The Sydney Morning Herald reports that a woman in the US has been sued US$220,000 for sharing 24 songs through a file sharing service called Kazaa.

That’s a lot of money for 24 songs, which ever way you look at it. Whether you agree or disagree, it makes you think twice about what you do online!

The Lesson

We recently attended a conference in Sydney called Web Directions, and one of the points made was that people will use the web in a way that they see fit. Not necessarily how you or I would design it for them. The record companies here are doing their best to resist the change that the internet has brought, instead of adapting to it.

Is that something you can think about regarding your business?

If it’s you against the world (which is pretty much the case when you’re talking about the internet) you can’t really successfully fight it. Instead of saying, “we don’t want our website to work that way”, think about how your customers want it to work. And enable them to do it. Because whether you like it or not, they will find a way. Maybe via a competitor.

It might mean some changes, but you’ll reap the rewards on the long run.

In the words of the Borg, “resistance is futile”.