MAC_Week1_Comment1

Comment from Luz Infante:

When I finished watching the copyright videos my head was spinning an analyzing all sort of facts. First, as you all know I am from Mexico and in my country we have a huge sub-economy that over time has also become a sub-culture, it is known by the name of Piracy. I am not saying this with pride but I am also not saying it with shame. The piracy sub-economy is a reality that in my personal perspective has been generated by a social and economical inequality, as well as, a lack of education and job opportunities in many countries in the world. With this said I am not justifying anything but I am also trying to put some things on the table. The consumerism of piracy products has been adopted as a habit and from there it has seized force. For example, a study done this year in Mexico by the Chamber of Commerce about piracy reflected that 88% of Mexicans between ages 17 and 60 consume pirated products. The 75% of these people do it because of the accessible price of these products that are in most cases very affordable in comparison the expensive OEM versions.

I think that piracy is a really difficult sub-economy to combat. Many people and commerce organizations are trying to plan a strategy to counter Piracy effects. I think that their challenge is huge since it is almost impossible to compete with the low prices that this sub-economy offers. The most important television station in Mexico is doing a great advertising campaign to create awareness among the population. Another campaign effort takes place when you purchase a DVD where at the beginning before the menu appears there is type of commercial where children call the attention of their parents and compare piracy to stealing and the message implies that parents should not set such example for their children as they would in turn be ashamed of their parents and exposed to a crime. Hopefully this helps a little bit but I can’t see the end of this sub economy until many economic and social problems are solved.

My response to Luz:

I too finished these videos and felt like I had just submerged my head into a tub of copyright bath water. I recall so many viewpoints, so many advantages and so many disadvantages to the issues of piracy, copyright, creative expression, plain old stealing and the influence of culture and socio economic status on the issues. I wasn’t exactly sure of my opinion anymore! You provide such great insight to the issue and the statistic that you wrote about “88% of Mexicans between the ages of 17 and 60 consumed pirated products” was astounding! I was wondering how that statistic might compare if the same survey was done in the U.S.

Luz, were you familiar with the Techno Brega culture that was discussed in the film Good Copy, Bad Copy? It was eye opening to me to hear several of the “remixers” discuss that the artists were not so concerned about being paid for their music, but more in just being recognized for it. I am wondering how true that statement really is.

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