Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good for outsiders of the movement, June 11, 2008
This book is slightly maddening. The intention is valid: to steer people towards thinking about piracy in a new light. The "pirate's dilemma" is whether to persecute and shut down piracy, or to recognize it as a kind of creative competition. If you can't beat them, join them. The thrust of Mason's argument can be summarized by the two models of music industry approaches to P2P file sharing: either go the route of Apple and create a cheap, viable option for consumers, or the RIAA route and sue its customers.
As a former DJ, Mason cuts and pastes his way through the book with anecdotes. At first I found the approach a little obnoxious-- a kind of overly cheerful airline-style of magazine writing. As a former punk, I found the whole chapter on punk capitalism a little superficial, which lacked a discussion of a really important DIY capitalist, Discord Records. The section of the "Tao of Pirates" was also missing an important discussion of pirate culture, i.e. the black beard types that are so discussed so interestingly in Wilson's Pirate Utopias. I think the word pirate is used too general. Basically, anyone under 50 is a pirate these days, and I don't thing that's true. Also, the remix section failed to credit Dada.
But as I read on, I warmed up to the book and found the discussion of guerrilla marketing and hip hop pretty good. There was some history and anecdotes that I wasn't aware of, so I was pleasantly surprised here and there. Still, if you want a more in-depth analysis of the economic situation of open source, read Benkler's The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom.
Ultimately I think Mason's intentions are good. I'm not sure celebrating the cooptation of underground culture by capitalism is something that is to be happy about, but I suppose as the pirates become more mainstream, maybe our society will be better for it, and that to me, is the ultimate Pirate's Dilemma.
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18 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Read This Book!, January 8, 2008
Earlier this year Matt (the author) sent me a message and said that he was writing a book about how corporations have trouble adapting to the changing times and needs of people in the Information Age. Just recently he started his blog The Pirate's Dilemma (http://thepiratesdilemma.com/) that explains this phenomenon further every day. I couldn't wait for the book to drop so I asked him to shoot me one...one was already forthcoming and it appeared in the mail the very next day via his publicist. Let me break it down for y'all:
As we all know, youth culture has helped to change and reshape the world over and over again throughout history. Ever since World War 2 ended and the world at large became aware that teenagers even existed, the world hasn't been the same since. The old saying is that necessity is the mother of invention, whenever there has been an overlooked or under represented segment in society they have made their presence felt by creating their own culture. This culture usually comes with it's own brand of music, dancing or a style of dress. Once this culture hits the public consciousness then corporations develop the need/want to turn this audience into consumers of their product and convey a message to them that they "get" you and support your lifestyle. The thing is that since the advent of cool hunting and mass advertising has oversaturated the marketplace people can just tune out all those advertisments. Furthermore, with so many advances in technology today the knowledgeable consumer can pretty much create their own products and cut out the big corporations.
Since these same corporations are trying to jump on that new niche culture to gain a cache of cool, these new niche markets/cultures have adapted to the climate and become harder and harder to nail downby ad agencies. The same 40 songs being played over and over again on the radio that all sound exactly the same have driven many listeners away and res. The same old stories about Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and whoever's been kicked off the reality show du jour getting reported on your daily news rather than real journalism has driven people away from the news media. Where do these people go? Well, since we have the technology at our disposal we begin to bridge those gaps ourselves, pooling our collective resources, sharing information and creating that we we can't find in existance currently.
This in turn pisses of these big businesses and corporations. They are usually slow to adapt to change and they want to stay in power. This struggle for leverage and ownership goes on between big businesses and the consumer. The consumer wants more leeway, looser boundaries, more input and better service from the provider and big business tries to tighten the reins and throw lawsuits at these pirates threatening the status quo. The way they see it, these pirates are causing them to lose money. The way the consumer sees it, we weren't going to spend the money because the product doesn't fit our needs anymore.
In this quickly changing world where computer technology improves the speed of the transmission of data every three to six months they'll become a time where information can be passed instaneously. If you put up the wrong information on a messageboard, several messages will correct it within seconds. Any mistakes on Wikipedia acan be fixed almost immediately as opposed to a closed source website that would have the erroneous information posted there for only God knows how long. We are in the Information Age and technology has given us the tools to modify, create, and innovate the world around us. Corporations and big businesses don't know how to handle this new age where all of the power is in the hands of the consumer. No longer do they dictate to us what we want, need or what is valid...now we do it to THEM.
The music industry and film/television industry realize are in flux as music and films are being streamed and downloaded either before or the same time as the premiere dates. The news media is being outdone by bloggers and independent journalists that want serious and unbiased news coverage. In this book, Matt Mason brilliantly tells the history of the phenomenon of youth culture and how it has reinvented capitalism and the world as a whole. The whole D.I.Y. ethic that existed in Punk, Disco and Hip Hop has slowly branched out over the years into fields that you normally think weren't even related. They in turn snowballed and have all in effect given birth to The Pirate's Dilemma.
