[-empyre-] youtube VS warner bros VS the users; circuits as technical objects

[Gabriel Menotti]

> To be clear however The French government isn't outlawing photoshop so much as
> ensuring that any digitally modified photograph needs to be distributed with a
> notice that it has been modified. Photoshop, Gimp or other editing application
> is still perfectly legal in this country.

Yup, sorry for not being clear about it, and thanks for explaining. =)


> Unofficially allowing the upload of pirated material has been a primary strategy
> in pre-Google YouTube's peer publicity model, no different from peer-to-peer
> services that later switch to a pay model once a community feels dependent on
> them.

That sounds more like drug-dealing than napster downfall. =) Blogger
in Brazil was a huge failure because of this - there were free options
out there, once the company that managed the national version of the
service decided to charge for it. Nevertheless, some services become
cultural standards either way, I just think the proccess can't be seen
as a simple result of marketing strategies


> The end result is a system of mutual benefit that sacrifices the occasional user
> regularly enough to give outward appearance of legal obedience.

but isn't the user also benefited, in a way? after all, the service *is* 'free'


> An 'ecology' would be a better metaphor here than 'circuit', I feel. A 'society'
> even better..

'society' would suggest a too large scope for media analysis (and is
not a very spatial metaphor! =)). i like 'circuit' because it
highlights technical/ material aspects of the ensemble, while
'ecology' can be dangerous for sounding 'natural'

best!
Menotti