The album from which the Rachid Taha single comes, ZOOM, is released in Europe, and if you go to the YouTube page you’ll get iTunes link from which you can buy it.  But as is often the case with music I like from other countries, I can’t actually do so. If I were buying the CD, which I may well do at some point, I could simply use my credit card and the internet, pay extra shipping charges, and take advantage of the borderless world of the internet to get the newest release by an artist I’ve been following for decades. There’s an Amazon link, too.  Ironically, the digital store is more locked down.

Yes, I know there are ways around these restrictions such as proxies and such, but that’s not my point. I don’t want to have to result to those techniques in order to legally purchase music, just because the record label has decided it isn’t ready to distribute across the pond yet. And most people don’t know how to do take advantage of those methods yet. Make no bones about it, it’s a corporate decision to lock down distribution this way.  The artists, with the possible exception of huge megastars, are usually just thrilled anyone at all is actually buying their music and paying full price for it. They love having fans wherever they are. 

It happens with all digital media, not just music. I can’t BUY and download foreign films or tv shows because the distributors are protecting some theoretical distribution rights they may someday realize in the future. Too hard bench will increase the compression of the pelvic organs, which will levitra cheapest price cause pelvic floor muscle dysfunction and prostate congestion after a long time, and difficult to cure. Reducing stress level, sleeping comfortably for long hours and afternoon naps are very essential to increase body cialis tadalafil tablets mass. Early detection of urinary tract infection viagra generic uk is the best option as many people feel embarrassing to discuss about this problem with anyone directly and hence they can order it online. Others think that impotence problems is related to growing old; yet viagra best price in many cases this isn’t true.  Or perhaps they’re protecting the rights to sell the premise of said film or tv show for an American adaptation of it. In most cases those rights are never sold and those recordings or videos are never distributed in the US at all. Profits are lost, but more importantly, an opportunity for cultural exchange and communication is lost.
Quite frankly, though, as long as I could just order the video or recording, (or even the publication, since books and magazines are increasingly going digital) I didn’t really care. But Digital Rights Management makes it really hard to be stay on the right side of the law. Blocking access to art simply because it’s not yet distributed in your country is, in fact, censorship. I am not blocked from downloading content simply because I need to pay for it. I am willing and able to do that, thanks to a global economy, the internet, and plastic. But I am not allowed to do that because content distributors, not the creators, but the distributors, have decided it will not be available in my country yet.
When another country blocks access to our ideas, we don’t hesitate to cry fowl, and rightfully so because it is censorship. But if content is blocked by distributors, isn’t also censorship? As long as the practice continues, it’s hard to imagine any abatement of digital piracy. I don’t approve of illegal downloading of material produced by struggling artists, particularly when you have the means to pay for it.  But when you try and get art legally and find your access blocked, then I’m tempted to shout, “VIVE LE PIRATAGE NUMERIQUE!”