Grokster's Impact On File Sharing? Uh... Not Much
from the oh-well dept
A year ago, when the Supreme Court came out with its decision on the Grokster case, the industry immediately declared victory. Andrew Lack (famous for lots of other misstatements) declared that, in the wake of the decision: "We will no longer have to compete with thieves in the night whose businesses are built on larceny." Beyond totally misunderstanding the nature of file sharing, he was also completely wrong (perhaps that's why he's no longer an executive at Sony). New studies show that file sharing has continued to grow, despite the Grokster case. While the industry has tried to pretend the Grokster decision said stuff it didn't, it still hasn't been able to do anything to curb file sharing (despite claims to the contrary). Instead of this ongoing denial, isn't it about time that the industry admitted that their strategy has not worked? There are other options out there that don't involve treating all your customers like criminals. Perhaps it's time for the record labels to try a few out.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
it isnt going to happen, they are so scared to try anything new that it will take quite an event to get them to change.
first :)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Grokster Case
[ link to this | view in thread ]
if the riaa hasn't changed its ways by now, it never will. they're kinda like your friends dumbass little brother who gets to tag along per your friends moms orders. mom (gov't) won't make him cut it the fuck out, no matter how annoying he gets, no matter how much he gets in the way. so what do you do? you punch him in the face when he gets out of line. how do you hit the riaa in the face? sue THEM before they sue you. i can't wait until i see the first suit brought against them by someone who's afraid to use the internet because they think they'll go to jail or some shit like that. just wait, it'll happen. after all, this IS america.
oh and i'll continue to download movies and music without paying for it. if i like a band, i go to their shows and buy their t-shirts. if i like a movie, i buy it on dvd. if a band or movie is shit, whelp, free enterprise and the risk that goes with it in combination with this fancy digital millenium is a fuckin' bitch, huh?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Bittorrents
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
It is about time that the public showed the industry that the crap they force feed us just ain't worth paying for!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
meh
[ link to this | view in thread ]
drm
I say use DRM go for it, not going to stop people from putting music on their computers.
If people cant try your stuff for free what makes you think they will buy your $79 shit without knowing if its good or not?
Locking software and music files only makes it harder for the honest and the ignorant.
For unrippable music I only have two words "Loopback recording".
One last thing for software developors, "If I cant try it I dont buy it".
Imagine if you had to buy a car without a testdrive or a house without ever looking at the inside or the foundation, to me its all the same.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: NOOBS?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Record companies...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
The thing that bothers me most, is that I see suing individuals as the proof of market failure, and the natural step for a neoclassicist in the face of market failure is compulsory licensing...... so why arent we there yet? What more proof do you need? Tired old men run the world and tired old men run record labels and the rest of us have to suffer cos they cant get with the times.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Human beings prefer common sense to logic.
Common sense says that stopping people from being able to 'steal' your product will increase sales.
Logic says that the 'theft' of the product can actually help in promoting it and therefore increase sales.
People don't like ideas that are too complex. eg. There was a 80% reduction in heroin use in zurich since it was legalised, common sense says there should have been an increase.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Just let it go...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
RIAA sucks
locks only keep honest people out....
DRM and so called "copyright protection" only hurts regular consumers who wants to use the music on their terms...
aren't we paid for the the music and not be locked out whether i use pc or portable player or make mixed cd?
not to mention DVD-A and HD-CD could have taken music further to curb copyright violation and higher quality audio but because of the format war, the next generation audio never came to be....
VHS is replaced by DVD but cd audio is still here...
what a joke....
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: RIAA sucks
If I remember right, I think CD's replaced cassetes, about the same time DVD's were introduced. VHS:DVD::Audio Cassete:CD
[ link to this | view in thread ]
smirk
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Thieves
I have been guilty of this in the past too - but I think people should just grow up and take responsibility for their actions.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Who should protect the right of artists?
I kind of agree that those who share are nothing but thieves, but simply seeing them as normal thieves is not just.
Coroprations make artists sign contracts in their favour, and...believe or not...they would own the rights to the artist(s) work....and common sense say that the owner should be the artist.
It is time that people start
looking at this issue from other angles...and not just blame those who share on the net (Yes, they should be blamed...but others should be also).
