Archived Edition of Chromatic Musings

The Cato Institute on P2P

Yesterday was the Cato Institute's conference on "The Law and Economics of File Sharing and P2P Networks". From all accounts, it looks like it was interesting. Bobby over at BlogCritics attended, and he has filed a report on the proceedings.

The strongest feeling I had as I left the conference is that the recording industry, even after five years, still has problems understanding the nature of the problems they're facing. For instance, in reply to one question regarding the effectiveness of suing file uploaders, Liebowitz replied that he doesn't think the public or the media really differentiate between uploading and downloading, so that such litigation is effective as a threat against both. It may be that the "public" and the "media" have such a perception, but you know who doesn't? College students, who are perhaps the critical demographic when it comes to downloading. College students tend to know that they need to turn off access to their shared folders so that they can't be sued for uploading the files. They focus on downloading instead, and since 55% of files are downloaded from users outside the United States (a figure provided during the conference), one has to wonder how effective this litigation strategy can really be. Instead of catching those downloading (or even uploading) the bulk of the files, the RIAA has wound up with PR nightmares such as suing grandmothers. One really has to wonder when the recording industry is going to get a clue and begin to operate proactively rather than reactively. In this sense, at least, it seems that the MPAA may be a step ahead.