Jan
22
If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em: Free video games
Posted by Dirk Avery at 8:41 pm under Copyright, Internet, Video games.
Copyright law is often used for renting seeking. Most often, the rent is in the form of advertising. Television and radio both are all about selling stuff. The commercials are the point. The content: the TV shows, the songs, is just the vehicle to get people to watch the commercials. As cyberspace, DVR and cable’s on-demand technologies reshape the former revenue models, content owners have become very nervous. MP3s are threatening because people can listen to and share music without either listening to the radio or buying the CDs. TV show producers are alarmed that DVRs allow commercial fast-forwarding. Content owners have responded by getting congress to provide more and more copyright protection.
The public, however, has shown a clear preference for new content delivery models. Take XM radio: Monthly subscription, no commercials. iTunes: pay-per-song, no commercials. TV shows on DVD: continuous episodes, no commercials. Notice a trend? Why are content industries fighting public demand? Really they’re just protecting a long-successful revenue stream. Why figure out new ways of delivering content that people actually want when you can get congress to pass laws enshrining the old revenue stream?
This month, Business Week reports on a company willing to break the mold. In South Korea, Electronic Arts was having such trouble with piracy that it decided to give its popular FIFA soccer game away for free. EA now makes money by selling clothes and performance-enhancing features for avatars (”micro-transactions”) and in-game advertising. The result? Nearly twice the earnings of their peak year trying to push the old model. I say EA is due a round of applause.