Via Boing Boing comes this link to a NY Times article from 1897 (yes, you read that right, not 1987) about the struggle of the music industry against "pirates" (you can see the original via the NY Times site here). This really old article really does sound like pretty much any of the more recent news about music "pirates" except they're talking about sheet music, rather than MP3 files. The fact that it focuses on Canadian copyright laws as the problem, again nearly perfectly mimics today's claims from the recording industry. The article even talks about a recent conference held by industry members to create a committee to fight piracy. Basically, it's the same exact story we see today -- and the same bogus complaints. If the industry has shown one thing, it's that it will consistently overreact to any new change in technology, claiming it's some massive threat, rather than learn how to embrace it and turn it into an opportunity.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story