Responses in reaction to the following statement were assembled from a select group of 1,286 Internet stakeholders in the fall 2004 Pew Internet & American Life “Experts Survey.”
“In 2014, it will still be the case that the vast majority of internet users will easily be able to copy and distribute digital products freely through anonymous peer-to-peer networks.”
Compiled reactions from the 1,286 respondents:
50% of internet experts agreed
23% disagreed
10% challenged the prediction
17% did not respond
See the full report at elon.edu for comments by a number of experts.
Here is a small selection :
Digital file sharers will always stay one step ahead of programmers, regardless of how advanced digital copyright protections become.
We’re headed toward digital prohibition.
There’s no stopping p2p.
I hope that this prediction turns out to be true, but I doubt it will be. There will be increasing pressure to “lock down” digital products and to eliminate anonymity. That’s what I expect.
Other legal forms of distribution like podcasting will make this statement appear as dated as Edsel.
The smart companies will work with this need for free information, not against it.