Seems I Am Not The Only One....

[blimix]

Originally posted by morgandawn at Seems I Am Not The Only One....

......who feels the need to take a break from an increasingly dysfunctional relationship.


Original image and campaign source: reddit.


Text of image
Black March - Thursday March 1st 2012 to Saturday March 31st 2012
With the continuing campaigns for internet-censoring litigation such as SOPA and PIPA, and the closure of sites like Megaupload under allegations of 'piracy' and 'conspiracy' the time has come to take a stand against music, film, and media companies' lobbyists.
The only way is to hit them where it hurts.
Their profit margins.
March 2012 is the end of the First Quarter in economic reports world wide.
Do not buy a single record. Do not download a single song, legally or illegally. Do not go to see a single film in cinemas, or download a copy. Do not buy a DVD in the stores. Do not buy a videogame. Do not buy a single book or magazine.
Wait the four weeks to buy them in April: see a film later, etc... Holding out for just four weeks, maximum, will leave a gaping hole in media companies profits for the first quarter, an economic hit which will in turn be observed by governments world wide as stocks and shares will blip from a large enough loss of incomes. This action will give a statement of intent:
"We will not tolerate the Media Industries' lobbying for legislation that will censor the internet."

Edit: Okay, yes, there are several problems with this. Most obvious is that delaying purchases doesn't send much of a message at all. How about just *not* watching blockbuster films in the theater at all? Wait until you can get them on DVD from your library system. As for books, spending the money at an independent used book shop will continue to support local business while not enriching publishing houses.

Comments

[kirin]

One thing I've seen pointed out elsewhere - while publishers still have their issues (though probably a bit less so than the MPAA and RIAA currently), putting off a (new) book purchase for a month is likely to have a bigger negative impact on an individual author than the publisher. The issue exists for other media too (low sales reflect badly on the original creators, many of whom dislike the actions of their distributors nearly as much as we do), but is probably less acute in the case of, say, blockbuster movies, which are largely studio productions.

I'm not saying there's a right answer here, but it's worth considering how best to target our actual opponents while minimizing collateral damage.

[feuervogel]

Yes, don't hurt authors. They've got nothing to do with the bullshit from the RIAA, and those royalty checks only come once they've earned out the advance.

Seriously, anyone who thinks the average author is rolling in dough like Stephen King or JK Rowling has got to have their heads examined.

(Also, what she said, which tiurin gets at below: http://franzi1981.dreamwidth.org/952524.html )

[tiurin.livejournal.com]

I'm not convinced this will do all that much, unless peoples' April spending is much less than usual March + usual April. That is, we'd need people to actually not spend instead of just shift their spending to a different month. Because just shifting would lead to lower profits for Q1, but bumper profits in Q2, and not actually do anything for overall '12 profits.

I'm in favor of people just not spending in March and not making it up in April- or hell, not spending in March and spending less in general April on- but fat chance of that happening.

[icarusfallen8.livejournal.com]

I worry about how a boycott like this could affect small businesses. With the economy the way its been, small businesses are teetering already.

[feuervogel]

Re your edit: Used books give no money to the authors. That's not necessarily a problem, but if your hope is to mitigate the damage to the creators, it won't.

Also, why does anyone think the RIAA or MPAA gives a crap about books?

[blimix.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was wondering that too. But I assumed that DrVitoti at Reddit knew more than I did about the SOPA supporters. Possibly a bad assumption.

And yes, I know that used book sales don't help authors. I just don't have a solution for that. There are sometimes on-line options for helping recording artists without helping major labels. But a similar ability for authors would be a rare thing, as self-publishing is harder for books than for music (IMO).