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Here we re-print the press release of the P2PUnite Campaign. The views here are not those of NMK, but nevertheless they raise many interesting questions for content producers and distributors, questions that will be addressed directly at our forthcoming conference on content in the convergence era 'In The City Interactive' on 7 June at the ICA...

PRESS RELEASE - SHOW THEM WE MEAN BUSINESS!

A call to all P2P users

As of late the MPAA's (Motion Picture Association Of America) and RIAA's (Recording Industry Association Of America) of the world are claiming that we are denying them their justly earned money and are trying to find ways to put an end to this supposed loss through litigation. It would seem that their scare tactics have been fruitful as they keep getting settlements out of court and probably generate even more profit from these activities.

The aim of their campaign, of course, is not to target and eradicate file sharing as much as it is an attempt to control the market and dictate where and on what our hard earned money is spent. The wealthiest, nowadays, decide what we listen to and watch using staggering public relations campaigns; most releases are "format" productions where talent, passion and creativity come after profits and greed. Most of us feel that they should look into wider availability and more affordable pricing instead of claiming higher moral ground as an excuse to prop up an outdated and failing business model.

Ironically, dramatic theaters, opera houses and so forth are desperately trying to find an audience among the "common" people, as their traditionally highbrow image is not allowing them to be competitive. However, the production companies are working towards a dangerous inaccessibility for regular people. It is natural that we want to be able to watch the movies and listen to the music; it has always been and always will be. Hence, we turn to file sharing, and/or borrow CD's from our friends and so forth.

Availability and affordable prices

How many have bought a CD or watched a movie that turned out to be less than satisfactory? How many have felt cheated after a night out at the movies, having gone there after seeing trailers, commercials, and posters for another big box office release that turned out to be one of those "let's save the movie company a few bucks by fooling people into watching this dud during the first weekend" flicks? How many get sick to their stomachs while hearing about revenue losses after viewing an episode of "Cribs" on MTV?

The production companies have the audacity to say that we are using people's creativity and talent, without paying for it. Well, guess what? Most P2P users actually do buy the products they like!

We continue to see fantasy figures about the kind of revenues the production companies would have had, if only their products were not obtainable online. Of course, it is complete and utter nonsense. They seem to be oblivious to the highly human trait they themselves possess: The Experience of Ownership. Everybody wants to own things. A pirated copy can never live up to the experience of a movie theatre or replace the sense of pride that comes from having a collector’s edition sitting on your bookshelf. Even those who the entertainment industry would paint as criminals are consumers too.

To prove this, we call out to all that have shared a file, downloaded something online or think that prices are outrageous; Let us send a message to the entertainment industry leadership.

The last week in April 2005 - 24th up until and including 30th - show them how much money we are spending on their products by denying them our hard earned income. Do not go to the movies; do not buy any entertainment products during that week.

This is not to be confused as saying, "go pirate everything you can find as the production companies are common robbers." Instead, this is a way to show that we are indeed supporting them already, so stop fighting your customers! Show them we mean business! Spread the word everywhere you can think of.

P2PNet cover P2P and digital media news on a daily basis at http://p2pnet.net/index.php

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