The effect that peer to peer filesharing has had on consumers, as seen merely as an amplification of ancient habits that predated the brief rise of a commercial music industry in the twentieth century (Vaidhyanathan 2004, 42) are found within the social constructs in which filesharing is used. The primary characteristic that appeals to consumers, is the community created with the valued individual, recognised by the effects of networking through peer to peer file sharing in the new economy. P2P technology for many, is as much a political statement as a technological one. This originates from the idea that P2P networks, including computing resources, are openly distributed and are predominantly owned and managed by the users, as Hartley (2002, 161) observes “networks are interconnected systes that exchange data seectively and intentionally�?.
P2P, creating a networked environment allowing online users to communicatie and exchange information provides consumers with the ability to develop and exchange both ideas and information. As Sharman Networks, operators of Kazaa observes (Good & Krekelberg, 2004) P2P filesharing "is about more than just music. P2P lets people share new ideas, collaborate on projects and communicate more efficiently. Its a freedom of speech opportunity worth developing and defending". The endless array of usages allows for a valuable means for distributing entirely legal material such as public domain books, legal music and audio files, videos, books, pornography, games and software, efficiently and to a vast audience in a networked society.
Reviewing the political, technological, economic, and cultural dimensions of the battle over music can reveal some critical aspects about the way consumers use music and what consumers expect from the music industry. File sharing allows consumers the opportunity to be both passive and active in their music consumption. Online networks allow a wide range of people to participate in musical practices, therefore exemplifying P2P’s ability of the passive act of consuming music. Consumers and music distributer alike, are both exposed to the opportunities of sampling, allowing music to be distributed to a larger fan base at a lower cost, as Liebowitz (2004) exemplifies in an extensive anaylsis of the sampling effect. The sampling story holds that consumers use P2P to sample songs from full-length albums, (Liebowitz, 2004), arguing that consumers are now more likely to purchase sampled music. Secondarily, Liebowitzs (2004) observes that because P2P makes it easier to get a low-cost, high-quality copy, some individuals enter the market only to download free music. These consumers, however, can be thought of as having a low preference for music, meaning that they probably do not buy significant amounts of music. This is a theoretical justification for the idea that some file sharers would not have bought music in the first place (Liebowitz, 2004).
Kate Mitchell 20:23, 26 Oct 2005 (EST)
Good, N and Krekelberg, A. (2004) "Usability and privacy: a study of KAZZA P2P Filesharing", http://www.hpl.hp.com/shl/papers/kazza/KazzaUsability.pdf (accessed August 30, 2004)
Liebowitz, 2004 Internet File Sharing: The Evidence So Far and What It Means for the Futurehttp://www.heritage.org/Research/InternetandTechnology/bg1790.cfm (accessed October 2, 2004).
Vaidhyanathan,S. (2004), "The Peer-to-Peer Revolution and the Future of Music" in "The Anarchist in the Library - How the Clash Between Freedom and Control Is Hacking the Real World and Crashing the System", Basic Books, New York.
