Internet Piracy?

I received the following invitation by email:

PIRATE CINEMA, Vol. I
“Welcome to the Scene”, Pt. 1 - 3
Auditorium, Film Institute, College of Mass-Communication, Plaridel Hall
Thursday, August 18, 2005, 5:30 PM
Introduction: Dr. Tilman Baumgaertel
Every pixel in this screening has been downloaded from the internet for free.

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Sounded intriguing.  So I went.

As I had hoped, Dr. Baumgaertel spoke less about on-line piracy than the culture of sharing that the Internet has fostered.  To prove his point, he played the first episode of “The Scene” — a series of short films about file sharing pirates.  The subject matter of the film is fascinating and for me, exemplifies one of two contradictions I observed during the session.

First, Dr. Baumgaertel highlights the fact that “The Scene” can be downloaded for free and the producers encourage it to be distributed through file sharing communities.  This suggests that the business model of the entertainment industry is threatened because the Internet is a more efficient and cost-effective distribution network.  With the ubiquity of the Internet, who needs to abide by the distribution channels of content providers?  With Hollywood disintermediated, artists can have direct access to their customers and as the cost of producing content decreases, the Net can rival Hollywood’s ability to crank out quality entertainment.  “The Scene” is a perfect example.  It is an engaging film done on a budget. The only thing you see throughout the film is the user’s virtual desktop. 

But I think “The Scene” itself challenges the notion of a bottom-up movement in the creation and distribution of content on the Web.  The movie depicts the real life workings of groups that feed file sharing communities with pirated movies.  Despite the fact that the distribution network is disorganized and linked only by the protocols that run on computers, the fact of the matter is that the pirated content on these networks come from very few sources.  So, that episode of “The Simpsons” you’ve just watched didn’t find its way into Kazaa because some amateur decided to tape it from free TV, convert it to MPEG or other movie format, and upload it for file sharers.  There are organized groups that do this.  Instead of a flat organization, the “business” of on-line piracy looks more like a standard pyramid — with a handful of groups feeding the millions of users with top quality content.  So, despite the belief that the Internet will shift the power to the people, that hasn’t happened.  There’s just been a changing of the guards — not a fundamental change in the power structure.

The second contradictory notion is Dr. Baumgaertel’s opinion that piracy is linked to poverty.  In response to a question posed during the open forum,  he said that in Germany (where I suppose he’s from), there is little piracy and even among the more affluent Chinese, the desire to purchase pirated goods has decreased.  While I don’t discount what he says, the Net and the file sharing communities stand as shining counter-examples to his statement.  In the US where file sharing is very popular, the middle class engage in file sharing.  Certainly, the lawsuits filed by the RIAA bear this out.  They’re not running after indigents but ordinary folks who have the financial werewithal to purchase original CDs.  So, the demand for pirated goods is not necessarily linked to income. In fact, in “The Scene“, the main character is not motivated by money when he places content on-line.  For these people, it’s about bragging rights, credibility and pride. 

I don’t mean to give the impression that the session was riddled with errors.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  I just noticed these contradictions.  In fact, I enjoyed Dr. Baumgaertel’s talk immensely as he shares some of the concerns I have in relation to Intellectual Property Law and creativity.  I also worry that increasing protection might not be the best way to move forward.

I hope Dr. Baumgaertel continues what appears to be a series of talks on the Internet, content creation, sharing, creativity and piracy.  That he is a faculty member at the UP Film Institute is, I think, a good thing.  I hope his talk kicks off a conversation that other sectors in the University should engage in.  I’m referring to the School of Economics, the College of Fine Arts, the Computer Science Department, the College of Law and others.  We should draw them in and see what we can come up with.  Maybe then we can agree on a policy on intellectual property that is rational and serves our country’s interests.

I can dream, can’t I?