Copying music (again)

Once again we see articles on music industry chasing people. This time for example in Svenska Dagbladet that describes the court case where Jammie Thomas got convicted in the US. Oscar Swartz is in Swedish making very good comments on in what direction we are moving.

In Sweden people do have the ability to copy music themselves, and make copies. The music industry gets compensated for that with money the government collect with a tax on empty cassette tapes, recordable CD’s and DVD’s etc. This implies the music industry to some degree get paid twice, as Oscar explains.

We do clearly have a situation where catching people and convicting them do not help. People have already decided that sharing music among their friends is ok. Note that I am saying “their friends”. Because that is what I claim the majority of the people think they are doing. The question of course is the definition of “friend”. At the same time the lawyer at Sony, that in an article in IDG.

The situation has derailed. The music industry believe in chasing people. People that think sharing music with their friends is ok. People that think the products on the market are not good enough (region coding of DVD’s, proprietary music formats for music etc) and a too high price. That the government in this situation do not do anything is for me surprising and extremely dissatisfying. Sure, they had one investigation that Oscar has written about, which misses the goal. It is about time the Government make up their mind on what the future world should look like. And no, waiting a few years for a new investigation is not good enough.

People expect a statement NOW. I am available writing something, as is Oscar I claim without asking him…