OMG — I’ve turned Libertarian!?

And didn’t we loose that battle with Code Red, NAT, firewalls and the growing habit to push everything over port 80? I remember when the cable modem activity light would actually stop if your computer wasn’t causing network traffic.

OMG — I’m an OLD Libertarian! (Made of STRAW!!)

Okay, um, so, to improve the argument — point out where Big Media is actually attacking the protocols themselves. Point out why this is unhelpful. Never mention music. In other words, talk hemp, not THC.

“The Copyright Act gives the author of a sound recording (say, a recording artist) exclusive rights to make reproductions, prepare derivative works, distribute copies to the public, and to perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission. 17 U.S.C. § 114. Making a mix tape may implicate several of these exclusive rights. Putting the mix tape on your website for download would be distribution of the work to the public. A visitor to your blog downloading the file would be another instance of copyright infringement.”

But otherwise, yes, the BitTorrent protocol isn’t illegal.

Still prohibited on most company networks.

It can only be called ‘a black market’ because the RIAA and other lobbying organizations have been successful at framing the exchange of data that way. It’s complete hypocrisy. Those same companies and lobbying groups use material that is in the public domain every day and profit from it, while at the same time they fight to prevent data they have exclusive licenses on from going into the public domain. It’s analogous to the pharmaceutical companies who delay the creation of a generic drug even though it could save lives. Profit motive prevents the media companies from claiming ANY higher ground in this debate.

There are already limits on bandwidth use and people who use the largest volume of traffic online already pay more for it. Net neutrality would protect access to the internet, maintain the freedoms we have now online and prevent further corporate domination of the internet. Any argument claiming net neutrality would restrict any personal access to the network is propaganda straight from the talking points of AT&T.

(And freeways should be illegal, but not because stolen cars can be driven on them – because any travel at that distance should be done on a train.)

However, I think it’s disingenuous to pretend like they’re analogous to mix tapes or any other copying mechanism. P2P / torrent networks (starting with Napster & the like) simply drive up the volume of sharing because the quality is digital (read: perfect copies) and the sharing is done virtually anonymously, and virtually for free. Just because the black market is easy to get to and use doesn’t mean it’s not a black market.

Also, the notion that torrents are more “popular” than web browsing is based on sheer network volume – of course sharing movie files will result in greater bandwidth than comparably svelte web pages. In point of fact it provides a good reason why network neutrality is a bad idea, since the number of people using torrent networks for “large volume” transactions are ultimately smaller than those who want the convenience of a faster www.

The real issue I see is keeping the wireless devices from walking away in a lab environment. For that reason alone, I’ll still spec machines with the wired keyboard and mouse.

In the world of Web 2.0, a public sheds the chains of a tightly-controled mass media market in which individuals are converted into the “consumers” needed to purchase mass produced goods and services. In its stead, that public gets a loosly-controlled micro media market, in which individuals are converted into the “users” needed to create databases for sale to Google or Yahoo! or News Corp for $35 a head. But now the market outsources manufacture to those very “users.” The workers may have had nothing to lose but their chains, but the users are lining up to link their own together. It’s the new fashion; chains are the new black.

It’s the huge, dark underbelly of the Web 2.0 phenomenon.

Sidenote: Why isn’t Gregory posting (or reposting) that blog entry on the Commons?!!!

Don Montalvo
Dallas, TX