Note To Gloating Copyright Holders: Taking Down A Single Source Of Content Doesn't Stop Unauthorized Sharing

from the keep-trying dept

We've pointed out in the past how silly it is for the entertainment industry to declare a significant blow against "piracy" every time they take down a single source of unauthorized content. Once some content is available online, it is infinitely available. A single copy quickly is made available everywhere. Shutting down a single source isn't just less than a significant blow, it's meaningless. Defenders of the strategy will note two things. They'll say that, first, the copyright holders have every right to (and should) defend their copyright and, second, that by taking down some of these sites, it acts as some kind of hindrance, since it makes it a little bit harder for others to set up such a site (the so-called "speed bump" analogy). While it is true that the copyright holders have the right to try to shut down anyone making their content available -- at some point, as any business should, they should be doing a cost-benefit analysis of the process. If the cost is high and the benefit is nil, it should make you question the business strategy. As for the second point, it's simply wrong. Every time the industry has shut down a site, a dozen others, often further underground, harder to find and harder to shut down, pop up. And each time that happens, it becomes even more difficult for the copyright holders to work with these sites to create business models that benefit everyone.

It seems like the latest industry to learn this lesson is going to be the porn industry. Despite reports that have shown how the porn industry has used unauthorized file sharing to its advantage, it appears that some in the industry have gotten it into their heads that they need to stop unauthorized downloads. Again, they have every right to do so -- but that doesn't mean it's good for business. The folks behind this push are now gloating over their first success, shutting down a single site that was apparently popular for sharing unauthorized porn content. Of course, the net result is unlikely to make any difference. The content is all still out there at many other sites, and it won't take long for all the users of the closed site to move on and find these new sites. Those new sites will be harder to find and harder to shut down and all it will do is waste a lot of time and effort from the folks angry about those sites. Instead of doing all that work for no actual benefit, why not work on better business models where they don't need to worry about unauthorized use (and, even where unauthorized sharing can be seen as an asset in helping to promote the content)?

Filed Under: copyright, file sharing, porn, significan blow