File sharing
Sue the world is working?
Slashdot and Joe Gratz mention the Pew Internet & American Life Project Survey about P2P usage since the RIAA has started suing the world. The survey claims that since the start of the RIAA suing everyone and their mom, P2P filesharing has dropped significantly. They claim that the lawsuits combined with online music download services like iTunes and Napster have also caused people to use file sharing applications less.
As Joe Gratz points out the survey was conducted via the phone and the heightened press coverage about P2P sharing has probably made people weary of openly talking about their true P2P activities. Quite probably true -- but I think people are also defecting from the popular file sharing clients due to their increased scrutiny. The survey covered the Kazaa, BearShare, WinMX and Grokster file sharing apps. No mention of eMule, BitTorrent or silly systems like EarthStation 5.
I think these alternatives have been gaining in popularity in recent months -- especially BitTorrent. I tend to judge popular trends by how often I hear about these trends from my friends. When someone asked another geeky friend of mine as to what file sharing system he used, my friend replied: "Kazaa." and earned a: "Duude, you're so old skool" response. I take that as a sign that the times are changing.
I'm sure that the RIAA has caused some people to stop downloading. But I'm also sure that iTunes/Napster/et al, lower CD prices, BitTorrent & eMule are changing the landscape quite a bit. Are people sharing fewer files overall? I doubt it -- its just hard to quantify the entire picture. And calling people on the phone to get them to admit their sins is not the right way to do it.
Posted by Mayhem at January 5, 2004 05:29 PM
I've heard about this survey a couple of times, and each time what's said is basically, "the lawsuits are working, people aren't using P2P as much." My problem with that statement is that the lawsuits aren't really about file sharing so much as about sales. Right? In other words, saying people are using p2p less frequently really means nothing if it isn't happening alongside an increase in record sales. Has there been a significant increase?
Yes, there has, but it seems to be linked to Universal lowering their CD prices. I should've blogged this, but never got around to it:
http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2003/12/music_sales_ris.html
