The estimates on the impact of internet piracy to media industries may be somewhat overstated. Many people who are illegally downloading music would no doubt have far less music on their MP3 players if they had they had to pay for all of the material. In fact, for many people, had they actually bought all of the material on their MP3 players then the costs may run into thousands of dollars; an unaffordable figure forcing them to look either at having a very small selection of music, or illegal downloads. Whatever the true figure, it undoubtedly represents a huge cost to the industry and one no-one seems to have a practical solution to.

Piracy is not new to the media industries. TV shows were commonly recorded on to VHS so that friends could watch it. Music has been copied onto blank tapes and distributed between groups of friends for years. There was a time when, on the beginning and end of tracks on many a teenagers tape collection, you could hear a radio DJ talking, the track having been carefully recorded so they could listen to at their leisure. But there is no doubting that illegal file sharing is an easier, and as a result more popular, method of piracy than anything that has come before it.

Solutions to the problem seem somewhat elusive. Initially legal action was taken against some of the bigger file sharing companies. In 2001, a court ruling forced Napster, at the time a major force in sharing of copy write material, to terminate their file sharing service. Now Napster presents a legitimate site for purchasing MP3s. For every site that was closed with legal action though, another ten seemed to pop up to replace them. One of the biggest legal hurdles here is that file sharing in itself is not illegal, only the sharing of copyright material.

There have been attempts to pursue people downloading, and perhaps more importantly uploading, files to the internet for sharing as well. This causes problems of its own; ultimately policing this is a very difficult job, with users able to mask their identity relatively easily.

There is also the question of who should be policing internet piracy. There is a common suggestion that this should be down to the internet service providers. They are reluctant to take on this mantle not just because of the difficulty and costs involved but, they suggest, because it would be in breach of their responsibilities to their customers. Not to mention that pursuing your customers with criminal actions is a sure way to make your customers look elsewhere for internet services.

This seems to be a problem with no real solution. File sharing and the downloading of media would appear to be something that is going to stay with us for the foreseeable future. Perhaps it is time for our media industries to consider working with this new technology then, rather than fighting against it.

Typically most people would prefer to be operating within the bounds of the law. Certainly most parents would prefer their teenage children, some of the primary offenders of internet piracy, to be acting legally. Presenting a sensibly priced, easy to use alternative to illegal file sharing may be a viable solution then. As well as this, if you are paying for your material you can expect a certain quality in the production; another incentive to using a legitimate alternative service.

Some companies are now looking at allowing music downloads for a small monthly fee. This may be something many families will sign up for assuming the cost is small enough not to make a huge dent in their disposable income. This isn’t a complete solution to the problem. There are still questions such as the division of royalties between artists. This could become a complicated issue with a subscription service to download as much music as you like. Perhaps it is even time for the music industry to consider how they generate their revenue and consider material they release to be promotional, helping to sell tickets for live events.

With TV and film there may be a similar solution. In many cases, downloads of TV and film are for a single viewing. Buying a DVD can be expensive, particularly for TV series, if you only want to see the material once. If the major film and TV companies were to buy into the idea, a subscription based scheme, or even a pay-per-view system might present a solution. TV or film could be screened directly from the internet might present a good, practical alternative. Streaming shows on demand over the internet is already well established and if a good sized database with a wide selection of film and TV broadcasts this could be a very successful enterprise.

There is a new form of media available on the internet now as well seeing increasing growth. As we enter the age of the eBook and the Kindle, our literature is increasingly available on the internet and so becomes more prone for piracy.

With the content available online ever increasing, perhaps it is time for our media industries to stop fighting the new technologies. Considering alternatives to existing business models may allow them to embrace the internet and offer a better service instead of fighting a war they cannot win.