The net revolution ~ where will it end?

[Amorphos]

The net revolution ~ where will it end?

I watched a show on tv last night called ‘its only a theory’, and on it there was a distressed american chap stating that the net is killing industry ~ namely the entertainments industry [newspapers were also mentioned]. He complained about the ‘noble idea of everything being free’ and wondered why the net was all about this freedom and why isn’t there a cost for all its services etc.

So I am wondering, do you think that eventually most the freedoms will be gone, and we will have to pay for everything we do on the net, just as we do everything that is not on the net?

Or do you think the freedoms will continue and maybe it is a good thing?

As for sharing music, my opinion is that I buy what I like, and aquire what I wouldn’t want to pay for. I have always done this with tapes and cd‘s, prior to the arrival of the net, and in fact I get to listen to more music this way, then in doing so get to hear more stuff I really like and hence buy more.

It seams that this isn’t the case for most people or they wouldn’t be worried.

maybe future misic will be more honest [in the hippy sense], i hope so.

[Nevins]

Companies have been trying to make pay services online for years, and almost all of them have fallen flat on their faces. Companies need to recognize that they must offer a truly premium service to draw people away from free services. I think that if we do start seeing more pay services they will be offering more services than their older, non net based competitors do.

[roy34543]

Its pretty simple, the smart companies will wait out the stupid ones by staying small outside of the internet, the stupid rash ones will rush up to offer free content or something else silly and will regret it. At the end of the day the most cautious companies will win.

[Amorphos]

So you chaps think the free stuff will eventually fall by the wayside. Hmm well internet advertising doesn’t seam to do as well as was expected, so maybe the revenue to support that will fail.

Someone will buy up already very popular services and introduce paid for aspects maybe. Though I would think someone else would just make a new face book or whatever, if it tried to make you pay for its whole service.

will more and more govt legislation change things?

[karamazovmm]

You see the problem is that entertainment industry as some other industries as well, don't have developed seriously the idea of going to use the internet as a means of content delivery.

This is clear with all those antitrust lawsuits that are proliferating through out the world. And the harsher laws concerning the sharing of pirated files.

Now it appears that the several studies that point to the piracy problem concerning music are making clear that the piracy happens and in a damaging level, but the people who download ''free'' music online have more propensity to buy the same music that it downloaded.

The whining, and yes it is whining, is an idiotic policy at the bare minimum. You see that the same thing was said, when the tapes became the model of distribution, as well as the CDs. Industries don't like changes, and at their worst they punish the consumer. Be it with higher prices (killing herself in the process) or by mitigating.

Now we can say, without a doubt that the pattern of music distribution over the net is only going to rise. What are the successful modes for distributing music in this new environment? The only successful ones are the Itunes, Amazon, and another european firm. The strategy is surely, and sorely mistaken. If a commerce like music that is practically world wide (meaning that a singer can be famous in the US and in Japan) is ruled only by 3 stores?

There is no forgiving in the business section, Sony is going down, the company is in a bad shape, and the only possible way to survive is through reforms, and those will be painful. Rio Tinto is another company that only survived through luck (sudden rise in the prices) and because of its size, but others were not so fortunate.

Make no mistake, there is no turning back from the internet, there is only the possibility of adaptation. The free content, and new forms of distribution and regulation of this content are going to be created, some are in baby steps, like the famous DLC, some are more mature and can pressure the market, the iTunes price policy.

[Heathen Hammer]

The days when the only way to acquire an album, movie or a game was buying it at a store are gone forever. Buying music CDs, games and DVDs today is a form of tribute to bands/game/developers/movies correspondingly. People will always find a way to get stuff for free. Its a part of human nature.

[the_mango55]

I can see something like Zune Pass style content delivery becoming pretty big. All the music you want, 15 bucks a month.


Hulu is getting pretty popular, I've heard rumblings that it might move to subscription based, but if the price is reasonable and they add more series (and full series instead of just the most recent 10 episodes) I'd get it.

[Amorphos]

Mr mm

Make no mistake, there is no turning back from the internet, there is only the possibility of adaptation

I agree, but big business is powerful, and we could equally end up with a net where the content is regulated in some way. Isp’s could be forced to comply legally, and all companies like torrents held responsible for their content. It is possible to control it completely ~ which is a major worry I think.

the_mango55

I can see something like Zune Pass style content delivery becoming pretty big. All the music you want, 15 bucks a month.

Perhaps things like this will be the equivalent of owning a record/cd in the past. If you want to own music then you do it legally, I expect most sensible people remove illegal content after a time.

[karamazovmm]

The content will inevitably be regulated in some form, but the regulation is going to suffer the inevitability prospect of free content

[Amorphos]

The content will inevitably be regulated in some form, but the regulation is going to suffer the inevitability prospect of free content

I agree, but I also worry that anyone who provides free content could eventually be prosecuted for it - if given laws needed come in.

We could end up paying for everything we do.

worse there could be legal networks that stop people saying what they want e.g. against companies and individuals. everything could be copywritten etc. and we could have to pay to publish anything on the net. all sorts of things are possible.

[♔Goodguy1066♔]

This isn't really political now, is it?

[karamazovmm]

Why is it not? This is a major part of our lives, the cash flow behind the internet, the laws that are passed to control it, how is this not political?

now here is something interesting, the recrudescent behavior don't work, at least in France

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/n...m_campaign=rss

[Amorphos]

Absolutely mr mm

I am glad to see the French policy has not worked, though fearful of how authorities act when they fail. They tend to act like children and find some way to save face, eventually introducing yet more legislation.

This is why I fear the best and worst can potentially happen.

[karamazovmm]

You got my sympathies in there