Piracy - Why are consumers hostile to Hollywood?

[David Metzler]

This past month the Caucus hosted a panel discussion on piracy and the impact it is having on content creators and distributors. A list of panelists is here:

http://caucus.org/news/piracypanel.html

Great panel - yet just the tip of the iceberg...big questions for content creators and consumers remain - not the least of which: Can we all just get along?

It's clear that the desire for good music, TV, movies and games remain...but can you still make good money doing it?

[wilshireone]

I read yesterday that there are some congressmen who yelled at the head of Limewire because his product was 'harming national security'...
http://news.com.com/2100-1029_3-6198585.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news
just another example of people who don't understand a technology trying to make new laws and impose restrictions unnecessarily. What's next? Calling in the head of Xerox because their evil machines are helping terrorists photocopy secrets? I would hope we already have enough laws making it clear that you can't duplicate sensitive data...but going after the technology companies misses the whole point doesn't it?

P2P products aren't inherentily 'evil'...they just enable more efficient distribution of information. I use one every day to keep my laptop & office computer in sync. If the music industry had embraced it earlier, they might have found a way to make money with Napster. instead they shut it down, and are now locked into a virtual monopoly with Apple's iTunes. Woops.

[David Metzler]

Google & Youtube just announced video recognition technology will become part of Youtube - and should recognize copyrighted content within a minute or two of being uploaded:

http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/07/27/youtube/index.php?lsrc=mwrss

I'm sure it will take about 3 minutes for truely intent pirates to break through the 'fingerprint' technology - but it should reduce casual uploading of TV clips.

I wonder though - is it going to flag and remove 'fair use' of copyrighted material - like this youtube clip that uses Disney films, A Fair(y) Use Tail:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJn_jC4FNDo

I see the potential for lopsided protection that favors the 'big' guys (networks & studios) and a 'guilty until proven innocent' hurdle for the indepenent producer.

[Greg Strangis]

I wonder though - is it going to flag and remove 'fair use' of copyrighted material - like this youtube clip that uses Disney films, A Fair(y) Use Tail:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJn_jC4FNDo
Totally brilliant. A must see.

I see the potential for lopsided protection that favors the 'big' guys (networks & studios) and a 'guilty until proven innocent' hurdle for the indepenent producer.It's the American way.