Changing to a New Way?

Nobody can accurately predict how this will work out. Peer-to-peer represents a massive and complex change to traditional music and movie industry models.

Consumers will drive it and companies will compete to offer them the best service, value and quality.

This is how we see the new marketplace working:

Artists and copyright owners will protect their works with security technology.

The works will be promoted to consumers via search tools and via peer-to-peer web pages.

Consumers will download the files they think might be interesting. This depends on promotions, offers, and what they have heard is good from friends, web sites and magazines.

They will try them out. Each file can have a different trial period set by the owner - 20 minutes, 20 days or 20 years.

If the consumers like it and the price is fair, they will buy it. Fans are satisfied and artists get rewarded.

Everyone is happy!

In the ideal world everyone is happy.

Consumers are happy because they can get what they want, when and how they want it at a good price.

Content owners are happy because their get paid when users want their content. And they get exposure to a vast audience, which may result in future sales through albums, merchandise and even concerts.

The artist or content developer is happy because they also get fairly rewarded for their work and/or they get great exposure.

And the peer-to-peer software developers are happy because they get paid, which means that they can continue to develop peer-to-peer applications so everyone can benefit.

This revolution can be for everyone!

So what's next?

Will 2004 be the year where 60 million fans become legitimate consumers of content via peer-to-peer or will the companies currently opposing the advancement of peer-to-peer technologies have their way and continue to threaten you, sue you and deny you access to a technology that will continue to develop? A lot of this is self-serving crap, but the basic idea that P2P isn't going away and that it is better to join it and direct it rather than fight it and be crushed by it is valid.

It's a battle for hearts and minds. You can view the ads Kazaa is running to promote this campaign here.