Re: Webcasters in uproar

["Robert Paine" <macandrew@prodigy.net>]

Funny, but, as I recall, some years back the big boys - industry,
broadcasting, licensing agencies, etc., etc., etc., - couldn't be bothered
having anything to do with anything related to the Internet and webcasting.

AAMOF, when contacted about licensing music for web use, one agency's
contact responded with words to the effect that they couldn't be bothered
and had no interest in same.

If you'll excuse the comparison, it seems to this individual to be a
situation similar to something I read in the 60's in a comic book. A group
of little kids built a snow fort. As soon as they finished, an older bunch
came along and said, "Nice fort. Thanks for building it. We'll take over
now." The little kids opposed the more powerful bunch and in the ensuing
snowball fight, which they lost, the fort was destroyed. The result? Nobody
wins the prize.


The moral here could be that sometimes you lose in order to prove a point.
The big interests - it SEEMS to me - waited till the toy was developed, then
stepped in and said the toy is their's and you can't play with it unless you
pay. Figures.

However, this is real life, not a snowball fight. And the little guys may
not have the wherewithal to oppose the larger. Even if that was the case,
there's no guarantee that there would be a favorable outcome for the little
guys. Perhaps the real moral is: Ho-hum. That's life. (Not to mention Look,
Time and Newsweek.)

The writer acknowledges he does not have the sources to get all sides of the
situation and the opinion is based to a large degree on what he sees from
the posts he receives.

 Cynically (or however you spell it),
   Macandrew