The Interactive In The City conference in Manchester has been told that the music industry should realise that its efforts to stop illegal digital music downloading are doomed. Instead the music industry should embrace file sharing and file sharers and look at other ways to generate cash to support its new artists. One way in which the music industry could do this is a small surcharge to internet subscription fees which could then be shared around the various artists whose music is being downloaded. The relentless pace of technology is going to make it increasing difficult to monitor illegal file sharing and tackling net piracy.
With the development of new wireless technology, people will be able to swap and download music while there out for their morning walk. These new portable devices will be able to hold users music preferences so when they come across and wireless network it will be able to automatically download their music choices. Technology like this will not be easy to track or stop and the music industry must realise this. DRM technology will not able to stop this sort of sharing and with new technologies making sharing much easier to do online music stores like iTunes and Napster may have a very limited life.
Other points that were made at the conference was the fact that DRM needs a huge social change to be fully accepted and at the moment most people are happy to get their music for free and use as they like. Instead of using copyright law to stop music piracy record labels need to change their tactics and instead come up with a more enlightened way of charging for example a surcharge on top of internet connections.
It was also pointed out that the idea of a surcharge was starting to get the broad backing from many within the music industry.
| Pop piracy should be decriminalised and the music industry One way could be the addition of a small surcharge to net subscription fees which could be shared among artists whose music is being downloaded. Mr Orlowski believes that the relentless pace of technological change is going to make it increasingly difficult to police pop swapping and tackle net piracy. Mr Orlowski said future short-range network systems, called personal area networks, will let people swap pop as they walk down the street. Gadgets are likely to hold a list of their owners' preferences and, when they come in range of another device bearing tracks that fit this profile, will extract a copy. Such ubiquitous technology that makes it so easy to swap and share music is likely to outwit technological attempts, using so-called Digital Rights Management (DRM) software, to regulate it, said Mr Orlowski. "I would never say never," he said, "but DRM requires a huge social change to make it work." The ease with which music can be swapped in the future might also mean that existing legitimate music download services such as iTunes, Napster and others have a limited life, said Mr Orlowski. The music industry needed to realise that a generation was growing up that was happy to get its pop for free. Instead of using the law to stop this piracy, said Mr Orlowski, record labels needed to change their tactics. "Copyright law is fine. We just need to enforce it in a more enlightened way." The inclusion of a small surcharge on monthly internet subscription fees that was given to record labels to pay artists could solve the problem, he said. "I do not have kids and I do not have a car but I do not have any objection to paying for roads and schools because it is better that they are there rather than not." He added that the idea of a surcharge was winning the broad backing of many in the music industry including legendary figure Tony Wilson formerly of Factory Records. |
Full story over at the BBC. I dont like this idea very much because how much are we talking about in surcharge, broadband in most countries is expensive enough as it is and adding on surcharges even for people that dont download music is wrong. Its like paying road tax even though you dont own a car or drive at all. It should be optional and not compulsry but then again that would never work, so in the end it would end up most likely as a compulsry surcharge.
Source: BBC
