SOPA, Time Warner Cable and the Knicks (Old Dudes Don’t Get It)
There are two things simultaneously occurring related to tech that leave me thinking one thing - old dudes don’t get it.
The first is the fact that we are even discussing the possibility of the SOPA bill passing. To quote Seth Meyers from SNL’s Weekend Update, “Really?!?!? Really Congress?!?!” You want to pass a bill that would basically give U.S. authorities complete control to censor everything on the Internet and hence kill freedom of speech. It’s 2012, not 1984.
The second I’m reminded of every night when I try to tune into the Knicks on MSG (yes even at 4-4, there’s finally a reason to watch the Knicks again). Unfortunately, Time Warner Cable has “rejected” my attempts to see if Melo and Amar’e can lead the Knicks back to a title, as the cable company has stripped New Yorkers of MSG and MSG+, a decision fueled by a fee disagreement with the Dolan family. Granted, I’m not a biggest fan of every decision the Dolan family has made (see: ISIAH THOMAS, STEPHON MARBURY), but I’ve had a rather lousy experience with Time Warner Cable overall (fees, nebulous charges, lack of functional supplied equipment) so I’m pointing the finger at them for this one.
Both the movement to pass the SOPA bill and the suspension of MSG from Time Warner Cable signal one strong message to me - those currently in the positions to make powerful decisions that affect consumers of technology are so out of touch with two things: consumers and technology.
Whether we are talking about browsing/hosting content on the Internet or kicking back and watching Carmelo Anthony drain a three pointer, consumers should at the very least have the ability to consume without massive restrictions in place. This seems so basic to me, but clearly is a foreign concept to some.
Luckily, we live in an age where dissenters of such leaders can be heard loudly. The NY Tech Community in particular has done a fantastic job leading the rallying cry against SOPA. I’m fairly optimistic that SOPA will not pass.
My chances of watching the Knicks at home this year look bleaker. What is the Knicks fan who has Time Warner Cable to do? My apartment building is wired only for Time Warner Cable, so I cannot switch to an alternative cable provider. While I am seriously considering getting rid of cable and looking at other solutions such as Boxee, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get past blackouts imposed on sports games. Surely, someone will figure out a new solution, right?
In times like theses, I can only hope the new guard of tech (aka the startup community) can figure out a way to solve this new “MELOdrama” plaguing every New Yorker with Time Warner Cable. Only innovators can solve this dilemma. Fred Wilson makes an excellent point in his #screwcable post:
I’ve long believed that piracy is largely a business model problem not a human behavior problem. If you give people a legal way to consume the content they want, they will pay for it. But when you make it impossible to legally consume the content they want, they will pirate it. That’s what happened last night and that is what will happen every night there is a Knicks game on TV for as long as MSG and Time Warner Cable continue to figure out how to screw their customers.
To borrow from Walt Clyde Frazier (whose voice I can no longer here), both the invention of the SOPA bill and the Time Warner Cable dispute with MSG clearly demonstrate that consumers of technology and those with control over it are not “thriving and jiving” together. I blame the old dudes.
