UK Recording Industry Dismisses Promotional Impact Of File Sharing As Nonsense

from the we-don't-need-no-steenkin'-data dept

The recording industry continues to keep its blinders on. After announcing new lawsuits targeted at people file sharing in the UK, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) -- which is the UK equivalent of the RIAA -- trotted out their favorite phrase about how much money file sharing makes them "lose." They're using some new data from a study they (of course) sponsored -- rather than any of the academic studies that show very different data. These aren't actual losses, of course, but completely bogus numbers based entirely on the false idea that every download is a lost sale. It also doesn't recognize the idea that so-called "lost" sales are really lost opportunities. However, this is one of the first times we've seen the industry at least admit that plenty of other studies have shown a strong promotional effect to file sharing that might even increase sales. Of course, instead of actually looking at the facts, the BPI representative claims that anyone who says file sharing has a promotional value is "talking nonsense." Academic studies, be damned! Meanwhile, the BPI also admits that they have no problem suing people who didn't actually break the law. In this article, they admit that even if they sue the parent of someone who was sharing music in an unauthorized fashion, they'll keep suing. This is a legal issue that is still unsettled. It would seem that the parents have a very valid claim that they've been falsely accused, as they didn't actually do anything wrong. However, the BPI doesn't really care about those sorts of things: "But it's not like we go, 'You're a parent, we'll let you off'."