TBK - AFK

I just finished watching The Pirate Bay – Away From Keyboard and is as puzzled as always.

I don’t know if the verdict is right, what intent TBK had when they started or how much money they earned. Actually I’m not interested. What interests me is the economics and behavior of  plaintiff or prosecutors.

In Sweden we had a company by the name Facit AB. It started in 1906 under another name and took the name Facit AB in 1965 due to en acquisition. Facit produced mechanical multiplication and addition machines. In 1970 the company reached its peak with 14.000 employs in 140 countries. But Facit was to slow to adapt to new technologies and was almost bankrupt in 1972. After that the company was sold from one company to another until the company was liquidated in 1998.

This resulted in a new word - "facitfällan" (facittrapp): A company that doesn’t keep up with new technologies and is out maneuvered.

The intersecting part is that in modern movie and music distribution economics you can skip new technologies and ideas and sue those who oppose.

When we now look at the market for media and entertainment the range of solutions is growing. Spotify, Netflix, VIA Play, HBO and more…. They are finally offering the consumer what they want, but 10 years too late.

Is there any other market where you can deliver 10 years too late and survive?

Think if Google (Android) would had delivered a smartphone 10 years after Apple iPhone. A living example is Firefox OS. Will it survive? And it’s just 5 years behind.

What I’m trying to say is that the movie and music industry can accuse TBK for whatever they want. The only reason TBK could exist is because the industry couldn’t/wouldn’t deliver what the consumers wanted and asked for. Maybe they should stop pointing fingers on others and take a look at them self and maybe they should be really, really happy that they survived.

Only dead fish follow the stream.