Taipanway’s Weblog

There are sites like allofmp3.com for music and the equivalent for movies, video games, etc..    These are not P2P companies dealing with US copyright issues.  There are pirates hiding behind uncooperative governments.  Allofmp3.com’s servers are in

Russia

and when

Russia

was asked to turn them off, they ‘politely’ said no.  This in itself is a problem.

American companies are playing by rules that flat out do not exist for other participants in the global economy.  But there maybe a more salacious path that we have to worry about.  One of the principles of 9/11 was the destruction of our economy, the western economy.  Hitting the Towers was both a symbolic and physical assault on our economy. 

America

, by far, is the largest producer of ‘quality’ entertainment content” movies, video games, music, TV, - all of it.

What is stopping terrorists – either independent, state sponsored, or Al Quaida, from building a business to fund their operations & SIGNIFICANTLY hurting our economy.  I could argue that allofmp3.com is better then anything that the western economy has produced.  It is cheaper, available in any file formats, with all content available.  The problem is we are playing by the rules – they are not.  A lack of rules with a singular focus on the customer experience will beat iTunes like services anyday.  The only thing missing is business acumen, marketing, advertising, etc..

Imagine a world where rather then going to WallStreetJounral.com, ESPN Zone, (paid content sites) etc.. you go to a destination site called www.allthestuffIwant.com & pay $4.99 and have access to everything.  An immoral company could pay once for all the subscriptions online, spider the sites and pull it all into one destination.  With some good marketing it will be a buzz saw.

This can happen for film, TV, news, music, and any other type of digital content.  Our safety is that our enemies have been living in a self imposed dark ages, but they are catching up.  I believe this is a very real possibility.  The only thing to do is to cover our flank by not pricing ourselves out of the market, continue to innovate and improve, build relationships with our customers, etc.. LEGISLATION, especially that is only enforceable in this country will NOT HELP!

We can not stop

Iran

from going nuclear – can we really stop them from selling the latest Strokes album without permission?

Socialism, socialistic principles & actions are never good for the consumer.

France

’s recent decision is nothing short of socialism.  They are punishing success, punishing an American Company dominating a market.  The concept of capitalism rewards greatness and effort – the controls of government use to deal with monopolistic power should only be used when:

a)     There is a TRUE monopoly

b)       When that monopoly is using its power in a negative way.

Is Apple a monopoly?

Two answers – 1) It is too early to tell.  Digital Media is so early in its lifecycle that today’s monopoly can die tomorrow. 2) Looking at Digital Media in a vacuum, with a 70% market share, Apple could be considered a monopoly.  BUT digital media is a singe digit driver of global recorded music.  Looking at the macro, I don’t see how Apple is a monopoly.  Either way, let’s assume Apple is a Monopoly, are they abusing their power?

Have prices of media from Apple gone up?

Has their portion of revenue gone up?

Is their a lack of innovation?

Is their hardware price/performance worse for the consumer?

The fact is Apple is just outperforming their competitors & single handedly driving the digital world – and for this they are being punished.  Anyone who reads my blog knows I am not a proponent of DRM but interoperability is a choice NOT a legal imperative. A consumer can vote with their wallets and right now the consumer is, by buying from Apple.

This move by

France

could have terrible ramifications to the media world (digital and otherwise).  Forcing interoperability could force Apple (and Others) out of

France

and possibly

Europe

(depending on how the EU countries respond).  Government can not force users to adopt measures that they do not choose for themselves.  Te be clear, I think interoperability is good for the user and based  on this I ensure that my personal media is in MP3.  It is and will be interoperable.  I vote with my wallet and that is my capitalistic right.  Capitalism will answer this debate not politics.  This begets a MAJOR issue that I have been meaning to write about.  I will expand on this in a later blog but I believe, with entertainment content being such a tremendous, export of the

US

, we are exposed to IP piracy to a degree we have not even begin to realize.

The issue in

France

though not on point regarding ‘IP Terrorism’ it does bring to light a new globalized thinking to how this government & its corporate citizenship have to deal with information.  If the courts side too heavily on the copyright owners side, the global effect will be much like what we have seen in online gambling.  Online gambling is illegal in this country – does it mean anyone who wants to gamble online can’t? or are we playing ostrich?  A) depriving ourselves of significant tax dollars B) hurting the legalized gambling industry in this country C) not protecting the citizenship of this country from fraud.

Decisions in the world in general, but specifically in the world of o’s and 1’s, precludes us from thinking locally.  We are about to enter a slippery slope where legislation and poor business strategy will result in foreign governments screwing up the ‘best laid plans’.