Walled Culture: How Big Content Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Keep Creators Poor

311 Pages·2022·2.482 MB·English

by  Glyn Moody

ALSO BY GLYN MOODY
Rebel Code
Digital Code of Life
How Big Content Uses Technology and the Law
to Lock Down Culture and Keep Creators Poor
Glyn Moody
BTF Press
Antwerp, Belgium
Walled Culture:
How Big Content Uses Technology and the Law to
Lock Down Culture and Keep Creators Poor
978-946459495-9 (paperback)
978-946459849-0 (eBook)
Published by BTF Press, 2022
[email protected]
This worked is licensed under a Creative Commons CC0
1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication license.
To my family.

Contents
Foreword � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � i
Chapter 1� From Analogue to Digital �����������������������������������������������������������������������������1
Big Content’s plan to take total control online
Chapter 2� Hostage Works and Vanishing Ebooks ������������������������������������������������������15
Publishers sue Google and the Internet Archive for sharing
knowledge and culture
Chapter 3� Aaron Swartz’s Manifesto��������������������������������������������������������������������������41
Making all publicly funded research freely available through open access
Chapter 4� Internet Users at Risk ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������73
Napster, three strikes and the Great Internet Blackout
Chapter 5� From Scare Tactics to Censorship �������������������������������������������������������������91
Big Content’s wrongful takedowns and Web site blocking
Chapter 6� How the European Union Passed Copyright’s Worst New Law ���������������107
Spying on the Internet with upload filters
Chapter 7� Digital Monopolies �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������143
Relentless lobbying plus regulatory capture leave artists and the
public powerless
Chapter 8� Copyright Absurdities ������������������������������������������������������������������������������167
Disobedient computers, rotting films, and Katy Perry’s battle over
an ostinato
Chapter 9� True Fans Are the Real Solution���������������������������������������������������������������187
Helping creators and culture thrive without Big Content
Notes � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 207
Index � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 255
Acknowledgments � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 293
About the Author � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 297
Foreword
T
ragically, the internet is turning from our dreams of a
more democratic and open publishing system to one
that is increasingly controlled by a shrinking number of
international corporations. These corporations, publishers
as much as tech companies, are using the connected nature
of our technologies to assert new controls that were never
possible in the analog era. What is happening? And what can
we do to get back on track?
Many of us have spent our careers building toward a de-
centralized Great Library, where the published works of
humankind would be available to those curious enough to
want access. Further, this Library would be inclusive of all
voices as everyone would have the opportunity to share their
works and many would get enough readership to earn a liv-
ing. New computer and network technologies would help
everyone to sort through the vast troves of information. We
have made progress, but we have had setbacks.
The internet now connects most people around the world,
but countries are starting to block access. Server technology,