Okay… Listen up. You will all have heard by now that our little search boys from Google have bought Youtube. Although Youtube will continue operate independently, questions have raised about the impact of Youtubes loose copyrights policy on Google.

Somehow I can’t believe that there are so many people out that that didn’t check their story. Because if they had, they too would have read that the record labels made nice with Youtube as for the copyrights issue is concerned. Let’s take a brief moment to take a look at the bigger picture here; piracy and how it could effect your business model.

Disney-ABC recently announced that they now ‘understand piracy as a business model.’ A bold comparison, but a logical one nonetheless. Disney-ABC is right to recognize that consumers want content for a reasonable price and, more importantly, the want it on demand.

If you look at piracy as a business model you’ll notice that pirates compete for consumers the same way businesses do; trough quality, availability and pricing. Looking at the model from this perspective, it is obvious that piracy needs to exist.

In fact, piracy should be encouraged by the people because it will force businesses into rethinking their current strategy. They seem to be unable to beat the pirates, so how about coming up with a strategy that makes piracy less attractive? If one can satisfy the obvious call for on demand content of high quality, surely this will decrease the level of piracy.

For example: Disney-ABC launched their own streaming media player providing shows like Lost and Desperate Housewives on demand. The shows are available minutes after airing. Even though the streaming quality wasn’t as good as pirated copy’s of the show, over 6 million people tried out their two-months trial.

So to conclude from all this; can piracy be seen as a business model? Without a doubt; Yes! In fact, it’s a model that is so successful businesses will have to start rethinking the way they deliver content. After all, this kind of competition won’t be scared away easily. So buckle up y’all because I’d say there are some serious changes in media consumption ahead.