Reply #36: You need a legit system that takes away that incentive [View All]

[Ignacio Upton]

Under a Voluntary Collective Licensing program, consumers would pay an extra $5-$10 a month for the right to file share as they did before, and with the file sharing software of their choice. They would pay the money to their ISP (or university if they are a college student.)and that entity that they pay would turn the money over to a collection agency like ASCAP or BMI (which handle royalties for radio) and those agencies would then hand over the money to the artists. A "free rider" problem might still be cause for alarm, but under a VCL program the incentive for downloading for free will be very small, espcially since p2p companies will be legitimized under such a model, and will actively restrict their networks to keep free riders from using them. After all, why should I risk owing thousands of dollars to the RIAA if I can just pay $5-$10 a month to get what a I want? Right now, such an alternative does not exist. The idea of pay-per-download, with paying up to $1.29 per song, is foolish. It's right up there with the movie studios charing $70 per VHS movie release in the early '80s in reaction to the Supreme Court's ruling upholding the VCR. With the free-flowing nature of information online, it makes more sense to a have a business model along the lines of radio.