The last couple of weeks the news has had an additional issue to report on, besides the European recession, namely the internet. The US's SOPA & PIPA has consequences for people all around the world. The "Stop Online Piracy Act" has many people worried, well it has me worried anyway. It has been a booming business, Internet. I am a child of the Internet generation, and I have consciously enough seen the changes, but was young enough to find it normal. I am all for regulating the use of internet, I think not all people can handle the freedom we have known so far online. That freedom has led to so much pornography, it has led to anonymous bullying, and it has allowed for texts, images, and videos that breach the laws of humanity to surface. Yet at the same time, as much as I am personally opposed to all of these things, it is the beauty of Internet. It allows for news to travel fast, for people to find people that share similar world views, and helps information to grow by collective effort.
The last couple of weeks I have been busy with exams, therefore I found it hard to even sit down and watch the news, or TV at all, I was shocked when I went to visit Wikipedia to find something and found the website black. "This is what SOPA looks like." I couldn't suppress chills. What was I to do without Wikipedia?! Granted, students rely on Wikipedia a bit too much sometimes and are better off consulting their approved books, but Wikipedia has been useful to us all. The online encyclopedia has become so much more than just a collection of information, it has become a phenomenon, and in some languages even a verb. "Just Wiki it," is a phrase I often hear or use on parties when there is some discussion and no one knows the answer for sure.
A few days later, while I was taking a break from my exams, I wanted to relax a little by watching the ever hilarious Mike Rowe in "Dirty Jobs," but found most of the links to watch it online to have been deleted. I tried another episode, same story. I tried another show, same story. Not only Megavideo, but Videobb and other similar websites seemed to have no content left. Danm!
The issue is not just a hot topic in America though, in Holland a company called "Brein" (translated Brain), which is an anti-piracy company, has been trying to get Internet providers to block certain websites, such as "The Pirate Bay." Many have ignored their call, and while two companies have been court ordered to do as Brein says, they are appealing. Meanwhile, America is accusing Europe of putting restrictions on free speech and putting a damper on their economy because there are no limitations on the posting of content online, and in return Europe says much of the same things to America. First Amendment to the Constitution, Bill of Rights created in 1791, sorry if I laugh America. I think in Holland we are more free to say and write what we want (in some cases, a little too free when I think of Wilders) than it seems people in America are.
I am the first to admit that I watch shows online, that I have downloaded music and movies. However, I don't think that this has to be seen as such a bad thing. An example; if I didn't start watching the TV show Criminal Minds online, I would have never bought all seasons that are available up to this date. I love this show so much, but since I have floor ball practice on the day Criminal Minds is on in Holland, I would have never watched the show, and therefore never bought the DVDs. Another case to illustrate my point; this March I am going to a show from LMFAO in the HMH, Amsterdam. I would have never got to know LMFAO if it wasn't for the videos on Youtube, and therefore I would have never got tickets to see their show. The last example I would like to give concerns my favorite band; when I was 13 I got an illegal copy of Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory from a friend of mine. It didn't take long for me to fall in love with the CD. After some time, when Meteora was released, I downloaded the singles, put them on my 128 mb MP3-player, and started to love Linkin Park even more. So far, all my music was thus illegal. However, because I fell so in love with Linkin Park, it didn't take long for me to start buying every single CD they had released up to that date, buy band hoodies, posters, and become a member of their fan club, the Linkin Park Underground.
To me it seems that companies who complain about people downloading their products rather than buying them do not have much of a point (I do not dismiss it completely!). If it wasn't for the illegally downloaded or viewed material, I would have never become a fan and bought the product. People, especially today, find it hard to select what they like and need to try different things before they make up their mind. To allow the free viewing of a show, or the free playing of music, can only increase a fan base, and real fans will buy the original product.
Also, a big reason, at least internationally, that so many people watch shows online is because it takes so long to export shows and movies. In addition, which ever channel offers to watch shows online are only available in the US, so international fans of the show are directed to "piracy" websites. Many people their English has become excellent with the internationalization of the globe. In studies, on television, and online, English has become the first language. In consequence of so many people speaking a same language, contacts all around the world are made, and friendships between different nationalities are more common. I have some friends in America, and to keep up with them, I need to watch my shows online to be able to know what they are talking about when they say the last "How I Met Your Mother" episode was lame. Waiting for the show to air on Dutch television would take about half a year. When the internet moves so fast, allowing for phone calls across the atlantic with mere milliseconds delay, how come broadcast companies and cinema companies cannot keep up? Sure law might have something to do with that, but once the right laws are in place, it should not take that much longer. Fans get their shows on their own channels and can go to their nation's website should they have missed the episode, and the intellectual property of the production companies would not end up on "piracy" websites anymore. Doesn't that seem like a win-win situation? (Or do like the Daily-Show, if you ask me the best political show on the face of the earth).
I don't completely dismiss the complaints of the companies. There are cases that the intellectual property is misused and there are cases in which people do not buy a product of the company. This problem is also in part to blame on the companies themselves. Many companies up to today seem to find it hard to use the internet effectively. Companies could greatly benefit from asking fees for content, however it has to be done in the right way. Spottify and i-Tunes in my opinion are great examples. The fees are seemingly low, which makes the consumer feel they outsmarted the companies because they have payed little, but have legal content. The companies meanwhile get their revenue.
I am aware that the situation isn't as black and white as I make it seem to be, but I do think that the points I rase are something to consider. Let the free flow of information continue, and rather than restricting, lets set up some rules. Personally, I think the situation could greatly benefit if the law making and executive branches would enter into an open dialogue with all kinds of people, the people who are accused of piracy, the companies who claim they suffer losses, and the regular people like you and me.
EDIT: I was just discussing what I had written above with a friend over lunch, and we started reminiscing a little about games while we were kids. We came to the shocking conclusion that actually right now we owe more legal content than we did as kids. As kids when we'd want a game, we didn't download (because of the use of landlines that took too long) but we'd go to this guy, who'd we pay 5 Euro or even 5 Gulden for this game. Back than, we'd pay people to illegally download stuff for us, for me (and sure people still make money off it), I just see what I want myself, and at least if I pay, I pay stores for legal content.
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