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Tim O'Reilly Says Piracy is Progressive Taxation

Posted by chrisd on from the tim-has-a-good-brain dept.

Idmat writes "In Tim's latest opus, he reflects on the lessons of his experience as a publisher: (1) Obscurity is a far greater threat to authors and creative artists than piracy, (2) Piracy is progressive taxation; (3) Customers want to do the right thing, if they can; (4)Shoplifting is a bigger threat than piracy; (5) File sharing networks don't threaten book, music, or film publishing. They threaten existing publishers; (6)"Free" is eventually replaced by a higher-quality paid service; and finally, courtesy of Larry Wall, (7)There's more than one way to do it. "

8 of 497 comments (clear)

  1. Bowie, also... by mirko · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Well, Moby's 18 was lame, thanks to MP3 sharing, I could just avoid this expense. (I erased all since).
    But I agree with your comment.
    Here's a quote from David Bowie :

    Shift Interview with David Bowie by John Turner, Shift, November 1999 - Has the so-called "MP3 revolution" had an impact on you?

    Not even remotely. Revolution? I don't see it like that. It has been coming for a long time. I had a Rio last year! They've been taking my music and bootlegging my shows for ages. I know all the sites that have my bootlegs and all my MP3s. Actually, I don't give a flying fuck. I like the internet and I like the community. I think, to understand your presence on the net, you have to be a part of it and work within it. I thought it just looked so reactionary, for instance, of someone like Prince to clamp down on everything in terms of the lawsuits. You can't stop the sea from coming
    forward.
    --
    Trolling using another account since 2005.
  2. Finally! by sheepab · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Someone who actually understands that other causes, like shoplifting, cost the MPAA/RIAA more money than pirating.

    --


    In college, really poor, need a flatscreen.
  3. its all about 'try before you buy' by hpavc · · Score: 5, Interesting

    screw those music companies if they are going to rip someone off for another cd with only one good song on it. simularly another cd with just a different cover or maybe a 'bonus' song on it. how many $15 disks did i buy that i didnt want once i listened to the damn thing? are there tracks i never finished? sure. nothing i can do about it either

    same thing with games as well ... a nice box or animation on tv isnt enough to make me happy if the game is lame or behind by five years. especially in this world where nobody takes back returned games.

    --
    members are seeing something, your seeing an ad
    1. Re:its all about 'try before you buy' by feed_me_cereal · · Score: 5, Interesting

      same thing with games as well ... a nice box or animation on tv isnt enough to make me happy if the game is lame or behind by five years. especially in this world where nobody takes back returned games and many stores have kiosks for you to try games out on.

      I'm sorry, did they pass a law requiring vendors to allow customers to try products out, at their own expense, before they decide to purchase them? They can do whatever the hell they want, it dosen't give you the right to steal. Besides, you can rent most console games.

      Q: Why can't you return games?
      A: Piracy

      Now how do you suggest we solve this problem? Piracy? How about boycot, it's the only non-hypocritical and effective method, but since it requires sacrifice it's nearly garunteed that most people aren't going to go along with it...

      CD's are overpriced, but you probably don't appreciate the production costs that go into games. Many game companies don't make their money back. It dosen't take a lot of $ to make a music cd, unless the artists are already superstars and demand a high sum, but a team of programmers and graphic artists can be very expensive.

      --
      "Question with boldness even the existence of a god." - Thomas Jefferson
  4. Re:good thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting
    "Artists need to pay their bills..."

    Oh, how I hate that fucking line.

    Let me elaborate on that. How exactly is being a musician any different from being a firefighter or a teacher? Well, lets take the entertainment factor out of it and put them side to side.

    There is a very bad precedent set, which says you will make bajilions of dollars if you become a famous musician. Musicians and actors are 2 of the most overrated bullshit professions in America. I don't buy this argument about how Britney Spears has to pay bills which total 20 million dollars a year, or how Dr Dre has to have 5 mansions in Bahamas (and they still bitch about piracy). That's a simple case of overvaluation.

    I "pirate" lots of music. In fact, I have over 600 Gigs of high quality music ripped and encoded to VBR via LAME encoder. I also own some 300 CDs. Do I still pay for music? The answer is Yes. From small independent labels. I don't feel like supporting Sony exec's crack habit or contributing more money to already fat purse of some of these musicians. I'll be damned if Sony, Universal or BMG ever see another dime from me.

    Buy your music from Projekt, Kranky, Saddle Creek, or Polyvinyl Records to name a few EXCELLENT labels.

    Fuck the mainstream bullshit.

    You're listening RIAA? I AM STEALING YOUR MUSIC, AND THERE ISN'T ANYTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT.
  5. Grateful dead, also by SgtChaireBourne · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The Grateful Dead let fans copy and swap recordings as much as they like. In terms of both popularity and money, they were quite successful. Being heard is the essence of music performace and builds your fan base. The larger the better/profitable.

    --
    Beta is broken and the link to classic doesn't work. Stop wasting our time or there won't be anybody left here.
  6. Re:WRONG!:Piracy is GOOD by BreakWindows · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Robin Hood wasn't real; it's a legend.

    Right, the legend of a character we view as being "heroic". What's your point?

    Morals are not "set by the population".

    Then, how are they set? Why do different nations, states, cities and communities have differing morals? Sounds to me that while it isn't necessarily spoken, the morality is set by the community (or, the population).

    Taxes have nothing to do with theft.

    They're taking my money without my consent. Just because it's legal doesn't mean it's right.

  7. people would pay for convenience by hqm · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I was having a party and wanted to get some new
    music for it the day before. I used Kazaa to
    search and download some christmas songs by
    Louis Armstrong, other older Jazz and Barrelhouse artists, and some contemporary ones.

    I would have been happy to pay around .25 to .50 per song. I wanted them right away, I wanted a big selection, I didn't want to have CD's to change and purchase and discard the packaging.

    I would love to put money in the hands of the artists directly. I contribute to web sites such as dyndns.org , eff, granitecanyon, etc, that provide services, even though it is not required.

    I think the music publishing industry are a bunch of thugs and parasites, by and large, and they have been crushing the smaller and independent
    studios and artists, while calling the public thieves and pirates. They are now petitioning congress to install monitoring in all of our computing equipment.

    People, this HAS TO STOP. Right now we fight back
    through the EFF, and other public interest groups. Give them money and take the time to write to your congress people, before you are thrown in jail by the record companies.