Establishing the problem - not solving though

Below is a copied email I sent out to my class about the two films I watched this weekend about my public policy issue and how I'm trying to reconcile what we've figured out in class from the two texts we've read with the information I'm gathering (about my policy issue). I made the mistake however of stating at the end that I was going to solve the issue through the concept I create about my topic. I was quickly corrected by Professor Ulmer that as a class experiment, our goal isn't to solve the issue we choose, but to bring about an "unthought" or a way of thinking about/understanding the topic, that may not have been previously established.


So this weekend I watched Good Copy Bad Copy (which I blogged about) and RIP!: The Remixer's Manifesto (which I haven't blogged about yet) in an effort to gain at least a general background on the issue of piracy (perhaps specifically in regards to music, but also to other media) and appropriation. I thought the problem was that these corporations wanted to keep their money and so any appropriation of any form of media was out of the question; but this was taking a biased stance (i've been blogging about neutrality quite a bit to keep reminding myself of it).

I think the question, and this is based on some of the points brought up in both documentaries, is that if the old business model of intellectual property and the dissemination of media in culture will not work in the age of the internet, what new model can we create that will work? We know that there's just too much power/control in the hands of the people to try to regulate all of it - this is exampled by the many protests enacted by those who believe counter to what the corporations (specifically the RIAA and MPAA) try to enforce, and by the ethical questions brought about by the American government's attempts at controlling/eliminating piracy (suing individuals who download music, imposing policies internationally, etc.). And we know, if you agree, that the regulation of appropriation (or piracy as some consider it) hinders creativity (a point made by the Remixer's Manifesto), then we must find a neutral ground or compromise that allows for both a system of payment/credit for one's intellectual property (media) to be established that doesn't hinder people's creativity in taking that property and "remixing" it to create new forms of property (media).

I just simply copied the email since I thought it expressed my thoughts just as well as if I had taken the time to rewrite the whole thing again. Hope you enjoyed the second edition of the Count of Monte Christo stills (I have to figure out a better name for those).