January 19, 2012
The NYT’s truth vigilante was apparently sleeping when the paper printed without comment the Motion Picture Industry’s claim that the country lost 100,000 jobs due to on-line “piracy.” The truth vigilante would have pointed out that the money that consumers do not spend paying for copyright-protected work is available to be spent in other areas. The payments for copyright protected items have the same effect on the economy as a tax, they pull money out of the economy. While some of this may end up supporting more creative work, it is likely that most would simply end up as greater profits for the industry and larger royalty checks for a small number of highly paid performers.
By contrast, the requirements of the Stop On-Line Piracy Act are a good example of “job-killing” government regulation. They would impose additional costs on intermediaries which would be passed on to consumers and slow technological progress.
It is incorrect to use the term “piracy” in this discussion, even though the entertainment industry has paid lots of money to get it accepted. The items in question may not be in violation of the law in the countries where they are posted. In that case, the posting cannot properly be termed “piracy.” It would be more accurate to use the neutral term “unauthorized copy.”
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