With the threat of
litigation hovering over the heads of online music swappers,
Nielsen//NetRatings is reporting a sharp drop in file-sharing on P2P
networks.
While copyrighted music files are still available for download on the P2P
networks, statistics from Nielsen//NetRatings show that traffic dropped more
than 15 percent in the first week after the Recording Industry Association
of America (RIAA) warned of plans to file “thousands of lawsuits” against
individual computer users.
On Kazaa, for instance, upload/download traffic dipped by one million
unique visitors during the week ending July 6, a decline of 15 percent since
the RIAA’s warning was issued on June 25, Nielsen//NetRatings said.
The drop is traffic was not limited to Kazaa. MusicCity.com’s Morpheus
file-sharing application barely drew 231,000 unique visitors during the week
ending July 6, a 15 percent drop from the previous week. File sharing fans
logging onto iMesh declined 16 percent, recording 214,000 unique visitors,
while BearShare did not make Nielsen//NetRatings’ reporting cutoff after the
legal warning was announced, the Internet measurement firm said.
“With the negative publicity and threat of steep fines, some surfers
appear to be backing off,” said Nielsen//NetRatings analyst Greg Bloom.
“However, with millions of loyal users, these
applications aren’t likely to go offline in the near future,” Bloom
added.
A spokesperson for the RIAA told internetnews.com the ultimate
measurement “is not the day to day traffic on peer to peer sites, but rather
the long-term growth and success of the
legitimate online music marketplace.”
“That’s what this enforcement is all about,” the spokesperson declared,
insisting the RIAA was committed to filing lawsuits against users who share
“substantial” amounts of copyrighted digital music. The lobby group is busy
collecting evidence and a slew of lawsuits could be filed as early as the
middle of August.
The RIAA has urged users of file-sharing programs to disable
file-uploading capabilities and take steps to block copyrighted music from
being pirated. “This will not only keep strangers out of your hard dive, it
will keep you from getting sued,” the group warned.
Even as the RIAA is flexing its muscles to stamp out digital music
piracy, the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is demanding major
changes to copyright laws to get artists paid and make file-sharing
legal.
The non-profit group launched the “Let the Music Play” campaign, which
included a call for users to own the rights to share music. “Copyright law
is out of step with the views of the American public and the reality of
music distribution online,” said EFF Executive Director Shari Steele.
“Rather than trying to sue people into submission, we need to find a better
alternative that gets artists paid while making file sharing legal.”