FC: Weekly column: Debate between RIAA's Oppenheim and Freenet's Clarke

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://news.com.com/2010-1027_3-1023325.html

[...]

News.com: How much of a threat is Freenet to the recording industry and 
other large copyright holders, compared with Kazaa and popular P2P services?

Clarke: That is difficult to say. The RIAA claims that P2P is to blame for 
their declining sales, yet they are in an industry that relies on 
discretionary spending in the middle of an economic slump. Of course, 
rather than blame the economy for declining sales, they blame P2P.

In the longer term, however, I think it is inevitable that communication 
technology will reduce and eventually eliminate the role of those that 
profit from their monopoly over the physical distribution of music CDs.

That isn't something anyone except the members of the RIAA should worry 
about--certainly not the artists, and certainly not the general public. 
Rather, this is a perfect example of capitalism in action. Just as the 
motor car replaced the horse and cart, so will the Internet replace most of 
the roles performed by today's recording industry.

Oppenheim: Other than the fact that most infringers do not like to use 
Freenet because it is too clunky for them to get their quick hit of free 
music, it is no more of a threat than any of the popular P2P services.

[...]




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