Entertainment's Heavy Weight

Organizations that push to criminalize piracy as a form of combating the ever increasing act are doing nothing more than attempting to hold on to an aspect of the entertainment industry that is quickly dying. Government should not allow organizations such as the MPAA or others to persuade the government in drafting trade regulations. The MPAA’s success implementing, “. . . retaliatory economic sanctions against any countries which contravened in intellectual property rights of US companies” (Mattelart 322 ). This is an obvious abuse of power, for an organization to have the ability to interfere with governance for the sole purpose of their economic interest, despite the harm it does to other nations.  All industries should not be able to dictate the laws made between nations for the obvious reason that capitalistic ambitions and not the interest of the people will be the impetus for drafting such laws.

 The entertainment industry should use its current predicament to evolve with technology as oppose to holding on to archaic ways of producing revenue. Piracy is a consequence of technology, similar to how the cellular phone eventually led to the elimination of the home phone. Rather than cling to a non sustaining form of production MPAA should use their energies to find innovative new ways to sell and distribute its product in a low cost efficient manner.  I find it incongruous for nations such as the US to allow private industries to interfere with political issues between nations.  Laws between nations should be constructed by the governance of those appointed by the people with the interests of all people. In other alternative allows industries such as Hollywood to lean on the shoulder of government rather than work towards new solutions.