If the argument was based on protecting artistic work...or the interest of artists...and not corporate interest, I would be 100% supportive.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Same here - if i thought that by buying a CD i was actually supporting the artist i'd be all for it but the majority see very little of the £15 i'd hand over to the shop assistant for a CD and what they do see of it they probably dont really need now anyway!
Perfect example - richard ashcroft encouraged EVERYONE at his gig to go download ALL his albums rather then buy them and then to give the money they saved to charity!
If you go to his "official" web forum (run by the record company NOT but the man himself) they have distanced themselves from his comments and still say sharing online is illegal !!
It's his work - if he wants us to hear it for free and make a charitable donation instead then surely its his right to allow us to do so and against any rights the record company have as his promoter to disagree with his views. Instead they just opt for the money grabbing option and ban anyone who attempts to share either bootlegs or commercially available material on the site.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
artists kept in the dark ages.
As a consumer, I would prefer to pay the artist directly and download it from them. If the group wants or needs promoting then they can work it out with the label.
One of the great things about the web is cutting out the middle-man. Frankly, if I know of a band and like their music then why should I pay for innumerable posters and other advertising that I will never see and don't care about.
I like the shareware try before you buy model and long for the day I can buy directly from an artist after listening to an album (even if it is restricted to streaming low quality). I don't see any value in supporting the labels/distributors/record stores and I see even less value in the likes of iTunes and other online freeloading middlemen.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Recently I have downloaded a program called Music IP Mixer (legally) which creates playlists based off what is similar to a song you selected. This makes it easier to sort music to find stuff you might like but to do this you need the music to sort. To get this I copied 19gb of random music off friends computers. Thats 3005 songs or 1.6 weeks worth, or acording to the RIAA as I-Tunes mp3's approximately $3000 USD, or about $9000 as cd's. They would claim this as lost proffit but they must be crazy to think i'd pay that much to find music that I might like, expecially considering I won't listen to most of it.
If the RIAA got their wishes I would never have ended up buying any music at all but since getting all of that i'm allready concidering buying albums from another artist. Not much perhaps but again still infinately bigger than nothing at all.
Now I just have to hope that if the RIAA by some fluke read this then they don't supena techdirt for my IP address. But I can garentee that if they do I will make sure never to buy any RIAA music ever again.
Which do you prefer RIAA, a possible customer or a lifelong enemy?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
the riaa seems to have stemmed the tide
But what is not disputable is that there is now a fairly nice-size online music business that didnt use to exist, and if they can keep file sharing relegated to younger consumers with limited income or deluded techies who try to justify unethical behavior by any means necessary, then the industry's legal scare tactics have worked.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Digital Jiihaad!!!
What if everyone just happenned to try to view there website at the same time on one particular day???
I say we all should log on to their servers and keep refreshing our pages and surfing their sites for an hour every time someone is penalized for file sharing.
Could their servers handle the capacity, or would they crumble???
IF WE ALL WORKED TOGETHER WE COULD MAKE THEM SO SCARED OF THE INTERNET AND US (THE CRIMINALS THEY WANT TO PAY INTO THEIR EXTORSION) THAT THEY'LL AT LEAST BEGIN TO THINK ABOUT CHANGING THEIR TUNE!!!
REVOLUTION!!!
Got packets?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Grammar police...
But who really gives a sh1t anyways?
WE LIVE IN AMERICA - A SEWER PIPE CLOGGED WITH COMPLACENT TURDS!!!
Feel free to sh1t all over me and my posts.
You have the right. Exercise it!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
I wonder...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
It's not just the RIAA
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Commercial music is so.... regurgitated
I've discovered so many new kinds of music, so many new artists. I discovered a music service called artistdirect.com, and another one called magnatune.com. Those are the only two sites I know about (I'm sure there are other sites like them), but they have music from artists I've never heard of before, and the artists get a decent share of the sales made through those services. The way the Big Recording companies are treating customers.... I could never bring myself to do business with them - ever.
