Tuesday, October 07, 2003

Zeropaid.com - Song swappers flock to invitation-only Internet

Zeropaid.com - Song swappers flock to invitation-only Internet: "SAN JOSE, California (AP) -- Just as Prohibition drove drinkers underground in the roaring '20s, the music industry's crackdown is pushing many song swappers away from the open Internet and into what amount to cyberspace speakeasies.

These high-tech Cotton Clubs usually require users to be trusted or at least know someone inside. The files being traded, instead of out in the open, are encrypted -- the 21st century equivalent of hiding bathtub gin under a fake floorboard.

Internet file-sharers are operating much like any society that falls under attack. And the very technologies they are using as shields have long been employed by legitimate businesses to protect their data from prying eyes and hackers."

I drove by the real Cotton Club the other day on the way to Ikea warehouse. As I've mentioned before, it will require jack-booted thugs breaking down doors to stem to tide of file-trading. It would be a far superior solution to create more legal environment, increasing the amount and frequency of artist compensation.

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