Techdirt. Stories filed under "resentment" Easily digestible tech news... http://www.techdirt.com/ en-us Techdirt. Stories filed under "resentment"http://www.techdirt.com/images/td-88x31.gifhttp://www.techdirt.com/ Fri, 3 Dec 2010 14:00:00 PST Just As Record Labels Resented Apple For Dragging Them Into The Internet Age, Movie Studios Resenting Netflix Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101203/01564912107/just-as-record-labels-resented-apple-dragging-them-into-internet-age-movie-studios-resenting-netflix.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101203/01564912107/just-as-record-labels-resented-apple-dragging-them-into-internet-age-movie-studios-resenting-netflix.shtml pissed off at Steve Jobs and Apple for building such a successful online music store in iTunes. The whole thing sounded counterintuitive. Prior to iTunes, the record labels had tried a series of dreadfully awful online music stores with horrible selection, crippling limitations, and ridiculous prices. While iTunes still isn't the savior that some in the industry think, it did drag the industry forward. And... for that, the labels resented Apple. It was basically because Apple had become the gatekeeper -- the position they were used to holding.

These days, it sounds like the movie studios are going through the same sort of experience with Netflix. A recent story highlighted how the heads of major studios are getting upset about how successful Netflix has been with its online streaming offering. They literally are complaining that Netflix has been too good at getting customers to use online streaming:
"The problem is that Netflix is not the company we thought it was when we started doing these deals a few years ago. It has changed," said a studio executive who requested anonymity because the studio's discussions were confidential.
Of course, as was the case with the labels and Apple, what's really going on is that the studios want a bigger cut. It's a case of overvaluing the content, and undervaluing the service. What the studio bosses refuse to admit is that it's the service that is working. There have been many attempts at offering streaming or download movies, and none of them did well, because they all sucked. They had the same content (or, in some cases better content), but since the services were so bad, no one used them. That seems like pretty clear evidence that it's the service that made this a success -- but they can't bring themselves to admit that. So, instead, they rag on Netflix and talk about how "unfair" it is that Netflix isn't paying them enough. And these are the same execs who complain about customers having an "entitlement mentality"?

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]]> amazing http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20101203/01564912107 Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:11:00 PST Are People Resentful Of Content Creators? Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100216/0332028179.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100216/0332028179.shtml "The Creative Class War." It's an interesting read that hits on a lot of different points, many of which I agree with, and a few I don't agree with, but it's worth reading anyway, if only to be horrified by the news of a novel that apparently spends a few chapters following an "intellectual-property enforcer who literally tortures and dissects copyright infringers to death." Yikes.

There's too much in the post to respond to each of the points -- either the ones I agree with or disagree with -- but there was one concept that is part of the root of the argument which I simply don't believe is true, even though I've heard others say it as well. It's the idea that the views held by many people criticizing rights holders for being overly aggressive in enforcing their rights comes from some sort of "resentment" of content creators. Bosworth notes:
There's a long-simmering resentment of people that actually make art, and the Internet has brought it to the surface in a way we've never seen before.
I have to say that I just don't see this. It's an argument we've seen thrown out by various people who disagree with us at times ("you just say that because you've never created anything of value in your life!") but it doesn't ring true at all. First of all, many of us who fall on the side of often being critical of overly aggressive copyright enforcement are critical because we think that it will backfire and harm those that the law is supposed to "protect." The point of highlighting why it's a bad idea isn't that we resent those who did something creative, but because we want to see them succeed and making an anti-fan, anti-consumer decision will make that more difficult. It's not resentment at all.

Coming at the same question from the other direction, again, I have trouble seeing "resentment" as the issue at all. When we look at the success stories, the one thing that comes through loud and clear is that respecting fans results in those fans becoming incredibly loyal. They're loyal to a fault, in fact. There's no resentment there at all. If anything, at times, it seems to border on hero worship.

I'm not denying that there is some resentment out there of successful people. There are always some people who are resentful of others, but I just don't see that as a driving force in the criticism of content creators who choose a path that is anti-fan.

Update: Wow. So it turns out that Martin, who wrote the post above and sent it to me on Tuesday (and promised to write more on the subject) actually passed away on Wednesday. I'm really sorry to hear that. Very tragic.

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