Single mother fined $2.4 million for ‘pirating’ 24 songs
Jammie Thomas-Rasset fined $2.4 million for pirating 24 songs in RIAA Kazaa case
This is a clear example of rent seeking caused by state provision of intellectual property. I think those record companies are just using state provision of IP to try and hold on to their profit margins without actually doing innovative work to provide a service for their customers. Notice how the technology for creating music and producing the actual CD has become so much cheaper and more accessible over the last 10-15 years, but the prices haven’t dropped that much? That’s because the state grants monopoly protections to these record companies. It has the effect of restricting competition in the business, so that these record companies and associations have free rein to go and bully people. The legal system is set up in such a way that it is very expensive, which once again favours these corporations at the expense of average people.
A much better way to conduct business is where the company/artist tries to actually connect with the consumer and give them a reason to want to pay for a product. Look at Trent Reznor for example, the case study link is actually a very interesting video, I highly recommend watching it.
Michael Masnick The Trent Reznor case study
Trent Reznor To Fans: “Steal, Steal and Steal Some More”
Even if you do accept (I personally don’t) that Intellectual property is a valid form of property right, how is a fine of $2.4 million justified for ’stealing’ items that would sell in the store for about $50?
2 Comments »
Leave a comment
-
Archives
- October 2009 (16)
- September 2009 (10)
- August 2009 (2)
- July 2009 (14)
- June 2009 (2)
- April 2009 (6)
- March 2009 (5)
- January 2009 (5)
- December 2008 (3)
- November 2008 (3)
- October 2008 (7)
- September 2008 (2)
-
Categories
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
Good point in the last sentence. Movies are illegally pirated & sold overseas all the time, & I doubt that the punishments are that steep.
Intellectual property has long been a gray area. If it’s illeagal it’s illeagal & that’s all there is to it. But like any other law it’s completely wrong to enforce it by imposing such excessive fines. The punishment is obviously being used to send an example to the rest of America. Yet that’s not the purpose of punishments in free countries – just imagine if that was the purpose of punishments.
One point on the price of CD’s however is that the hard materials have a negligible effect on price. It’s more tied to demand for the CD. That’s why older CD’s are cheaper (eg, classic rock), particularly if the copyright’s expired (eg, classical music).
Comment by kerrjac | June 21, 2009 |
Kerrjac, my point is that the price of CDs remains higher than what they would otherwise be thanks to the government entrenching current players in the recording industry (via IP)
And its not just about the hard materials for CDs, the technology for audio production and so on, all that has become a lot cheaper and easier to do in recent years. People can buy equipment and have home studios, and promote themselves online via sites like youtube etc.
Comment by Stephan | June 21, 2009 |