In the last week or so there’s been a lot of internet buzz about SOPA and it’s various incarnations throughout the world. The issue of copyright infringement and how it can be dealt with by the courts and copyright owners seems to crop up every so often or at least get brought out into the open. While copyright infringement is black and white, that if you download something copyrighted without paying for it or if its not offered for free then yes you have broken the law and thats under current Irish law with no new powers or enforcement capabilities. My only problem with this whole ordeal about legislating in new powers for copyright holders is that it is the aptly named “Content Mafia” that are doing all the lobbying for these new powers.
In my own humble opinion it is these companies clinging to an archaic business model that is causing all the problems. The recording and movie industry believes that once they stop illegal downloading then the slump in physical media sales will stop. This is untrue and naive of them, the way people specifically the under 35 bracket experience media has changed. No longer are people tied to what the tv guide or movie shop has to offer. There is on demand content, you can rent the latest movies from iTunes from the comfort of your living room and never have the problem of all rental copies being rented. In truth the media industry does not have to innovate. Among my peers we have no problem paying for content provided we have a decent service that doesn’t have a time lag between the US and Europe for TV shows and at a reasonable price. If services such as hulu or the iTunes american store were available in Europe than there would be no need for the majority of people to download. It would also be the most effective way of tackling the problem and would eliminate the majority of piracy.
In short we do not need all these legislations and acts to combat piracy, all thats needed is a viable alternative.
