Jewish World Review Oct. 15, 2003 / 19 Tishrei, 5764

Ian Shoales

Ian Shoales
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Subpoena as business model


http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | The recording industry's not-desperate-in-any-way decision to sue over two hundred people for downloading music strikes me as curious. Punishing people for not buying your product seems an odd business model. If I snag a stray grape or two in the produce aisle, my grocery store doesn't sic lawyers on me.

CD sales are dropping, however, and filesharing takes the brunt of the blame. I would venture to suggest there are other factors here. We can now make our own CDs at home, for example, so many of us now realize how much the record companies have jacked up the price of their flimsy little disks. This fosters resentment. Also: not to put to fine a point on it, music really sucks right now. Nobody wants to spend money on it. And the music we do like isn't being recorded by the record industry, or played on the radio. So we go looking for it on the Internet.

Now, sure, artists should be recognized and paid for their efforts, not to mention getting credit for what they create. Increasingly, however, artists are getting the short end of the money stick.

In addition to getting ripped off be record companies, they are getting ripped off by their so-called fans. Internet users seem to believe, as a rule, that whatever is on the Internet should be free, unfettered, decentralized, available to everybody, unfiltered, raw. The record industry says, "Mine. Mine. Mine." The webbies say, "Ours ours ours." And never the twain shall meet.

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Well, I hate to break it to you, but if musicians don't make money on their records, they're going to stop making them. You're going to run out of files to share. This might mean a return to pianos in the parlor, singalongs, or even simple humming at the sink for our entertainment needs. Bring back the gramophone, I say.

On the other hand, the record industry might win this fight, and the concept of getting money out of consumers by suing them for not consuming could catch on. Look at the court decision to unblock the block on unwelcome phone calls. The No Call list is a no-show. Yes, in another great victory for free speech, telemarketers can still call us any time they want to. Perhaps soon, if we don't pick up the phone, they can sue us for ignoring them.

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JWR contributor Ian Shoales is the author of, among others, Not Wet Yet: An Anthology of Commentary. Comment by clicking here.

Up

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© 2003, Ian Shoales