Research by UK ISP Talk Talk finds that 80% of 18-34yos surveyed said that if govt tried to make it dangerous to use P2P services they would simply switch to ones that are undetectable.
Andrew Heaney, Director of Strategy and Regulation for UK ISP TalkTalk, is once again slamming proposals by the UK govt to crackdown on illegal file-sharing, especially if it involves Internet disconnection.
“We all know that the government’s disconnection proposals to deter illegal file-sharing are daft and dangerous,” he says. “And many would agree that the way many people in the music industry have reacted is a little misguided.”
He points out that the music industry has a long history of attacking technology rather than trying to adapt to it.
Case in point? Home taping back in the 80s.
He continues:
If, like me, you remember the 80s, you may also recall recording the Top 40 on Sunday nights. Up and down the country, people were hovering over their cassette players with their fingers over the pause button, trying to get the perfect recording before Tony Blackburn spoke and ruined it. Back then the music industry told us that home taping would signal the end of the music industry and that it must be stamped out. There are clear parallels with today’s debate about file-sharing and the Digital Economy Bill.
Heaney furthers his point by discussing the results of some research conduced by TalkTalk that found a majority of file-sharers would simply switch to alternative methods of of accessing copyright-protected content for free, if using P2P services leaves them vulnerable to disconnection.
“In fact, 80% of 18-34 year olds questioned in our survey said that if new legislation made it dangerous to use P2P services they would switch to using methods which are undetectable,” he says.
So much for disconnection being that silver bullet to end illegal file-sharing.
“It doesn’t matter how many sites are blocked, how many families are snooped on or how many customers are disconnected, music fans who want to can and will get the content they want online for free,” adds Heaney. “Whatever measures are taken it will have little impact on the music industry’s coffers but will leave in its wake innocent customers disconnected from the internet.”
Moreover, Heaney calls the anti-file-sharing efforts “futile deterrents” that won’t solve the music industry’s problems. Its problems can only be solved by developing new business models that acknowledge what music fans want in the digital age.
Imagine that, giving customers what they want?
Stay tuned.
Stealthnet is what comes to mind – imagine Kazaa/Gnutella but with AES-256 encryption, immunity versus man-in-the-middle, and truecrypt plugin functionality.
oh and @ number 1, i got 3 letters for you bud.
VPN
i GOT Mute, and many more ways to be undetectable, they are somewhat slow but work, and his right, VPN is the best one right now (:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUTE
Ive been saying the same thing for years….the mpaa had the same issue over VCR’s in the home back then as well……evolve or die.
I liken it unto the tragedy of the polar bears…..there is nothing i can do about it but watch.
So what undetectable P2P services are there pray tell?
usenet, VPN, secure http, darknets, etc., etc….