November 29, 2011

Three Guiding QuestionsTo what extent does the Internet media sector

mimic the long-established patters of concentrated ownership in the broader print and broadcast media?

To what extent has it altered the processes shaping a central area of media content: news production and distribution?

What has been the effect of the phenomenon of file sharing, the rise of open-source software, and other intellectual property disputes?

Chadwick, chap. 12, p. 289.

Key Scholarly Works on Media ConcentrationBen Bagdikian, The Media Monopoly (6th edn.

2000)Eli Noam, Media Ownership and

Concentration in America (2009)Robert McChesney, Rich Media, Poor

Democracy (2000)Robert McChesney, The Political Economy of

Media (2008)

Concentration of Control

The Big SevenGeneral ElectricWalt DisneyNews CorporationTimeWarnerViacomCBSBertelsmann

Media Concentration

Film Studio Market Share, 2009

Music Recording, 2005

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and Steamboat WillieOswald the Lucky Rabbit 1927Steamboat Willie 1928Disney worked on Oswald the Rabbit for

Charles Mintz of Universal Studios. When he asked for more production money in 1928, Mintz reminded Disney that Universal owned the rights to Oswald the Rabbit. Disney quit and formed his own studio and never again lost control of his intellectual property.

Copyright Term Extension Act of 1988The Copyright Act of 1976 set the term of copy

as the life of the author plus 50 years for individuals and for the life of the author plus 70 years for corporations or 95 years after publication.

The Copyright Term Extension Act of 1988 (sponsored by Sonny Bono) extended copyright terms in the US by 20 years to 95 years after publication.

Also called “The Mickey Mouse Protection Act.”

File Sharing and PiracyDigital files unlike analog content suffers no

loss in quality when copiedRecording Industry and Movie Industry both

worried about illegal copying of copyrighted content (which they call piracy)

MP3s for audio files more vulnerable than video files because smaller in size, but video file sharing is already happening

Napster Napster was one of the first systems to utilize

a large- scale the peer to peer model of sharing files.

Peer to peer (P2P) sharing occurs when computer networks use the bandwidth from the peers that are logged on, rather than using a relatively low number of servers to… share content files containing audio, video, data etc.

Many peer to peer networks are client-server based, which alludes to the fact that a central server tends to run middle communications in between the client, or user, and the server.

Sean Parker

Shawn Fanning

Metallica Weighs IN Metallica discovered that a demo of their

song ‘I Disappear’ had been circulating across the Napster network, even before it was released. This eventually led to the song being played on several radio stations across America, and also brought to Metallica’s attention, was that their entire back catalogue of studio material was also available. The band responded in 2000 by filing a lawsuit against the service offered by Napster. Napster Bad video

Napster shuts down By 2001, Napster’s user’s outnumbered

nearly every city on the planet, with 26.4 Million users. 2001 was also the year that Napster had to officially close shop.

 British icons Radiohead alluded to Napster as helping their album “Kid A” debut at number 1 in America on the Billboard charts its debut week, something the English rockers had never come close to doing in America, for they had never even been in the top twenty.

How Torrents WorkTorrents are peer to peer networks where all files are decentralized when downloading and uploading. So, for example, if I wanted to download a Led Zeppelin song or album, I would type in what I am looking for on a website where torrents are hosted. Then I would have options of which songs, albums, videos, etc. I would like to download. Then I click the download now button, and if I possess the software to do so, which is free, and is offered on a number of torrent websites, and then it will begin to download. The following diagram helps to understand this abstract idea

Bit Torrents Explained (continued)

As you are downloading this Led Zeppelin song, or whatever you would like to download, other users can simultaneously download what you have completed of the Led Zeppelin file even if it is not fully completed. When another user is downloading a piece of one of your files, you become a seeder, essentially the place where the original file exists, or the seed. Seeing as this is an important concept, another diagram illustrating a user’s dual nature within each network is necessary.

Azureus, now called Vuze : Bittorrent Client

Recent Clamp Down on Bit-Torrents

Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) supported by RIAA and MPAA passes the Senate Judiciary Committee by 19-0.

October 2010: Injunction against Lime Wire, the company that operated LimeWire file sharing software by a U.S. District Count judge.

November 2010: Dept. of Homeland Security crackdown on Torrent-Finder.

The Pirate Bay and the Pirate PartyFounders of The Pirate Bay in

Sweden found guilty of assisting with the violation of copyrights and sentenced to serve prison terms.

The Pirate Party was founded in Sweden in 2006. It has become a model for the global International Pirate Movement. The party’s main goal is to reform patent and copyright laws.