OH YEAH!!!

Trucks gone wild...

A story of real piracy

Ever since that live press coverage in July of 2000, where Lars Ulrich and James Hatfield declared that music sharing was inammissible and that Napster was the problem of the 21st century, I understood that the internet was going to be the biggest enemy of Metallica and others artists on the same position about P2P. But wait, that's not everything because little time after that press conference artists like Madonna and Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit), signed along with other musicians a statement of solidariety towards the mp3 sharing over the internet. That was probably the very beginning of the global confusion that today still exists on what is legal and what is not.

I live north west of Milan, Italy, in a town of roughly 60,000 people. Piracy in this country is on a different level because it's not only the single internet user downloading files, others have their hands in this like organized crime frou south of Italy, China and Africa. This is a story of how pirates are born and how pirates live here, but there are many different pirates.

- From the mid to the end of the 90s me and my friends (the teenage years) were crazy about when the latest album of U2 or Rolling Stones was out on the shelves of music stores, we spent what is now 15 to 25 Euros of our allowances to buy what we believed into. We would spend endless hours listening the same songs, but we knew that of those 13 album tracks maybe only two or three were the best one. The remaining tracks of the disc/tape weren't that great, but we didn't care because we would always trust our favourite artist to do better in their next album, unfortunately it wasn't the case.

Allowance after allowance me and my buddies realised that the costs of the albums kept constantly rising (minimally but continuosly) and concert tickets weren't cheaper either. Occasionally we had a shirt of Guns n' Roses, Queen or Iron Maiden to show off, but those tees had a serious price too and occasionally we would look back and say "Dude, we just spent over 100 Euros for one ticket, one t-shirt and their latest album! Fuck!!!".

Now that we are in our late 20s we still don't have money to spend for our favourite artists, our salaries aren't strong enough to let us buy extras and we re sorted to downloading and burning those amazing tracks only for our stereos. If you walk into yor record store and buy one or two albums you just spent what you earned in one or two hours of work; it's not probably going to change your life but it is another expense on top of the other bills, only considering a monthly purchase.

To claim that something is legel or not takes time and knowledge. Laws are written in order to set standards among people so they can have a guideline on the civil and penal aspects of society, but music labela and majors are dictating the policies on what you can and what you can't do, so they suddenyl decided that they have that knowledge over anything else to make something legel or illegal and to call you a criminal. What I don't understand is that the majorities of the songs that are shared via internet are tracks that already received their royalties long time ago, got shares of merchandise revenues as well with those of concerts. So why do we have to pay again and again and again for something that has already been paid? The answet to that is simplae: GREED!

Piracy is a broad word that is now describing god knows how many kids and young adults that use P2P software, but they only do it to listen their favourite artists; record companies aren't out to bust those who sells DVD copies online of the lastest flicks, those who are making out of it a lucrative business. That is illegal, that were the focus should be diverted, not towars kids that are an easy pray.

I do see now in my country that immigrants from Africa sell illegal DVD copies for dirt cheap, they got movies that are still playing in theaters, porn movies, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 games in the parking lot of many electronic stores; how hilarious. Sometimes they stop me and ask me if I want to buy something and I tell them that I can get that from the internet for free, they smile and laugh and they understand that I'm not interested and they walk to the next guy getting out of the car.

This is how it happens: a guy has two or three computern at his place inside one room, he got his desktops towers with at least two DVD/CD burners that are continously working all day and there is a pile of empty disks 3ft tall waiting to be burned with everything is new. On the other side of the room there is another pile of empty slim DVD cases and on the other side a laser printer that isejecting all kinds of movie, game covers to be inserted into the cases. This is the operation on only one person who usually has many contacts with the underground crime, usually mafia or camorra, with a financial aid to cover the expenses; then the same person will offer poor immigrants the task to sell everything. They set up territories, like medium/big size department stores, hardware stores, electronic stores and four to six men are spread evenly around the parking lot surface so theycan easily spot who's coming and who's leaving.

The division of terrotories in important because they are not alone, there are others doing the identical job, and others like gypsies that only beg at street light; they are very vicious when their territory is invaded. Sometimes there are confrontations that end with bruises, black eyes and in the worst case a knife stab anywhere it landed. The friction between these "sellers" is big because profits can be high as much as 1000 Euros per group per day and nobody wants to loose a crowded parking lot or a busy intersection with long red lights.

During the winter we occasionally have open markets and flea markets downtown the biggest cities with folkloristic thems, there too you can buy illegal copies of movies, game and so on mainly by Chinese people. Not all the time the police steps in, only if who sells them is by him/herself in a corner of the square or on the sidewalk, they ask for ID and then tell they guy to pack up and leave the area. The next day he/she is still there to sell his merchandise again, the cops will turn an eye blind or ask again to leave, but they do understand that they can't patrol the street only to make sure that the guy doesn't come back.

