Flutterby™! : Porn & Music

Via Daze Reader, Matt Goyer on things the music industry could learn from the porn industry. While we're picking on the music industry, I'd like to point out that with a few high profile prosecutions of the individuals involved in file sharing, the P2P networks would go largely legal. Back when I couldn't be prosecuted as an adult, when a few kids got knocks on their doors by the guys in dark suits and mirror shades the amount of pirated software on the BBSs plummeted, and those few that still had it had regularly changed master passwords that got passed around to trusted folks only. The same thing happened later with FTP sites. The reason that the music industry doesn't want to do this is that unlike the software industry, the music industry is at war with its users, doesn't trust its users, and can't be open about the relationship with its users.