I haven’t heard of any mobile p2p services currently in operation, although some services are coming close. “Verizon Wireless customers with a select number of Get It Now phones will be able to create, and then distribute their content for others to download. So, now you get to be your own producer and publisher. Other users will be able to search through an organized system that will allow users to find what they’re looking for, creating by fellow users. Now, why does this say “P2P” in the title, you ask? Well, this is exactly how other services on the PC have started.”
The question that’s on everybody’s lips — or at least was posed by Rafat last week — is what the effect of the recent Grokster decision will have on mobile content?
Well, there’s been no commentary here or on the web about that (at least that I could find) so I thought I’d have a crack at it myself. I don’t think the decision will affect mobile phone content at all, because the general consensus around the web is that the court came down against Grokster and StreamCast because they actively promoted copyright infringing activity. The record labels wanted a “primary use” definition for a technology to be declared copyright infringing, but they didn’t get (which is a good thing for Apple — there’s a strong argument that the majority of songs on iPods are pirated). There’s no reason for anyone to induce copyright infringement on mobile phones because there’s no way to get paid for it — except by charging for bandwidth, and the carriers are too eager to get friendly with record labels to start promoting copyright infringing activity, even without the desire to benefit by charging for song downloads. For the forseeable future bandwidth charges will keep illicit filesharing prohibitively expensive over mobile networks…
Of course, there are some programs that promote sharing using bluetooth or another shortrange wireless technology, bypassing the carriers altogether. Nokia Sensor allows users to create folios on their device, view the folios of other nearby Sensor users, and exchange messages and files. Since this is intended and promoted as a social networking tool it is safe under the Grokster decision.
While copyright infringing activity is likely to occur on mobile phones, it’s most likely to be people MMSing or e-mailing the files directly to their friends, rather than any piece of specific software.
Related stories:
–Is Content Sharing On Mobile An Issue?
–Mobile Anti-Piracy Royalties Cut After Complaints
–RIM out to eradicate ‘truetone’ piracy disease
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