I have a suggestion for YouTube. Google should add a feature to play back the video in varying resolutions/bit rates. The video can be uploaded in a single higher bit rate and converted to various bit rates upon request.
This would probably require a change in the encoding used, but since it is a proprietery system it should not be a problem to do so.
I agree with most of your post. However I would take an objection to your point that the "recipe" or "intellectual property" is a non scarce good.Actually it is also a scarce good, because one can patent one's "recepies" and no one else can use them.
The fact that this was done in 2005 enables us to analyze the results of the experiment. From a previous commenter it seems that the experiment has not gone so well. (the next single has not been sold this way).
There would only be an advantage of this if the CD sales are actually better than if done without a free download.
I think that what the RIIA and associated agencies are trying to do with the lawsuits is to increase the marginal costs of downloading movies or songs.
The cost of a possible lawsuit gets added into the price of downloading a song and pushes it higher. Also the shutting down of popular sites like Napster increase the cost of finding music and reduce the probability of finding it.
I am sure that you will agree that the cost of downloading a song or a movie is higher now than it was a few years ago with Napster around.
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a suggestion for YouTube
I have a suggestion for YouTube. Google should add a feature to play back the video in varying resolutions/bit rates. The video can be uploaded in a single higher bit rate and converted to various bit rates upon request.
This would probably require a change in the encoding used, but since it is a proprietery system it should not be a problem to do so.