Jazz Odyssey

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Bram Cohen (creator of the Bit Torrent protocol) and the Motion Picture Association of America held a news conference announcing an that the search engine Bram was building into Bit Torrent would not link to unauthorized movie content.

Some users of Bit Torrent were quick to dismiss this agreement as virtually meaningless–Bram did not agree to modify the Bit Torrent protocol or offer any sort of content filtering technology, and the search engine he was building, while convenient, is a mechanism easily replicated at dozens of Bit Torrent trackers that still exist all over the Internet.

Those are indeed the facts, but the significance of this agreement has implications beyond the surface. By attempting to lay the groundwork to work with content owners, Bram’s protocol stands a much better chance of being adopted for legitimate uses that are supported by big guns like the MPAA. One might speculate that the fate that befell the original Napster might have been avoided if dialog with the RIAA had resulted in some movement towards legitimacy. Then again, the MPAA has had the advantage of watching the efforts and results of the RIAA for the last few years, analyzing the effectiveness of the RIAA strategies and making a more informed strategic decision about how to work with (instead of against) emerging technology platforms to capitalize on radical changes to their business…the RIAA had no history or basis of comparison to go on.

The early bird gets the worm but its the second mouse that gets the cheese…I expect this won’t be the last joint press conference between Cohen and the MPAA.