Highly-respected M.I.T. prof Henry Jenkins recently gave an interview on digital piracy to a Filipino newspaper. The story received wide coverage in the Western gaming press after GP picked it up (see: Henry Jenkins: Piracy is the Great Equalizer).

Jenkins goes into greater detail in a new blog post, noting with some surprise the reaction prompted by his comments, which seemed to rationalize piracy to a degree. He writes:

the time lag between the interview... and its surfacing on western blogs could be counted in a matter of hours... in many ways, the circulation of this story demonstrates in pretty powerful ways what I saw as the central thrust of my comments -- that media companies can no longer realistically lock down their content into predictable zones and roll it out on their own time table. The moment content emerges anywhere in the world, it creates a hunger around the planet among potential consumers which will be met illegally if it is not met legally... 

 

In my heart of hearts, I think most people would prefer to work within legal structures if they are available to them... We can also understand this piracy as part of a breakdown of the moral economy between producers and consumers. Here's what I mean by a moral economy: Underlying all economic transactions are certain social understandings between buyers and sellers that reflect their sense that exchanges are just and fair to both sides. We can call this a moral economy... 

 

We can call this "piracy" or not. But it will continue to be a reality until the media companies develop a more sophisticated understanding of what factors motivate such behavior and the ways that such practices reflect breakdowns in the market mechanisms surrounding the creative economy.

GP: Regarding the pirate pic, Destructoid initially Photoshopped Jenkins after picking up on GP's coverage. Jenkins recycles the pic in today's post, quipping "One American blogger even "pirated" one of my portraits, which was doctored to depict me as a pirate. I figured that "pirating" it back is only fair game."

What the Hell, we'll steal it back from Jenkins.