This Black March Thing
Jan. 22nd, 2012 10:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kerravonsenOkay, so someone had this idea to boycott the Hollywood moguls who are behind SOPA/PIPA by refusing to buy stuff in March, and decided to call it "Black March".
Really unfortunate name.
Look, folks, this boycott is not going to work. (And I'm not the only one who thinks so)
The moguls won't care.
Because people will just buy stuff in April. Seriously, if you have moral objections to Hollywood moguls and want to boycott them, then boycott them properly. Don't just postpone buying stuff, don't buy the stuff at all. Support indie labels and indie producers. Buy stuff on the internet directly from the artists.
The moguls won't notice.
Because with the huge amounts of money involved, any boycott will just be a blip on the radar. Joe Blogs in the street will keep on buying stuff.
The moguls won't be harmed.
Okay, suppose that this boycott gets huge support, and it does make a dent on their bottom line. The ones who will be harmed are the little people. First thing that happens when the bottom line is threatened: people get sacked. And that's if this is a targeted boycott that only targets RIAA/MPPA companies, as distinct from small independent businesses who can't afford a dent on their bottom line. The ones that will be hurt first are the retailers who have already paid for their stock, not the big companies they bought it from. And that effect is even more diffused if one doesn't live in the USA, because the moguls won't even know that foreign retailers are hurting.
The moguls will not get the message.
So, let's say that the boycott is really big and widespread and the moguls do sit up and take notice. You know what they will do? They will blame it ALL on PIRACY. They will take their sales figures to the politicians and say "See, we needed SOPA/PIPA and you didn't give it to us!"
Talk about backfiring spectacularly.
IMHO, one of the reasons why Wikipedia's blackout last Wednesday was so effective was because the action and the message were side by side. It wasn't just that Wikipedia was blacked out, it was that Wikipedia explained that it was a protest, and what they were protesting against.
You can't do that with sales figures. Figures are open to interpretation, and you can be sure that the moguls will twist the interpretation to their own advantage.
I perfectly understand that folks are "as mad as hell and they're not going to take it any more". You want to DO SOMETHING! And "Black March" is SOMETHING that can be DONE. But the only thing it will be effective at is letting people vent.
I really wish I had a brilliant idea that I could propose as an alternative, but I don't. (iz sad) I mean, apart from the usual things like writing to one's representatives, supporting organizations like the EFA, signing petitions, all those boring and responsible things like that. And if you live in the USA, the single most effective thing you could do: VOTE. (Voting: not just a right, but a duty)
(Screening comments from folks not on my flist, because I learned my lesson from the last time I voiced an unpopular opinion)
Really unfortunate name.
Look, folks, this boycott is not going to work. (And I'm not the only one who thinks so)
The moguls won't care.
Because people will just buy stuff in April. Seriously, if you have moral objections to Hollywood moguls and want to boycott them, then boycott them properly. Don't just postpone buying stuff, don't buy the stuff at all. Support indie labels and indie producers. Buy stuff on the internet directly from the artists.
The moguls won't notice.
Because with the huge amounts of money involved, any boycott will just be a blip on the radar. Joe Blogs in the street will keep on buying stuff.
The moguls won't be harmed.
Okay, suppose that this boycott gets huge support, and it does make a dent on their bottom line. The ones who will be harmed are the little people. First thing that happens when the bottom line is threatened: people get sacked. And that's if this is a targeted boycott that only targets RIAA/MPPA companies, as distinct from small independent businesses who can't afford a dent on their bottom line. The ones that will be hurt first are the retailers who have already paid for their stock, not the big companies they bought it from. And that effect is even more diffused if one doesn't live in the USA, because the moguls won't even know that foreign retailers are hurting.
The moguls will not get the message.
So, let's say that the boycott is really big and widespread and the moguls do sit up and take notice. You know what they will do? They will blame it ALL on PIRACY. They will take their sales figures to the politicians and say "See, we needed SOPA/PIPA and you didn't give it to us!"
Talk about backfiring spectacularly.
IMHO, one of the reasons why Wikipedia's blackout last Wednesday was so effective was because the action and the message were side by side. It wasn't just that Wikipedia was blacked out, it was that Wikipedia explained that it was a protest, and what they were protesting against.
You can't do that with sales figures. Figures are open to interpretation, and you can be sure that the moguls will twist the interpretation to their own advantage.
I perfectly understand that folks are "as mad as hell and they're not going to take it any more". You want to DO SOMETHING! And "Black March" is SOMETHING that can be DONE. But the only thing it will be effective at is letting people vent.
I really wish I had a brilliant idea that I could propose as an alternative, but I don't. (iz sad) I mean, apart from the usual things like writing to one's representatives, supporting organizations like the EFA, signing petitions, all those boring and responsible things like that. And if you live in the USA, the single most effective thing you could do: VOTE. (Voting: not just a right, but a duty)
(Screening comments from folks not on my flist, because I learned my lesson from the last time I voiced an unpopular opinion)
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no subject
Date: 2012-01-23 12:22 am (UTC)But I think this discussion has gotten right away from the original theme, which is whether or not the boycott will work. You make good points there, Kathryn.
Sorry, I can't agree that piracy is okay because "we wouldn't buy it anyway". If it's not good enough to pay for, it's not good enough to help yourself to a bootleg. As a writer, I've done a lot of work researching and writing my books and I see red when I stumble across a website offering one of my books as a PDF download. Im pretty sure they haven't asked my publishers and every person who downloads a free copy or pays the website for it is depriving me of my royalties that I worked my guts out for and have earned. It's too much bother for my publishers to try chasing this up and I've given up asking them about such things.
A free sample is another matter, if it's a case of "fair use" and I have uploaded free sample chapters from a couple of my books on my blog, The Great Raven, with permission from my publishers. But that's just a sample, which I suspect is what you got, Kathryn, when you discovered those artists.
Fan films are a grey area; some artists and companies are okay with them, others aren't. You need to check this.