Wrong Business Model - The times they are a-changin'

So I requested arguments on how Intellectual Property is better than Open Content for Society in General and Human Development. I got a response explaining how artists go through a lot of trouble, getting a loan from the bank, expenses, etc. to launch a CD with 13 songs... My response to that argument is very simple. It is the wrong business model. Society does not have to pay for a model that benefits a few. I am talking about total social value versus the benefit of a few (the artist, the banker, the fancy legal representative and the limited group around them). Society has changed and so should the business model. $150,000 or $15,000 to make a CD with 13 songs has nothing to do with creativity, culture, music or art. It's pure business. Part of a business model that's imposed upon us and one that no longer works. The only argument I see in that is that we should prevent universal access to content artificially through IP regulation to benefit a limited group of commercial content generators rather than the rest of society, or am I too obtuse not to see the obvious point you try to make? Do you want to see a paradigm shift in action? Media giant ABC now allows you to view on-line the full episodes of its most popular series, including Desperate Housewives and Lost, the very same week they are broadcasted. And if you want to have it, just pay US$1.99 for a full legal download. Now, that's value and that is adjusting to a changing market. Do you think they would have done that if 15 minutes after the episodes are broadcasted, digital copies wouldn't become available as torrents to download throughout the world -- not by a band of outlaws or smugglers, but by valid society members sharing their favorite series? See it for yourself here:

• http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/
• http://abc.go.com/primetime/desperate

Too bad it's only for US resident and that you can neither watch it or buy it if you live in the Caribbean -- go figure why, but I guess a lawyer with clearer vision than me can explain to us why and how should content be restricted to a certain geographical area... will the divides ever end?? You see, The Times, They Are A-Changin' as Bob Dylan sang 42 years ago in 1964 and the message is still the same today on my MP3 player. Don't be mad, listen to a sample at http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/times.html and sing with me... Buy it if you want, or not, for "The Times, They Are A-Changin'"

The Times, They Are A-Changin' written and performed by Bob Dylan Come gather 'round people Wherever you roam And admit that the waters Around you have grown And accept it that soon You'll be drenched to the bone. If your time to you Is worth savin' Then you better start swimmin' Or you'll sink like a stone For the times they are a-changin'. Come writers and critics Who prophesize with your pen And keep your eyes wide The chance won't come again And don't speak too soon For the wheel's still in spin And there's no tellin' who That it's namin'. For the loser now Will be later to win For the times they are a-changin'. Come senators, congressmen Please heed the call Don't stand in the doorway Don't block up the hall For he that gets hurt Will be he who has stalled There's a battle outside And it is ragin'. It'll soon shake your windows And rattle your walls For the times they are a-changin'. Come mothers and fathers Throughout the land And don't criticize What you can't understand Your sons and your daughters Are beyond your command Your old road is Rapidly agin'. Please get out of the new one If you can't lend your hand For the times they are a-changin'. The line it is drawn The curse it is cast The slow one now Will later be fast As the present now Will later be past The order is Rapidly fadin'. And the first one now Will later be last For the times they are a-changin'.

--- con paciencia y calma sube un burro a una palma