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2007
Rapp-Up
It’s
been a tumultuous year in the world of information; the world
is changing so fast and so intractably that it’s hard to keep
up. Here’s what I think are the biggest changes and phenomena:
1) The iPhone: The Internet, your stereo, your TV, and (oh
yeah) your phone in your pocket. Everybody’s been saying this
was coming, and once again it took Steve Jobs to bring it
home. Like Apple’s done before with portable music and the
iPod, the iPhone revolutionizes personal communications in
a package that’s sleek, breathtaking, and lovable. No, I don’t
have one—yet. But friends that do say it’s changed their lives,
and like the ad says, they don’t know how they got along without
it all these years.
2) Voluntary payment for music: I was at the Future of Music
conference this fall, and one of the speakers said, “Let’s
face it, payment for music these days is entirely voluntary.”
And she was pretty much right. Thirty thousand lawsuits by
the music industry against its core customers notwithstanding,
you can find whatever you want for free on the Internet, or
just cop a file from a friend, or, if you’re in a real pinch,
you can buy the damn song. Music wants to be free, and music
gets what it wants. And no amount of huffing, puffing, or
litigating or legislating is going to change that. The era
of Big Music is just about over. And you know what? More music
is being made now than ever before in the history of the human
race. And, like always, some of it is real good.
3) Social networking rules: It’s exploded and it’s here to
stay, one way or the other. Facebook, Bebo, MySpace, LinkedIn,
Twitter, and all the rest have revolutionized how we communicate
with each other. If you’re my age you might not get it. If
you’re half my age you’re going, like “duh!” At NYU this year
they had special orientation classes for incoming freshmen,
teaching them the ins and outs of face-to-face communication.
Everybody already “knew” each other through Facebook, but
nobody was quite sure how to actually talk to one another.
4) You have no privacy: Unless you live in the boonies, most
of your time outside is on camera. If you have a cell-phone
in your pocket, you can be tracked. Unless you’re a geek that
knows something about encryption, most of your online activities
are being stored somewhere by someone you don’t know. And
the government thinks it’s perfectly OK to listen in on your
telephone calls without a warrant, or at least to sweep your
conversations for bad words. And the telephone companies seem
to think it’s OK to help the government do it. Even though
it’s clearly illegal to do so, nobody seems to care! And Congress
looks like it’s gonna grant the phone companies that broke
the laws a get-out-of-jail-free card in the name of, what,
national security or something? And of course, nobody seems
to want to bother with the government’s illegal acts; why,
it would be distracting attention away from other, more pressing
matters, like not reforming health care, or not passing real
environmental legislation. And if you think these privacy
issues are going to get fixed when the Democrats take control
in a year, don’t hold your breath. The Democrats don’t care
about your privacy because privacy issues don’t show up in
the polls, and even if they did, it wouldn’t matter because
we now have a young, entrenched neo-con Supreme Court that
doesn’t give a rat’s ass about you.
5) Activism works: Maybe. A whole lot of activist work went
into getting the FCC to loosen up its LPFM (low-power FM)
radio station rules, against the cries of the huge companies
that didn’t want home-grown competition. Now it looks like
tons of communities will have opportunities to start local
radio stations. If all the frequencies don’t get gobbled up
by Jesused-up whack-job organizations, maybe you (yes you!)
could have your own radio show. Get involved in this, if you
believe in the power of community and fun. It’s worth it on
about six different levels. I am witness to it. Go start a
radio station. And it looks like the same sorts of activists
are putting the breaks on FCC Commissioner Martin’s attempts
to commandeer the ownership rules for mainstream TV and radio
frequencies. The public owns the damn airwaves, and
the Clear Channels of the world are supposed to be the stewards
of the public trust. Do they sound that way to you?
Have a terrific holiday season, and don’t forget to boogie.
—Paul
Rapp
Paul
Rapp is an intellectual-property lawyer with offices in Albany
and Housatonic, Mass. He teaches art-and-entertainment law
at Albany Law School, and regularly appears as part of the
Copyright Forum on WAMC’s Vox Pop. Contact info can
be found at www.paul rapp.com. Comments about this article
can be posted at rapponthis .blogspot.com.
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