UK file pirates to face the music
It was announced today that British ISPs will begin sending out warning letters to their customers who share copyrighted files on the Internet. Besides the privacy concerns with this, it’s doubtful that it will stem the tide of online piracy. Pirates have always been about ten steps ahead of media companies when it comes to sharing copyrighted files.
Also, I believe the media companies are missing out on a huge opportunity when it comes to online file sharing. Most of what people trade online these days are TV shows, the most popular of which are recent (aired within the last 24 hours) shows. The networks would be better off creating their own torrents of these shows complete with commercials and seeding the episodes themselves. I think if there was a legal alternative for downloading a TV show you’ve missed for free, most bit torrent users would take advantage of it.
The other option would be streaming the shows with commercials as Hulu does. While many people prefer downloads at the moment, I think streaming on-demand content may actually be the future. I’d like to see a day when I can watch any TV show ever made, streaming over my cable or Internet connection onto my television on demand. Whether this will cost a flat monthly rate, a per download fee, or be free and advertiser supported is up to the market to decide.
Hopefully, the TV networks won’t make the same mistake the music industry made and go after their core demographic with lawsuits and alienate them. There will always be pirates. You don’t eliminate piracy through lawsuits. You make it less attractive by providing easily attainable legal alternatives.
Jul 24 – Britain’s six biggest Internet providers have agreed a plan to send warning letters to those suspected of illegal file-sharing.
ISPs had previously argued they were mere conduits and not responsible for content.
But they agreed to the deal after the British government said it would impose legislation if they did not work to curb illegal file-sharing.
Reuters Technology Correspondent Matt Cowan reports.
