But mainly carrots

To be sure, the carrots of more attractive legal services are being accompanied by innovative forms of stick. In particular, a new approach called "graduated response" is gaining mo­mentum. As its name indicates, it involves ratcheting up the pressure on users of file-sharing software by sending them warnings by e-mail and letter and then cutting off or throttling their internet access if they fail to respond after three requests. Graduated-response laws were introduced earlier this year in Taiwan and South Korea, and were enacted in France last month. Other countries are expected to follow suit.

Yet in Britain music file-sharing seems to be in decline even though a graduated-response law has yet to be introduced. The country also boasts one of the broadest selections of legal music services: Spotify and Comes With Music were both launched there before most other countries, and two of Brit­ain's biggest internet-service providers have borrowed TDC's bundled-music model. This suggests that when it comes to dis­couraging music piracy, carrots may in fact be more important than sticks.

All of this offers a lesson for other types of media, such as films and video games. Piracy thrives because it satisfies an unmet demand. The best way to discourage it is to offer a di­verse range of attractive, legal alternatives. The music industry has taken a decade to work this out, but it has now done so. Other industries should benefit from its experience – and follow its example.

(“The Economist”, November 14^th 2009, pages 16-18)

Exercise 6. Comprehension check. Answer the following questions:

1. What are Napster and Spotify? What are the differences between them?

2. What were the music industry steps to prevent piracy?

3. What does its iTunes Music Store offer?

4. What do Spotify, TDC and Nokia's offer their customers?

5. What did a poll of Swedish users of file-sharing software find?

6. What does a graduated-response law imply?

Exercise 7. Study the report again (Exercise 5) and find the adequate English equivalents of the following words and phrases: 1) судебный процесс; 2) пускать ростки; 3) процветать (2 слова); 4) разрастаться; 5) честный, открытый; 6) доход; 7) изобилие; 8) опрос; 9) полагать; 10) приманки («пряники»); 11) «кнуты»; 12) разрабатывать; 13) извлекать пользу.

Exercise 8. Translate the following sentences into English using the target vocabulary (Exercises 4, 7):

1. Ответчик проиграл судебный процесс.

2. Обычно «пряники» действуют быстрее и лучше, чем «кнуты».

3. Противодействовать музыкальному пиратству можно дифференцированными ответными действиями.

4. Неудовлетворенный спрос населения способствует процветанию пиратства.

5. Если тебе нужна какая-нибудь попсовая песня, ты можешь найти ее в Интернете, однако, незаконное скачивание может привести тебя на скамью подсудимых.

6. Последний опрос показал, что доходы россиян растут.

Exercise 9. Paraphrase the following sentences using the target vocabulary (Exercises 4, 7):

1. Self-help groups have rapidly spread all over London.

2. Office blocks seem to be growing everywhere.

3. The survey required a lot of paperwork.

4. I thought you said you had completely planned everything.

5. Who gains by it?

Speaking

Дата добавления: 2015-10-23