Global Media - Markets, Flows, and Cultures - Assignment Example

MEFT 2100 Global Media: Markets, Flows, and Cultures. S2 2008 What does Manuel Castells' concept of the 'network society' suggest about the culturalconsequences of media piracy and file sharing How does the prevalence of these activities affect culture globally What role does copyright discourse play in policing the boundaries of culture 1.- Key Issues. In order to answer these questions it is pertinent to analyze some key issues related to culture, media piracy, file sharing, intellectual property rights, and the concept of 'network society' according to the views of Manuel Castells. An ecclectic and pluralistic perspective has to be taken for approaching these questions due to the speculative nature of the issues at hand. There are not absolute answers since these issues are complex and multi-dimensional. The present analysis is centered on empirical views. Miraglia, Law, and Collins (1999) assert that the essential feature of culture is the fact that people learn culture, that 'many qualities of human life are transmitted genetically', but 'culture resides in all learned behavior and in some shaping template or consciousness prior to behavior as well'. These authors state that there are some important elements in any cultural system, which are categorized as follows: 'systems of meaning, of which language is primary; ways of organizing society, from kinship groups to states and multi-national corporations; the distinctive techniques of a group and their characteristic products' (Miraglia, Law, & Collins, 1999). This learning-teaching process for acquiring and transmitting culture is in a 'constant state of change', and since culture is a system of meaning it 'consists of negotiated agreements and processes of negotiation' (Miraglia, Law, & Collins, 1999). In the Dictionary of the History of Ideas it is stated in relation to the views of Herder that progress or change 'becomes a built-in characteristic of tradition' as part of 'a given culture continuum and the instrument for its transformation' that requires 'emerging goals pointing to the future' (2003). Regarding the issue of media piracy and file sharing there has been a high degree of controversy and many lawsuits that seek to reverse this pervasive trend, which is possible as a consequence of the technological advances in the digital age. Koman (2001) points out that the record companies should 'be willing to treat online music as radio, as night club, as party tape, as all the ways that copyright-protected music has been used for decades'. But media companies keep fighting piracy from different angles like in France where they are exerting pressure on the Internet Service Providers (Pfanner, 2007). There has been several proposals to help stop media piracy like establishing a 'global license' (Pfanner, 2007) or 'an Internet-wide compulsory licensing scheme' (Lessig quoted by Post, 2004) or 'proposals to shorten the term of copyright, to broaden the scope of permissible "fair use," to reduce the copyright holder's ability to control the production of "derivative works," and to reintroduce copyright formalities' (Lessig quoted by Post, 2004). Indeed the media companies are facing a big challenge, and many authors consider that media piracy and illegal file sharing won't be possible to stop (The McGill Daily, 2008; Close, 2004; Brown, 2005; Biglione, 2006). So far media companies are using encryption for protecting their works and have partnered with online business to sell their products (Brown, 2005). Nevertheless, it is clear that media companies will have to adapt to the new Technologies and find a way to have their intellectual property rights respected (Post, 2004). 2.- What does Manuel Castells' concept of the 'network society' suggest about the cultural consequences of media piracy and file sharing The concept of 'network society' as explained by Castells has many relevant implications in the way that culture is processed, transmitted, and reconfigured through the tension between the flows of power and the power of flows in relation to media piracy and file sharing and the copyright discourse and practice. The new technological advances that make media piracy and file sharing possible are extremely strong and the power of their flows can be considered to be overwhelming. The pervasiveness of this power of flows clashes with the flows of power from a capitalist system that emphasises the financial aspect of media piracy and file sharing over the cultural aspect of the emergence of new ways of comsuption that the technological advances allow to anybody with a computer and an Internet connection. For Castells a network primarily consists of nodes like the new media as he explains below: 'A network is a set of interconnected nodes. A node is the point at which a curve intersects itself. What a node is, concretely speaking, depends on the kind of concrete networks of which we speak. They are stock exchange markets, and their ancillary advanced services centers, in the network of global financial flows. () They are television systems, entertainment studios, computer graphics milieux, news teams, and mobile devices generating, transmitting, and receiving signals in the global network of the new media at the roots of cultural expression and public opinion in the Information Age.' (Castells, 2000:501). Castells also considers that networks