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Who's the Real Criminal Here? (And Blair's "morality")
Posted on: Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Hm... - Blair said that peace in the Middle East must now be the international community's "highest priority." And why is that, Blair? I mean, hey, I crave peace in the Middle East as much as the next least bit sensible person but I think areas where dozens, even hundreds, of people die daily thru war or hunger are SLIGHTLY more important than the Middle East, don't you? I suggest Blair may start with Iraq where his illegal aggression means dozens of people are killed DAILY by HIS OWN FORCES or by each other. Or there is Chechniya where Russian forces are still on a murderous/raping/pillaging rampage, for the eighth year running. Need one mention places like Sudan, Zimbabwe, Mauritania or Sierra Leone? But hey, this comes from a "man" who flagrantly lied about the reasons for illegally invading and destabilizing Iraq and who doesn't have the decency to even apologize for the "mistake." Yet again you've proved it, Blair: you're a schnook. And that's putting it very mildly.
One piece of news caught my eye last week (apart from Arafat's timely demise
). Reportedly, the movie industry will launch its own war (following in the footsteps of the music industry) on "pirates", that is to say, individuals who exchange movies online. I've been rather equanimous vis-a-vis all this hysteria about software, music and now movie "piracy" but this has really pissed me off now. Why?
These inane nabobs are thinking about nothing except short-term profit. They don't realize that this kind of tactic will blow in their face... - DOUBLY! First of all, the vast majority of people getting "illegal" software, downloading mp3s or exchanging movies do it because they cannot afford the "legitimate" thing, not because they're too lazy to take their ass to the local music store or because they are some type of "natural criminals." Therefore, if these individuals won't be able to get their stuff online "illegally", it certainly doesn't follow they'll buy it instead. Instead, the vast majority very probably will not. But that's just the short-term effect. The second thing--long-term scenario--is even worse; not just for the companies concerned but for the whole world in terms of culture, language and computer literacy.
Firstly, people who won't be able to afford eg. the Windows OS or MS Office and who won't be able to obtain "pirate" copies, will simply switch to Linux and Open Office in lieu. Those who won't be able to pay EUR 25 for a movie DVD will simply wait for it to be released and rent it. Those who won't want to pay EUR 15 for a CD will find other ways to satisfy their musical cravings: from switching to an "open source" artist, to recording the song when it's played on TV, to swapping CDs with their friends. The possibilities are endless. What's the problem here though? Well, if users get accustomed to Open Office from the early stages of their computing experience, then they will be very unlikely to want to switch to MS Office when they WILL be able to afford to buy it. There goes Microsoft's revenue! Then, what's the best form of advertizing? Why, the word of mouth. And what do you think people who were forced to use Open Office are going to recommend to their family, friends, companies, etc? Not MS Office, that's for sure. That's more revenue lost. Actually, *foregone* as opposed to lost. Of course, it COULD happen that people in less developed societies end up using neither program on a private basis at all which is, naturally, going to negatively impact on their level of computer literacy. Not good. With music and movies it's not IT dexterity that will suffer but the American/"western" culture whose spread would be compromised. While that may sound like a salutary prospect, it actually has a potential to seriously impede the process of globalization. To me, being a humanist, that would not be an advantageous turn of events.
Personally, even though I can afford it, I would not IN A MILLION YEARS spend EUR 150/- on MS Office (Basic) to write up a few pages of text, shake around some spreadsheets or knock up a presentation. EUR 150/- is about two weeks' pay for an average European student with a part-time job. In other parts of the world, an average person has to work half a year to earn that much. And MS expects such people to part with that obscene amount of money for a fancy text editor, spreadsheets and a presentations creator?! Get real!! ... Or take a CD. Spend two hours' wages for a dozen songs of which maybe three are any good which you'll listen to for a couple of months and then move on to something new. How about a movie DVD? Three hours' worth of salary for a two hour movie which you'll watch a couple of times and then relegate it to a shelf and watch it again maybe once in six months if even that. Risible. If these bullies think that victimizing several thousand people--who are, by and large, students who make no profit from their "piracy"--will save or increase their profits, then they're dreaming. The bottom line is: the software companies, record companies and movie companies who charge ten times the real worth for their products are the real criminals, not people trying to defend themselves from this daylight and legal robbery.
Shalom aleichem!
