mercredi 5 novembre 2008

Peer to peer downloading, a revolution or a constrait ?

Peer to peer downloading consists to share files on the internet with different downloaders. When you want to download an album for example, you'll have to put something to share, and which will be taken by an other one. This system is totally free. But for disc houses, it is a real problem...

At the basis, it is only an exchange that you do for example with your friend when you share your music with a bluetooth mobil phone. Or when you give him songs on your USB key. Peer to peer is exactly the same, but in a larger scale. PCs users who download with this system are a minority : only 7.2% and the "legal" downloaders represent 65.8%. In a first place, is isn't that alarming. But when you were exchanging a few songs with your friend, on the internet it is 14.9 millions songs downloaded illegaly by these 7.2%. The others only download 12.6 millions. But, what makes illegal downloading more efficient in terms of numbres ?

It is due to an easier system. When you use a traditional music store on internet, you have to creat an account, give your credit card numbre, all the informations about yourself etc... and you'll have to pay for each songs or albums downloaded. Sometimes, songs are protected . It means that you can't burn them on a CD or share them with an other PC. These are some disavantages of using a legal music store even if you are sure that all the music online is of good quality. With peer to peer, you don't need to give all of your informations, and you can get songs for free. That's why downloaders use this system more ofently. Even if it takes a long time to get a song, you'll have it for free.

For disc houses, it is translated by colosal losss. In fact, the music industry can't go well if people tend to not buy their music anymore. And all of the system will fall : artists won't get enough money to live with their talent, CD industries will fall just like the artists who work for the booklet, and finally, big music houses would have to close. All of these elements have to be taken into account, that's why music stores try to lower their prices. However, why an album costs around 20€ ? If the industry wants to relaunch the CD market, they have to lower tehir prices as well...

I would like to add something else. I talked about musicians. Free downloading has a possitive impact fot them : it promotes their albums and the bands. It means that music newspaper will be sold to learn more about the band, and that they hace the certainty to have a strong fan club in front of them during a concert.

1 commentaire:

Admin a dit…

MARK: 11/20

- on time (0/2)
- heading & link (2/2)
- libellés (0/2)
- resumé para (5/7)
- comment para (4/7)


A good article on échanges non marchands. (You might have made reference to the fact that this was what you were talking about!)

You need to try and reduce your resumé to the most important points made in the article. Somehow, your resumé this week ended up longer than the article itself!!

Secondly, you have misread the data given in the article. The number of illegal downloaders does not represent 7.2%; the number of illegal downloaders grew by 7.2% in 2006. The number of legal downloaders also grew by 65.8%. If you compare the actual statistics given, there were more illegal downloaders (14.9M) than legal downloaders (12.6M) in the US in 2006.

You should perhaps also note that this article dates from April 2007 and probably no longer accurately represents the numbers of legal and illegal downloaders.

Don't forget to add a libellé. I have added one for you again this week.

A reference to the fact that P2P is an example of échanges non marchands might have helped you in your comment para. You might have talked about the fact that this is not a case where "marchandisation" is impossible or immoral, but a case where users sometimes prefer to avoid the market. Why? You have given some good reasons, but I would have liked you to put them in their context.