Last week, ideas club Future Human hosted an event at the Queen
of Hoxton in London's East End on the so-called "Piracy Panacea".
This theme centres on the question: does today's "piracy" - namely
file-sharing and digital renegades (as opposed to one-legged,
rum-swigging sailors) - point the way to future innovation?
Let me speak candidly: this event erred on the side of farce.
There was an hour segment devoted to holding a mock "pirate's
court", cue slanging match between the music industry executives
and the anti-copyright lobbyists in the audience- understandably
divided on the notion of copyright infringement.
The second half was more promising. A panel comprising Graham
Linehan, creator of Father Ted and The IT Crowd;
tech writer Wendy Grossman; Jamie King, writer and director of
Steal This Film; and economist Thierry Rayna tackled the
issue of piracy - will illicit technologies shape the long-term
future of British commerce?
The consensus from the panel was this: the music and media
industries have had a stranglehold on consumers for too long (I
shan't recount Linehan's hilarious Disney rant here; needless to
say it was colourful and impassioned). When the customer fights
back and demands content when, where and how they want it, they are
demonised by initiatives like the Digital Economy Bill.
Ultimately, Linehan hit the nail on the head. "Why hasn't
mainstream media worked out a way for people to buy single episodes
online for a few quid?" he asked. "There's no point demonising the
consumer for downloading content, when there's no easy, one-click
method of paying for instant downloads."
"And you can't use outdated arguments to hold back piracy," adds
Linehan. "Like that advert that says, 'You wouldn't steal a car'.
No. But I would if I could download it."
Intellectual property professor (and self-confessed anarchist)
Jamie King sees this as an incredible opportunity for
entrepreneurs. The media industry has failed to address the issue
for over a decade - "What's to stop one guy in his bedroom
providing the solution?" In fairness, a few trail-blazing SMEs are
already looking to fill the gap. Take Lovefilm, Simon Calver's
movie and game rental outfit, which allows subscribers to stream
films and series' direct from the site as part of their monthly
fee. And Apple may have cornered the market in music downloads with
iTunes, but it was UK-based 7Digital that offered the first
DRM-free download platform - where people actually pay for the
privilege.
Wendy Grossman makes the additional point that brand owners are
failing to capitalise on the incredible marketing power of the
illegal download market. "Social networks - including the
much-demonized P2P networks - provide the greatest mechanism for
word of mouth in the history of human culture," she says. "And, as
we all know, word of mouth is the most successful marketing
available, at least for entertainment. It also seems obvious that
P2P and social networks are a way for companies to gauge the
audience better before investing huge sums."
Grossman also believes that lessons learned from the pirates
will spawn a whole new wave of entrepreneurialism: artists turned
start-ups. "The real threat is always going to be artists taking
their business into their own hands. For every Lady Gaga there are
thousands of artists who, given some basic help can turn their work
into the kind of living wage that allows them to pursue their art
full-time and professionally. I would think there is a real
business in providing these artists with services. This was the
impulse behind the foundation of CDBaby, and now of Jamie King's
VoDo. In the long run, things
like this are the real game-changers."
Pirates have long been a disruptive force on the status quo,
whether it be on the high seas, or via Bit Torrent. Old media
businesses need to adapt to compete. But in the meantime, it's a
niche that's ripe for entrepreneurs.
Have pirate technologies helped you evolve your business
model? Tell us your story - leave a comment below.
By Rebecca Burn-Callander