File-swapping leaders nearing D-day

[pym]

Looks like eDonkey's options are narrowing.
I believe there is no way the entertainment companies will be able to prevent file sharing.
Even if they will succeed and reach a final deal with eDonkey, other peer to peer software are not exactly rare ;)
And they keep emerging each day.

What do you guys think?

Take a look:
http://news.com.com/File-swapping+leaders+nearing+D-day/2100-1025_3-6033593.html?tag=nefd.lede

[BlackStar]

There's a similar topic over in the "Off Topic" area, but here's my view in a nutshell.

From a purely economic point of view, everyone looks for the best deal for their money and in the case of file sharing, that best deal is "free". Given a choice between free and spending $$$, most people will choose free.

Another factor is morality. File sharing is illegal, so some people won't do it at all and are willing to pay any price for the music / video they want.

Then you have to figure in the risk of getting caught doing something illegal, or the moral sense of "doing wrong". Some don't want the guilty feelings and don't want the risk.

So everyone weights the risks, perceived value, and cost of buying or downloading. Some will stop buying all together, figuring it's not worth the money. Some will download illegally, deciding the risk is worth the value. I believe most people would perfer to buy a product legally if the price were set right.

"Big Media" has to figure out the price at which MOST people are willing to buy their product. What price for a new song? $1.00? How about a 10 year old song? $0.05? Somewhere there is price point where MOST people will download a song legally. SOME will always go for free and illegal. That can't be helped except by increasing the risk and cost of getting caught. But it will remain. Big Media will just have to accept that loss.

[pym]

I agree with you, BlackStar.

But hear this:
People love getting stuff for free.
The file sharing is a way for people to get things free without feeling that they are actually stealing anything.
Since they sit and just click some links and buttons.
It is really different comparing to shop lifting or robbery.

I believe that exactly there lies the biggest problem of the entertainment companies.

[werty316]

They stop one group another just takes its place and the circle of life goes on. The "man" is just too bored and wanna control things.

[BlackStar]

I agree with you, BlackStar.

But hear this:
People love getting stuff for free.
The file sharing is a way for people to get things free without feeling that they are actually stealing anything.
Since they sit and just click some links and buttons.
It is really different comparing to shop lifting or robbery.

I believe that exactly there lies the biggest problem of the entertainment companies.

I agree that it's easier to justify a download compared to shop lifting. Much easier and can be done from the comforts of home!

So, can Big Media change people's perception or has Pandora's box been opened, with no going back?

I'd hate to see all music have Digital Rights garbage where I'll have to get a Microsoft (TM) Stereo just to listen to the radio. That would certainly kill the music industry. "Please enter your 200 digit CD-key to register your album. Please wait while we contact our Authentication Servers. No unnecessary personal information will be sent to Microsoft..."

I'd rather see Big Media die away, with artists self publishing via the web. Songs would then be "shareware" - Download it, try it, and pay for it if you like it. Really like an artist? Buy their CD or pay for the full download and burn one yourself. Make a few songs available as shareware and allow everyone to copy them and share them. But not all the songs off the CD. Let the music listening community police itself by not allowing people to swap the non-shared songs. Yeah, some will do it, but I have faith in the majority to do the right thing.

Personally, I also think it's easier to steal from "The Company" than from an individual artist. I know we pay for the content of a CD, not the media itself, but it's still a bit rough when you know the media itself costs less than a penny to produce yet you have to pay $15.00.

Maybe in my world we won't have multi-million dollar artists. But the cost of distributing the music will be zero. The only losers will be corporate fat cats.