I see this as a steady development towards a new era, away from copyright and patents and towards distribution-driven innovation.
Look at Netflix, Apple and Google. They are discovering this model but just like the internet, I think the future will reveal itself over the next few years. People will pay for easy distribution and one-click purchasing. Some distribution networks will have a monthly fee for unlimited downloads. Others will have pay-per-download.
Here's the good news: rather than relying on a government-enforced monopoly (copyright, patents, etc.) to make sure that the publishers and innovators get paid, we will rely on direct-to-consumer distribution networks, which compete with one another for publishers and users on things like ease of use and selection.
In a way this is the Cable TV model. Eventually, I think everyone will move to a monthly subscription model for nearly unlimited downloads, like Netflix. That's because when torrent clients (or usenet or whatever else decentralized distribution network there will be) become as easy to use as the centralized ones (and decentralized always wins in the end), it will be just as easy and convenient to get a pirated movie as it is to get it on iTunes. But movies are expensive to make. That's why in the future, I think people will pay monthly fees instead of paying per item.
At the end of the day, there will be a huge number of people subscribed to Netflix-like distribution networks just like there are people subscribed to the internet, and generating "positive externalities" for the cheapskates that get free content through decentralized means. But the system will work. Content creators will flourish!
Look at Netflix, Apple and Google. They are discovering this model but just like the internet, I think the future will reveal itself over the next few years. People will pay for easy distribution and one-click purchasing. Some distribution networks will have a monthly fee for unlimited downloads. Others will have pay-per-download.
Here's the good news: rather than relying on a government-enforced monopoly (copyright, patents, etc.) to make sure that the publishers and innovators get paid, we will rely on direct-to-consumer distribution networks, which compete with one another for publishers and users on things like ease of use and selection.
In a way this is the Cable TV model. Eventually, I think everyone will move to a monthly subscription model for nearly unlimited downloads, like Netflix. That's because when torrent clients (or usenet or whatever else decentralized distribution network there will be) become as easy to use as the centralized ones (and decentralized always wins in the end), it will be just as easy and convenient to get a pirated movie as it is to get it on iTunes. But movies are expensive to make. That's why in the future, I think people will pay monthly fees instead of paying per item.
At the end of the day, there will be a huge number of people subscribed to Netflix-like distribution networks just like there are people subscribed to the internet, and generating "positive externalities" for the cheapskates that get free content through decentralized means. But the system will work. Content creators will flourish!