Music, Technology, Laws, Ethics & Transnationalism: A (brief) OverviewAram Sinnreich, Ph.D.Rutgers University School of Communication & Information
This text is freely available under a Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.
Configurable Culture
Social Architecture Mimics The Tools of Production
This is Doubly So of Musical Production
Networks Have Permeated our Lives
We Have Developed a “Configurable Culture”
This Was the Subject of My First Book
Configurable Cultureby the Numbers
Awareness of Configurable Music
Usage of Configurable Music
Engagement With Configurable Music
Engagement: The Age Gap is Closing
Opinions About Configurable Culture, 2006
Opinions About Configurable Culture, 2010
Opinions About Configurable Culture, 2010
Emerging Ethics
The Ethics of ConfigurabilityUnethical Criterion Ethical
Unpermissioned Legal Permissioned
For profit Commercial Not for profit
Pretension Authenticity Referenced
Unoriginal Innovation Original
Easy Labor Hard work
Bastardization Moral Homage
Rupture Continuity Evolution
Useless/Harmful Value Fun/Beneficial
Ugly Aesthetic Beautiful
Subversive Power Relations Empowering
Meaningless Self Expression Expressive
What Do Americans Care Most About?
Income
US Citizen
Education (yrs)
Female
Male
Age
Survey Mean
Commercial (profit vs. not-for-profit)
100.4%
106.8%
94.6%
103.8%
108.7%
75.3%
Survey Mean
Power Relations (subversive vs. empowering)
Income
US Citizen
Education (yrs)
Female
Male
Age 105.1%
112.7%
89.9%
103.9%
110.9%
113.9%
What Does Everyone Else Care Most About?
Survey Mean
Moral (bastardization vs. homage)
Income
US Citizen
Education (yrs)
Female
Male
Age 95.2%
86.7%
110.6%
102.6%
52.6%
77.2%
Survey Mean
Self Expression (meangingless vs. expressive)
Income
US Citizen
Education (yrs)
Female
Male
Age 76%
102.5%
98%
108.1%
46.1%
73.5%
One Law to Rule them All…
Copyright is Binary; Ethical Systems are Not
LAW (Top Down)
ETHICS (Bottom Up)
Legal Illegal
Right for X Hazy for Y Wrong for Z
Law Emulates/Reinforces the Logic of Industrialization
Industrial Production
Culture
Producer Consumer
Making Engaging Using
How Can One Law Fit All Musical Cultures?
The Theory of “Harmonization”When correct sounds move a man, they cause a spirit of obedience to rise, and when such a spirit has arisen, good order results. As singers blend their voices with that of the leader, so good or evil arise in response to the force that calls them forth. . . [We must] exercise virtue to harmonize and assist the ruler in his undertakings.”
- Xunzi, 270 BCE
Business, economic, and legal principles [such as Intellectual Property] must be considered in combination in order to maximize economic progress and the economic welfare of our citizens. In other words, properly understood and applied, IPR and antitrust law are complementary, not conflicting, legal systems that should be applied harmoniously to promote a vibrant, healthy economy.
- Alden F. Abbott, Federal Trade Commission, at Chinese government IP symposium, 2005 CE
Harmonization in Practice
Stronger US Laws
Stronger Foreign
Laws
Stronger Rulings
Stronger Agreements
Stronger Treaties
Consequences for Civil Liberties
UN: Internet Access is a “Fundamental Human Right.”
Censorship Surveillance Anti-Competition
Consequences for International Relations
La LeySinde
IPRED
Who Would She Rather Be?
Thank you. It’s good to be back.Aram Sinnreich, [email protected]
Books by Aram Sinnreich
Mashed Up (2010)www.mashed-up.com
The Piracy Crusade (2013)www.piracycrusade.com
