RE: Crackdowns don't slow Internet piracy

["Michel Py" <michel () arneill-py sacramento ca us>]

> > > Fergie (Paul Ferguson) wrote:
> > > "The popularity of file-sharing is costing the largest
> > > Internet service providers $10 million per year each
> > > in bandwidth and network maintenance costs, CacheLogic
> > > said."

> > Michel Py wrote:
> > $10 million a year for the largest ISPs is a drop in the
> > sea; _if_ the figure is accurate (sounds reasonable to me)
> > what's the point anyway? The largest ISPs serve directly
> > or indirectly millions of users that each pay $20/mo which
> > is $240/yr, 10 million bucks a year is nothing.

> Patrick W Gilmore wrote:
> I don't care if you are Microsoft, $10MM a year is a large
> enough sum that the company should not spend it if the
> company can avoid spending it. The hard part is the caveat.
> If you block customers from sharing music on your network,
> will you still have customers? If not, then maybe the
> $10MM is COGS?

That's what I meant, thanks for rephrasing. $10M a year is definitely
something that any size company will try to save; I remember posting
here not that long ago that a $500k line card is definitely something I
do not buy without a good reason.

That being said, the speed that allows users to download faster large
(and pirated, mostly) files is the #1 selling argument for broadband
providers (look at their add campaigns). If you are a residential
broadband provider and if you block customers from sharing music on your
network, you will not have customers.

Michel.