a question based on the changing of the context of the sample.
I'm showing my age when I admit that it took me years after hearing "Licensed To Ill" & "Paul's Boutique" before I found even a handful of the original songs. It's been like an Easter egg hunt- "Oh, that's from War!" and "Tower Of Power, of COURSE!"/div>
Re: Re:
Re:
That's how Metallica, Slayer, Megadeath, Exodus, you name it got ginormous in the 80s./div>
Re: Re:
They have the power of immediate life and death, and can seriously screw up someone's life, so when it's appropriate (say, catching a rapist or murderer) they go forward and do their job.
The problem happens when it's *not* appropriate, as in this case./div>
Wait a minute...
Fuckin' A-alright!/div>
Re: Insight Free?
On the flip side, a buddy is currently posting about being scared of a group of loud Germans in his local cafe because "whenever a bunch of Germans start getting loud, it usually ends in an event with a "I" or a "II" at the end"- leading to comments comments from others referencing WW2.
Totally innocuous fb post from a cafe turns into a historical back & forth, sort of.
Conclusion: this whole argument is based on a false equivalency. Don't feed into it./div>
Re: Re: Re:
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