as defined according to the new technological paradigm reconfigure the social structures in a way in which the power of flows is stronger than the flows of power as he explains in the following terms: 'Networks constitute the new social morphology of our societies, and the difussion of networking logic substantally modifies the operation and outcomes in processes of production, experience, power, and culture. While the networking form of social organization has existed in other times and spaces, the new information technology paradigm provides the material basis for its pervasive expansion throughout the entire social structure. Furthermore, I would argue that this networking logic induces a social determination of a higher level than that of the specific social interests expressed through the networks: the power of flows takes precedence over the flows of power. Presence or absence in the network and the dynamics of each network vis--vis others are critical sources of domination and change in our society, characterized by the pre-eminence of social morphology over social action.' (Castells, 2000:500). The power-holders in this network society are called switches by Castells. In this sense, culture is a very poweful switch in the network society due to the power of its flows across the networks. Castells analyses the issue of power in the network society as follows: 'Networks are appropriate instruments for a capitalist economy based on innovation, globalization, and decentralized concentration; for work, workers, and firms based on flexibility and adaptability; for a culture of endless deconstruction and reconstruction; for a polity geared toward the instant processing of new values and public moods; and for a social organization aiming at the supersession of space and the annihilation of time. Yet the network morphology is also a source of dramatic reorganization of power relationships. Swithches connecting the networks (for example, financial flows taking control of media empires that influence political processes) are the privileged instruments of power. Thus, the switches are the power-holders. Since networks are multiple, the inter-operating codes and switches between networks become the fundamental sources in shaping, guiding, and misguiding societies.' (Castells, 2000:502). But Castells points out that networks can be positive or negative according to the ways they are configured: 'Now, it doesn't mean that networks, by definition, are wonderful. It can be networks of destruction. Networks don't have personal feelings. They kill or kiss. But the issue here is that first you start with a network which is equipped with information technology. That's the key. Then what the network does depends on the programming of the network, and this is of course a social and cultural process.' (Castells interviewed by Kreisler, 2001). On the other hand, Stalder sums up Castells' ideas in his trilogy The Information Age in the following terms: 'Castells' main argument is that a new form of capitalism has emerged at the end of this century: global in its character, hardened in its goals and much more flexible than any of its predecessors. It is challenged around the globe by a multitude of social movements on behalf of cultural singularity and people's control over their own lives and environment.' (Stalder, 2008). So cultural products will keep spreading in the network society due to the strength of the power of flows. Innovation and creativity will enhance the overall cultural system since that is a consequence of the power of the technological advances, which in the new media network have been disruptive. Media piracy and file sharing are a clear signal about the new ways of consumming cultural products and the power of their flows are very strong and pervasive. 3.- How does the prevalence of these activities affect culture globally Lawerence Lessig is an authority in intellectual property issues. In his book Free Culture he argues in favour of 'the culture of transformative art, of sharing and borrowing and reborrowing and retransforming, of collages, cover versions, dramatizations, fictionalizations, and adaptations -- the whole universe of ways new art builds upon and emerges from old.' (Lessig paraphrased by Post, 2004). In this context the prevalence of media piracy and file sharing will reconfigure the entire cultural system in a silent but persistent way by the easy access to cultural products made available through media piracy and file sharing. On one hand the media companies will have to find new ways of adapting to the new technological scene and on the other hand culture will be transmitted with ease and cultural products will find a greater audience. All this process will benefit the cultural system in the long run. 4.