Is Streaming Really Replacing Downloading?

[saint]

Lots of attention is being paid today to an article in the Guardian about a new study claiming that illegal file sharing has collapsed in the UK and is being replaced by streaming music found on YouTube and through services like Spotify. The premise of the article is that now that kids have alternatives, they're willing to dump unauthorized file sharing and get by with streaming.

 

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090713/1138025529.shtml

 

Some interesting points, that point out the viability of online streaming as a solid financial advertising medium.

[GKIye]

For reason that more and more websites are offering audiocontent by using flash only .. it looks logical that "streaming" itself gets more popular

However .. there is flash and flash .. and not all the websites are using a flashplayer who is 100% operational

 

Some websites are using flash to their video or audiostreaming .. but are using that much "flashy ads" that in no time the browser or page collaps

 

One thing is for sure that visitors aka users can't copy, paste and run away as they can do by using regular MP3 downloads

however that "rip" software is already available, negative to the "rippers" is that those rips from a flash content is mostly made with a bitrate average of 64kbps mono

 

However I don't see a future to youtube as provider of streaming audio.

They are making to common users since the start of 2009 major issues about copyrights and restrictions .. and honestly not that much common users are pleased with this policy.

If youtube delete copyright videocontent (since the start of 2009) than they have to do the same with related audiocontent and videocontent who contains "the spoken word" aka parts of famous poetry etc etc

 

Conclusion is that youtube don't use the same policy to all the content who is provided by their services .. So there's a long way ahead !