The time is coming when the record companies, writer organizations and governments will
go after copyright compensation. Once the shut down is complete I believe they will start
going after those who engaged in sharing the files, on the basis the whole operation is now
classified illegal. I for one never engaged in the practice, so i will watch with interest.
There will be a lot of paying up to do, if the Supreme Courts makes a full ruling. Its a long
way from a District Court, so it will be a while. The record companies are one thing but
ripping off the writers, producers and performers is something else.
Going after those who engage in the sharing of files rather then those who provide the avenues to share in the first place makes about as much sense as going for all the drug users and ignoring all the drug producers and dealers.
The police simply do not have the man power/resources to do such a thing and that's why they only focus on the more serious offenders who share illegal files on a massive scale, such as those who own their own servers loaded with illegal content, which the police will eventually track down by seeing the same IP pop up time and time again.
But then again, as shown above, even going after the people who supply the P2P programs and torrent sites for people to share is a waste of time and money too.... considering above they freely admit they'll be putting up another program. Take one down and three more replace it......
I remember when they first took down one of the very first Torrent sites, Suprnova.org....... shortly after, Mininova.org and a couple other "Nova" torrent sites popped up..... followed by many other torrent sites.
Remember the Napster thing?
Last I heard, that program is still around and since then, hundreds of other programs similar showed up...... Limewire is one of them.
Just like when police bust a pot grower, throw him in jail and pat themselves on the back as though they accomplished something.
Several other growers will just come out of the wood works and the cycle will still continue.
For me personally, I'll admit.... I freely use Torrent sites and shared a number of my files..... but those files were live recordings of concerts which were recorded by fans and the sort and the band(s) in question have always freely allowed people to share those because they're not copyrighted and they weren't produced in a studio or on an album or DVD which their record companies could bitch about..... and they considered them as another form of advertisement for their bands/work.
On my forums those files are openly shared and discussed, but as Admin, I made it clear that there will be no illegal sharing or distribution of copyrighted albums they produced which you can still buy in stores.... anybody who does will be dealt with.
So far, no complaints and everybody is happy.
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Think of it this way..... let's say a band/record company could get total control over the online distribution of their albums and make sure nobody can obtain any of their albums or songs unless they paid...... in other words, let's go back 20 some years ago and to the way things were done then.
That band/record company could expect to gain some profit and awareness in their local regions/communities they distribute to..... and those who have the money to blow will buy those albums and listen to them, while those who are more stringent with their money won't buy their albums unless they know they like them or heard them...... which means that unless they heard them on the radio or on TV which were the only major mediums 20 some years ago.... many won't buy their music.
^ This reduces your overall fan base and limits who you can market to, not to mention your overall profits.
Now let's say you tossed a few songs or an album or two online for people all around the world to download and listen to, regardless of what country they live in, their income bracket, or whatever...... you then have a pile more people to reach out to, a pile more people being able to easily access and listen to your work and more often then not...... regardless of how many of those people around the world download your work and never pay you for anything..... chances are you'll still end up with a hell of a lot more people around the world contacting your band and your record company to purchase your albums, to book concerts
(which is where the real money is) and become real, true fans...... much more then you'd get through holding total control of your work and only allowing people to listen to your work if they pay you first...... and only in your local area of the world and where your record company can afford to market your work.
When I hear an album I really like.... I buy it.... I become more interested in spending money to see them in concert.... if I don't like it, then I can save myself money and move onto someone else, rather then wasting my money on a chunk of plastic that will just sit there collecting dust.
These record companies, quite frankly, are too old fashion and too scared to get with the times..... they can try and fight all of this, but in the end, they'll accomplish nothing.
