The Music Industry & Online Piracy: Napster

1. Read the article Record industry sees slight growth for first time since Napster - summarise and then give your own commentary: What do you think this means for the industry?

        I believe the record industry was never in as much trouble as they claimed. Downloading albums and singles individually uses quite a lot of time and effort, and as a result is a timeconsuming act. Many people would rather use sites, such as YouTube and VEVO, and streaming apps, such as Spotify, which charges a small fee per month for unlimited music. This results in the record label and artists receiving money and making a profit. Also the long tail theory identifies how less popular albums are able to be sold, not just popular, which also results in sales through CDs. Personally, I believe the  record industry is as alive as ever.

2. Read The anti-piracy Copyright Alert System: Is the Napster era finally dead? – summarise and give your own commentary: Do you think this will work? 
        I don't believe this will work and will just result in sites such as Napster closing down. Also, there are other ways to share files.

TV And Film Industry Essay

To what extent has the internet changed the TV and film industry?

The use of the internet has had huge, negative effects on the film and television
industry; as well as some positives.

How The Internet Has Affected The Television Industry

Crowdsourcing

What is Jeff Howe's Definition of Crowd Sourcing?
Jeff Howe posted the first definition of "crowdsourcing" in a blog post to his June 2006 'Wired' magazine article: "Simply defined, crowdsourcing represents the act of a company or institution taking a function once performed by employees and outsourcing it to an undefined (and generally large) network of people in the form of an open call. This can take the form of peer-production (when the job is performed collaboratively), but is also often undertaken by sole individuals. The crucial prerequisite is the use of the open call format and the large network of potential laborers."

What does the video believe is the key to successful crowd-sourcing?
The video suggested that the key to successful crowd-sourcing are the communities, as these communities are the 'building-blocks' of crowd-sourcing; helping to manage and create more content.

Why do "crowds" form on the internet? Are you part of an online crowd- if so which?
Popular topics create crowds on the internet, such as fanbases. It allows fans to talk to other fans from across the world.

What are the crucial terms in Jeff Howes idea of crowd-sourcing? why is this crucial?
The crucial terms are open-call and undefined. They mean that the most qualified may not be the best or most suitable.

Name two reasons why this type of crowd-sourcing is now possible?
The internet and socialnetworking sites.

What do you think is the motivation behind it?

For people who share interests to express their views, and to use the long tail theory in businesses through miniture donations. 

How effective do you believe it to be?
Crowdsourcing has many chances to be effective, for example; Tim Schafer is legendary in gaming circles for titles including Psychonauts and Brutal Legend, but he had still found it hard work to secure funds through traditional means. So the idea of going direct to his fans had obvious appeal. Within 24 hours of seeking pledges over the internet it had bagged more than $1m (£630,000), overshooting its initial target of $400,000. By the campaign's end it had reeled in a total of $3.4m from more than 87,000 supporters for its point-and-click adventure game.

Name advantages and disadvantages of a crowd sourcing?
It is a great marketing tool, helps create communitites and benefits the public.However, you are also unable to know whether the information you are receiving is true.

Does Web 2.0 Exist?

Web founder Tim Berners-Lee has just weighed in on the Web 2.0 question in a podcast interview for IBM, and he's not big on the term. In fact, Sir Tim has some really big doubts that Web 2.0 is different from Web 1.0 at all. the biggest problems for Web 2.0 are excessive hype and the lack of a real definition.Most analysts define Web 2.0 in terms of the tools that foster online participation in content creation and social interaction. This tends only to produce lists of new software applications or claims of ‘we are the web’, ‘web 2.0 is people’ etc etc. the average user to organize online information in such a way that is useful, meaningful and personally relevant. They help people navigate the virtual world and find what they are looking for. 

Internets Effects On The Film Industry

Positives and negatives of internet on the film industry

Positives

• It makes it easier for film companies to promote their films (websites, YouTube, pop-up’s, etc.)
• Films made available to download on iTunes/Netflix, etc.
• Free downloads for audiences.
• Audiences can view films from the comfort of their own home.
• Opens films to a wider audience.
• The audience is in control of the film, not the producers.
• Easier to get independent films promoted.

Negatives

• Free but illegal downloads are harming the jobs of those in the film industry.
• The cinema industry is in decline and struggling with ticket sales.
• Criminals benefit from Internet piracy.
• Illegal downloading forces cinema chains to increase ticket prices.

Development Of The Internet

Tim Berners-Lee, a scientist at CERN, invented the World Wide Web in 1989. The Web was originally conceived and developed to meet the demand for automatic information sharing between scientists working in different universities and institutes all over the world. The first website ever created was on the 6th of August 1991, and was http://info.cern.ch.

In 1994 Wired.com, then known as HotWired, invents the web banner ad. In Feburary 2005 YouTube was launched. Google was registered in 1998 and  Amazon.com was founded in 1994. The term Web 2.0 was coined in 1999, however it did not resurface until 2002. Broadband became widely available in the year 2000.