Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.
Re: NY Times editorial on Napster & ilk
Author: Dennis Peterson Posted: 6/12/2000; 7:35:03 AM Topic: NY Times editorial on Napster & ilk Msg #: 17735 (In response to 17720) Prev/Next: 17734 / 17736
I'd have to disagree with his final statement, "And nothing will lead to a more deafening cultural silence than ... celebrating the "near-perfect anarchy" of Freenet and Napster running amok." That's the big bugaboo, but musicians and writers and other artists have always done what they do, paid or not, because they are compelled to do it. We might lose the megapop marketing machines, but not the real culture.In fact, excessive copyright concerns have sometimes stifled culture--eg., Paramount cracking down on fan sites. I think we're moving to a culture that is more participatory, more based on people taking existing work and adding to it themselves. More like oral storytelling than mass-produced copyright. Napster, weblogs, and opensource are all part of that trend. It will be harder to make a million bucks being a musician...but easier to collect a lot of good music and distribute your own.
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