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The evolution of media sharing.
4 min read
Once upon a time, there existed a curious object, a rectangular box topped with a horn, that, when prompted, exuded such a sound that audiences surrounding were forever enraptured. Audiences from throughout the neighborhood gathered around these magnificent phonographs to enjoy music and audio sketches.
Several years after this object was introduced to the world, another item of mass media was developed, a product that enabled listeners across the country to hear a sound the moment it was produced. This led to many afternoons of families and friends enjoying the experience of talk shows and music together.
Much later were introduced small rectangular instruments, no larger than a deck of cards. Like a record, when inserted into a certain machine, these items created music wondrous to the ear (most of the time). Friends and family members cheerfully shared these contraptions with each other so that all could appreciate the joys of the music these tapes recorded.
Eventually came the age of the computer, when tapes were replaced with the discs known as CDs. CDs served the same use as tapes, but they could be burned to computers. Friends and family members cheerfully shared CDs, saving them to their respective computers for maximum enjoyment.
Then came the age of the Internet, where family and friends were encouraged to lounge in front of their individual computers, enjoying music individually. Music was not obtained at a record store anymore; instead, companies such as iTunes and Amazon sold music digitally, so no CDs were required. Consumers happily bought the music they wanted, paying for it legally with credit, debit, or gift cards. When they tried to share the music with their friends, however, they ran into a looming wall of copyright restrictions.
"We only want to share this song with our sister, who's in college right now!" the consumers protested as they attempted to email their downloaded songs across the country. The copyright wall frowned at them and wagged its finger, scolding the poor audiences for trying to share their joys.
"But we're not claiming it's our creation! We're only trying to share with our family!" they pleaded, proceeding to upload the songs to video websites whose links they could send to friends and family. "How else are we supposed to share?" Copyright pursed its lips and instructed the video websites to impose stricter uploading guidelines. The consumers found their accounts on those websites disabled, crushed by the copyright wall.
"Don't you realize we're just trying to raise awareness for you?" the consumers shrieked, drowning in the rants and ramblings of scrambling politicians begging to be involved in the wall's battle against consumers. "You don't expect us to buy clothing without trying it on first, do you?!" The copyright wall tapped its fingers on its desk for a moment before slamming its hand down.
"SOPA!" it cried, striking the final blow to consumers and the music industry as they knew it.
This also applies to movies, television shows, and whatever else the government is censoring nowadays.
People have been sharing their music and movies since the invention of home entertainment. They've been sneaking into movie theaters, copying CDs, holding movie nights. How thin is the line between this and online piracy? It is all media sharing; the only difference, which copyright law addresses, is that the media is shared massively; one person can share a file with a million others, without hyperbole. One cannot even vouch that their intention was only to share with a friend or family member alone; any form of file sharing is demonized.
There has always been such a thing as pirating media - making copies of a work and distributing them for personal profit. With the digital age, making those copies has become even easier, but the media companies are not keeping up. In order to prevent individual people from profiting from mass media (which, by the way, still earns millions and billions of dollars annually), the music, movie, and gaming industries must amend their practices and learn how to benefit from online file sharing, instead of trying to stop it. Put advertisements on shared files. Encourage consumers to buy the products they are viewing. This online piracy is simply a natural development of the industry, following developments in technology.
There was once a time when sharing media was legal. What happened to it?
(Also, be warned: making books digital is a surefire way of bringing authors into the mess that artists, filmmakers, game developers, actors, and musicians are already in.)
Several years after this object was introduced to the world, another item of mass media was developed, a product that enabled listeners across the country to hear a sound the moment it was produced. This led to many afternoons of families and friends enjoying the experience of talk shows and music together.
Much later were introduced small rectangular instruments, no larger than a deck of cards. Like a record, when inserted into a certain machine, these items created music wondrous to the ear (most of the time). Friends and family members cheerfully shared these contraptions with each other so that all could appreciate the joys of the music these tapes recorded.
Eventually came the age of the computer, when tapes were replaced with the discs known as CDs. CDs served the same use as tapes, but they could be burned to computers. Friends and family members cheerfully shared CDs, saving them to their respective computers for maximum enjoyment.
Then came the age of the Internet, where family and friends were encouraged to lounge in front of their individual computers, enjoying music individually. Music was not obtained at a record store anymore; instead, companies such as iTunes and Amazon sold music digitally, so no CDs were required. Consumers happily bought the music they wanted, paying for it legally with credit, debit, or gift cards. When they tried to share the music with their friends, however, they ran into a looming wall of copyright restrictions.
"We only want to share this song with our sister, who's in college right now!" the consumers protested as they attempted to email their downloaded songs across the country. The copyright wall frowned at them and wagged its finger, scolding the poor audiences for trying to share their joys.
"But we're not claiming it's our creation! We're only trying to share with our family!" they pleaded, proceeding to upload the songs to video websites whose links they could send to friends and family. "How else are we supposed to share?" Copyright pursed its lips and instructed the video websites to impose stricter uploading guidelines. The consumers found their accounts on those websites disabled, crushed by the copyright wall.
"Don't you realize we're just trying to raise awareness for you?" the consumers shrieked, drowning in the rants and ramblings of scrambling politicians begging to be involved in the wall's battle against consumers. "You don't expect us to buy clothing without trying it on first, do you?!" The copyright wall tapped its fingers on its desk for a moment before slamming its hand down.
"SOPA!" it cried, striking the final blow to consumers and the music industry as they knew it.