- What role does copyright discourse play in policing the boundaries of culture Copyright discourse is centred on keeping alive the old ways of production and consumption without taking into account the fact that technology has a very strong disruptive dimension. Media companies have to find a win-win solution to this issue. For example, the usual cost of downloading a song is 99 cents, which is very expensive considering that a file transfer over the Internet is really inexpensive. By policing the boundaries of culture in a direct and an indirect way the media companies do not want to strike a balance in such a way that cultural progress can be speed up thanks to the new technological advances. In the review of Lessig's book Post remarks the following: 'Lessig succeeds in showing that "free culture" has always been a vibrant part of our intellectual heritage. There's not a musical phrase, a scene from a movie, or an essay on a blog that does not borrow something from earlier work.' (Post, 2004). Then Post paraphases Lessig as follows dealing with the issue of copyrights: 'This culture of creative borrowing exists, of course, in the shadow of copyright law -- mediated and regulated by the rules governing what may be taken from pre-existing works and the uses to which those works may be put. That's copyright's job: to give past and present authors a degree of control over the future uses of their work. It wraps up things that have already been created in a kind of protective shield, and it says to the authors of these works: You may stop people from doing certain things to your work, or you may condition their doing those things on the payment of whatever fee you deem reasonable.' (Lessig paraphrased by Post, 2004). At the same time Lessig points out the conflicts that arise out the protection of cultural products: 'Copyright does this for the benefit of the future. The point of protecting the current stock of intellectual goods is to give future creators a continuing incentive to create, assuring them there will be markets for their creations. At the same time, though, copyright makes the task of those future creators more difficult by making it harder for them to borrow/steal/parody/build upon/transform/adapt/modify/rip earlier works. () This tension between the claims of the already created and the not yet created, between the past and the future, is always at the core of copyright law. It becomes acute when, as now, revolutionary new technologies of production or distribution come along.' (Lessig paraphrased by Post, 2004). Lessig states the following regarding this tension inherent in the copyright policies: 'There always has been, and probably always will be, intense warfare on the copyright battleground whenever such technologies emerge -- between those who want to extend their creative control over developments in the new media and those who want to use the new technologies to recreate, reinterpret, reuse, and redistribute existing works.' (Lessig paraphrased by Post, 2004). Lessig argues in favour of 'free culture' by emphasising the negative side of the copyright discourse and practice: 'At just the moment when the technologies of borrowing, sharing, repackaging, and reinventing -- technologies such as blogs, wikis, peer-to-peer file sharing, full-text searching, digital video, and off-the-shelf music mixing software -- have become so powerful as engines for creative expression, copyright law permits, in effect, nothing at all. Just when the future of creative expression looks so promising, argues Lessig, the claims of the past have been shored up, and they block the way.' (Lessig paraphrased by Post, 2004). So the only plausible solution is a change of direction of the copyrights discourse and practice since its policing of the boundaries of culture does not try to find a balance in which media companies can adapt to the new technological environment in such a way that the cultural system can benefit on a higher degree with easier access to cultural products that can be available at a cheaper price over the Internet. References. Biglione, K. (2006, Dec. 5). Perspectives on piracy: from Amazon to eBay. (online). Available from: . [Accessed October 21, 2008]. Brown, S. (2005, June 30). Why file-sharing piracy will never die. (online). Available from: . [Accessed October 21, 2008]. Castells, M. (2000). The rise of the Network Society: Economy, Society and Culture. (online). Blackwell Publishing. Second edition, 594 pp. Available from: . [Accessed October 21, 2008]. Close, M. (2004, Jan. 29). Media piracy will continue. (online). The University of Hartford Informer. Available from: . [Accessed October 21, 2008]. Dictionary of the History of Ideas. (2003, May 1). Culture and Civilization in modern times. (online). The Gale Group. Available from: . [Accessed October 21, 2008]. Koman, R. (2001, July 6). Is all music file-sharing piracy (online). Available from: . [Accessed October 21, 2008]. Kreisler, H. (2001, May 9). Conversations with History: Identity and change in the Network Society (Interview with Manuel Castells). (online). Institute of International Studies, University of California, Berkeley. Available from: . [Accessed October 21, 2008]. Miraglia, E., Law, R., and Collins, P. (1999, May 26). A baseline definition of culture.(online). Washington State University. Available from: . [Accessed October 21, 2008]. Pfanner, E. (2007, Dec. 3). Effort to combat Internet piracy gains strength in France. (online). New York Times. Available from: . [Accessed October 21, 2008]. Post, D. (2004, Nov.). Free Culture vs. Big Media: Lawrence Lessig leads the charge to retake the public domain. (online). Reason Magazine. Available from: . [Accessed October 21, 2008]. Stalder, F. (2008, Jan. 1). The Network Paradigm: Social formations in the Age of Information. (online). The Information Society. Available from: . [Accessed October 21, 2008]. The McGill Daily. (2008, Feb. 21). The revolution will be streamed online. (online). Vol. 97, No. 38. Available from: . [Accessed October 21, 2008]. Read More