Telstra has revealed the addition of almost one million new mobile services in the six months to December 2011, but Sensis revenues plummeted 24 percent in 12 months.
An Associated Press report that a 16 year old boy intends to make a stand against a lawsuit lodged by the the Recording Industry Association of America could turn into a global test case surrounding online music piracy. The music industry has been hit badly by the online downloads phenomena and in desperation is trying to use the tactic of scaring users off pirate file sharing sites with individual lawsuits. However, it's a tactic that could backfire.
The record industry admits that suing individual
downloaders is not cost effective and is an attempt to dissuade
downloaders of pirated music from continuing their practices. In the
case of 16 year old Robert Santangelo, who has hit back with a
countersuit, it may have bitten off more than it can chew.
Young Santangelo's mother, the original target of the recording
industry, has already become somewhat of a folk hero after successfully
forcing the industry to drop its case. Now the industry has gone after
her youngest son, who was reportedly just 11 when he allegedly
downloaded music illegally.
While the music industry rightly maintains that piracy is hitting both
artists and the record companies where it hurts, it needs to be careful
not to bite the hand that feeds it.
The proliferation of legal online download sites such as iTunes has
shown that people are prepared to pay for music downloads. It also
shows that probably the most effective way to combat piracy is to make
online music affordable and easy to access.
Just like in the old days, when consumers used to make illegal cassette
copies of their friends' vinyl record albums, piracy will never go away
completely. However, there are many who would prefer to buy tracks or
pay cheap monthly subscriptions in preference to going the illegal
route.
Going after individuals is not going to scare away the pirate
downloaders. However, it could very well alienate a paying public
growing increasingly cynical about what many view as a greedy
cartel.
David Bass
| For the fourth year in a row, IDC has placed content security provider Websense (NASDAQ: WBSN) at the top of the IDC Worldwide Web Security 2011 –…
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