This also applies to movies, television shows, and whatever else the government is censoring nowadays.
People have been sharing their music and movies since the invention of home entertainment. They've been sneaking into movie theaters, copying CDs, holding movie nights. How thin is the line between this and online piracy? It is all media sharing; the only difference, which copyright law addresses, is that the media is shared massively; one person can share a file with a million others, without hyperbole. One cannot even vouch that their intention was only to share with a friend or family member alone; any form of file sharing is demonized.
There has always been such a thing as pirating media - making copies of a work and distributing them for personal profit. With the digital age, making those copies has become even easier, but the media companies are not keeping up. In order to prevent individual people from profiting from mass media (which, by the way, still earns millions and billions of dollars annually), the music, movie, and gaming industries must amend their practices and learn how to benefit from online file sharing, instead of trying to stop it. Put advertisements on shared files. Encourage consumers to buy the products they are viewing. This online piracy is simply a natural development of the industry, following developments in technology.
There was once a time when sharing media was legal. What happened to it?
(Also, be warned: making books digital is a surefire way of bringing authors into the mess that artists, filmmakers, game developers, actors, and musicians are already in.)
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I wonder if...
1 min read
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Merry Christmas!
1 min read
Merry Christmas!
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Today is my birthday.
3 min read
No, really. It is. Unlike the people in my Calculus class, I don't lie about that sort of thing for any reason.
My mom said she's holding my presents for Christmas though -.-
So anyway, I have some updates. Last week I discovered that I was accepted to Susquehanna University in PA (my first choice), and I received the Valedictorian/Salutatorian yearly scholarship. As I can't possibly pay for the full price of admission, this is very good. However, I would still need to fork up about $25,000 minus whatever financial aid I qualify for.
I'm still waiting to hear from Princeton University. If I am accepted there, I won't know what to choose come May.
I have about 6 scholarships to apply for within the next few months. In addition, I have a 10 page Psychology paper (on Nonverbal Communication) due before winter break, and I REALLY need to get my head in the game in AP European History. My stress level is very high
(still). Senior year was supposed to be the easy one!
On the bright side, the Robotics Team finally started its Flamingo Flocking fundraiser, and performed the first set of Flockings today! Yay!
So far we have made a considerable income, and if this fundraiser lasts as long as we hope it will, it will be invaluable to our success in this year's competition!
Finally, something good for the team is getting done.
Got to say, I love this t-shirt but I'm questioning whether to buy it or not, because I've been buying many many many things from this website and I already have enough clothes. But it's so cute. Harry Potter and Phantom and the Cheshire Cat and the Tin Man and a Musketeer AND Winnie the Pooh AND Hamlet AND Red Riding Hood AND Pippi Longstocking AND Frankenstein AND Sherlock Holmes AND...
I can't wait to go to work and see my kids again. I just love them more and more, the longer I work there. I don't know what I'll do when "Johnny" goes to Kindergarten.
I should be doing AP Euro homework now, and researching for my Psych paper, and oh yeah I have an English presentation to do too. So I'll stop ranting to those of you who might or might not be reading this, and who might or might not have gotten bored with my self-absorbed rant.
Bye!
is so cute by the way!
My mom said she's holding my presents for Christmas though -.-
So anyway, I have some updates. Last week I discovered that I was accepted to Susquehanna University in PA (my first choice), and I received the Valedictorian/Salutatorian yearly scholarship. As I can't possibly pay for the full price of admission, this is very good. However, I would still need to fork up about $25,000 minus whatever financial aid I qualify for.
I'm still waiting to hear from Princeton University. If I am accepted there, I won't know what to choose come May.
I have about 6 scholarships to apply for within the next few months. In addition, I have a 10 page Psychology paper (on Nonverbal Communication) due before winter break, and I REALLY need to get my head in the game in AP European History. My stress level is very high
(still). Senior year was supposed to be the easy one! On the bright side, the Robotics Team finally started its Flamingo Flocking fundraiser, and performed the first set of Flockings today! Yay!
So far we have made a considerable income, and if this fundraiser lasts as long as we hope it will, it will be invaluable to our success in this year's competition!Finally, something good for the team is getting done.
Got to say, I love this t-shirt but I'm questioning whether to buy it or not, because I've been buying many many many things from this website and I already have enough clothes. But it's so cute. Harry Potter and Phantom and the Cheshire Cat and the Tin Man and a Musketeer AND Winnie the Pooh AND Hamlet AND Red Riding Hood AND Pippi Longstocking AND Frankenstein AND Sherlock Holmes AND...
I can't wait to go to work and see my kids again. I just love them more and more, the longer I work there. I don't know what I'll do when "Johnny" goes to Kindergarten.
I should be doing AP Euro homework now, and researching for my Psych paper, and oh yeah I have an English presentation to do too. So I'll stop ranting to those of you who might or might not be reading this, and who might or might not have gotten bored with my self-absorbed rant.
Bye!
is so cute by the way!
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Underage Tomfoolery (ctd.)
1 min read
scribo-per-potestas.deviantart…
He did it again.
Yesterday.
I love him.
[By the way, I got my SAT scores back. 2190. I was hoping to break 2200, but [*sigh*] what can you do?)
Also, I think my new favorite animal is the fox. So cute ♥
He did it again.
Yesterday.
I love him.
[By the way, I got my SAT scores back. 2190. I was hoping to break 2200, but [*sigh*] what can you do?)
Also, I think my new favorite animal is the fox. So cute ♥
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