Meanwhile, those of us who believe the Internet is one of the few truly democratic institutions left, a level playing field where independents can compete on an equal footing with the big money corporations…well, we now have another reason for our testicles to shrivel in fear. In my last report from the frontlines of the music wars (found at http://www.troma.com/lk2/napster3/index.php3), I predicted that the transformation of Napster to a subscription-based service could sound the death knell for independent musicians. Now it seems that that is precisely what's happening. The New York Times reported on Tuesday, May 22 that industry analysts now believe "the five major record companies could wind up actually consolidating their power in an Internet age that some analysts thought would shake the labels to their core."

This isn't entirely without precedent. The major studios have a history of doing everything in their power to hamstring new technology, fucking it all up so that it works extremely well in their favor but doesn't benefit the consumer at all. Look back at the early days of video. The studios panicked, fearing international video piracy and the complete and utter abandonment of movie theatres. They refused to release their most sought-after titles, leaving the field wide open for independents like Troma to reap the benefits of their short-sightedness. Once the majors saw that video was a viable, profitable business, they leapt in, swamping the market by encouraging video stores to buy hundreds of copies of one or two big titles, making less shelf space for the smaller companies that had started the ball rolling in the first place. These days, you walk into a video store and you see wall after wall of Tom Hanks' addled, puffy face staring back at you from a zillion copies of Cast Away but if you ask for Terror Firmer, all you'll get is a puzzled look.