Monday, February 12, 2007

Piracy and Freedom

The Blog | John Fanning: All Sound Recordings Should be Free | The Huffington Post:

"Steve Jobs is right: music should be free. All sound recordings should be free...

Another great institution, American movies, faces the same challenge. Sadly, they are doing no better. I have personally tried hard to license the messages of Jon Stewart from the Daily Show, Star Wars by George Lucas, and most of the other formal studio content--all with little luck. If you're interested in true irony, try licensing Steve Jobs's content from Disney. Let's just say it was much easier for the Boston Red Sox to win the World Series. The task of licensing content in America today is insurmountable, and requiring it will kill the very industries demanding it.

While Google makes Jon Stewart's messages available, Senator Diane Feinstein of California calls for a revocation of consumers' rights to time-shift. Are the 100s of millions of Americans using Google and the Internet still criminals, Senator? I think not. Our great industries--music, movies, technology--are depending on you to understand and evolve. It would seem that our Founding Fathers understood that well ahead of their time. The time for statutory licensing is here, and the message is clear. I only hope that one voice lost on the Internet can be heard again."

Great. I've finally found something on which Steve Jobs and I agree.

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