Kris D'Amico Photography

September 17th, 2009 by Kris

Special thanks to my friend Matt Reed for this post. it’s an interesting disscussion, what do you think?

“Seriously, the interweb has shown that protecting copyrighted material is inevitably a war that cannot be won. Just because the web subverts traditional business models doesn’t mean it’s just gonna go away, or that’s it’s evil. We’re staring down a paradigm shift like a freight train headlight in a dark tunnel. Kinda like in Ghostbusters 2 when they are in the old train tunnel and the ghost train comes out of nowhere. The thing is, everyone has a choice, fight it or embrace it.

“Currently, hard drives store only so much, the internet can only transfer data so fast, processors are only so quick, input devices such as cameras and microphones have only a certain resolution, memorable passwords are only so strong, latency is still not zero. What happens when none of that is an issue?

“For the rest of this article please fast-forward to the year 2030, give or take a few years. Eventually something like Bittorrent will allow for anonymous encrypted connections where any digital good is infinitely sharable, reproducible, crackable, and untraceable. Plus it’ll be fast, safe, convenient, and persistent. Happening 24/7 in the background constantly pulling in new content. You’ll start hearing people saying things like, “my 1 month old just figured out how to download the entire internet to her iPhone. Good golly these kids today are so smart.”

“For example, I’ll be able to record every channel on cable for an on-demand catalog of every bit of programming and have super duper adblock 2030 remove all the ads. Same with radio and YouTube, and pretty much anything else. Plus, I’ll be able to deliver it to wherever I am anywhere in the world, at any time.

“I’ll be able to download every song ever made for an on-demand catalog of jams.

“I’ll have my very own Netflix catalog in 1080p or better.

“I’ll have a quantum computer in my cellphone that can crack any old school wireless network keys in microseconds. Immediately cracking all devices on the network and copying their contents as well. It will be like a digital black hole that nothing can escape.

“I’ll be able to record live concerts with my iPhone in full HD. I’ll be able to take 100+ megapixel photos with a little camera in my glasses. Tourist destinations, museums, security sensitive areas with the little “no photos” signs won’t know what hit’em.

“What then? What happens when I have an on-demand archived copy every digital file ever created? Now, how is that different than having a “friend” who owns all that stuff and just brings it over with him anytime I ask?

“Some say it’s stealing, which in the traditional sense is true. This is a copy though. The original is still in the hands of the owner. If my friend brings a movie over and we watch it at my house did I technically steal that entertainment? Maybe. Same with video games. Same with music. etc…

“The future of the world is open, anytime and all-the-time. Whether that mixes with your business model is not it’s problem.

“Now, the bright side, what can’t be reproduced is the where it’s at. Experience, whether it be physical or digital. Relationships, tangible goods, places, services, massages, candy, t-shirts, food, events, people. You get the picture.

“It’s coming and it’s naive to think it’s not. Maybe “copyright” will soon mean “my right to copy”?”

Well, what do we think?