Are ISPs responsible for the record industry’s woes?
Posted by: in Companies Competitive StrategyFiled under: Products and services, Industry, Consumer experience, Rants and raves, Competitive strategy, Marketing and advertising
I read another blog recently that ranted and raved about the request record industry companies recently made to World wide web Service Providers to enforce anti-piracy on their servers and networks. The blog was not in favor of that move and I wholly concur that it is not the responsibility of another industry to make up for the problems facing the record industry. True, it would likely be prudent for ISPs to check for anti-piracy issues on their networks, but in the long run it has to be about keeping your own customers and not alienating others with threats against their privacy.
The British government seems poised to deal with the dynamic of this problem directly, after music industry trade groups there asked the government to take action. According to Billboard, the move to fight illegal file-sharing is “intended to ensure the prosperity of the country’s creative industries” by taking legislative action as early as 2009 if the music industry and ISPs don’t find a common ground. Legislators have also vowed to protect privacy in the face of these challenges. Unfortunately, the challenges of ISPs providing anti-piracy clean-up for the music industry does fly in the face of privacy issues, even if that means protecting the act of illegal file-sharing.
The Australian government has also taken a similar stance, but is keen to implement a “three-strike proposal” where illegal file sharers would be issued warnings before a suspension of access and eventual cancellation. Still, the plan would require ISPs to monitor user traffic and infringe on privacy issues, reports Billboard. World wide web industry trade groups in Australia have also defended the position of not adopting these types of policies or “taking responsibility of illegal operations on their networks” because “present legislation already covers copyright infringement, and these should be used against illegal downloaders.”
Whatever your thoughts on the position of the ISPs may be with regard to anti-piracy, this should not be read as advocating that activity. Simply put, it is nearly pathetic for the record industry to anticipate another industry to sacrifice its business practices because music is being illegally traded and shared. As others have pointed out, some responsibility should be taken by ISPs about regulating users who do break copyright law but “ratting” out users to the music industry is not the proper action either.
It is the duty of the record industry to figure out ways to make consumers want to pay for music. Obviously that’s the real crux of these issues, the fact that consumers don’t find value in the music. At least that is the idealistic hope on the part of this writer as to why consumers would illegally trade and share the products. It is obvious that no matter how much freedom the record industry gives digital stores to sell tracks without anti-piracy technology, the tactic is just not working. It’s been a bad year for anti-piracy technology, but that just means a good year for digital stores. While it is hard to see any return from how far things have gone, there’s a solution out there and illegal file sharing is not the answer.
In the end, the solution is also not going to be found by looking to blame other industry’s or even the consumer for not regulating illegal file sharing. ISPs are not responsible for the record industry’s problems. If anything, that industry has providing new markets and avenues of advertising for music, so to be bitten at might not be taken too lightly by ISPs. Consumers should not be illegally sharing, but they shouldn’t distrust their Internet service providers either.
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