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Skirmishes with Pirates
Posted by Rowan Wilkinson on April 28, 2009
This month has seen the French government continue to try and push through the controversial ‘three strikes’ file sharing law. The law aims to coerce internet service providers into monitoring their customer’s internet usage to check for signs of copyright infringement. If anyone is suspected of illegally downloading pirated material on the internet then they will be sent a letter reminding them that they have broken the law. If they continue to illegally download then they will receive two more letters, the last of which will inform them that they have been suspended from the internet for up to a year and their internet connection has been cut off.
This month has also seen the creators of the world’s biggest bit torrent tracker, Pirate Bay, sentenced to a
year in prison and forced to pay a fine of over 2.5 million euros. After two years of building legal pressure from a consortium of media and entertainment companies the sentencing represents yet another feeble attempt to stamp authority on an uncontrollable ‘problem’. The result, like usual, is that nothing has happened: People are still illegally downloading and, in what must feel like a kick in the teeth for the prosecutors, Pirate Bay has continued to stay in service.
When will governments and the music industry see that they are fighting an impossible fight! The democratisation of the internet means that they are not just fighting a few key perpetrators but instead squaring up to anyone and everyone who has an internet connection. Instead of concentrating on trying to dam an ocean, they need to be spending their time working out ways to work alongside this phenomena and use it their advantage.
Big file sharing sites and torrent trackers could be used as highly effective marketing channels. The people who are downloading music aren’t criminals, in fact they’re usually huge music fans and exactly the people who record companies should be targeting; connecting with, building relationships with, introducing to other fans, making them obsessed with their artist and then getting them to come to gigs, buy the artist’s merchandise, spend more money on limited edition releases, purchase souvenirs and enter into a long term beneficial interactions.
Times have changed and the music industry has to realise that its never going to revert back to how it was. They have to embrace change and change themselves, not enter into a war against their own customers!
Check out this article which describes piracy as a litmus test for authentic culture
April 29th, 2009 at 11:59 am
I think the idea of using sharing sites and torrent trackers as marketing channels is really worse thinking about! Surely, you can gain a big profit from network effects there, too! It just reminds me of a metaphorical quote of Amy Shuen: “For most of us in the real (offline) world, traffic is a bad thing. More cars on the highway at rush hour create negative network effects. Each driver reduces the quality of the experience by congesting and overloading the highway network past its limit. But in the online world, traffic is a powerfully good thing.” Indeed!
May 1st, 2009 at 1:29 am
Hi again, today I came across http://www.daytrotter.com by chance- do you know this American website? It offers the download of exclusive songs of Indie Rock bands like Death Cab For Cutie, Will Oldham, Bon Iver, Aimee Mann, Spoon, The Ting Tings, Glasvegas and the Fleet Foxes. On the website it says: “We are not giving you songs from someone you love’s record album, thereby stealing from someone you love. We’re giving you exclusive, re-worked, alternate versions of old songs and unreleased tracks by some of your favorite bands and by a lot of your next favorite bands.” To sum it up: new downloads everyday, for free an legal! Fans who want to support it can buy merchandise like T-shits or posters. I think this is an example how to put the idea behind your blog post into practice.
May 3rd, 2009 at 7:46 am
Hi Laura,
Thanks for letting me know about it. It sounds like an interesting idea. I’ll go and check it out.
May 20th, 2009 at 7:35 am
I have noticed that the savvy artists and bands are actually using the tactics you mentioned in your blog post.Once upon a time, an artist could release a song and wait for the radio to hype it up, put on a few gigs, and the fan base would grow with much less effort and networking than is used today.
Using the mentioned platforms has proven very effective for many as it is clear that in order to make a living in the music business, one can no longer rely on record sales…now its all down to ticket sales for tours, gigs and concerts.
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January 21st, 2010 at 7:59 am
А что за проблема с ссылкой http://www.adbusters.org/blogs/blackspot_blog/support_online_piracy.html ? Почему то у меня не работает. Говорит ошибка 403 – в чем проблема?
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