Keen Response

For the most part I would say I disagree with the assertions of Andrew Keen. I found them to be arrogant and not very well developed. The argument of Keen that interested me the most was that the proliferation of homemade movies, such as those on websites like YouTube, are somehow hindering the progress of true artists. He feels that free works on the internet degrade our very society and are causing us the slip into a state worse than Nazi Germany. Again, this argument makes little sense to me. First of all, no one is forcing anyone to watch the clips on the internet. If you do not wish to waste your time on YouTube, then don’t visit that site. And as to these clips harming the works of true artists, I would figure that the opposite would be true. People go to YouTube, see all the alleged waste and sorry excuses for art and are left craving for more. YouTube, in effect, should drive the masses to true art if the content provided in so wretched, and the artists should prosper.

Another one of keen’s gripes with the internet is its �assault on the economy.’ Mainly, I figure he is referring to the sharing of music/movie files. I personally have no problem with the sharing of music mp3s or movies. I understand that the music and movie industries lose a lot of money due to these actions, but as they already make an obscene amount on money already, I have no pity for them. People say that it is the artist and not the industry that really take the blow from file sharing. Again, it is hard for me to have any pity for anyone that sadly can’t afford their third house in the Bahamas or 12th Rolls Royce, much like those seen on MTV’s Cribs. Anyways, I have also always felt that if the music you make was any good and deserved to make money so you could go on producing more, then people would naturally go to your concerts to see good song performed live, or would buy the CD so that they could have a hard