Rant time!

(Nick's joke of the day: Difference between a rant and an essay? You edit essays! Haha!)

This story has been all over the place the past few days.. Infact, I blogged one of the articles in this story a few days ago. There was also a Slashdot story earlier this week talking about a boycott of media outlets that back the RIAA/MPAA and their attacks on the information enabled public. Numerous articles detailing the RIAA's bullshit number analysis have popped up all over the place.

This all falls in line with what I've been saying for at least three years now.. Comsumers have found their channel for feedback to the media outlets.. Piracy. Boycott.. Whatever you want to call it, its taking form as we talk, type, and sleep. Slowly..

The messages the consumer is trying to convey are simple in many ways, yet they rarely come across clearly or directly. There are several things this can be blamed on, not the least of which is the complex nature of the situation. We can't expect the media to educate the public about it, its not in their intrest. So its all grass roots. It takes large numbers of people a fair amount of time to come to the same conclusions, given the same stimuli. Thats what we are seeing now. Only its faster then in the past, because the people pissed off are the information warriors. Us. We communicate wider and more frequently (and less formally, like this), hence our grass roots resistance to the tyranny of the big media is coming together in a mere several years, not several decades.

Normally, when we discover a problem, the media talks about it, educates the public, the public thinks about it, and eventually the public acts. Look at the way we tackle problems like environmental pollution, drunk driving, civil rights, drug use, etc.. The media has played a large role in driving the public to the conclusions they came to and acting the way they acted. Its not a mirror to mirror relationship, as we might believe. There is a degree to which those who program, determine the direction of the public's opinion and angst. You are what you eat. The media probably has more effect on the public then the school system. In American culture, the media is important. In a way, its a central part of our governmental structure. Often, its what drives our government's actions. Whats going to cause Lott to give up his seat? Congress or Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC? (Ok, the people will.. But who lead them?) There is alot to go into here, but its digression..

Right now the messages are a jumble.. We want the media to operate on our terms, not theirs. We are unwilling to ignore technology advances because they screw up someone's business model. We value our tools more then your profits and we will create, evolve, and maintain them regardless of persecution. Decentralization, decentralization, decentralization. Open tool chains and the power of shared knowledge.. Openness of co... [ Read More (0.6k in body) ]