P
Prisonnet
Guest
File Sharing will only get bigger. Even if the RIAA and everyone wins, KaZaA gets shut down, file sharing will only become more widespread. A few years ago, there was only Napster for file sharing (besides IRC, which is always a constant.). Napster provided support for the infinite download of infinite mp3s by infinite users. When it was shut down, many people thought the world was going to end. But, from Napster's fall, new powers arose. KaZaA and others ensure a stronger base for file sharing. Even if KaZaA meets its end, others will spawn, bigger and superior. This is a trend that no law can hope to stop. There are already millions of users breaking the law, most not knowing about it. The sharing of copyrighted materials is already illegal, but the issue is that no one cares. My parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, friends all download and share music and movies, most unaware the illegitimacy of what they're doing. As long as there are people who don't want to spend money on music, movies, or games, file sharing will exist. No law can hope to deter the will of the motivated public to share files. The RIAA might as well concede defeat, as there is absolutly nothing it can do, or any organization for that matter, can do about the sharing of copyrighted materials. Let's consider a contingency for a moment. Say the RIAA decided to stop going after the source, and made an example by arresting or fining some of the people who utilize these tools. That will only serve to lower the public image of the RIAA (as if it could get any lower), effectively making the public more upset, which would definatly not help CD sales. Artists like Metallica, who have previously sued Napster, will not help themselves by doing so. Instead, they must focus on the drawbacks of file sharing. Namely, quality, and the time it takes to download. If the music industry started a campaign, advertising that they arn't going to do anything about file sharing, but stating that, by buying CDs, there is less hassle involved, and a greater quality of the music. That, coupled with lower CD prices, is the only way to increase CD sales. The main reason why CD sales arn't 0, or close to such, is that the majority of people don't have the facilities, such as broadband, to download music at an acceptable speed. Even at an acceptable 192 kb/sec, the average song would be 5 mb. For the dialup user, that would take about 20 minutes to download. Assuming there are 20 songs on each CD, that's about 7 hours of constant downloading, for audio that isn't perfect. For that user, it is better to just buy the CD. If broadband becomes more widespread (which it is becoming rapidly.), and CD tracks are ripped with the newer formats, such as OGG and AAC, allowing higher quality at lower file sizes, then there would be very little reason to purchase CDs. MP3 players, for example, are as the name suggests, designed to play MP3 files. But the majority of MP3 files originate from file sharing programs, not legal CD purchasing. The spawn and growth in popularity of MP3 players further helps to make the download and sharing of music more widespread, altough the companies that produce these wonderful little devices insist that they arn't designed to utilize MP3s shared from file sharing programs, but rather those encoded from legally purchased CDs.
Basically, the point I'm making is that no matter how many file sharing programs are shut down, no matter how many laws are made preventing the creation and sharing of copyrighted material, music downloading will always be here. The music industry better get used to it, because they won't win.
Basically, the point I'm making is that no matter how many file sharing programs are shut down, no matter how many laws are made preventing the creation and sharing of copyrighted material, music downloading will always be here. The music industry better get used to it, because they won't win.