In those open markets there are many titles you can buy, but if you dare to buy any of those products you know that you can get a lemon and forget to have your money back. It is part of the black market that Italy faces, not only with music, movies and games, but also with fashion sunglasses, purses, belts, wallets, etc. The market has high prices and people cannot resist the impulse of the purchase, so they will find alternative ways to get to their object, this means that they will resort to buy, copy or download something that isn't original.

A pirate, that's what is written on your forehead today, this thanks to the sport of lobbying/nagging inside each parliament inside each country of the western world, from north America to Europe. But the solution used can be compared to applying a bandaid over an internal bleeding, it is not working because record companies wants their laws applied and enforced by police. Now rather than later because everything is moving online and less is stored at home, that's why YouTube is te main target, silenced videos, tv shows cancelled, songs taken away. The music industry knows that when everything will be online it is going to be impossible to obtain royalties anymore, much like trying separating the sugar from your hot coffee.

For the delusionals: BSG ain't far from here!

Battlestar Galactica is over, one of the best TV show I witnessed in my life

concluded in March of 2009 with an epic final episode that brought many issues

to attention. The series features an everlasting struggle between humanity ingenuity

creating AI vs uber Cylon bots understanding what it takes to face destiny.

The fiction that was crated to amuse our eyes and brains was good enough to poke

our intellect and to face a possible future of our own. Why? Because BSG describes

a civilization outside out solar system that reflects our planet! They face the same issue

that we have, yet they are overwelmed by their creations and their future is in the deep

cold space vacum.

BSG isn't about fiction, it's telling us that we are what we are and creating artificial life

can pose a threat to ourself. Why? Because we don't know boundaries and we keep

seeking the unknown. Life without blood but impulses into circuits is what it's all about,

the attention is focused on "OUR ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES"!

From humans to cold chrome cylons to skinjobs, the actions taken by each of them

had their conquences because free-will is applied.

Humans decided to move out from Kobol, planets were colonized, they created artificial life

that could understand better than their creators,mayhem generates as humans are nuked

by their crations; humanity is in space escaping extintion.

We risked many times a total wipe out, yet we are keen to forget it because history

has alienated us!

What happened in BSG is a vision of what can happen to our kind, to our planet, simply

because our political values can overthrown our humanistic priciples; and we can find ourself

with rocks and stones in our hands.

Felloship, problems, love and hate is a wild ride that totally reflects our species from a planet

into bunch of lost space ships. Life is all about one quarter to the other, from one deck to the

next one. Forests, rivers and mountains are a thing of the past that is missing from the whole

scenario.

Banks know best!

The grave yard for ships

Logistic is big, logistic travels on wheels, air, but mostly via sea. You can store oil in a ship, cars, TVs, sneackers, food of any kind, etc. A ship can last for many years, some of them thirty, fourty years, but then the structure starts to weaken and it is time to retire the ship. Where do they go after they are done using them? Not in heaven, but in countries where the need for raw material is high. Commercial ships (cargo and leasure) are sent in nations like India or China where hundreds of workers slowly disassamble them to recycle metals like steel, iron, led and copper. Why does this happen? Because eastern Asia is willing to do (once again) the western-world's dirty job.

The work place, a shallow part of the sea side where ships rests there like carcasses, waiting to be disected.

Workers are way below the minimal wage, they work in critical conditions with no safety items like helmets, gloves or boots; they simply take-a-part ships like oil tankers and separate different components.

Workers moving in group a freshly cutted part of a ship

Heavy parts are moved only by groups of men.

No safety equipment, just your tool to go through all day.

Workers pulling a ship?

The break: tea (chai), coffee, cigarettes, tips and mostly rants.

20th century, when life was better

Ten years ago we were experiencing life on a different frequency, it was a period where the 90s showed us how cool we can be. The new synthetic wave got to us pretty fast after a decade of new technologies (see the 80s), but whatever we were going through it wasn't as harsh as these days. The 24/7 world grew bigger and bigger, there is no place for those who sleep. But how do we grow happy with it? How do we preserve the good moments is we barelt have memories of what we had for lunch?

I personally was happier and felt that the world couldn't shift into a worst direction it alrady was, the 90s had war in Kwait and in former Yugoslavia but as globalization was moving so a message of peace from around the world was doing the same. I do remeber the news on tv being more local, more focused on highway chases, internal politics, e-commerce on the rise, but no hero VS foe situation drama.

 

As we shifted into the new millennia we saw that changing date would mean also changing the face of this planet and our way of thinking. Science fiction books were becoming reality as tv was getting dumber, while the economy would adapt to the change into a very different prospective. 9/11 was a kick in the nuts, but turned out that nobody cared about the nearly 3000 victims of the World Trade Center nor the already mauled victims by the US in Middle East, it was about shifting the balance towards a new spot, many people knew that this sorta big conspiracy would take time and organization to take place, lots of it!

