Freedom vs Prohibition: Why both routes will not stop an industry from dying

(If you notice any Biblical references, can it. The reliability of The Bible is not something I am willing to debate about now and it’s not even relevant.)

It seems like the epic fail that is the fansub debate will never end until one side is utterly decimated.

On one hand you have the stuff should be for free zealots. They go on about freedom of the Internet and how businesses should adopt business models to the Internet and freedom of information and such. These people are complete idiots.

On the other hand are the industry rags, people who promote being corporate whores in order to keep an industry on life-support. They think that all animé fans should support legal means of getting animé, or else they are hypocrites and whatnot. These people are also complete idiots. (And for the record, Mr. Zac BerYourFrickingSurnameIsTooHardToPronounce, let’s use the terms ‘sinner’ to replace ‘annoying leech’. Since you seem to be preaching some messed-up sort of ‘gospel’, that term should suit the people you detest just fine.)

Why are both groups of people idiots? Because it wouldn’t matter which path the industry takes, it’s going to die a horrible death either way. It only depends how long do you want an industry to die.

Let’s say the industry finally decides to stop prosecuting fansubbers, not sue downloaders, etc. Total freedom of information, at least for animé. It’ll be a freewheeling anarchy, where people do as they like, grab raws and fansub whatever they like, it’s good news for the industry, right?

That’s where the fun stops and the troubles begin. You see, the overseas animé industry is nothing but a dumping ground for Japan to recoup their losses in the domestic market. The same kind of freewheeling chaos I mentioned earlier exists within the Japanese market. Comiket may seem huge and whatnot, but it’s actually a celebration of depravity and lack of control. Perversions run rampant. Copyrights are being violated like hotcakes being sold. And the funny thing is, none of the cash generated by Comiket and its associated/related events ever go back into the industry. And without money, you don’t get new animé to obsess on. Long story short, no money from domestic sales leads to overseas selling, lack of overseas funds leads to cutting of production costs, which leads to the making of less animé, which will eventually lead to the collapse of the industry as a whole.

It’s interesting to note that we have a parallel for freedom leading to destruction. It’s called the Book of Judges, and it chronicles the history of Israel before they had a king. There’s a lot of stories in the Book of Judges, but one line always stands out. “In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” Except for three people, anyway, but that’s not the point.

Israel, during the time of Judges, was kind of like the situation in Japan regarding copyrights. Everyone did what they felt was right. Of course there were laws telling them what to do, but without someone actively hammering these laws into their heads, they slowly forgot these laws. Of course, the punishment for not following these laws were rather severe; Israel was conquered many times. But even though they were saved when they cried out for help, they soon forgot the laws and again they were conquered by a foreign power.

With that said, Prohibition seems the way to go, yes?

Ironically, Prohibition will also lead to the collapse of the industry, only this time, asinine regulations prevent fans from legally purchasing what they like.

In theory, it all sounds fine. Throw in a couple of laws, kill a few thousand downloaders, DMCA fansubbers out of existence, and you have a ready line of cash. Sounds like a capitalist’s dream, right? Guess what? It’s not as easy as it looks.

First of all, people will get what they want, even if they have to resort to illegal means to get it. And by taking out the most obvious targets, it makes the rest wiser and harder to catch. It’s like a vicious cycle of Darwinism in action. Elimination of the weakest makes the survivors stronger and harder to kill or eradicate. And even if enforcement proves to be wholly effective, there’s still the limited selection to deal with. Not everyone likes to be told what to do, or in this case, buy.

We’ve seen the effects of Prohibition firsthand. An Era of Prohibition in America failed to stop alcoholics from getting alcohol. RIAA lawsuits have failed to make a dent in illegal music downloads. Suing The Pirate Bay and DMCAing sites like Torrentfreak have failed to stop people from getting free software. Ivory is still being traded illegally. Drugs still get into the hands of addicts. Heck, even my idea of killing innocents to prove a point may not stop people from getting what they want. Killing people may have worked in Vlad Tepes’ time for law enforcement (say what you will about the death penalty, but Vlad Tepes DID eradicate poverty and crime when he was in power. People in Romania still view him as a hero because of that.), but pure greed is far harder to stop, even if we resort to Vlad the Impaler’s tactics. It sure didn’t stop him from being defeated by the Ottomans the second time they invaded. (I’m not too sure if he did use the same psychological blow he used the first time round.)

And what’s even funnier is this: the industry would still die anyway. Instead of the industry imploding quickly, it dies a slow, long death. Trust me, it’s not fun seeing people (or industries) die slowly.

In both cases, no one would pay for stuff or acknowledge the fact that their actions will kill the industry. Both sides pull out the same tired arguments again and again.  Heck, people may call one another stupid names just because they don’t agree with their side of the argument. And it creates avenues for unscrupulous, shady entities to extort money.

If both methods fail to stop the death knell from sounding, what will? Honestly, I don’t know. Anything I suggest now would not make an iota of change. And the only way I know to save the industry, it will take me the rest of my adult life and then some to accomplish.

You tell me how to save this dying (and most probably dead) industry. I’m at a complete loss for ideas here.