Are My Media Rights Going, Going, Gone?

[bluemax]

I'm sure I wasn't the first to build a Home Theatre PC. I'm not the first to carry a multi-media PDA. I'm not the first to buy a portable MP3 player. I have, however, invested a lot of money in all these things. I've never illegally shared files (up or download). All I wanted to do was take the hundreds of CDs and DVDs I own and put them into one convenient package. No one objected to all the media equipment but the media itself takes up way too much space in our tiny livingroom. I still have all those CDs and DVDs but now they're in a box in the basement.

The RIAA and MPAA are buying politicians in the US and Canada (and other countries). Those politicians are pushing through terrible laws, that on the surface seem innocuous, but only serve to take away my media and digital rights. Media companies are putting spyware and malware on my PC just because I want to listen to, or view their product at home. They're doing it in such a way that I don't even have an opportunity to stop it much less clean up afterwards. I don't feel I have any protection or any recourse. Do I have to go back to LP records and watching movies on TV. Remember what I said, I don't share my media except to loan the actual disk/tape.

We were supposed to be protected from the things Sony did with their rootkit by the "hacker" portions of the Patriot Act but no one in the Justice Department even whispered concern about it. Now Warner is doing the same thing with DVDs. Sony was the one who fought so hard to allow me to record television shows but now that they have their own media company they've changed their tune. Yet, they still sell DVD burners, CD burners, and VCRs. The RIAA is also talking out of both sides of their mouth. They tell the US Supreme Court it's OK to rip a CD to an iPod but tell eveyrone else it's illegal.

I'm considered a criminal by the RIAA and MPAA and I don't think it's fair. Where can I turn to be heard? I don't have millions of dollars to spend on fancy hotels or restaurants, nor do I have a corporate jet to take politicians and their families on a vacation to the Bahammas.

I see the future. I will have to buy the CD to play at home, buy the media file to play on my mp3 player, buy the media to play in my car, buy the media to play on my computer. Same thing for video; buy the dvd, buy the program to watch on my portable media player, buy it again to watch it at a friends house. I won't be able to record programs and watch them at a later time, I'll have to buy them instead and I will still have to suffer through mind numbing commercials repeated ad naseum any time I try to watch it.

Maybe the luddites are right. Technology is evil. Maybe the only way to get entertainment will be for someone to sit down to play the piano or buy a good book.

I'm asking everyone who reads this - Please send an e-mail or letter to your government representatives. Tell them what concerns you and ask them who they really represent. If they don't respond, call their office and remind them who you are and ask why they haven't taken the time to hear you. Once isn't enough. Remind them repeatedly that you are paying attention and want them to protect your interests. We all have to be as vigilant as the MPAA and RIAA. We need to be heard.

Bill B.

[Jason Dunn]

A very compelling post - I've queued up a front page post about it for tomorrow AM.

You're very correct in how badly things are going, and moreso, that most of us don't know how to do anything about it. I've never contacted a politician about anything in my life...but maybe this will be a first. ;-)

[gdoerr56]

A great post and very on-topic.

I don't really want any new laws or regulations to protect my rights to media that I purchase. What I don't want is laws and regulations to protect the monoplistic and short-sighted media companies.

I do believe in free market systems and that, ultimately, things will work out. What we don't have now, are actual free-market systems as they has been co-opted by a few with regulations and laws that make us criminals when we use what we buy. This is decided not what a free market system is all about.

I would be OK with purchasing the same media, in different formats, for the devices and ways in which I choose listed/watch/use. The key is that THE PRICE HAS TO BE FAIR! If I purchased a CD for $5 and I could only play it on CD players but could not put it on portable devices or my PC. If I pay $20 for it, though, I expect to be able to use it however I want...other that providing the media to others.

The media companies are right now trying to protect a monopolistic position through laws and regulations rather than actually trying to innovate. Eventually someone is going to get it right and stands to make a boatload of money. Who knows, maybe one day one of the current monoplists will get a clue. Until then, we sit in the current no-mans land with 1980's technology, 1950s distribution methods and 1920's business models.

I run a small business myself. We work every day on understanding the business models of our competitors to see if we can develop unique solutions that give us leg up on our competition. We don't view our customers as criminals and instead try to understand how they use the products and services we provide. This way we gain competitive advantage and hopefully grow the business. If we fail in these endeavors, we lose market share and revenue.

The media companies, when faced with declining sales, instead say that their customers are at fault, call them criminals, and lobby for legislation that allows them to restrict our flexibility with the products they sell. I guess that's a lot easier than actually trying to figure out what the customer wants.

The problem with the government is that they actually have less of clue about the market than the media companies. I don't have any great expectations that they care to understand...

[TopDog]

Here in Norway, the consumers' council is actually investigating Apple's iTunes Music Store for breaking our rights in their license agreement.

Consumer interest organizations also managed to change the new copyrights law made by the European Union.

Here's a small post (http://www.gauteweb.net/?p=77) I made on my website. Everybody should in some way make their opinion heard. Even if it's just posting you opinion on a forum or personal website!

[BugDude10]

Bill, you're absolutely right. It's obscene that the media conglomerates can make us, the "lowly" consumers of their product, feel like criminals for trying simply to enjoy their product in the way we see fit, and buying politicians to make their wholly unreasonable restrictions the law of our land.

I recommend that you check out the Electronic Frontier Foundation at http://www.eff.org for information about your rights, the various efforts to restrict (and free-up) your rights, and easy fill-in-the-blank contact forms (that EFF sends for you to your elected representatives). I doubt that the EFF has the $$$ to buy us consumers any protections, but at least you might feel that your voice has been heard.

Just my $0.02.

[bluemax]

Thanks for everyone's interest in this. I appreciate your comments.

I've been a support of the Electronics Frontier Foundation since I first heard about it more than 10 years ago. I appreciate their efforts to keep our interests in front of politicians. I still believe a personal note or message to your representative is going to have more weight than a pile of notes from EFF.

If you don't know how, start here http://www.house.gov/writerep/ and here http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Let them know you are watching their actions and hope they will support your rights.

Bill B