Yep. I’ll throw myself on this grenade. No problem. Let me say at the outset that anyone who wants to bring up the RIAA lawsuits of the aughts in context to this post can just stifle the instinct because you’re being silly. You might as well say your scorecard on American civil liberties stops with the Trail of Tears. Let’s talk reality in 2013, shall we? Reality as in 20 million links to illegal songs sent to Google under the DMCA, inspiring Brad Buckles of the RIAA reasonably to ask in this post, ‘Is this how it’s supposed to work? And those 20 million notices do precisely nothing to stem the flood of illegal downloading that has unquestionably had a disastrous effect across the recording industry.
Buckles writes:
“We are using a bucket to deal with an ocean of illegal downloading. Under a controversial interpretation by search engines, takedown notices must be directed at specific links to specific sound recordings and do nothing to stop the same files from being reposted as fast as they are removed.”
The post is very fair-minded in its request for a rational review of DMCA, and Buckles is clear to point out that he seeks collaboration with Google and other internet companies in addressing the flaws in notice and takedown provision. There is a world of difference between actual innovation, and mass exploitation of honest work, and if Google & Friends really can’t tell the difference we better ask as a society how much of the future we want them to own. The question is whether or not we’ll see any good-faith effort on the part of internet industry leaders in this regard, or will the conversation remain mired in ambiguous theories about “new business models” and “how the entertainment industries have to adapt?” There is no industry on earth that can adapt to being continuously hijacked.
