Let the kids have their piracy

ModernLifeIsRubbish

Like tristan, I think Lanier's ideas, while well informed, eventually shows itself to be and expression of personal remorse to a system and ideology he embraced in his youth.

Whether he's right or not, he's wrong. This is because his vision for a larger ecosystem where all content was available as it is now but at affordable price is, along with being frought with enough logistical pitfalls to kill the idea before it even beings, against the very mindset that people go into the internet with.

If anything, I find that people are more cheap and more lazy on the internet than they would be in a real world iteration.

Many people looking for something online will frantically hit "back" on their broswers if they even discover that they have to register to a website to obtain what they want.

One thing that the internet has done well is embracing the monetized value of information. People are much more likely to part with their email addresses than 5$.

Want to download iTunes? All it will cost you is your email address.

Additionally I really don't agree that the internet has negatively affected artists and writers in that their content is essentially forcibly made free.

For example, a guy created a blog in early january of this year, entirely about stuff that white people like. He makes clever and humorous posts, it gets dug, facebooked and stumbledupon. Now he's got a book deal with Random House worth over 300 000.

What artists lose from the internet is the ability to directly charge money for their art. What they gain is publicity and the ability to reach a global audience, to me its an obvious choice.

Stuff White people like #93 Music Piracy

"White people have always been renowned for having ridiculously large music collections. So when file sharing gave white people a chance to acquire all the music they ever wanted, it felt as though it was an earned right and not a privilege.

When (not if) you see a white male with a full iPod, ask him if all of his music is legal. If he does not immediately launch into a diatribe about his right to pirate music, you might have to nudge him a bit by saying “do you think that’s right?” The response will be immediate and uniform"