Name: Anonymous 2006-04-23 19:46
If I was a billionaire, I would buy the rights to tons of books, television series, movies, anime, manga, comics, and music in order to localize and sell them to the masses in collected box sets. Yet with the Internet, even the most obscure media can be distributed freely, with no rights to purchase, and no costs for the viewer. The value of everything becomes zero, with the only cost being the internet connection and the computer and storage media. The cost is in downloading, but the media itself is free.
The Internet allows the trading of costless goods- A "free" economy in which everything is free, except the service of the Internet itself. Perhaps the days of legally selling things in retail outlets is over. Who needs an official release of obscure series #437 when you can get it without effort or cost? Especially when it may be better translated, in better quality, or have no censorship. And localizing an obscure fan favorite can always backfire with dismal sales, bankrupting the company because only sixty fans bought the product.
The idea of acquiring the rights to everything and selling them for the sake of being available may become outdated, when everything will truly become available to everyone, with no price barrier. Of course the law will step in someday, but it will always be circumvented.
The Internet allows the trading of costless goods- A "free" economy in which everything is free, except the service of the Internet itself. Perhaps the days of legally selling things in retail outlets is over. Who needs an official release of obscure series #437 when you can get it without effort or cost? Especially when it may be better translated, in better quality, or have no censorship. And localizing an obscure fan favorite can always backfire with dismal sales, bankrupting the company because only sixty fans bought the product.
The idea of acquiring the rights to everything and selling them for the sake of being available may become outdated, when everything will truly become available to everyone, with no price barrier. Of course the law will step in someday, but it will always be circumvented.