Why BBC is banned - the purpose of Internets

Dear Reader,

It seems, Glynsky and I got Pete worked up, at least Strictly gone barking seems grumpier then most. I like that! Can I have more, Pete?

Different from Glynsky, I could not give a rats a** about any Celebrity-Chef-Star-Apprentice-Idol-Brother-Talent-Model-Bachelor-Looser.

If I want to see someone dancing, I watch one of the most popular internet video of all times, amateur-made "The Evolution of Dance".

But that is not the point of this post.
The point is: old media vs. internets

And Pete is right, it is a war.



The internets, which is more then just the world wide web, was not invented, founded, created or fostered by old media. If you want to educate yourself about the internets, read the Wikipedia article about it here. The internets were and largely still are created by users, like us.

Basically, the internets connect computers. What happens is this:

On computer 1 is a file.
The file is identified by an address (URI), f. e.  http://www.glynskyandpete.com/2010/11/bad-banned-corporation.html
The computer - called server - offers this file via internets to other computers.

If computer 2 (called client) enters the URI in a browser, it requests that file.
Upon that request computer 1 sends computer 2 a copy.

The magic word here is "copy".
Whenever you view a webpage, you are downloading a copy, stored in a temporary folder on your computer. From that folder it is deleted after while. Or you can move it some place else and keep the copy.

Early on, the internet was built and grown by scientists and technical people. They wanted to share, spread and advance information, data and knowledge. They were happy to have copies and added links whenever they could to give credit to authors and creators and distributors. At the same time a link makes the internets easier to navigate. It leads to more readers. This way making even more copies.
To find things, people first built web catalogs like dmoz.org and later search engines. Everyone was happy.

In the 90s old media discovered, that the internet was a new medium to publish and they wanted to participate and - more importantly - profit.

Let me be clear:
Nobody forced old media to put anything online. I hardly remember anyone actually inviting them to the party. Certainly, nobody held a gun to someone's head and said: You have to put your BBC content onto the internet. Old media did so voluntarily.  
What they did not understand, was that "copy" thing. And that is really funny, since the basis of old media profit is - hold your breath, something called - copyright. To make it more obvious: copy right.

Anyway, old media joined mostly publishing the recycled stuff from offline.
Then old media discovered, that they did not get a "copy price" or subscription online. Some tried and failed miserably. So old media tried making money with advertising. And they get some. But for them, it is not enough.

And this is what started the war: Greed

As an example, BBC already is paid license fee and collects ad money offline. Then their stuff is recycled online with yet again more ad money.  

Old media is trying to enforce its old business model in a medium, that is by definition and technical setup based on copies.
Old media is fighting with claws, teeth, lobbying, law firms, cease-and-desist letters and you know what to protect its profits in an environment, they never understood. And actually are not wanted anymore.

And Pete, we will win this war! Because the youngsters can't stand old media and their practices. They don't trust them. They get their news and views online, not from some stupid blond at BBC.

Stay tuned,Engine Room