The Knacks

Edit: I removed the duplicated "bigger" from my copy of what I sent Mr. Tomlinson.

[Note: This was Tommy Tomlinson's response to my email, that I am posting here to show the continued discussion. As it is not my content, the CreativeCommons License does not apply, and all rights are reserved by Mr. Tomlinson.]

Fritz,

Thanks for the letter. You're right, it's a more complicated issue than I was able to cover in my space today (one advantage of the blogosphere: no word count!).

But the notion that file-sharing doesn't cut into record sales is just nuts. I'd be surprised if that $700 million figure isn't too small by half.

The other factors you mention surely have some impact (although I'm not sure I buy the "lack of quality" argument; I seem to remember records selling pretty well when the biggest band in the country was REO Speedwagon).

But the way you describe file-sharing doesn't square with reality. Yes, maybe you download a track from some band you never heard of, and like it enough that you buy the CD. But it's just as likely (and just as easy) that somebody downloads a track, likes it, then goes onto Kazaa and downloads the band's entire catalog.

You talk about anecdotal evidence. I know people who used to buy two CDs a week who haven't bought any in YEARS, since the beginnings of Napster. I go to some teenager's house for a story and see 100 CDs in the rack, maybe five that he actually bought at the store.

If you just grab a sample of cheese, I'd bet that you're in the minority. Everybody else is breaking down the doors to the factory.

I don't like the way the RIAA does business, either. But any business gets to choose the way it sells its product. If you don't like it, fine, but that doesn't give you a license to take the product and claim the moral high ground.

Sure, I'll get a few more readers today because you put my column on your blog. We put my column on our website for free. The difference is, we sell ads on our site. Because we have to make money. Because that's how I get to keep my job.

Thanks again, Fritz. Write back anytime.

t.

Hi, Tommy--

Thanks for your repsonse. I know it's naive to think that record sales haven't been impacted at all, and there are a growing number of genuine thieves out there, but I also genuinely believe that the folks who sample before buying still outnumber the ones who download wholesale. I don't know if you've used any of the Napster-like systems, but they're frankly a pain in the butt to get a whole CD from. (IRC sharing may be different, but I've never looked at that.) There's a whole army of folks out there who feel as if the entire entertainment industry has declared war on consumers (nee customers), and they're fighting back. The RIAA is just one of the members of that axis of evil.

Other salvos fired by the bad guys include the DeCSS/Regional-encoding nonsense for DVDs, the industry's effective lobbying to essentially dispose of the Constitution's intent for *limited* copyright, making CDs that a consumer can't play in his computer's CD player, the battle against Tivo based on the argument that skipping commercials was also "stealing," the growing number of Digital Rights Management "features" in hardware and software, and the underlying presumption that ripping from CDs a consumer buys to play his own preferred mixes on his own MP3 player when he goes to the gym is "piracy."

The software industry has built its own weapons with the idea that software is not purchased (as a book would be), but rather "licensed," thus creating loopholes disallowing most of the rights allowed under the first sale doctrine, skirting around contract law with click-wrap installations, and eliminating other consumer protections that would have otherwise been there.

It's a war. I don't know who started it, but it didn't have to be this way. It's probably not too late for the entertainment industry (or even Congress) to enact something like the Digital Consumer's Bill of Rights (http://www.digitalconsumer.org/bill.html), but we're fast approaching the point when it will be. The resulting "War on Digital Piracy" will be every bit as effective then as the War on Drugs has been: big money thrown at a problem that simply can't be solved by the approaches being taken. (Quote from the Observer a few weeks ago: "To make laws that man cannot and will not obey, serves to bring all law into contempt." --Elizabeth Cady Stanton)

Anway, I'm glad to know that you're not working in the dark, and given that, I am content to agree to disagree. If you'd like to hear more of the other side, though, I'd be glad to point you toward some resources--and (today, at least, still legally) lend you my own copies of a couple of books on the subject. Hell, put in a plug for me at the Observer, and I'll freelance a series examing all sides of the issue myself. ;-)

Nice talking with you, Tommy, and keep up the good work. If you find yourself planning to be in the University Area, drop me a line and I'll buy you a beer at the Flying Saucer.

Best regards,
Fritz

[Note: This was Tommy Tomlinson's response to my email, that I am posting here to show the continued discussion. As it is not my content, the CreativeCommons License does not apply, and all rights are reserved by Mr. Tomlinson. Received 9/11/2003, just slow to post.] Fritz,

I live up in the University City area too. I've been by the Saucer a couple of times. Nice place.

I'm in total agreement with you on all the ways the recording industry has dumped on the consumer. They're morons. And fighting them on a legal and philosophical level is fine with me. But I don't think most P2P users care about that. They've now come to believe that they're entitled to free music, and they'll continue to figure out ways to get it despite the consequences to the artists.

My favorite argument is that people have to go find new artists on the Net because there's nothing good on the radio. Fine, except 1) there has never been anything good on the radio and 2) it would be fine to go find all this new music as long as, at some point, you PAY FOR IT.

OK. I'll stop ranting. I've enjoyed this discussion. You clearly know the issues much better than I do. I'm glad you wanted to chat. Holler back anytime.

Tommy