| reply to major marco
Re: Right direction Actually, downloading a copyrighted file without permission of the copyright owner is illegal (the original Napster verdict established that), however it is nearly impossible to prosecute without invasive spyware or access to all of the ISPs' log files. Even then, it would be expensive and time consuming to prosecute thousands of people for one download each. So the recording industry has to settle for suing people sharing files out and hope that the downloaders will go away if they take down enough sharers.
I do agree with the "record companies are dinosaurs" part of your post though. They are desperately trying to hold onto control over the entire music process and onto the illusion that the only good music is RIAA music. More and more their control is slipping away, though, and they're getting more and more desperate.
I don't think record labels will go away entirely in the future, but will instead evolve into entities more like advertising firms. Bands will hire a label to promote an album for a cut of the proceeds. The band will retain copyright over the album and the label can be fired with little to no ill effects on the artist if the label doesn't perform up to par. Labels in this format would be smaller entities with less control over the process (though perhaps the same number of connections with things like radio air time). |
