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  dorpus, 27 Nov 2002 @ 12:02am

  
  

  It is not as it seems

  College kids may revel in their Robin Hood status, by having "outsmarted" record companies. However, what is really happening is that file swapping activity is being driven deeper underground.
  
  Whenever any activity is driven deeper underground, more sharks appear. Organized crime and super-predators will befriend the Robin Hoods for "business deals". The Robin Hoods will be entrapped in more serious crimes involving narcotics or kiddie porn trafficking. The Robin Hoods will find it difficult to get out, because doing so leads to thugs appearing out of nowhere and beating the crap out of them.
  
  I say unto the Robin Hoods, get out while you can.
  
  

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    sigh, 27 Nov 2002 @ 1:44am

    
    

    Re: It is not as it seems

    Dorpus must be some kind of troll - this is the fourth or fifth entirely ridiculous posting that there has been with this name.
    

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      dorpus, 27 Nov 2002 @ 2:06am

      
      

      Re: It is not as it seems

      Hardly. In every generation, young people are convinced their flaunting of authority serves a higher noble purpose. In reality, they often play into the hands of criminal elements.
      
      Most of them will learn this the hard way, though a few wise ones may have the foresight to accept advice.
      
      

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        nobodyparticular, 27 Nov 2002 @ 11:08am

        
        

        Re: It is not as it seems

        I say Troll.
        

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    dorphus2, 27 Nov 2002 @ 4:47am

    
    

    Re: It is not as it seems

    GOP may revel in their Robin Hood status, by having "outsmarted" usa voters. However, what is really happening is that political corruption is being driven deeper underground.
    Whenever any activity is driven deeper underground, more sharks appear. Organized arms manufacturers and energy companies will befriend the Robin Hoods for "business deals". The Robin Hoods will be entrapped in more serious crimes involving oil or arms trafficking. The Robin Hoods will find it difficult to get out, because doing so leads to the cia appearing out of nowhere and shooting them down.

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    Anaonymoose, 27 Nov 2002 @ 3:01pm

    
    

    Re: It is not as it seems

    Organized crime doesn't get involved with distributing free stuff, even if it's illegal.

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  Joe Schmoe, 27 Nov 2002 @ 8:08am

  
  

  Yo, Mike

  I'm with ya, past postings as evidence, so don't take this as a snipe... But, just what are some of the "plenty of new opportunities" that you elude to. Curious to know your thoughts about life after filesharing.

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    Mike (profile), 27 Nov 2002 @ 8:17am

    
    

    Re: Yo, Mike

    Actually working on a much larger article discussing this with some very specific examples, so I'm not going to get into them right here, right now. But, it shouldn't be too hard to figure out where I'm coming from. Every technology that Hollywood has feared has opened up new opportunities. They hated the idea of the VCR and now look at how much of their business is focused on video rental and sales.
    
    The music industry doesn't seem to understand the basic economics of content, and why some content is better used as a promotion for other things people will pay for.
    
    When more things become accessible to more people, new opportunities always arise...

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      Steve, 27 Nov 2002 @ 11:07am

      
      

      Re: Yo, Mike

      Not to mention, VCRs pretty literally ended up saving Disney from disaster. Prior to VCRs, Disney had been floundering pretty misearably, a string of unsuccessful flops and what winners they had were not nearly enough for a company that size. Then along came the VCR and they essentially had a license to print money buy releasing their classics all over again. Not to mention for their bread and butter market, it should have been obscenely obvious that the the home video tape was a much better fit than theatrical releases. Kids want to see Disney movies, but kids are very good at sitting in one place for long periods of time.

      Devil's advocate mode...
      There are some reasons that p-to-p is fundamentally different than those other technologies. Digital copies are non degrading, the internet provides a simple, effective medium for sharing that didn't exist before, and copies are essentially free. While tape trading has existed for years, it always cost some money--hard drive space is effectively free.
      Devil's Advocate mode off

      The lesson has to be that providing something that customers want is always a good business model, and fighting technological progress is not. If they spent a fraction of the resources they put into fighting technology on coming up with new ways to use it they would be a lot better off.

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      Oliver Wendell Jones, 27 Nov 2002 @ 11:08am

      
      

      Hollywood is making a fortune

      Just saw on CNN Headline News at lunch today that the first 6 months of 2002 alone, $3,050,000,000 in sales of DVDs. That's up 80% from the same period last year.
      
      I guess all those pirates downloading poor quality copies off the various PtP systems are really hurting their sales...

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