I use BitTornado to download Anime. Those are usually in Japanese and are fansubbed (English subtitles applied by fans of Japanese Anime). These Anime are usually not licensed for sale in the U.S., but if I really liked an Anime, I buy it when - IF - it get's licensed for sale in the U.S.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
How about...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: It's not just the RIAA
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Tail wagging the dog
The lowered cost of digital recording gear means you can record an album for a few grand (a fraction of what it used to cost). Radio, thanks to narrowly focussed playlists and in-car cellphone usage, is increasingly ceding the "taste making" promotional crown to niche digital outlets like PureVolume and blogs, and social networking sites like MySpace and OneBigMix (shameless plug).
What is the effect on fans now that the main touchpoints of the music business (production, promotion, distribution) are less and less under the control of a few companies with limited artist rosters? I think we're likely to see more sales parity. People will spend money for music (cds, downloads, merchandise, tickets, etc), but now that they have more choices, they'll spend less on a few "superstars" and more on the previously unknown, talented musicians.
In fact, as people discover new artists that would previously have been locked out of the "big label" machine, the overall size of the music market could actually grow -- more cds/downloads, more tickets, more merchandise, etc. People will be exposed to more music that they are willing to pay for -- music they never would have been exposed to ten years ago. The smart label executive must figure out how to sell the music experience, in it's many forms, not just a round 120mm plastic disc.
The problem, from the RIAA label's point of view, is deeper than filesharing. But, as they say in journalism circles, "if it bleeds it leads".
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Local band getting nothing.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Grokester? What about Borders?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Thieves
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Industry has moved on...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Thieves
d/heads
[ link to this | view in thread ]
we're most certainly not thieves i would be happy to purchase the disc if it were cheaper becuase they charge nealy 20 bucks for a single cd. and besides its not like the record companies arent earning from file sharing. every cd that comes out of the shop has a fee on it that goes to the record comapnies.
42nd :)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Defining the cost of a CD...
Sounds like they're trying to say that we're still not paying enough yet...
I'm glad I listen to drum and bass. Smaller, indepependant labels generally have a better habit of getting money to the artists.
I have no problems with legitimate downloading. I just don't want ot put 5 different families' kids through college every time I buy a new song from iCroons...
:-P
Enough said.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Bookmark deleted.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Digital Jiihaad!!!
Companies aren't as retarded as you and I would like them to be. Next time you would like to make a contribution, maybe you should at least know something about designing a network.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Tail wagging the dog
[ link to this | view in thread ]
What's wrong with a 4 day weekend?
Did you have a four day weekend? Do you wish you could have a four day weekend?
I'll bet a whole crap load of people who visit Techdirt, had for day weekends.
In anycase, go and pop some fireworks. It's fun, and it releaves stress.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Sue the RIAA
Then there's also CDs that I didn't buy because of the songs that are actually played on air that I didn't like, but it turned out that I actually liked the "B" sides that didn't get airplay better than the songs that got all the airplay. Then I went and bought those CDs that I wouldn't have normally bought.
Give us a way to preview (more than 30 secs of a track) before we buy a whole CD. Maybe even be able to download an entire song or CD that will only play once until you buy it. I've bought music that I never would have bought had I not had a chance to listen to some more tracks on the CD.
Also, there is rare music that I have found and enjoyed and can't find anywhere to buy, even as imports...believe it or not it's the music that can't be bought or otherwise found anymore, that I want to be able to download...I don't want to steal from anyone...I just want more music freedom than having to listen to mass, overproduced music and the same song over and over again on the radio.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Sue the RIAA
Then there's also CDs that I didn't buy because of the songs that are actually played on air that I didn't like, but it turned out that I actually liked the "B" sides that didn't get airplay better than the songs that got all the airplay. Then I went and bought those CDs that I wouldn't have normally bought.
Give us a way to preview (more than 30 secs of a track) before we buy a whole CD. Maybe even be able to download an entire song or CD that will only play once until you buy it. I've bought music that I never would have bought had I not had a chance to listen to some more tracks on the CD.
Also, there is rare music that I have found and enjoyed and can't find anywhere to buy, even as imports...believe it or not it's the music that can't be bought or otherwise found anymore, that I want to be able to download...I don't want to steal from anyone...I just want more music freedom than having to listen to mass, overproduced music and the same song over and over again on the radio.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Thieves
[ link to this | view in thread ]