The internet over the years has advanced dramatically; much like the technology and the computers that we use to access the worldwide web. With advanced technology and developed ideas comes more advanced knowledge and access to these ideas. In simplistic form, I am trying to tell you that even though the internet is advancing, it is getting older and people are becoming more familiar with it, and what they can do with it.
Take former existing file sharing website Mega Upload for example, as the site manipulated the Internets vulnerability through giving the cyber public access to files which they did not own and were not prohibited to give access to. So this brings forth the question: Are the files we upload onto the internet solely ours? Or are we just giving away freebies?
In my spare time I like to make music and I often release my material onto the web for free; this is a legitimate freebie, the public are welcome. I have friends that are also musicians who sometimes do the same, but sometimes also charge money for their music, they have the right to do so.
A friend of mine had spent months creating an album, hundreds of pounds invested in studio time, CD distribution, cover art, music videos and photo shoots. He released the album as a download people had to pay for, to get returns for his hard work and investment. A week later, all the songs had been leaked on to the internet and YouTube and people were downloading them for free. His project overall was a success in terms of the exposure it got, but he had lost a lot of money.
Recently, I had met up with him and asked him about how he felt about his work being distributed over the internet for free; He described it as being 'damaging' and said that it has taken away his 'enthusiasm' for music. He also said:
"The music market is suffering financially because of people who illegally download and give out music they do not own for nothing."
"Artists now only make revenue from PRS and gigs. We (Musicians), have also been forced to make Mickey Mouse music like Gangnam Style to make money because people get pleasure from this and are willing to show huge interest."
According to the music industry body IFPI, more than 40 billion songs were downloaded ILLEGALLY in 2008. It costs £0.79 to download a song via iTunes, X that by 40 billion and it equals:
31 600 000 000 = thirty-one billion six hundred million POUNDS (Financial loss)
Now that is an astronomical amount of loss the music industry has suffered from, and for the artists and producers who created the music. The idea of downloading songs for free is becoming more popular and I would assume that these figures have increased over the year as access to these files becomes easier. The younger generations who are the biggest consumers and audience of music are being introduced to a free web and in the current musical climate; illegal downloads are inevitable.
Yes, there are sanctions for people who download music illegally, IF caught. But these sanctions are not really threatening, as it is impossible to sanction a huge percentage of the worlds population.
The music industry is not only a victim of illegal use, so is the movie industry. Referring back to Mega Upload, they had a sister website called Mega Video. Mega Video allowed easy web streaming and download of movies, so people had access to the latest movies to view for free on their laptops and desktops Although Mega Video had been shut down with Mega Upload; there are several sites which allow streaming of movies for free.
Although these issues are being slowly tackled, the picture of a solution is very bleak and distant. Billions of pounds have already been lost, continue to be lost and cannot be claimed.
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