The internet in the past few days has been shaken up by websites such as Wikipedia blacking out their whole website in protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protecting Intellectual Property Act.
It has been reported in media, that major opponents of these acts believe that while the intentions of these acts may appear reasonable, they deplore what the acts might actually achieve – dramatically slowing and ultimately destroying online businesses in these harsh economic times.
From my point of view, imagine the lack of entertainment we would have if online piracy did not exist. Our lives would be bereft of so much enrichment. All the songs I would never hear, all the movies I would never watch (even though I hardly watch any). What impact would this have on society? I imagine we would most likely be back in the 60′s, where people would play tiggy and have tea parties.
It is companies like Apple who try and save the entertainment industry, and sell their content as though it’s a grocery. A necessity. Yet this is not enough; Hollywood is still losing money.
While I am a great fan of intellectual property, and believe that everything should be done to protect it, this is the future – sharing entertainment to spark further innovation. Sure, people are losing money – but maybe they shouldn’t be earning more money if they are anchored in their systems and models and unwilling to progress with the ever changing nature of reality. They just have to find ways to sell it better.
