File Swapping/Downloading
File Swapping
Despite various legal challenges and the heavy-handed approach of industry groups such as the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), on-line swapping of digital music resources continues unabated. In fact such trading is experiencing significant growth, not only in volume but also in the types of recorded materials being exchanged.
Some accounts would have the industry giving up the war on music swapping in favour of the bigger battle, on-line trading of movie and television programming, the latter driven in part by the move to fast Internet connections. Downloading of music tracks at dialup speeds is slow, just bordering on the intolerable. Downloading a feature-length movie at such speeds is impractical.
Napster, the company that ramped up the file swapping “industry” is all but dead. Its website carries little more than a May 2002 press release announcing the takeover of all Napster assets (essentially liabilities) by music publisher and distributor Bertelsmann AG. The release notes that “Creating new ways of doing business is never easy, but Napster will be at the forefront of finding business models that respect copyright, reward artists, and deliver entertainment value to consumers. Peer to peer is a transforming technology and we’re proud to have Shawn Fanning (Napster creator) continue to work on its development."
Press release and reality are two different things at present. Reality is that Internet users are not willing to give up the freedom of file swapping, legal or otherwise.
Yankee Group, a business specializing in technology industry market research, recently released a study of trends in music downloading. Not surprisingly the study suggests that consumers will continue to patronize “unlicensed file sharing such as KaZaa, Morpheus, and LimeWire because of their unlimited content and zero cost.”
Yankee’s study estimates that 5.16 billion audio files were downloaded through unlicensed sources in 2001 in the United States by computer users aged fourteen or older. Downloads are expected to increase to almost 7.5 billion in 2005 before beginning to decline as legitimate online music services make their presence felt.
"Efforts by the record labels to use the courts to quash music piracy have failed and legitimate online music services have had little impact," says Michael Goodman, Senior Analyst for the Yankee Group's Media & Entertainment Strategies research practice. "The future of music, however, resides on the Internet and its dramatically lower distribution costs."
Goodman’s report sets out guidelines for such licensed distribution services. To be successful, he notes, legitimate music services must meet the following criteria:
Whether or not industry-driven distribution services take off remains to be seen. A key component may well be the success, or failure of prosecutions, if any, of file swappers in the United States.
Recently John Malcolm, a deputy assistant attorney general with the Department of Justice, speaking at the Progress and Freedom Foundation’s yearly technology and politics conference, announced that he was prepared to initiate such legal action, possibly under that country’s NET (No Electronic Theft) Act. He noted that the Internet has become "the world's largest copy machine" and that criminal prosecutions of copyright offenders are needed to protect America's content industries. "There does have to be some kind of a public message that stealing is stealing."
“Most parents would be horrified” he observed “if they walked into a child's room and found 100 stolen CDs. However, these same parents think nothing of having their children spend time online downloading hundreds of songs without paying a dime."
Peter Vogel is a Physics and Computer Sciences teacher at Notre Dame Regional Secondary School (www.ndrs.org). Suggestions and comments may be sent via email to peterv@portal.ca.
Despite various legal challenges and the heavy-handed approach of industry groups such as the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), on-line swapping of digital music resources continues unabated. In fact such trading is experiencing significant growth, not only in volume but also in the types of recorded materials being exchanged.
Some accounts would have the industry giving up the war on music swapping in favour of the bigger battle, on-line trading of movie and television programming, the latter driven in part by the move to fast Internet connections. Downloading of music tracks at dialup speeds is slow, just bordering on the intolerable. Downloading a feature-length movie at such speeds is impractical.
Napster, the company that ramped up the file swapping “industry” is all but dead. Its website carries little more than a May 2002 press release announcing the takeover of all Napster assets (essentially liabilities) by music publisher and distributor Bertelsmann AG. The release notes that “Creating new ways of doing business is never easy, but Napster will be at the forefront of finding business models that respect copyright, reward artists, and deliver entertainment value to consumers. Peer to peer is a transforming technology and we’re proud to have Shawn Fanning (Napster creator) continue to work on its development."
Press release and reality are two different things at present. Reality is that Internet users are not willing to give up the freedom of file swapping, legal or otherwise.
Yankee Group, a business specializing in technology industry market research, recently released a study of trends in music downloading. Not surprisingly the study suggests that consumers will continue to patronize “unlicensed file sharing such as KaZaa, Morpheus, and LimeWire because of their unlimited content and zero cost.”
Yankee’s study estimates that 5.16 billion audio files were downloaded through unlicensed sources in 2001 in the United States by computer users aged fourteen or older. Downloads are expected to increase to almost 7.5 billion in 2005 before beginning to decline as legitimate online music services make their presence felt.
"Efforts by the record labels to use the courts to quash music piracy have failed and legitimate online music services have had little impact," says Michael Goodman, Senior Analyst for the Yankee Group's Media & Entertainment Strategies research practice. "The future of music, however, resides on the Internet and its dramatically lower distribution costs."
Goodman’s report sets out guidelines for such licensed distribution services. To be successful, he notes, legitimate music services must meet the following criteria:
- Availability: Music services must offer content from all five major labels as well as the majority of independent labels.
- Ownership: Consumers do not want to rent music. If they pay for it, they want to be able to mix it, burn it, copy it, and retain ownership even if they choose to discontinue subscribing to a service.
- Portability: Downloaded files must be playable on different devices in the home, at work, and when mobile.
- Exclusivity: Legitimate music services must differentiate themselves from unlicensed services with unique content and services.
- Digital Rights Management (DRM): Consumers want to share music, and they will find a way to do so, thereby defeating all realistic DRM capabilities.
Whether or not industry-driven distribution services take off remains to be seen. A key component may well be the success, or failure of prosecutions, if any, of file swappers in the United States.
Recently John Malcolm, a deputy assistant attorney general with the Department of Justice, speaking at the Progress and Freedom Foundation’s yearly technology and politics conference, announced that he was prepared to initiate such legal action, possibly under that country’s NET (No Electronic Theft) Act. He noted that the Internet has become "the world's largest copy machine" and that criminal prosecutions of copyright offenders are needed to protect America's content industries. "There does have to be some kind of a public message that stealing is stealing."
“Most parents would be horrified” he observed “if they walked into a child's room and found 100 stolen CDs. However, these same parents think nothing of having their children spend time online downloading hundreds of songs without paying a dime."
Peter Vogel is a Physics and Computer Sciences teacher at Notre Dame Regional Secondary School (www.ndrs.org). Suggestions and comments may be sent via email to peterv@portal.ca.
posted by Peter Vogel at 4:55 PM
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