RIP P2P? MPAA et al.?
Posted by unbrand on 22 December 2004 | 0 Comments
According to Slashdot:
TorrentBits.org and SuprNova.org Go Dark: “Numerous people wrote in with similar stories: ‘Without providing a reason, both of these sites have shut down: SuprNova.org and TorrentBits.org.’ We mentioned a few days ago that the MPAA was going after Bittorrent sites.”
And there was this bit from The Register:
The BitTorrent P2P file-sharing system: “Detailed measurement study” which is a fairly detailed performance analysis of P2P.
Who would have thought that torrent sites would stay up this long? Certainly not me. But the question I have is this: If the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) can get two of the biggest torrent players to close up shop, what does that say about other organisations’ ability to shut other websites down? Isn’t this kind of like the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) suing college kids for hosting MP3 swap/ftp/download sites? So the bullies who own the big red balls used for dodgeball are beating up kids who want to play with newfangled what, jacks? Or better, GameBoys?
If the bullies were smart, they’d be cutting deals with the distributors of the content. This is how the software and illicit drug industries work. Both have users and dealers, and I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
So why the hell is the MPAA following in RIAA’s footsteps? Are they both too stupid and scared of losing their dodgeball profits that they’re missing out on the GameBoy profits? Yes.
The Register article mentioned above gives some indication about commercial viability of the torrent protocol and the practical capabilities and limitations of such. If the bullies were smart, they’d figure a way to distribute high quality content for a fee such that consumers would pay for it. In a sense, this is what Apple has done with iTunes. But why should the MPAA wait for some 3rd party to reap all the benefits of selling digitised content to consumers? Seems to me that he MPAA should be taking the lead in coordinating efforts among the studios to stay on top of this new torrent wave and ride it. So to speak.
Mark Pesce speaks up: “You should have cut a deal with SuprNova.org. In partnership you could have found a way to manage the disruptive change that’s already well underway. Instead, you have repeated the mistakes made by the recording industry, chapter and verse. And thus you have spelled your own doom.”Indeed.