Why the MPAA and RIAA can't stand college students
According to a recent report from the Associated Press, the Motion Picture Association of America--Hollywood's antipiracy wing--admitted to releasing data that was not only factually incorrect, it grossly overstated the impact college students have on the movie industry's losses.
The MPAA claims its original figure citing a 44 percent loss due to college piracy was inflated by a whopping 29 percent. In fact, the MPAA admitted that the actual impact college students have on the industry's revenue loss is just 15 percent.
"The 44 percent figure was used to show that if college campuses could somehow solve this problem on this campus, then it would make a tremendous difference in the business of the motion picture industry," an expert covering the case said. The new figures prove "any solution on campus will have only a small impact on the industry itself."
So why do the MPAA and the Recording Industry Association of America focus so much of their time on college students? Is there something that these disgusting organizations aren't telling us? Are college students really that bad? Sadly, it's just another example of these organizations trying to vilify the easy target when the real violators are left to roam free.
The main reason the RIAA and MPAA can't stand college students is actually quite simple--they're the easiest target. How many times have you heard organizations blame so many of the world's problems on the 18 to 25 crowd? A quick history lesson on what happened in the '70s should be enough to satisfy that assertion.
Let's face it: The 18 to 25 crowd represents change and innovation. It represents a new way of thinking and the condemnation of the old guard. And it's the old institutions like the movie and music industries that can't seem to grasp that the change that's occurring--the right to own your own digital media after purchasing it--is a rogue tidal wave that will eventually lead to their demise.
Sadly, the MPAA and RIAA just don't like college students. In fact, why would they? After all, isn't this the group that, according to RIAA spokeswoman Cara Duckworth, "has reached a stage in life when their music habits are crystallized, and their appreciation for intellectual property has not yet reached its full development"?
I simply don't understand these organizations. Instead of being the bastions of progress in an age where everyone can see that a change is coming, the RIAA and MPAA have decided to insult college students and cite faulty statistics to back up their ludicrous claims.
Why haven't these organizations focused on the real pirates who cruise in gunships overseas and account for well over 15 percent of that revenue loss the MPAA is so quick to mention? Even better, why doesn't the MPAA realize that the 15 percent loss is nothing compared with the incredible box-office losses it's incurring because of crappy movies and skyrocketing ticket prices?
College students represent change, innovation and a new way of thinking. The MPAA and the RIAA represent two industries that would like nothing more than to go back to the days of no video media and vinyl--their comfort zones.
Unfortunately for them, that simply won't happen. Realizing this, both organizations made a conscious decision to vilify college students in the hopes the rest of us would jump onboard. We didn't.
The MPAA and the RIAA are two organizations that should be looked upon with the greatest amount of distaste and downright condemnation. Trust me, they're really that bad.
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But this is otherwise nonsense, though it does show a certain amount of ingenuity to vilify the evil old MPAA and RIAA for pursuing college students without ever mentioning what those students are accused of doing.
The assertion that what college students are concerned with is "the right to own your own digital media after purchasing it" is ridiculous on its face. They do not legally purchase digital media, then hack the content controls (that would raise questions that are a genuine gray area). The college students the author admires so much do not purchase digital media at all. They steal it. And they do that because they want to, and because they can. Any claims of larger principles are simply attempts at justification after the fact.
The author is pretending to be unaware that a great deal of major-label music is now available, entirely legally, in unprotected and un-watermarked MP3 form. That is, those clueless RIAA labels are doing exactly what he says he and the college students want them to do. So I suppose I can expect college students -- who are merely concerned about the right to use content they've paid for! -- to promptly stop stealing all that music and go buy it on iTunes and Amazon, right? I'm not holding my breath, and the author isn't either.
And if the MPAA ever gets a clue and stops mucking up its own products, that won't stop the stealing on campus, and it's absurd to pretend it would. This is, and I reiterate, utter nonsense.
From their front page:
Welcome to the Open Source Track (OST) initiative
OST is about bringing freedom of creativity to musicians and their music. The artist of an OST track has agreed to make some or all of their tracks open source, or at a greatly reduced copyright control. This means that not only can you download the fully produced track for free, but the track's written score, guitar tab charts and the pre-mixed individual instrument tracks. OST tracks may be used for any non-commerical purpose without additional license. The artist retains the copyright to their music, and still collects royalties if the song is used commercially. Live performance of OST tracks does not count as commercial use.
Budding musicians can forget about sidestepping around copyright issues when swapping music and guitar tabs by using OST tracks. OST tracks may be performed live, remixed and freely distributed, and derivatives of OST tracks may be used in your own compositions.
http://OpenSourceTrack.com
How are they spinning the numbers?
The MPAA today says 15% of their loss is due to "college students" and that if colleges would just prevent sharing on their networks this would go away. Except that only about 20% of college students actually live on campus. So even if colleges spent the millions and the technology worked perfectly, it would only reduce piracy by 3% (assuming that each act of piracy is a lost sale, which is a huge leap to start with).
I don't justify stealing, but I understand how some do. If I were to choose to but that $15 CD, I know that the actual artist will get less than one dollar of that. More likely about a quarter, if that.
So If I'm going to steal the same CD (from store or download) I'm costing the Artist, very little, and I'm costing these A-Holes who rule the radio air-waves with an iron fist a significant amount.
So my guess on a solution would be to make the buyer be more concerned about stealing from the artist, than stealing from the suits. If I knew that $5 of that 15 went to the actual artist, I'd buy more music.
Also theres a new entertainment powerhouse in town. Its called gaming. This is where your customers went when you pissed them off with filler movies that you show untill the real movies come out or the 9 filler songs on a 10 track disc. These people are losers. Taking the selling of fantasy waaay too seriously. Maybe these people should get a job that actually contributes to society.
In most countries, file sharing is legal.
It's the USA that allows these corporations to get away with imposing their profit-driven scare tactic campaigns against the public.
They lie. They propagandize. They coerce. They exaggerate. They manipulate. They bribe all the politicians they need. They terrorize the public. All to protect their precious profits.
And somewhere I read that your chances of getting prosecuted for file sharing in America are LESS that getting struck by lightening ----- twice.
Pssssssst...... But don't tell anybody.
But DO tell everybody to boycott Comcast for censoring and altering the internet data of their customers. For more info, Google: comcast censoring
Bruce Wagner
http://brucewagner.com
http://brucewagner.com/blog
bruce@brucewagner.com
646-275-2195
RIAA Lawsuits
Posted by ljh (See profile) - June 19, 2005 1:03 PM PDT
My son goes to Michigan State University and he was one of the people sued. Evidently, they sued 20 students from 20 colleges. Oddly, of the 850 or so students at Michigan State who were doing this music sharing, THREE of them were on the same floor in the same dorm! Also, it seems the site for this came from University of Michigan, and NO ONE from U of M got sued!
My son has to pay $3,750, and his RA has to pay $5,000! That is a lot of money for a college kid. It will take him all summer to work to pay that. The reason the kids are settling is they are told it is a "John Doe" case, and if they settle their name will not be revealed, so they will not have any "judgments" against them on their records.
I think the RIAA should give these kids a warning first. Also, if they are going to sue some of them, they should sue all of them. Maybe a class action suit would be the fairer way to handle this through the courts.
I'm not saying this is right or wrong, but with all the new technology evolving, it is hard to keep up with all the rules. I feel these kids are paying for everyone who has done this music sharing, and it is not right.