People are always asking me: Do you know Tyler Durden? No, I'm joking. No one's ever asked me that. But people do ask me all the time if I'm on Facebook. And I always smile and look down and say, ""Ah, well, you know... no,"" as if it's a major character deficiency. The next question I always get is: ""Well, why the hell not?"" The answer is pretty simple: it's one more addiction my life doesn't need. I'm already addicted to hefty works of literature, spending my paycheck on CDs (instead of rent), scanning the BBC News webpage several times a day and watching ""Law & Order"" whenever it's on in syndication (which turns out to be all the frickin' time).
I've seen people use Facebook and I don't like what it does to them. They become zombies. Zombies with glazed eyes and outstretched arms and they wish to feast not on human brains but tagged pictures and wall messages. I don't mean to put down the Facebook Zombies—stick me at B-Side or Exclusive and I'm equally guilty of instantaneous Zombieism; I'm just trying to explain why I don't need another Zombiefying factor in my life.
The whole reason I bring up Facebook is because of its symbolic meaning in today's interconnected, wired world. People don't swap actual files over Facebook, but they do on several similar sites. MySpace and YouTube, for instance, have been in the news quite a bit lately. This time its not because of pornography or pedophilia: it's about Pearl Jam and P. Diddy.
That's right, both of these sites have recently been under intense scrutiny from Universal, one of the mega-conglomerates of the media world. They control television networks, music labels, theme parks, movie studios and your mother's kitchen stove; Universal probably decides whether or not you have eggs or waffles for breakfast—ask your parents next time you're home.
Anyway, Universal has brought lawsuits against YouTube and MySpace in the last few weeks for copyright infringement. YouTube was sold to Google not long ago, and Google cut a deal with Universal to license their songs and videos so they can stay uploaded.
MySpace, recently acquired for a whopping $580 million by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, doesn't seem as willing to roll over and play dead. According to Universal's lawsuit, MySpace is a ""vast virtual warehouse"" of pirated music used by, apparently, virtual hoodlums. MySpace has responded by saying that they do not ""induce, encourage or condone"" the sharing of illegally uploaded songs, which seems to be their version of ""I smoked it but I never inhaled.""
My argument, which is roughly the same one as Courtney Holt, the Head of New Media at Interscope Records, is that record labels should stop getting into tizzies about people swapping music files online—it's free publicity! Free! People are rarely swapping entire albums: they're swapping individual songs. And the reason they're doing that is because most albums aren't worth $17.99—they're usually a couple of singles with 10 filler tracks.
If labels were serious about boosting CD sales they wouldn't sue the people who are interested in music, they'd pander to them. Teens on MySpace are most record labels' biggest demographic—calling the cops on their party across the street is not going to get you in good with them. The real ""copyright infringement"" going on here is Universal's desire to infringe upon our rights to copy (and share) our own music.
