::Thursday, July 10, 2003::
why RIAA is P2P steps behind
..this is one more example why the music industry will always be so much behind the issue of file sharing. the technology cannot be stopped and going after the consumer by suing them will not deter users from using file-sharing software like Kazaa and Morpheus. the reason why lots of people download music rather than pay for them is as much psychological as economics. there is a sense of satisfaction in being able to share something online that ordinary people will otherwise have difficult access to. this sphere already includes getting one's hand on a CD because of the prohibitive costs (a DVD movie with music and other features cost less). keeping the cost of CD's down (10 songs on Apple's iTunes would only be $9.99 which is almost 60% less than a regular CD in record stores) should be the first step in this fight (and not the last one) but it surely takes the fun out of spending so much time and energy downloading and swapping music. the recording industry needs to be creative in fighting online music theft. instead they are resorting to the old tactic of "shock and awe" litigation which will not work this time.
