August 30, 2006
Thomas Mennecke
Does Metallica’s Lars Ulrich secretly thank Napster for his band’s overwhelming success that has withstood the test of time? Does the RIAA whisper a thank you to Alberto Treves for creating the Ares Galaxy Network? Does the MPAA have a clandestine Pablo Soto shrine stashed away in their Washington offices?
While some hard core P2Pers might, chances are the above mentioned entities do not. But that’s hardly a reason not to be thankful. Although the entertainment industry has frequently maligned online piracy for its economic ills, there’s mounting evidence that concludes the recent success of iTunes is largely attributable to culture developed by the P2P community.
In a brief study released today by Loyola Marymount University’s David Choi, the paper concludes what many in the file-sharing community have known since the beginning; online file-swapping has revolutionized the music industry, allowing it to grow in the face of declining physical sales.
If we look at the nature of file-sharing, and eliminate the political fud generated by either side of the copyright debate, we’re left with its bare purpose; to obtain music or videos. Is this being done to promote some evil or immoral ideal? Hardly. Digital “piratesâ€
