In ten short years we saw Napster come, go. We saw kazaa and limewire disappear. We saw YouTube come, get swallowed by Google. We saw GMail released. We witnessed the rise of legal streaming services, and their kneecappings. We saw the birth of The Pirate Bay, the battles. We recently saw Popcorn Time emerge and get strangled.

Today, a third of internet traffic is caused by Netflix.

The internet has changed a lot, but legislation hasn’t.

It should.

When radio emerged, legislators decided to enact mandatory playback licenses. For every play of a track, the original composer/writer would get a nickel.

This was not extended to the digital age.

Instead, we have a cobbled-together mess. Youtube offers ad revenue sharing to video uploaders, although the revenue is much lower than a nickel a play. If people like, they can use a third-party tool called Flattr, but again, it only rewards the uploader.

I propose a better solution.

Mandatory flattr, ran by each country. Tomahawk and Popcorn Time would be merged in a glorious flash. A play of a track would be equal to 1 flattr. A video would be 10 flattrs. This mandatory flattr could be in the form of an internet tax – perhaps up to $30/month in more developed countries, but tied to a Coca-Cola index for other countries..

Maybe restrictions could be put in place – a 90 day window for new releases. Maybe we’d ban The Pirate Bay. Maybe all P2P. But in the end, we’d have a safer, freer alternative. No longer alternative, but reality.

Large companies and labels may object. It would mean less money overall (less shafting of consumers). But the cashflow would be steadier, more predictable.

Also, why “lawmakers”? Since when are they even computer experts at all?

Not to mention that thanks to that there are a few 70-80 year olds around no longer convinced computers are scary. Warms my heart, that does.