File Swappers to RIAA: Download This!

[jxrry59]

IF I had gone to bytemonsoon.com last night and set a download (phoneline) for frank zappa's overnight sensation I would have done so for a "once through"-the same goes for software that inadvertantly ends up on my hardrive- if i am going to use it after seeing how it performs i buy it--file sharing has allowed me to become a smart-shopper as opposed to one who buys from the media hype- I bought Jasc's paintshop pro after running it against photoshop 7 based on it's ease of use and it meeting my needs. If my only alternative was to buy blindly from advertising i would have bought photoshop and probably ended up passing on digital photography---how about shareware albums with time limits-the thiefs will still steal but the average consumer (who is going to buy anyways) gets a chance to sample the product

[tonybradley]

I bought Jasc's paintshop pro after running it against photoshop 7 based on it's ease of use and it meeting my needs. If my only alternative was to buy blindly from advertising i would have bought photoshop and probably ended up passing on digital photography

Good point. I hadn't even gotten to thinking about software piracy on P2P. I agree with you though.

The industry wants to have their cake and eat it too with this catch 22 philosophy: "the only way for you to know if you like the CD / movie / software is to buy it, but oops! did we forget to mention that once you open it you can no longer return it?"

I think that I am inclined to support something like Apple's iTunes. If there is a song I like I can just buy it for $1 instead of spending $18 to get the song I like and 12 more I don't like. It meets my needs to get me what I want and meets the RIAA's needs of getting paid for the song. It simply means that the RIAA won't be making any money off of the rest of the crap they fill the CD with.

[neta1o]

All good points. The RIAA has failed to realize that they are fighting an uphill battle. They will definitely collect evidence on a few of the top P2P sharers and prosecute, but ultimately P2P will evolve like it always has. i.e. new anonymous trading programs like; blubster, filetopia, etc... With this in mind I think eventually RIAA will begin to realize that they are obsolete then artists will seek other sources of revenue. i.e. XM Radio, online streaming radio, concerts(already mentioned above).

my2cents

[tealbambino]

I like most people i know download to see if they like the song/artist. All fair in my eyes, how is P2P any different from "borrowing" a tape copy from a friend. You can't even use the excuse that P"P is much easier and simpler - noone kicked up a fuss when MD came out and one of the selling points was the easy of copying from CD to MD. It all looks like the fat cats can't justify their bonus for the year and need to blame someone insted of looking at the fundermental problem - they are massproducing boy and girl bads that really aren't very good and have a short shelf life. Start finding some good bands that can write their own music, play an instrument insted of just some eye candy. (although it is normally quite nice).

going to stop ranting now

[keezel]

I honestly don't believe that the RIAA can *defeat* P2P because..well there are several reasons but the two best ones that I can think of are:
1. Another one will pop up to replace kazaa or whatever they take out first.
2. P2P could move to be based out of the country where laws in the US don't apply...and then everyone could flock to the new P2P service with all their MP3's and files that they still have from Kazaa and BOOM, P2P is reborn and the RIAA can't touch them! (I posted something similar to this earlier so forgive me if you've already read this).

I think they should quit before it gets ugly...and they probably won't win anyway so all they're really doing is destroying themselves by making everyone hate them and by wasting tons of money on this. Remember what happened to Metallica when they tried to kill Napster? Their CD sales and concert Sales dropped fast....and the band is just now beginning to regain popularity. (They *are* talented, at least in my opinion, but their plan to get richer by stopping piracy backfired). I think that what the RIAA is doing will have a similar outcome.