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Court Action Does Not Reduce File-Sharing
gollum123 wrote to mention a BBC report that despite numerous court cases, litigation does not appear to be reducing the amount of file-sharing. From the article: "The level of file-sharing has remained the same for two years despite 20,000 legal cases in 17 countries. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industries (IFPI) said it was 'containing" the problem and more people were connecting to broadband."
The more people that take court action, the more bitter people will be, and the less likely people will buy from them.
The people who get nailed in court for file-sharing seem very remote. It just doesn't seem like a file-sharing conviction will ever affect "normal" people who just use Limewire every so often when they need something. These people make up 99% of the file-sharing population.
1. People don't think that it's a big risk if there's a 1 in 100,000 chance they'll be the next one sued (especially if they don't swap too much).
2. Suing people tends to piss them off, making them less likely to buy from you.
I find the last paragraph of the article mildly amusing:
[Mr. Kennedy] said DRM was a "sometimes misunderstood element of the digital music business".
I wonder if he knows who is misunderstanding it...
They are called The International Federation of the Phonographic Industries? Wow, that explains the ancient mindset of the music industry. Imagine the automotive industry still refering to themselves as horseless carriage manufactures!
Run and catch, run and catch, the lamb is caught in the blackberry patch.
You can't outlaw something that people don't think is illegal. Just how outlawing liquor in the 30's made it more popular than ever.
Who moved my sig?
consumers and artists
1.) artists need money to live and be productive
2.) artists need consumers who appreciate their art work, and pay for them
3.) consumers need artists too, because artists are the basic glue which upholds
and inspires our culture, every decade is mostly described by their artists,
and the artwork,
what you think of when I say 80s, perhaps there is a famous tune floating
through your ears, or you see a picture of the androgynous "Boy George",
or see a black pontiac transam cruising, it´s part of our culture,
or even parts of our identity.
<b>artwork belongs to both society and creator </b>
so as I wrote in the subject it´s a two way relationship where no side
can exist without the other, so from my point of view if you are an artist and create artwork, on the one hand you should have the right to sell your artwork,
and you should have the right to prosecute those people who sell
your creations, because this is a really damage in your oportunity to
sell your artwork, but persecuting private fileshares, which could not
pay for all artwork they have on their HDs aren´t really a loss,
because most of them still buy the artwork they appreciate most,
they are consumers who are willing to pay for artwork.
But accepting that you created artwork and release it to the public you also
must accept that since release you don´t own your creation entirely anymore,
it becomes part of the cultural heritage of a group, a society or even the worlds cultural heritage.
So concluding this, and citing what was said in a thread above, the more people you take to court the more bitter people there will be, the more consumers
you will lose.
<b>The copyright has gone mad since the "Mickey Mouse" - act induced by Bono.</b>
In germany we call the copyright "Urheberrecht"
Which means the right of the creator on his creation, but why should
the copyright last longer than the creator lives, because he is dead,
so he and his work were and are part of our culture, he participated
on the wealth of the consumers of his artwork, so why after his death
his artwork shouldn´t be public domain ?
Artwork isn´t pure commercial, because it´s part of our culture.
a.) I´m against commercial copyright violators
b.) I provide an allowance of private and fair use,
perhaps using a culture flat fee, where you pay non directional
so creators of swapped artwork get a compensation
c.) many artists owe their public success to the napsters and eDonkeys
of the world, for example "Gorillaz"
d.) music industry is stuck into a total commercial way of thinking,
they forgot that those private file swappers they sue, are also mostly
consumers, and that private fileswapping can boost record sales
e.) we even have recuded file swapping rates, but the record sales
are still decreasing.
<b> Copy doesn´t kill music,
Copy is a sign of life,
Hearing & Copying is a sign of appreciation,
</b>
and leads to prospering business.