Is there an alternative to SOPA? (Part 1)
The introduction of the prospect of a Stop online Piracy Act (SOPA for short) by the United States has taken the online world by storm. This week has been an interesting week for the online world. Firstly, Wikipedia decided to protest against SOPA by blacking out its service for 24 hours, making even more online users to understand the urgency and implications of SOPA. Megaupload, one of the biggest file sharing website shuts down forever as the US flexes its long arm of the law. So unless a compromise is being made, the battle between content creators & artists (who lament the internet as the harbinger of doom) vs pirates (who download music, movies, books) will never be over.
Let us view the point of views for both sides (at a glance):
Content creator & artist:
- online piracy causes loss in revenue
"Pirates"
- downloading is easy
- downloading is convenient to an extent
- downloading doesn't hurt the pocket (money wise)
I am by no means supporting one side. However, if one looks close at the points that I have put forth, there is bound to be a way for both sides to reach a middle point, a compromise that would satisfy both sides. The advent of the internet has brought forth a myriad of change. For one thing, it is very easy for one to upload material, share and replicate content. It is time for content providers and artists to realise that they need to innovate and not rely on conventional business models because this simply does not work for the internet! They should instead make use of this ease-to-share and ease-to-replicate content to their advantage because this allow discovery and exposure of their contents to even more users and this means they can sell their products to even more users. If they were to make the buying process even easier (with just a few clicks of a button), they can further increase the conversion of sales. Since the creative industry is slow to adapt, why not we create this platform for the creative industries to use. This platform will allow us internet users to find and buy products in a simple & convenient manner (because the products are alongside the content).
To start off, I hope to gauge your response towards this idea with a survey.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SHQQPQX
I will post the survey result in a later post! I also hope that those who wish to contribute to such a project to connect with me with the contact form below. Feel free to contact me to let me know what you think about this post. Let us all create our own alternative to SOPA in a collaborative manner!
Let us view the point of views for both sides (at a glance):
Content creator & artist:
- online piracy causes loss in revenue
"Pirates"
- downloading is easy
- downloading is convenient to an extent
- downloading doesn't hurt the pocket (money wise)
I am by no means supporting one side. However, if one looks close at the points that I have put forth, there is bound to be a way for both sides to reach a middle point, a compromise that would satisfy both sides. The advent of the internet has brought forth a myriad of change. For one thing, it is very easy for one to upload material, share and replicate content. It is time for content providers and artists to realise that they need to innovate and not rely on conventional business models because this simply does not work for the internet! They should instead make use of this ease-to-share and ease-to-replicate content to their advantage because this allow discovery and exposure of their contents to even more users and this means they can sell their products to even more users. If they were to make the buying process even easier (with just a few clicks of a button), they can further increase the conversion of sales. Since the creative industry is slow to adapt, why not we create this platform for the creative industries to use. This platform will allow us internet users to find and buy products in a simple & convenient manner (because the products are alongside the content).
To start off, I hope to gauge your response towards this idea with a survey.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SHQQPQX
I will post the survey result in a later post! I also hope that those who wish to contribute to such a project to connect with me with the contact form below. Feel free to contact me to let me know what you think about this post. Let us all create our own alternative to SOPA in a collaborative manner!