Warning Signs

Big music is doomed to die a slow, inexorable death. The numbers say it more clearly than any words ever could. The decision to suppress digital distribute by suing Napster, instead of embracing the new distribution opportunies, was the beginning of the end. Suing music fans for file sharing was just another step down the same path.

But will anyone else heed the warning signs of fighting digital distribution? Unfortunately, the answer is, no. The lawyers at the US Copyright Group have convinced the producers of the Hurt locker to sue 14,000 ordinary people for file sharing the movie. No, the lesson has most definitely not been learned.

We can assume that the lawyers who spearhead these sue-'em-all campaigns, always get paid, even as the businesses they supposedly represent, are failing. Once you allow your business decisions to be made by a lawyer, you are so screwed.