This book is completely fascinating and it grabs your attention from the beginning to the end. I read it straight through in one sitting and I read it over again the day after I got it. You will be so sucked in that you really don't want to put it down. Matt Mason seamlessly tied together how the youth culture of the 60's, the advent of Punk Capitalism, the birth of Disco and subsequently Hip Hop lead into the creation of the personal computer. He then takes us from the ealrly years of the Computer Age to the present day and touches on several subjects all at once without once making you feel like your being beat over the heads with useless information. Who knew that a nun from Dorchester, MA was indirectly responsible for the creation of Disco, House and Garage?Who would've thunk that a bunch of college dropouts who dropped LSD were responsible for the Mac, iPod and iPhone (I did)? I even got my first mention in ever print to make it that much better.
If you're looking for a new book to get get some wrinkles in your brain then this one comes highly recommended from me. Cop this joint mos def!
Dart Adams
http://poisonousparagraphs.blogspot.com/
One.
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22 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beyond Five Stars--Moving, Relevant, Powerful, March 1, 2008
I read a lot. Non-fiction. This is one of the most important and inspiring books I have read in some time. It is especially meaningful to me because my oldest of three sons is a pirate who refuses to waste my money on college "credentialing" and has told me point blank there is nothing he cannot learn on his own.
While I have been totally "open" since I published E3i in the Whole Earth Review (Fall 1992) and was called a lunatic by the spy world, and I have given a Gnomedex keytone on "Open Everything," this book--I am shaking my head trying to find the right words--has been an inspiration to me.
Bottom line: the pyramidal structure, the Weberian bureaucracy model that characterizes all governments and corporations, is DEAD. The circule model, the open network model, is kicking serious butt.
This author has in my view demonstrated world-class scholarship, given us gifted writing, and developed a story line that I can only call DAZZELING. This is an important story we all need to understand.
Here are my flyleaf notes:
+ Pirates are rocking the boat.
+ Information Age has hit puberty."
+ Citing Mark Ecko, a graffiti artist whose brand is now worth $1 billion: "The pirate has become the producer."
+ Punk capitalism."
+ Punk Plus equals creative destruction at hurricane force.
+ Purpose is everything.
+ Citing Shane Smith: In America there is no anti-status quo media--it's all the same four big companies...there is no voice.
+ Punk and green are converging on substance and style.
+ Citing Richard Florida, "Rise of the creative class"
+ 3d printing is here now, 3d product download is on the horizon (I envision FedEx Kinko's as a "one of" production facility, but the dumb ass at FedEx CEO blew me off when I proposed that he print books to lower their carbon footprint).
+ USA was founded on the basis of piracy of European technologies.
+ Three core punk ideas are 1) do it yourself; 2) resist authority; 3) combine altruism with self-interest.
+ Canal Street moves faster than Wall Street."
+ Pirate radio as musical petri dishes creating new spaces.
+ "Today a new generation is demanding more choice."
+ Net neutrality matters (FYI, Google has a programmable search engine that will let you see only what others pay to let you see. Google is now totally EVIL.
+ Lawsuits are a sign of corporate wekaness.
+ Monsanto is totally evil, and these morons have filed patents claiming they own all the pigs on the planet. Hard to believe. Time to close them down.
+ INSIGHT HALFWAY THROUGH THE BOOK: Punk and integral consciousness, pirates and creative commons, are converging.
+ 3 pirate hyabits: 1) look outside the market; 2) create a vehicle; 3) harness your audience.
+ Remix is HUGE.
+ Graffiti is explained brilliantly by this author.
+ Open Source is going physical, e.g. open source beer.
+ File sharing boosts sales and extends range of for-sale music.
+ Free education online (and my own idea, one cell call at a time) is the ultimate positive sharing experience.
+ 1.5 billion youth around the world waiting to explode in creativity or destruction--I ask myself, what are we doing to help them go creative?
+ Four pillar s of community: 1) Altruism, 2) Reputation; 3) Experience; 4) Pay them (revenue sharing with customers).
+ Authenticity is huge.
+ Weaker boundaries = stronger foundations."
+ Hip hop as "sustainable sell-out," a "powerful form of collective action."
+UN Secretary Gen3eral Kofi Annan recognized hip hop as an international language.
+ Flash mobs
+ Create a virus and feed it: 1) Audeince makes the rules, 2) Avoid limelight, speak only to the audience; 3) Feed the virus; 4) Let it die.
Conclusion: our youth have a new world view, empowered by global information technology, and they are the pinnacle of incredibly efficient networks.
I am just totally blown away by this book. The author has written a manifesto of enormous import.
See also:
Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution
Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big Bang to the 21st Century
The Tao of Democracy: Using Co-Intelligence to Create a World That Works for All
The World Cafe: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations That Matter
Society's Breakthrough!: Releasing Essential Wisdom and Virtue in All the People
One from Many: VISA and the Rise of Chaordic Organization
Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations
Collective Intelligence: Creating a Prosperous World at Peace
The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google
Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering (Information Revolution and Global Politics)
I have a number of books on Amazon, should you wish to know more, I would be glad to have you examine them.
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