That's not what I'm saying. As a writer, I appreciate the concept of nitellectual property.
However, the producers and distributors of entertainment (music and movies are basically what we're talking about here) are unwilling to adjust their business model to the new delivery system -- and instead want protection from it.
It's no different than the overland freighters in the 1870's. They had held a monopoly on distributing products (not of their own making) from and to the west. Then came the railroad -- a more efficient form of distribution. The freighters sought protection from the government.
It was not until the freighters learned how to adjust their business model -- and work with the railroads -- that they survived.
The entertainment producers and distributors need to learn how to capitalize on the internet, not how to censor it.
Many totally new businesses have been built around the internet. Why can't the moguls adjust?
“However, the producers and distributors of entertainment (music and movies are basically what we’re talking about here) are unwilling to adjust their business model to the new delivery system — and instead want protection from it.”
You’re wrong. They have been working on new business models with people like Apple and Netflicks. Those are business models that DO provide digital access, do not steal to do it, and provide some renumeration to the copyright holders.
Outfits like Apple and Netflicks have business models that will not be affected by the legislation that is intended to go after pirates. The Internet will continue to evolve, as will the laws to protect copyright holders.
“It’s no different than the overland freighters in the 1870’s. They had held a monopoly on distributing products (not of their own making) from and to the west. Then came the railroad — a more efficient form of distribution. The freighters sought protection from the government.”
The issue is not about “business models”. Not all business models are equal, by intent or by law.
A man who steals consumer electronics, warehouses them in his garage and sells the stuff through word-of-mouth networks could be said, in your language, to simply, with his “business model” be “working against the monopoly” of the consumer electronics stores.
I use this “stolen goods” warehouse analogy because it is infinitely closer to the issue than was the case with the “overland freighters in 1870”. It is not mere “efficiency” that makes your analogy wrong, it ignores that laws and long held understanding of property rights are being broken. The railroads - at least in general - did not defy existing laws and understanding about the property rights of either their clients, customers of the “overland haulers”.
Copyright pirates intentionally defy those laws on the delusional logic that since technology makes their theft possible and “more efficient” that makes it morally correct. Better “business model”? Absolutely, if you can get away with it.