Torrented files Vs. MPAA, record companies, Software Developers

[maestro15]

Apologies if a thread of this sort has been created

It seems as if our generational youth has resorted into such ludicrous means of entertainment through illegally downloading files, music, and other forms of entertainment. This trend has been proven to hurt many software developers, RIAA, and the MPAA. In addition, music piracy has lead to the depletion of 71,000 Jobs, a loss of $422, 000,000 Tax Revenue, and Causes a grand total of $12.5 Billion in economic losses. This is just the panel of music industry alone! There is a myriad of economic and political issues that occur due to p2p use.

I would like to see the shut down of any p2p hosts such as Frost wire and bit torrent, place an end to torrent websites such as thepiratebay.

Whats your take on this?

[Perseus]

The people who torrent/download music are the ones who actually will support the band through means as seeing them live or buying their merch. Also, The problem of illegal downloading faced by the RIAA is definitely a legitimate concern. However, most of the RIAA’s problems and frustrations arose from poor business decisions on the part of the music industry and not from the loss of revenue due to illegal downloads. Lost sales resulting from illegal downloads is not as great as the RIAA would have the public believe. The music industry is making money. While its profits might not be a large as they would like, the problem is not so much that illegal downloading is causing a decrease in sales but rather the fact that the number of new releases greatly exceeds the number of releases that are played on the radio. In other words, only an extremely small percentage of music gets airplay today. People are simply not being exposed to the same amount of new music they were years ago when music directors and DJs created the playlists and gave more new artists airplay. Today, radio station playlists are formatted by the marketing and advertising departments of large corporations. The majority of music played on today’s airwaves is the same generic sound that has been recycled time after time. Additionally, CD prices are at extreme highs, in some cases $15 or more, while iTunes sells the exact same content for $9.99. It is a fundamental principal of economics that when the same product is available from two different sources at differing prices, the place selling it for less will have greater sales. Certainly the cost of producing a CD is not that much more than the cost of providing the content electronically. According to Emiko Terazono of the Financial Times Information Company, “Legitimate music sales on the web continued to grow last year. In the UK, downloads grew fourfold to 26m single tracks, with Apple’s iTunes accounting for about 70 per cent of the traffic.” It is also to note that, the IFPI also said that despite a 26 per cent rise in broadband take-up, illegal file sharing had remained flat over the past year.

Things such as bittorent are completely legal. Why? Because torrent files are not illegal since it is just a way to share files. I pay and download music. But I don't always have money, which is why I download. If the band ever comes my way, I will see them live.

[Amnesiac]

This is one of the few situations where I'm going to go out of the way and fuck corporations. Music is a form of culture, and the way it's sold to us is disgusting. The copyright system has been abused to no end so the greedy record companies can suck money out of the pockets of everyday Americans. There's no actual price competition in the music industry, since record companies hold a monopoly over the artists they sign to a label.

Torrenting and other ways of P2Ping are the only ways to introduce economic competition into the music industry. In addition, there are no legal ways to combat P2Ping without invading privacy and individual rights, things that are much more important than the profits of some douchebags in California.

Also, you didn't provide a source for those statistics.

[Sugaree]

If you don't mind, I'd like to see a source also on these statistics. They seem a tad overblown.

As to the issue at hand, this is an attempt by record companies to get more money. I download all my music and movies through P2P networks, and, if I like what I've downloaded, I go out and buy it. I go to concerts not just for the enjoyment of music, but to give my money to a hard working artist who probably isn't even given enough in payment from their record company. That's the only way they actually get a substantial amount of money is through merchandise sales which the record labels have no authority over. When it comes to movies, I'm paying the studio that made the movie and lending my support for them to make more movies that I might enjoy.

If the MPAA, record companies or software developers want to have some law approved that allows the powers that be to spy on us whenever they please, I wish them luck. It won't work. People will never support the idea and you can almost guarantee that a massive majority will rally against the bill. But like it or not, people will still be able to illegally obtain these forms of entertainment.

[anonymous53]

Apologies if a thread of this sort has been created

It seems as if our generational youth has resorted into such ludicrous means of entertainment through illegally downloading files, music, and other forms of entertainment. This trend has been proven to hurt many software developers, RIAA, and the MPAA. In addition, music piracy has lead to the depletion of 71,000 Jobs, a loss of $422, 000,000 Tax Revenue, and Causes a grand total of $12.5 Billion in economic losses. This is just the panel of music industry alone! There is a myriad of economic and political issues that occur due to p2p use.

I would like to see the shut down of any p2p hosts such as Frost wire and bit torrent, place an end to torrent websites such as thepiratebay.

Whats your take on this?


First of all. Not all torrents are illegal. There are sites such as legaltorrent.com (or whatever it's called)

P2P Is an extremely economical way to distribute files. Why? Because bandwidth is expensive. Using P2P minimizes bandwidth usage from each seeder.

Shut down P2P I'd have to say is completely impossible. Why? Because there is no centralized location.


Face it, P2P protocols such as torrents are a good thing, when used for the right reasons. When used for the wrong reasons; they're disastrous.

[somethingrandom]

Shutting down torrent services and file sharing would be almost impossible. It's possible just like internet companies can block skype, but it's challenging.

Personally, I feel no shame in downloading a TV show that I can already watch on the internet for free, or downloading songs from a band that makes millions of dollars every year. If I paid for the music, they would probably get less than a penny on the dollar, so it's not like i'm taking something away from anybody except greedy record company executives. If I really like a small band, I'll go and buy their music. If I really like a tv show, i'll watch it so it gets good ratings. But other than that, i download, and it definitely isnt stealing.

[TheMatrix]

The copyright system has been abused to no end so the greedy record companies can suck money out of the pockets of everyday Americans.
it's not only americans. it's like this in almost any country.

i always download my music from youtube, unless i really like the band in which case i'll use itunes or buy a cd.