PEERS, FEARS AND CHEERS

Launched today is a beta Firefox plug-in that will make the RIAA's Sisyphean task of fighting file-sharing a little harder (like Sisyphus being asked to carry a bucket of kittens on his head as well): AllPeers, which promises to allow small groups of friends to build their own closed bittorrent network. The key word being "closed". It doesn't make file sharing any more legal, but it will make it harder for the RIAA to find out what's going on on the networks.

And when you think of the number of friends (oh, alright, "friends") some people on MySpace have, there could be quite a bit of swapping going on behind walls the RIAA are unable to climb.

Meanwhile, there's another polite reminder that instead of trying to pull down the filesharing networks (we realise we've shifted from Sisyphus to Samson here), they should have been pulling out their notebooks. A Kauffman Foundation study has pointed out again that watching pirate behaviour is solid-gold market research:

By shaping the evolution of file-transferring technology, providing market insight to the business world, and contributing to new market creation, online pirates have pioneered the use of new technologies.

In other words, yeah, you might lose some sales, but the information you gather from watching what they're up to is worth more than any loss.

music riaa allpeers piracy