14 DAY TRIAL // In the past few years the online piracy phenomenon has escalated quite a bit, and the music and movie industries have been running after those who download content, spending millions on lobbying, takedown notices and more.
In all this time, companies, as well as various groups and individuals, have been slamming this attitude and telling the entertainment industry that its money would be better spent on finding solutions to bring content to people which can be easily accessible, with no launch delays based on areas and at low prices.
Spotify, the music streaming service that is yet to reach all corners of the world, has revealed that a research it recently made shows that music piracy via BitTorrent has dropped about 20 percent in Australia in a single year since it launched in the country.
While the drop was mostly driven by casual file-sharers, the number of so-called hard-core pirates remains the same.
TorrentFreak reports that Will Page, Spotify’s Director of Economics, delivered a speech at the BIGSOUND music conference, which is when he made the announcement regarding the significant drop in piracy.
He also added that the number of people who are sharing music files on the Internet has also dropped by a similar percentage, indicating just how important and efficient it is to have a cheap solution on hand.
“It’s exciting to see that we are making inroads into reducing the music piracy problem within such a short space of time in this market. It shows the scope for superior legal services offered at an accessible price point to help improve the climate for copyright online,” Page said.
The war against online piracy hasn't been won, yet
Spotify launched in Australia in May 2012, but the study covered the period between December 2012 and 2013. In the months immediately after the service’s launch in the country, piracy actually increased for a bit, which Spotify blames on the relatively slow organic adoption of the service.
While the overall volume of piracy is not dropping, it’s encouraging to see that simply delivering a legal alternative can help at least to some extent.
“Let’s be clear, Australia still faces a massive challenge in turning around its much talked about media piracy challenge, and it always has, and always will, take a combination of public policy and superior legal offerings,” Page said, acknowledging the high levels of piracy within the country.
Netflix has been boasting about its power to kill online piracy, as well.
