Kaplan University LS 512 Unit One Town Hall John Gray

From Analog to Digital Our focus in this material is on the movement away from analog and to digital technology. Analog involves reproducing sound that is like, or analogous (hence the name) to some other sound. In time, analog reproductions wear out and begin to sound less and less like the originals. Do you remember having records that wore out from overuse? This is an problem with analog.

Digital Digital technology is superior for several reasons. 1. It reproduces sound better, at least in most cases. And 2. It is essentially a stream of digits, hence the name, digital. It is a series of 1s and 0s that allows for endless reproduction of sound without having the recording wear out.

RO to RW Lessig notes that under the older analog, RO type situations, making high quality copies, was essentially impossible for an ordinary person to accomplish. A copy sounded like a copy and with analog, even an original would sound worn out after significant use. With RW, and a digital system many things have changed.

Two major changes as to RW With RW, an individual has the capacity to mix sounds and to create new combinations. This was not possible in prior times (under a RO system). Also, the quality of a digital copy, even one not professionally made, does not wear out from playing it.

The Player Piano The player-piano is a good example of RO technology. These instruments were popular about 80 years ago and these instruments can often be found in music museums today. The player-piano was not played by a human, but by a large and wide roll of tape which various holes punched out to represent keys to be played at given times. The player-piano could only reproduce sounds based on the

paper tape. It could not improvise, or expand its repertoire on its own. It was confined to the notes on the tape, with no mixing possibilities.

Lessig indicates that this movement from RO to RW allows for mixing and shows a need for addressing a societal need. How do we raise a generation to respect the law and society when they are taught, at least by implication, that using music without permission is permissible? Just because something is online, that does not mean that it is valid to download and to retain.

Under the older systems of RO and analog, it was either not possible, or not very worthwhile for people to widely make and circulate bogus recordings. Under the newer systems of RW and digital, it is not only possible for unauthorized distribution to take place, it happens frequently. What can be done about these issues? We don’t want to stop technology in its tracks. But it is important to protect creative rights. Consider the Sony Betamax case: SONY CORP. v. UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS, INC., 464 U.S. 417 (1984)

Sony was sued by this movie studio for making a VTR (video tape recorder, later known as a VCR). This devise allowed people, according to the studio, to tape its copyrighted movies when they were shown on TV. This was a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court decision. So, it was as close as a decision in that court could be. Sony won the right to make the Betamax, but it lost the marketing war to those who made VHS tapes. VHS tapes soon dominated the market and it became hard to find Betamax tapes any longer. This litigation was a distraction for Sony. It won the battle, but lost the war to its competitors as their VHS machines dominated Sony’s betamax. The oral arguments of this case can be listed to on the Oyez Project website /1982/1982_81_1687#reargument

Where do we go from here? How do we balance the need to protect creative rights and the need to advance technology? Questions/Comments/ Thanks, JG