In the 10 years since Napster launched, you would tend to think the entertainment industry has managed to eke out some kind of victory in its efforts to protect its bottom line. It hasn't. Sure, there have been numerous network shut downs, legal wins, and cramming legislation down the throats of elected officials, but what has it accomplished? Not much, according to the BPI's latest press release.
The efforts of the entertainment industry to stymie P2P usage is no secret. Even though it's quite apparent that P2P usage/file-sharing/web based downloading really has no ill effects on the entertainment industry, and indeed probably helps with publicity, the "threat" (whatever that may be) presented by Internet acquisition of entertainment remains their enemy.
But this type of reactionary behavior is common - it's just human nature. When someone’s way of life, or product, or business model is at stake, those who are threatened will go through any steps necessary to prevent change - even if the alternative is considerably more rational, less costly, and popular. Case in point - the growth of digital music and the efforts of the music industry to save that dinosaur known as an optical disc.
So where does that leave us? Well it's also no secret that P2P usage has declined steadily over the years - but that's just one small avenue in the bigger file-sharing picture. Consider all multitudes of digital acquisition that have developed since the early days of Napster: web based services, digital lockers, MP3 stores, and search engines like YouTube. The bottom line is, you no longer need P2P networks to find music - yet they remain quite popular.
The BPI (British Phonographic Industry) was keen to point this out in their latest press release, which gathered very dire (for the old business model) stats from a November 2009 Harris Interactive survey of UK citizens. What did they find? Basically, P2P usage remains level and continues to be the single most important method of digital acquisition. So what’s the big deal then, right? If P2P usage is level, surely the entertainment industry is doing something positive, right? Not really.
Since P2P networking is only one small piece of the pie, file-sharers have begun to branch out and start eating the rest of the cake. Where are they heading to? Not surprisingly, the Newsgroups are among the most important new avenues. According to those polled, usage of the newsgroups has increased by a whopping 42%. Other methods of obtaining digital media are increasing too. Those surveyed increased their use of MP3 stores (********.com type, not iTunes) by 47%, while “…other significant rises included MP3 search engines (28%) and forum, blog and board links to cyberlockers (18%).”
Of course, this dire picture is being painted by the entertainment industry because they have to – they need to paint an urgent picture in order to sway those in power to enact legislation to combat the perceived problem.
Geoff Taylor, BPI Chief Executive, said “It’s disappointing that levels of illegal P2P use remain high despite this and the publicity surrounding imminent measures to address the problem. It’s vital that those measures come into force as quickly as possible.”
There was plenty of publicity surrounding Naspter’s shut down, the lawsuits surrounding FastTrack, the flood of corrupt files against P2P networks, and the deconstruction of The Pirate Bay. Few took these threats seriously. It’s little surprise that few take threatened legislation seriously either.
http://www.slyck.co/story1890_P2P_Usage_Levels_Newsgroup_Usage_Soars