During the fall of 2003 I was talking with a real estate agent from Toronto about the great market conditions that led to spread open loans and subprimes. He said that this is just a big bubble waiting to burst, but what is different from any previouse similar case is tha fact that the economy will not hold the weight of the consequences, he continued. "Imagine walking on a glass floor and each person that does so is a good opportunity in the housing market like loans and subs. Now, how many people can walk on this floor before it breaks?" he said. I answered that I didn't know, "Now imagine that underneath the glass pavement there's a two-floor fall, do the math!" he continued. I realized immediately that the burst of the bubble would create the worst consequence in years and my real estate friend aknowledged that finishing by saying that there is nothing that we can do because not only it's too late but we were warned at the very last for a lucrative purpose.  

Advertising and its limits, then it's piracy

Comunication between the manufacturer and the costumer is the key factor to be successfull in the world of business. Throughout the years the message has changed in shapes and travelled in many ways, from the paper to the radio, from television to the internet. People know about the products that are for sale thanks to advertising, commercials that are aired to millions and millions of people around the globe, the message is essential and it must be clear and easy to understand.

This is how it works:

A company  wants to let people know that their products are good and fair priced. The same company asks an advertising agency to help them spread the word via all possible channels (tv, radio, internet, etc.). The advertising agency will create an image along with a theme (song usually) that needs to be catchy and easy to remember, maybe a jingle. 

The advertising agency takes their creation and moves it towards the channels the company wants to promote their product. Tv station, radio station, and websites generates revenues paid from the company that wants to let people know of their product, the bigger the spread of the message the wider the range of future costumer that may buy the promoted product.

In the 20th century advertising turned from essential to stalking. The need to inform people about a certain product is not essential anymore, what is essential is the fad around it, the hype and the "cool" factor that comes with. You can see it for yourself. Check fashion magazines, they are just a big catalogue of printed ads, many of them barely focus on promoting the product essentially; intstead they enfasize on the "side dish" that comes with: body parts exposed, seduction, almost sex, quasi-pornography. Beer commercials with girl in bikini, the relationship between a bottle of beer and a woman is linked by a hidden message that is letting you know that if you buy their beer you can get those girls.

The harshest advertising is the one that targets teenagers and also that period before the teen years. Advertising gone wild is what happens when this type of age-range is at stake. Since it is also an age where the brain can understand and can absorb very well, advertising companies made it clear that wherever teenagers are going so will they. Think about the theaters where masses of young boys and girls pay to see a movie that has an average of 10 minutes of non-stop advertising before the beginning of the flick. Yes, they are paying to see commercials of products that they will eventually buy. It sounds like a scam! Well, it is in a certain way because the very same companies that are complaining about financial losses due to piracy and p2p activities, at the very same time are recovering their profits via advertising on the very same flim.

But commercials in theaters already existed before the internet and file sharing, we were staring at soft-drink and cool running shoes ads over ten years ago. So what does this looks like? It looks like that people may be fed up to pay to watch commercial before a movie that might even be a crappy one. It happened to me when I went to watch The Mist with some friends, almost 10 minutes of ads that were the prequel to a poor and stale film. I felt complaining and wanted my money back, but it was late in the evening and the only person in charge at the theater was the kid who cheked our tickets and sold soda.

In February 2003 a lawsuit against two cinema companies was made because their show times were starting later than claimed. This due to the presence of commercials, "...a breach of contract..." someone stated.Viewers have the right to know when and how much commercial is on the screen, since you are paying the full price of the movie ticket to watch it you should be warned of its presence.

In 2004 the volume of theaters advertising increased to 23%, for the value of $438 millions in the US, according to the Cinema Advertising Council. Advertising for a company is pretty cheap, the general rate is around $30 per screen per week for a 15 seconds commercial which will run once during the pre-feature program. The rate for government and non-profit organizations is $18.00 per screen per week. This for the period of one month, thus even for the small business owner advertising via a theater is affordable.

Piracy comes when a movie (for example) is being recorded with a camera in a theater and copied thousands of times for lucrative purposes when sold on the black market, then there is the p2p which is a sharing process of people that just make a copy without any lucrative final purpose. To the major producing companies the two cases listed above are the same. Unfortunately random cases where private citizens are charged and dragged into trials do happen, they can face thousands of dollars in fines that cannot afford to pay. So why are small individuals paying for the lucrative black market that has been around even before the birth of commercial internet? Simple, because these kinds of citizens are easy to spot and to scare.

Probably these underground networks are born to protest the fact that a simple movie shouldn't be charged with the full price of a ticket where advertising are continously run; and the fact that major motion picture companies ignore this does't mean that it will go away!

more info:

digital lifescapes, by David H. Deans

"Movie Theaters Profit from Food, Drink, Ads"

New York Times

"Advertisers Pour More Money Into the Big Screen"

Commercial Alert

a non profit organization that pushes to keep the advertising world in its dimension.