the music industry does not own the internet

Today, I discovered that UK Internet Providers Virgin Media, BT, O2 & BE have recently blocked three major BitTorrent websites - being KickassTorrents, h33t & Fenopy. The censorship follows suit of a High Court order a few months ago, blocking BitTorrent king, The Pirate Bay.

This issue is something which bothers me; I've briefly touched on censorship in my Google Glass post; but I feel this is more current. I'm a big believer in the open internet and anti-censorship because that's what makes the internet what it is. You have access to every single piece of information ever recorded, written and archived, from any perspective you want. The best part is that the information is constantly updated and open. We live in a time where we have access to all this at the push of a button. Take Wikipedia for example; an entire unbiased encyclopedia available for free.

I don't think the internet should be regulated or 'owned' by anybody - especially the media industries who insist on throwing stacks of cash towards lawyers to keep their archaic business model in place. The dynamics of how consumers are accessing new media is shifting entirely; but it appears that the music industry isn't playing nice. The conventional method of purchasing music is moving towards a more open-ended access with platforms such as Spotify and pirating music.

Piracy has become an issue with so much propaganda around it; it's unreal. Last year, I wrote my EPQ on the effects of piracy on music industry sales; and recent studies have found that piracy doesn't affect sales and statistically, people who pirate are more likely to buy more music than non-pirates simply because they have access to it (think 'try before you buy'). So why are the music industries so hellbent on protecting their business model?

I feel like the RIAA are stubborn to adjust their business model in a way that the television indsutry are doing. TV is slowly moving to on-demand - a la iPlayer, Netflix, 4od, Internet TV boxes etc to stay relevant and it's working! My prediction is that conventional channels will be no more, in favour of internet/on-demand based TV. Now, if the music industry could do this more willingly, we wouldn't have an issue.

Censoring these torrent websites is an incredibly short-sighted ruling and The Pirate Bay actually gained more traffic (thus more pirates) from news coverage of the censoring - I'm sure that's not what the music industry hoped for. Besides, there are literally 100's of ways to bypass the websites block. So what good is blocking a website doing? Making an example? Asserting authority, or a desperate attempt to stay in charge?

Censoring concerns me because the line is going to be incredibly blurred. Government wants to introduce certain bills to allow censorship and monitoring without warrant, such as SOPA, CISPA. The trouble with these bills is that while the government representative will say "it's to protect children, it's to stop copyright theft" - the actual written law is done so vaguely that it can cover any form of censorship.

Don't believe me? Look at MegaUpload.

Keep the internet open. Freedom of information is one of the most vital things we have.

Life in the 'Now' - Google Glass

When it comes to big, ambitious projects - Google isn't a company to shy away. Google Maps, Street View, Google Fiber, Driverless Cars ... the list could go on. Google Glass is no different. I've been following the progress of Project Glass since it's announcement April 2012 and have dramatically mixed feelings of excitement and fear for this project, allured by some curiosity and wonder. I'll outline why in this post.

If you don't know; Google Glass is a head-mounted display, which provides an interface for you -- like you were playing a first person game - your health, a map and information is displayed in the corners; this is essentially that. For a better explanation, watch this prototype video from April 2012:

Looks pretty amazing, right? If you've read any of my previous posts (thanks!), you'll see that I absolutely love Android, Google Now & the idea of a technological ecosystem - Google Glass is essentially Google Now with a much bigger UI. However, this project does raise a lot of pros and cons for me.

I think it's ridiculously innovative, it's going to be painfully convenient, especially for map following! If you have a smartphone, you already have information about anything you want, at any time in your pocket. Just a Google search away. With Glass, you can simply look at something, ask Glass and you have information in your line-of-sight. I usually don't like the phrase, but the possibilities are endless.

What scares me, aside from the fact that I think this may only be voice controlled -- can you imagine going to the Eiffel Tower and having hundreds of people shouting "GLASS, TAKE A PICTURE!" -- is augmented reality.

Augmented reality scares me, because while it can do so much good, it can also be so dangerous. If you don't know, augmented reality is basically "CGI" for real life. In the video, the text messages and map directions were augmented reality. It's adding a graphical layer over 'real life' - here's a better video example:

Tinfoil hat time, now! What happens when augmented reality is used for billboards and advertisements that appear in your face. Google is primarily an advertising company, after all. What's to stop companies wanting artificial advertisements placed in 'convenient' places for the consumer?

The real reason augmented reality scares me, is that while we have the ability to add things, we also have the ability to cover things. If that doesn't ring alarm bells for you, here's why I think it should: it opens up an entire new generation of censorship. This video demonstrates such ability.

Companies & Government could restrict how, when & why we can use such technologies (like Apples already demonstrated stranglehold on their own technology). I think the most horrifying thought is how easily things can be censored and removed. Compare it to Chinese internet filter, where the government block free information they don’t want their people to see; now imagine that, but for reality.

I don’t think I even have to go into how fraudsters, hackers & criminals could use this technology to their advantage.

Not to mention that there could no longer be anonymity. The world as we know it is hellbent on online social networking & always being connected. If, for example, AR technology had Facebook (or whatever popular social networking site is the most popular at the time) integration. The technology could be used to identify any detail one places on their Facebook page just by simply looking at the person and having facial recognition (a technology Facebook has actually introduced) do the rest.

If you also want another reason why I'm hesitant on Project Glass, think back to Black Mirror's "The Entire History of You" (4od link!)

Tinfoil hat aside, I still am excited to see how this project grows and definitely want to have some form of involvement in it. I just hope they release a model compatible for people with glasses...