Cutting out the middle man

Barrack Obama has followed on the coattails of Stanford Law Professor Lawrence Lessig in calling on copyright holders to waive those rights for footage of the Presidential Democratic debates:

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6438871.html?rssid=193 - Obama
http://www.lessig.org/blog/ - Lessig's Blog

In a surprising response, MSNBC has decided to hold on to the rights of that footage, except for very restrictive exceptions. It's just ANOTHER example of the ridiculousness of property in an event. Since there really is no public interest standard or accountability any more in television (or any media) broadcasting, MSNBC will be able to claim ownership of a recording of a significant event. Tell me how this makes one bit of sense.

In relation, Representative Dingell, of Michigan, is pushing to revive the fairness doctrine. How does this have any bearing? Well, reviving the the fairness doctrine is one step in the right direction to revitalizing the commitment to public interest and necessity of important information for consumers. A new fairness doctrine could contain language that would require records of historic or politically important events to be free domain information. Simply because MSNBC, or whoever, has the equipment to record these events, or has been sold the footage to these events does not make them the sole owners of the cultural significance of those events. Some things are too important to be tied up in private ownership - these debates count as one of those things.

So, I think that the Democratic Presidential candidates should bypass the arrogant media companies that propose to own this footage. There is a universe of possible choices. They could bypass the traditional model for debates alltogether, cut out the middle man and produce the event themselves. Post it on Youtube, there is no reason to utilize traditional media or television when such alternatives exist. These candidates have voiced their belief that people shouldn't own rights to these events. The best way to demonstrate that rhetoric is not to participate in the creation of an event that will be owned. Candidates are beginning to understand the impact and utility of the internet in creating momentum for their movements, and they shouldn't be so clumsy and ignorant in their rhetoric. Here's an opportunity for all of these people involved to demonstrate a commitment to their ideals. If they say that they don't want people to own the copyrights, then they need to become the producers, they need to have a legitimate claim to the rights of ownership and then rescind those rights. Those actions will create the trust and accountability that lacks demonstration in traditional campaigns.