Whenever I hear that that the RIAA or some record/similar company is suing someone for a ridiculous amount of money for downloading a few songs, I become pretty angry. Where is the money they demand going? Into their own pockets! Okay, I will agree with everyone that stealing is bad, but look, (digitally) it happens ALL the time! For someone with a very eclectic taste in music, there is NO WAY that person can afford all the music to listen to. Additionally, (not trying to stray from the topic), but even software piracy is everywhere today. Having Microsoft Office and the newest Operating System on your computer is almost mandatory in this day and age regardless of the alternatives.
Dance crews that perform at competitions (where money can be made for winning) use mixes and mashups of MANY songs (most of the time popular mainstream songs). Is this a improper use of music? Without music a dancer can't dance!! (I guess to some extent they can’t) The remixing of songs that coincidentally we can hear at almost any night club, is this an improper use of music? Will the RIAA try to sue all DJ's and dance crews?
Maybe its only me, but I think what they are doing is ridiculous! They are trying to profit off of a very well established industry. Although I can't think of a solution, there shouldn't be such a high penalty on illegally downloading music! Seriously, 1.5 million dollars for 24 songs (http://torrentfreak.com/riaa-wins-big-against-file-sharer-15m-for-24-songs-101104/)? A quick Google search reveals that the national mean income is $44,400! At that rate, it would take this person ~34 years to pay off this debt, assuming all of it was saved. I kind of feel like its such a JOKE because there is NO WAY the average person can pay that off! If you read the article, the money is going "to fund new anti-piracy campaigns"... Reaaaaaaaally?
A simple Google search consisting of a title of a song ending with download will most likely take you to a website where you can download that song. Illegal? I pay for the internet, the internet took me there, my computer downloaded the song, I really didn’t steal anything, my computer did! Punish my computer! Seriously, the availability of content to download is so abundant. Maybe the RIAA should focus on eliminating the source (even though they will NEVER take everyone down), rather than going after innocent people who just want to listen to some good music as they go throughout their lives. No, not everyone can afford a million songs. Similarly, most upcoming artists can’t afford instruments, beats, etc. They sample and remix!!
Trying to stop remixing and sampling is like trying to put a choke on creativity. Again, this is nothing but a joke to me, you put a hold on someones creativity and they find a way around that hold. History can prove this for me. I do not support stealing whatsoever. If I like an artists music, I will go to their concert and support them. I can choose how I support my favorite artists, not the RIAA. If I like some music so much, yeah I will go buy it. If I don’t then I don’t!
How do you feel about this? I am curious on what others think about this issue.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
The Future?
This class has stimulated my thinking of the future in terms of technology and the internet. Certain topics including the black box fallacy, panopticonism, and digital activism.
It really is amazing how fast technology and the internet are evolving. Our little "black boxes" are becoming the center of our lives more and more day by day. Personally, it has gotten to the point where I can not be away from my phone, it always has to be on me! This is not only because of social purposes, but also because it keeps me connected to my school email, potential messages from my boss(es), and even for my calendar. It is ridiculous how dependent I am on my Blackberry. It is interesting to see the capacity of devices such as the iPhone and Droid grow day by day. The other day, someone was showing me their desktop on their Droid, they were able to control it from their phone!! It won't surprise me when instead of laptops, we will do literally EVERYTHING through our phones and just connect them to large monitors when needed. There really is no end to the evolution of black boxes, and it kind of scares me how they will be in ten years.
Panopticonism made me realize how large of an issue internet privacy is. The idea that we are being watched when we don't know we are is really scary. The worst part is I feel that most of us really have no idea of how much we are really watched. We always hear stories of random people being monitored, wiretapped, tracked, etc. What if they do that to everyone? I know, it sounds kind of far fetched but honestly, you really never know! With technology in the crazy state it is today (and in the state it could be in the future), who knows to what extent we can be monitored!
I feel that digital activism has many benefits. If someone has a cause which they wish to get out to the entire world, they can do so by means of the internet. Awareness can be spread leading to possible donations or someone of high power looking at the cause and supporting it. However, I feel that the actual actions taken place we will see are pretty low. When have you ever seen an online petition actually work? I do not think I ever have. On another note, the internet has led to things such as flashmobs (100 single ladies in london and the valentines day pillow fight) which could potentially be useful for protest in the future. I do feel that with protest there must be a physical sacrifice (no, not your life) but the protestor must go out and do something rather than click around on the internet.
I feel that these ideas among others will definitely have a large impact on our society. They already do play large roles today: the internet is essential to 21st century life nowadays, our privacy and whatever we do can be monitored and we must be careful what we post on the internet, finally: there are weaker forms or protesting/spreading awareness of certain causes and they can be done through the internet.
It really is amazing how fast technology and the internet are evolving. Our little "black boxes" are becoming the center of our lives more and more day by day. Personally, it has gotten to the point where I can not be away from my phone, it always has to be on me! This is not only because of social purposes, but also because it keeps me connected to my school email, potential messages from my boss(es), and even for my calendar. It is ridiculous how dependent I am on my Blackberry. It is interesting to see the capacity of devices such as the iPhone and Droid grow day by day. The other day, someone was showing me their desktop on their Droid, they were able to control it from their phone!! It won't surprise me when instead of laptops, we will do literally EVERYTHING through our phones and just connect them to large monitors when needed. There really is no end to the evolution of black boxes, and it kind of scares me how they will be in ten years.
Panopticonism made me realize how large of an issue internet privacy is. The idea that we are being watched when we don't know we are is really scary. The worst part is I feel that most of us really have no idea of how much we are really watched. We always hear stories of random people being monitored, wiretapped, tracked, etc. What if they do that to everyone? I know, it sounds kind of far fetched but honestly, you really never know! With technology in the crazy state it is today (and in the state it could be in the future), who knows to what extent we can be monitored!
I feel that digital activism has many benefits. If someone has a cause which they wish to get out to the entire world, they can do so by means of the internet. Awareness can be spread leading to possible donations or someone of high power looking at the cause and supporting it. However, I feel that the actual actions taken place we will see are pretty low. When have you ever seen an online petition actually work? I do not think I ever have. On another note, the internet has led to things such as flashmobs (100 single ladies in london and the valentines day pillow fight) which could potentially be useful for protest in the future. I do feel that with protest there must be a physical sacrifice (no, not your life) but the protestor must go out and do something rather than click around on the internet.
I feel that these ideas among others will definitely have a large impact on our society. They already do play large roles today: the internet is essential to 21st century life nowadays, our privacy and whatever we do can be monitored and we must be careful what we post on the internet, finally: there are weaker forms or protesting/spreading awareness of certain causes and they can be done through the internet.
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