Talk Back: Are peer-to-peer networks for criminals?

[dang]

Checkout our latest Talk Back: Are peer-to-peer networks for criminals? (http://news.designtechnica.com/talkback16.html)

[Ioman]

I have used Shareza and eDonkey in the past and find them ok. I think that the majority of people do use them for illegal downloading...just my .02 cents.:)

[questionlp]

I think any form of community or sharing place can be exploited for "mass piracy" and such, but it can also be used for good. Unfortunately, that has happened with P2P because it makes piracy so simple... which has also brought in leachers and spyware-laden crap :mad:

One nice thing about "P2P" (ick, buzzword), particularly BitTorrent, is that it can be used to get information and data out rather quickly and without "Slashdotting" a server. For instance, when RedHat's FTP servers were pounded when RH8 came out, the ISO images were available at decent speeds on P2P/BT networks.

I personally haven't used any form of P2P software for a loooong time since I have no real use for it (and when I did use it, it was to find live performances of bands that I already had CDs of)... mostly because I already have a fair share of music and I'm not much into mainstream media (truthfully a lot of it just plain ****ing sucks, no matter how much **** and hype the ??AA's pump and jam down people's throats).

Both the RIAA and the MPAA /know/ that their sales are down due to a poor economy (mostly here in the state with the worst unemployment rate, Oregon) and they are losing money for pumping crap out that people just won't spend their precious money on. I for one average 1.5-2 movies a year... if that... why? Most of the stuff just doesn't excite me (LOTR did and I paid to see it).

As far as music... I buy my music... but lately with a tight budget, my CD spending spree has been slashed down to 1-2 every couple of months. Everything else, there is somafm.com for sampling stuff and archive.org/audio for live performance recordings from bands that realize that allowing people to tape and distribute (whilst not making a profitting from it) help them get more notice. Anyway, there are some bands that are just kick-ass live!

Anyway... that's my ramblings on the topic.

[llbbl]

If everyone had good ethics than it wouldn't matter that people share music / movies / software. The problem exists because there are a few who don't care if they take without rewarding those who put their effort into the creation of the product.

Lets imagine a person with such ethical standards.

It comes down to how people use it. The software companies shouldn't care because if the person likes their sofware than they would purchase that software as soon as it was possible. It ecourages competition because more people can try a full version of the software before they buy it. They become accustomed to the interface, the keyboard shortcuts and the capabilities of the program. It is very unlikely that they would switch at that point so it is VERY likely that they will buy the program in the future.

Movies are just not rewarding to download they are too big and you don't watch them often enough to warrent the time it takes to find / download / watch. I would rather join a online dvd rental site!

Music is the ubitiquious standard to downloading on P2P networks. Everyone wants / needs music in order to express themselves and enjoy life. It is a very important cultural aspect for our society. My view is the same, if a person likes what they hear and assuming that we are still talking about the idealized person described above, than muscians shouldn't have a problem if that person downloads music. They will reward those artists that they find are valueable.

[lilbudda]

The RIAA and other companies feel that no matter what, it's customers are pirates. I have seen piracy in other countries. It's not as rampant here in the US. US companies and anyone else that wishes to protect IP need to come up with better ways of fighting piracy than beating up it's customers....

[lilbudda]

I think it's also good to note, at what price point would people stop pirating? Is 14.99 too much for a CD and 19.99 too much for a DVD? Based on most of the content out there and the state of the economy... yes.

If taxes were lowered would more people pay them? And if cigarettes and alcohol weren't so damn expensive, would people stop trying to steal to them? People need to think about human behavior when making business and economic decisions...

[Cloud]

I remember when Circuit City used to have NEW releases at $11.99. Man would be flock to their store to buy them. Now with all the crappy music out there, there is no way I will buy a CD at $14.99+ unless I have listened to it first!:D

[dang]

Another thing to note, while production costs go down for making audio cd's, their price in store's continue to go up. When cd's first came out I remember them being 14.99 and that seems like a ton of money since tapes and LP's were around $8.

Now a days, most cd's are around $17.99 or higher. $14.99 for cd's that have been out for a while (like years..)

That's WAY to much to pay for an audio cd.

One thing to note, DVD prices have continued to drop, not go up. First gen DVD's were well over $20, like $30 or more.

Now you can find them for $6.99 up to $30.

Buying a classic 80's movie, like Pretty In Pink, etc for $9.99 is a damn good deal, and its easy to find those types of movies for that price.