The subject of copyright infringement or online piracy is an emotive one. However the debate over digital piracy and how to “solve” it rages on. The question I find myself asking is, could there be another way?

Many solutions have been suggested to curb illegal file sharing, from bandwidth caps all the way up to court cases. To date none of these ideas has had any real impact, other than generating more column inches and inflaming the argument further. However, I can’t help feeling we could be missing a trick.

The current mindset of those tasked with halting file sharing is founded on a basis of negative perceptions. The services they target and the users who frequent them are the enemy, a glitch in the matrix that needs eradicating. But this process of demonising users hasn’t exactly endeared the music industry in the eyes of consumers – particularly younger ones who don’t see what the fuss is all about. Shutting down a Torrent or file-sharing site today will only create two new ones tomorrow, whilst capping bandwidth would be denying access to a vital service in today’s society – the internet.

Couldn’t music labels to try and tempt downloaders back into paying with incentivised deals? Buy this band’s album and get 20% off tickets to their next gig at the O2 Arena, for example. In this way the industry can add value to the transaction, providing something unobtainable from the illegal download alone. The iTunes model has clearly shown that there is a market for digital content and that people are willing to pay for it. Furthermore, research has shown that people who illegally download media actually buy more content from legitimate sources than those who do not.

One thing is for sure: technology is marching ever forward and it is wishful thinking to believe we can stem the tide (or should that be torrent?) of change. You cannot un-invent something: only embrace the opportunities that it brings…

Image from the public domain