something for nothing

I expect we’ve all done this at some time.  Or something like it.  Probably when we were younger.  Is it wrong?  Some say it is, others say not and many, I guess, don’t even think about it.  

In the days before the internet - and there were such times - record companies turned a blind eye.  The internet changed all that.  And confused us.

Eyes are no longer blind; ‘content providers’ - a clumsy term to encompass anyone who makes something available on the internet to download - have sent out mixed messages along with their content.  Some is freely available, some is not - it must be purchased.  Not everyone is happy with this state of affairs. Particularly when such content is downloaded without the owners permission or knowledge.

It’s all very messy.

Game of Thrones topped the illegal download charts for 2015 - a feat it has managed for the previous four years.  Plagiarism is rife in universities (students - and occasionally academics - passing someone else’s work off as their own).  And it’s possible to watch BBC television programmes on iPlayer despite not having a TV Licence. (Bear with me on this one).

What all these things have in common is the idea that it’s OK to have ‘something for nothing’.  

Some might go as far as to call this ‘stealing’.  I say that because those whose material is downloaded often go to great lengths to try and stop it happening.  And I say ‘try’.  Film and music companies take people to court, universities have sophisticated anti-plagiarism software.  Sometimes they’re successful, sometimes they’re not.

If you think I exaggerate and this only really applies to large organisations - who can  surely afford it anyway - consider that there are people who post on blip with their names or some sign that the image is theirs, imbedded in the photograph.

At the end of the day - someone has spent time and money producing ‘content’ - whether it be music, film, photographs, ideas, software, websites ……. and they want recognition of that fact.  Usually - but not always - in the form of money.  And unless they’re wealthy and/or altruistic, they might actually need money in order to be able to continue.

Which leads me to Blipfuture.  

I mentioned the BBC and iPlayer earlier because it has many similarities with blip.  Both are vulnerable.  Both engender a fierce loyalty among those who believe in what they stand for.  And both are facing a radical shakeup in they way they are funded.  

In the case of iPlayer, the Government has already hinted that it will eventually become a subscription service. And you and I are being asked to put our hands in our pockets to ensure that blip has a future.

I find it hard to imagine a world without the BBC and all the things it provides; tv, radio, music, arts, education, information.  I engage with it - in one form or another - every single day.  For the sum of 41p.

And in much the same way I cannot imagine a life without blip.  It informs me, educates  me and entertains me (which incidentally was the BBC’s rational back in 1922) on a daily - and global - basis.  For less than the cost of a TV licence.

The internet is not free; there is always a cost somewhere.  If you look hard enough.  The days of boot-legging and ‘something for nothing’ are over.  

Which leads me again to Blipfuture. ……