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Over the Edge + November 23, 2005

Feature 7

“So what about artists who choose to go independent,
and even put their music online for free?”

Internet vs Corporate Enterprises

JEREMY JOHNSON
STAFF WRITER

Since the beginnings of Napster,
there has been much debate on the
issue of the Internet in terms of intel-
lectual property. Much of this debate
has been on whether or not certain ac-
tivities should be legal or illegal on the
Internet. Many artists seem to be split
on the idea of giving away the music
for free on the Internet, but, these days,
with the advent of the Internet, it seems
to have opened a number of doors for
those who embrace the new age.

‘The Internet isn’t just for e-mail and

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music anymore: anything that can be
on a digital medium can be transferred
over the Internet, whether it is a benign
software package or a malicious virus.
As such, the scene of entertainment has
quickly expanded in ways one couldn't
even imagine 15 years ago. This has
excited some and frightened others.
Among those who are most terrified,
and most vocal, concerning these de-
velopments of an unknown future have
been the record industries around the
world. Presidents of various associa-
tions have quickly labeled Peer-to-peer
technology things such as, “Garden var-

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Today 5

iety theft” (Graham Henderson), “Im-
moral acts of piracy” (Dan Glickman),
and even going to far as to state, “It’s
[Peer to peer is] stealing” (Cary Sher-
man).

However, the options have always
remained obscure for an artist today.
There is actually a very good pro for
signing a record deal with the record in-
dustry. The record industry is typically
very good at publicizing a band, as is
the case with Metallica, Linkin Park,
Eiffel 65, ATC, Avril Lavign, and many
others. However, the record labels are
also known to offer horrible deals to

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first-time artists. Most of the time, if
not always, artist are forced to go on
tour to make enough money to make
a living, It was a case ATC learned the
hard way when they sold several mil-
lion albums and made a total of 50,000
dollars (American) total and filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy shortly after.

However, there are also many instan-

ces where bands have become well-off.

from their music as well.

So what about artists who choose
to go independent, and even put their
music online for free? This was the
model that bands like Planet Bliss,
Temple City, Togetha Brotha Sound-
system, M, Brian Damage, and a num-
ber of other artists have chose, They
certainly arent as well known, but they
also appear to be doing fairly well de-
spite their apparent obscurity.

Music isn't the only thing being
distributed for free by creators who
believe in the power of the Internet.
Even movie directors are getting in on
the Internet, too. Two of these mov-
ies are “Orange” (orange.blender.org)
and “Star Wreck” (www-fi3.starwreck.
com); they are among a few who are
relying on the Internet for popularity
so as to make a profit simply by giving
away the feature presentation for free
online.

TV companies are also jumping on

‘the bandwagon. Two new companies

are “Roosterteeth Productions” and
“Revision 3”.Revision 3 is now a com-
pany worth 2.4 million dollars and
they are still giving away all of their
content for free (they are giving away
multiple shows). Two TV stations that
are utilizing the Internet similarly are
the CBC and PBS. As of the writing of

late

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CALEB LAURITSEN

this article, PBS has released 9 episodes
of their well-known show called “Nerd
TV" It is basically a show where many
computer nerds who have made great
contributions, such as the co-founder
of Pay-Pal Max Levchin and Apple
Computer Co-founder Steve Wozniak,
get interviewed about their experiences
and asked burning questions, such as
what the future may have in store in
technology. CBC, on the other hand,
has given away shows that air on TV,
for free and without the usual com-
mercials (just like Nerd TV, only the
CBC had to edit out the commercials).
Examples are“The Royal Canadian Air
Farce” (www.airfarce.com) and “Rick
Mercer Report” (www.cbc.ca/mer-
cerreport/).

There are many other well known
shows that are more likely to fall under
the name “podcast” or “vidcast’. Pod-
casts imply audio, while vidcasts imply
both audio and video. The content
available is certainly growing as well,
as it gets increasingly easier to produce
and publish shows.

Some shows, on the other hand,
have been distributed online without
permission and the TV industry is
not amused. This has led to the shut-
down of sites like Suprnova, BTEfnet
and The-Realworld, who offered hash
codes that led to content that might be
deemed illegal to some.

Many shows still make their millions
based on revenue from advertising on
TV and though DVD compilation re-
lease later on, though not much legal
action has been brought on to individ-
uals as a result of sharing recordings of
TY shows online.

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