Several years ago, when file sharing was still a gleam in the eye of Shawn Fanning, there were several articles published which made some interesting observations about sharing information. The topic at the time was software piracy, which as some of us know, is why Microsoft is the software behemoth that it is today. If it weren't for office geeks like myself back in 1990, 1991, 1992, who were installing multiple copies of MS products illegally, Microsoft products would not have become so entrenched in computing environments.
Piracy and file sharing benefits publishers and artists. Some people call the the Grateful Dead effect. Metallica shot itself in the foot with its vocal opposition to file sharing, but the irony is that Metallica probably became popular because fans were making copies of ealry Metallica albums on cassette tapes and sharing them with friends.
Another analogy is putting stuff in the store window. You can do all the advertising you want, but if people can't try out your wares, or at least browse through them, they aren't going to bite.
Never piss off your fans.
<< Chuck0 >>
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"...ironically, perhaps, the best organised dissenters in the world today are anarchists, who are busily undermining capitalism while the rest of the left is still trying to form committees."
-- Jeremy Hardy, The Guardian (UK)