The Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America should bow down to technology and accept gracious defeat instead of continuing to fight a losing battle.
Bit Torrent Web sites act as your personal Best Buy. At the click of the mouse, almost anything that can be stored on a computer can be downloaded, including movies that are still in theaters and music that will not be released for a couple of months.
The torrent bandwagon is overflowing. Google Trendz estimates the daily traffic for torrent giant Mininova.org to be just over 2 million users every day. Other popular torrent sites such as isohunt.com and thepiratebay.org receive more than 1 million visitors a day. Since their inception, these Web sites have been constantly hounded by the RIAA and the MPAA for alleged copyright infringement.
The Pirate Bay, a Swedish torrent Web site, got slapped with a $15 million lawsuit for copyright infringement on four films: “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” “Syriana,” “The Pink Panther” and “Walk the Line.” While distributing media on these sites violates thousands of copyrights, it is pointless for big industries to even attempt to file lawsuits because no person or company can take the full blame and anyone who gets into legal trouble for torrent activity is just a scapegoat taking the heat for an entity which is larger than life.
While Napster paved the way for modern file sharing technology, it deserved to be shut down in 1999 because it housed a common server for people to connect to and share music. Torrent sites brilliantly share files piece-by-piece from many different users. For example, if someone wants to download an album, they will get little pieces of the album from different users, or seeds. BitTorrents are ingeniously counterintuitive because if more people are seeding a file, the download will go faster for everyone. To visualize this concept, imagine a big crowd at a restaurant actually speeding up service.
With millions of people sharing bits and pieces of movies and albums, it is pointless and almost impossible to file a successful lawsuit against one user, yet the RIAA and MPAA have still attempted to do so. The RIAA’s original strategy was to file lawsuits against students who were file sharing. At the University of Michigan, seven students were accused of illegally downloading music and had pending lawsuits with the RIAA. Legally pursuing individuals is a big waste of money and time for both parties. Barely anyone is intimidated and millions are going to continue to share files regardless. Plus, the big torrent companies remain intact.
The RIAA has apparently realized that individual lawsuits are worthless because charges against the Michigan students and others across the country were dropped. Instead, the RIAA adopted a shady new strategy which involves partnering up with Internet providers who are willing to slow or stop the Internet access of IP addresses linked to unlawful downloading. This tactic is downright shameless and proves the RIAA is desperate for a feasible solution to their predicament. HBO went as far as to post fake, messed up torrents of their show “Rome” with the hopes of detracting users. Are third graders coming up with these strategies?
The RIAA and MPAA have also tried to press charges against bit torrent Web sites, as in the Pirate Bay case. Problems still arise for prosecutors because the Web sites are nothing more than a specialized search engine. Torrents are actually downloaded through independent programs such as Bitlord or Vuze, not at the actual Web sites. Ironically, with the right search techniques, anyone can use Google to find millions of torrents. Is Google going to get sued? Probably not.
Almost half of the charges made against The Pirate Bay were dropped, and the only charge that remains is “assisting making available” copyrighted material. Publicity from the lawsuit has only sparked torrent downloading interest. The Pirate Bay recently needed to add new servers because they are expanding.
Technology itself is the only entity that can be blamed for any lost profits. The exponential growth of computer technology has left the music and movie industry in the dust. If the ability to copy and share music efficiently exists, people can’t be expected not to use it. Isn’t it socially acceptable to transfer your digital media through flash drives? Kids are raised with the idea that sharing is good, yet people are being punished for participating in the act.
The RIAA and MPAA should focus their attention on creating a new business model instead of chastising technology growth. Companies like iTunes, where people pay to download media, are a good start, but will not detract too much from the millions who prefer to get stuff for free. In essence, technology has shot the industry in the foot. Everybody should enjoy the ability to download anything they want for free, just don’t expect the same greatness from industries that are suffering from it.
Chris Jagger is a journalism senior and Mustang Daily reporter.