Napster and the Terrorists

Having been a user of Napster in it's infancy, I was immediately attracted to this article entitled "Peer-to-Peer Terrorism." In describing the current war on illegal file sharing of MP3's and DVDs through P2P networks, the author makes parallels between the war on file sharing and the war on terror.

He says: But though Washington has been quick to copy from Hollywood's playbook, it also seems reluctant to learn from the ways in which those plays have failed.

First, the author says the US like the recording industry suffers from an image problem. Before the RIAA started suing elderly grandmothers and elementary school students, most people had a neutral opinion of their organization. Their heavy-handed tactics, however, have allowed a growing discontent about the RIAA methods to turn people against them.

Similarly, the authors say that the United States cannot win over Middle East moderates (who do not condone terrorist actions) with our current tactics. With the media firestorm over inhumane treatment of prisoners at Abu Gharib as well as the recent reports about the desecration of the Koran, the argument could be made that the United States is not winning in the court of public opinion (both at home and overseas).

Secondly, the Internet and P2P networks are by their nature decentralized. In prosecuting copyright violators, the RIAA has only forced file sharing networks into a decentralized mode - making it more difficult to detect and prosecute violators.

Likewise, in combating Al-Queda, the United States has forced terrorists into decentralized groups like the current insurgency in Iraq. These groups, led by Abu al-Zarqawi that operate independently of Osama bin Laden. A decentralized structure, as the authors point out, makes it very hard to combat terrorism.

So how does all this relate to our new media class? The internet is by nature decentralized. Managing the flow of information through this network is important to win the public opinion, and ultimately to win for your candidate or issue. Or at least, that's how I took this reading.