Posted on: Tuesday, November 16, 2004
ב''ה
Hm... - Blair said that peace in the Middle East must now be the international community's "highest priority." And why is that, Blair? I mean, hey, I crave peace in the Middle East as much as the next least bit sensible person but I think areas where dozens, even hundreds, of people die daily thru war or hunger are SLIGHTLY more important than the Middle East, don't you? I suggest Blair may start with Iraq where his illegal aggression means dozens of people are killed DAILY by HIS OWN FORCES or by each other. Or there is Chechniya where Russian forces are still on a murderous/raping/pillaging rampage, for the eighth year running. Need one mention places like Sudan, Zimbabwe, Mauritania or Sierra Leone? But hey, this comes from a "man" who flagrantly lied about the reasons for illegally invading and destabilizing Iraq and who doesn't have the decency to even apologize for the "mistake." Yet again you've proved it, Blair: you're a schnook. And that's putting it very mildly.
One piece of news caught my eye last week (apart from Arafat's timely demise
). Reportedly, the movie industry will launch its own war (following in the footsteps of the music industry) on "pirates", that is to say, individuals who exchange movies online. I've been rather equanimous vis-a-vis all this hysteria about software, music and now movie "piracy" but this has really pissed me off now. Why?
These inane nabobs are thinking about nothing except short-term profit. They don't realize that this kind of tactic will blow in their face... - DOUBLY! First of all, the vast majority of people getting "illegal" software, downloading mp3s or exchanging movies do it because they cannot afford the "legitimate" thing, not because they're too lazy to take their ass to the local music store or because they are some type of "natural criminals." Therefore, if these individuals won't be able to get their stuff online "illegally", it certainly doesn't follow they'll buy it instead. Instead, the vast majority very probably will not. But that's just the short-term effect. The second thing--long-term scenario--is even worse; not just for the companies concerned but for the whole world in terms of culture, language and computer literacy.
Firstly, people who won't be able to afford eg. the Windows OS or MS Office and who won't be able to obtain "pirate" copies, will simply switch to Linux and Open Office in lieu. Those who won't be able to pay EUR 25 for a movie DVD will simply wait for it to be released and rent it. Those who won't want to pay EUR 15 for a CD will find other ways to satisfy their musical cravings: from switching to an "open source" artist, to recording the song when it's played on TV, to swapping CDs with their friends. The possibilities are endless. What's the problem here though? Well, if users get accustomed to Open Office from the early stages of their computing experience, then they will be very unlikely to want to switch to MS Office when they WILL be able to afford to buy it. There goes Microsoft's revenue! Then, what's the best form of advertizing? Why, the word of mouth. And what do you think people who were forced to use Open Office are going to recommend to their family, friends, companies, etc? Not MS Office, that's for sure. That's more revenue lost. Actually, *foregone* as opposed to lost. Of course, it COULD happen that people in less developed societies end up using neither program on a private basis at all which is, naturally, going to negatively impact on their level of computer literacy. Not good. With music and movies it's not IT dexterity that will suffer but the American/"western" culture whose spread would be compromised. While that may sound like a salutary prospect, it actually has a potential to seriously impede the process of globalization. To me, being a humanist, that would not be an advantageous turn of events.
Personally, even though I can afford it, I would not IN A MILLION YEARS spend EUR 150/- on MS Office (Basic) to write up a few pages of text, shake around some spreadsheets or knock up a presentation. EUR 150/- is about two weeks' pay for an average European student with a part-time job. In other parts of the world, an average person has to work half a year to earn that much. And MS expects such people to part with that obscene amount of money for a fancy text editor, spreadsheets and a presentations creator?! Get real!! ... Or take a CD. Spend two hours' wages for a dozen songs of which maybe three are any good which you'll listen to for a couple of months and then move on to something new. How about a movie DVD? Three hours' worth of salary for a two hour movie which you'll watch a couple of times and then relegate it to a shelf and watch it again maybe once in six months if even that. Risible. If these bullies think that victimizing several thousand people--who are, by and large, students who make no profit from their "piracy"--will save or increase their profits, then they're dreaming. The bottom line is: the software companies, record companies and movie companies who charge ten times the real worth for their products are the real criminals, not people trying to defend themselves from this daylight and legal robbery.
Shalom aleichem!
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