Pay once, get all

Nokia is doing something new. And so are the record companies. In the article Nokia offers unlimited music for one-off fee, Sabbagh (2008), writes on the latest combat against piracy and illegal downloading. Finally, ten years after it all began. It's about time.

What's the weapon? A mobile phone, called Comes with Music, entitles buyers to download any song they want for twelve months after they purchase the phone, download it into a handset or computer, and keep it, yes, forever. Nokia has partnered with Universal Music, Sony BMG, EMI and Warner Music - all record companies that have tried to sue people who pirated songs on the Web. In addition, it has also partnered with indie bands. Nokia and the record companies have their own deal going on, so it seems ready for success.

(Source: www.musically.blog.com)

According to Reep (2006), form has function. And a mobile phone that lets you download music is a pretty smart idea. Now with our generation all gung-ho for speed, mobility and convenience, a portable downloading machine is quite attractive. Not only does its form appeal to users, but it's also well-designed for easy downloading. And having your own mobile phone full of songs you have chosen would also make it extremely personalised and unique. However, according to Orlowski (2008), it's not as free as it looks. A lot of technicalities and copyright issues have been overlooked, hence possibly proving problematic in the future.

The bottomline is this - all they want to do is get rid of song downloads and peer-to-peer sharing. These piracy issues have been pressing the record label industry for over ten years. This issue needs to be addressed by national level authorities (IFPI, 2004). Personally, I feel it's a price that comes with developing technology. Opening the door to technology will definitely make the world smaller and erase old boundaries. In my opinion, I don't think it plans on setting new ones.

References

2004, 'Music Piracy issues should be urgently addressed by high-level EU delegation to Russia', IFPI, accessed 15 June 2009, http://www.ifpi.org/content/section_news/20040421.html .

Orlowski, A 2008, 'Nokia's free music offer isn't so free', The Register, accessed 15 June 2009, http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/02/nokia_comes_with_strings/ .

Reep, Diana C. 2006, ‘Chp 4: Principles of Document Design,’ in Technical Writing, 6th ed., Pearson Edu, Inc., New York, p.173-190.

Sabbagh, D 2008, 'Nokia offers unlimited music for one-off fee, Australian Media, <http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,24440421-15306,00.html>.