The Internet is for all the Sharks!
Hi Social networkers and ex-newspaper readers everywhere,
If the Guardian article “With friends like these …” is correct then Facebook (and perhaps other such organisations) should face very intense scrutiny from MI6 (etc.) and not be used by them (or others) even for “personal” use. See MI6 chief’s Facebook details cut
Indeed, if one wishes to seriously investigate the complexity of the problems we are now confronted with by the internet, then I can recommend an article (unfortunately in Dutch) “Nieuws for niks” (news for nothing) by Francisco van Jole in “de Volksrant” dated 27th June 2009.
The article starts off discussing the “Brinkman report” (by the Dutch ex-culture minister who promoted culture because it was “the oil that kept the export industry running”). His current report is now looking for solutions to the global demise of the (printed) news industry. The Brinkman report apparently wishes to introduce an “internet surcharge” (a bit like the BBC funding perhaps) to subsidise the (Dutch?) “print” media. According to the article, it seems that the internet model (both generally and specifically for “news”) doesn’t
really work commercially and yet the news media are being forced directly into that model, like it or not.
Basically, the few successful Internet companies parasite on the traditional news media (something that is still taboo under internet supporters). So the question (according to van Jole) is: Why can’t the internet model support a (hard) news system?
Apparently, Rupert Murdoch is (also) promoting the end of “free” internet use -which is perhaps slightly strange because 10-15 years ago he was promoting the idea that “paid” media were finished and that advertising would make everything free. Now it seems that his prediction has actually proven to be correct -however, the relevant “business model” seems entirely wrong. The reason apparently lies in the metastructure -because (nearly) all the (press) advertising has been sucked up by “free” advertising sites -which make their money through paid “banner” ads.
Indeed, at one point the journalist claims that Google’s strategy is more “colonisation” than business model (and Holland is an “advanced” country -so how much worse must it be in the less powerful “developing” countries?).
So the domain of the problem then shifts (once again). Because the essential banner ads only bring in money for very large scale (meta) sites (such as Facebook, Google, etc…). At this point, van Jole talks about the monopolisation of the internet/IT industry: One company for searching, one company for software, etc….. Apparently, even the Dutch market leader for “free” advertising (marktplaats.nl) is actually owned by US giant eBay. However, this (US) monopolisation process is clearly not limited to the internet -because almost every main street (or shopping mall) in almost every town (in almost every country -on almost every continent) is beginning to look like every other one.
Van Jole, then describes Google (in the words of Murdoch -which is perhaps itself rather ironic) as a “Digital Vampire” -because Google sucks out all the content from the traditional news media while refusing to contribute financially to the industry it relies upon. In the meantime, it (supposedly) has a 20 million turnover based on advertising. None of this is apparently ever given to those who actually produce the content that Google commercially exploits (according to van Jole).
Then we run into the flaw in the article (probably based on the above mentioned “professional blind spot”) because van Jole’s conclusion is that Google should become a giant “collecting society” for the printed media that it parasites on.
This might sound quite convincing, if the same author hadn’t just earlier written about the failure of the music and film industry (which indeed imposes and defends copyright issues so jealously worldwide) and yet is still facing decline. Apparently, the “paid” sector of the “commodified” (electronic?, digital?, broadband?) economy isn’t doing too well iether -despite the apparent early success of iTunes. (See Fatima’s post on “Nine Inch Nails”).
So, all in all, there really does seem to be something truely rotten in the metaphorical internet state of Denmark! Perhaps the Emperor really does have no cloths at all! For more insight in problems arising out of Copyright issues (the “paid” economy) in the developing world, caused by the problems of the developed world, do check out CopySouth copysouth.org . Indeed, one may suspect that the apparent need of the (US) industry to impose stringent copyright rules worldwide is actually having a disasterous effect on the industry itself (to say nothing about human culture) both in terms of financial income and creative ability.
The Internet is for all the Sharks!
Trevor Batten
July 18, 2009