Focus: Controlling the internet

The US music industry loses $12.5 billion (Dh45.88 billion) every year because of piracy, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. The Motion Picture Association of America puts its losses at close to $58 billion. And according to the Business Software Alliance, 42 per cent of all software used in the world is pirated — adding up to a total loss of $59 billion to the software industry. Piracy seems to have become the bane of content creators, and to put an end to illegal sharing of content on the internet, a US Representative, Lamar Smith, came up with a proposed Stop Online Piracy Act [SOPA]. Another similar act, called the Protect Intellectual Property Act [PIPA], was being proposed in the US Senate, with similar goals. While the acts were aimed at protecting industries and individuals against illegal sharing of their content, the proposals received strong criticism from online companies and users, with fears that it would bring an end to the internet as we know it today. Following protests from companies like Wikipedia and Google, SOPA has been put on hold and a vote on PIPA has been delayed. In this month’s live debate, Gulf News readers delve into the issue of piracy and if the internet needs to be controlled. Post your thoughts on our Facebook page ‘Gulf News Al Nisr Publishing UAE’ or tell us at readers@gulfnews.com

Legislations like SOPA and PIPA will help curb piracy.

Sarah Abbas
I think the proposal was absurd. No matter what governments try to do, people will always find a way to go around it.

Rayan Al Moghrabi
The thing about such piracy is you can’t stop it easily. It is all about demand and supply — there is a demand for it, so there will be a supply. If not through the internet, it can be through DVDs or CDs.

Bassam Hussain
All governments and people have to understand and recognise that the internet is not just a communication medium; it has become a global cultural phenomenon. So much of our lives now depend on the internet — we do trade, shopping, critical transactions and exchanges on the internet. So, if you want to bring in a SOPA or PIPA just because you are pandering to one industry’s lobbying, then I think it is wrong. I know the entertainment industry is in the billions and trillions, but look at how the industry itself has evolved. There was a time when video cassettes and CDs were popular and a huge number of people just left cinema theatres as it was far more convenient to pick up a VHS tape or a CD and watch it at your convenience, on your sofa set with a bag of popcorn. For many years, cinema theatres struggled to get people in. But then look at what happened during the 1990s and the early 21st century. Movie-making technology changed, cinema projection technology has changed. People now rush back to the theatres for the experience. Look at what is happening with 3D movies. This is just one example from the entertainment industry on how they found a way to get people back in. Similarly, the entertainment industry surely can come up with a solution. Don’t take piracy as the flagpole to bring down the entire internet.

Rayan Al Moghrabi
Exactly. You can’t kill the internet just because it doesn’t fit your business model. With SOPA they thought they could control piracy. But when you try to constrict the internet, people are going to protest. You are not solving one problem, you are creating a much bigger problem. And the reason they are doing it is so that you don’t copy music and movies. But, producers, artists and directors also make money through advertising, promotions — the entire ‘star’ effect.

Bassam Hussain
Let’s take music artistes — if you compare it to the past decades, how they made money was not just through gramophone records or tapes, but it was also through merchandise and live concerts. If you think about it, if you like one particular song, you don’t really have a choice except to buy the entire album. And ultimately, from that album, you would probably end up liking just a few songs. So, obviously the sales and royalties went back to the artists. That’s clearly not happening today — through various websites you can download the song you want. So, they are not getting the profits from album sales, but they are becoming popular on a global scale now. So, you actually look forward to bands going on world tours. Look at how many bands have come in to play in the UAE in the past few years. In the 1980s and 1990s you never heard of it. Look at the amount of money they are making from the ticket sales.

Rayan Al Moghrabi
If an artist is extremely popular, they will get paid a lot of money to be featured in commercials, films and video clips. That’s what makes them the big money. In fact, till this day, even big artistes leak some of their music to make it popular even before the song is out.

What then is the solution to piracy?

Sarah Abbas
In my opinion, shutting down the internet isn’t going to solve anything. It will just make it more difficult for people to do what they are already doing. There can be a temporary solution, but certain individuals will always find a way to go around it.

Bassam Hussain
Yes, as technology improves, there are more loopholes that can be exploited. It has taken so much time for the internet to reach where it is today. There is user-generated content being shared everywhere. And there is a reason for that — people now find their voice on the internet. Don’t try to curb piracy by limiting the global force that the internet has become. Because that is a larger culture that we are living in today.

Rayan Al Moghrabi
The solution could be similar to what happened with cable television. If you remember, earlier cable TV also used to be pirated — you could get cable TV without having to pay much for it. What the industry did was they paid for higher security and they were able to solve their problem. So, how about you pay a bit more money and get better security systems if there is something you want to protect?

Bassam Hussain
A friend of mine has about six different DVDs and CDs of the film Terminator 2; and these are all original. Why? Because each and every version that came out had a different cover, it had something apart from just the movie — a few extras like a book or a poster. What you could do is if you want to curtail piracy, make the legal product more attractive to the consumer. Make it something they would want to pay for.

Rayan Al Moghrabi
They are trying to protect the products like movies and songs. The problem is that these products have a very short life span — they trend for a while, and then die. Nobody wants to pay for something they will watch just once or twice, or listen to a couple of times and that’s what makes people reluctant to pay for such things. They need to figure out a way around this problem.

Sarah Abbas
Yes, it is like a child who has bought a new toy — he will probably play with it for a while and then throw it away. If you buy a DVD, you are not going to watch it over and over again.

Rayan Al Moghrabi
There is a saying, “If you are not paying for a product, you are the product being sold.” It is the case with most social media websites — they sell us to advertisers, that is how they make money, and a lot of it. They are selling their customers, not their product, and I think that’s how media businesses should be over all.

Bassam Hussain
Piracy should be curbed as far as possible, but it can never truly be curtailed. Before the internet, all an artiste had to do was come up with a really good album, and then sales would happen through and through. People bought cassettes, related merchandise, went to concerts. It is the environment that you create around a product. A product may not sell initially, but you need to create an environment attractive enough for the consumer to buy it. And I am saying this only because I do not think there is any other way you can end piracy. This is the reality of it, and we can’t change that. The industry has to evolve, maybe the technology has to change just the way cinema theatres did.