Interesting Tim O'Reilly article.

From: Wayne M. Smith <wmsmith_at_earthlink.net>
Date: Fri Dec 13 23:27:42 2002

> Wayne M. Smith wrote:
> > I understood his point, but I don't agree that the studios/record
> > companies are obligated to do anything or face having their content
> > stolen.
>
> It's of course true that they have no legal or moral obligation to change
> their business practices to avoid having their content copied without
> authorization (*) (**). However, as a purely practical matter, it may
> well be the case that the record companies DO need to change their
> business model.
>
> Record companies are becoming increasingly irrelevant because it is now
> possible for bands to market their product directly; the middleman
> function provided by the record company offers substantially less value
> now than in the past. If you combine this with the idea that they may be
> losing money to unauthorized copying (***), and that it is unlikely
> that law enforcement can prevent unauthorized copying by individuals
> (as opposed to large-scale unauthorized copying as a commercial venture),
> it's pretty clear that simply relying on the legal system to prop up
> their business model is not a viable option.
>
> Eric
>
You're right. The record companies have been very slow to adopt new
distribution platforms, and for this they should be roundly criticized (but not
stolen from). DVD Audio is a good example of a largely unexploited medium, with
thus far an uncracked encryption scheme.
Received on Fri Dec 13 2002 - 23:27:42 GMT