INTERNET entrepreneur Andrew Keen has made a radical suggestion to entertainment media companies: Give content away for free online.

Mr Keen, the keynote speaker at the Global Forum on Intellectual Property held at Raffles City Convention Centre yesterday, said the industry's current business model - selling physical media like CDs and books - is 'essentially dead' due to online piracy.

The Internet, he said, has triggered an 'economic and cultural rebellion' by consumers who are growing increasingly reluctant to pay for content when they can download it for free. And companies that try to hang on, he warned, could find themselves 'out of business' within 10 years.

But reactions were mixed.

Local band AstroNinja, for example, said the 'free' model was not the way to go. The band, said spokesman Levan Wee, is aware of the problems the music industry is facing. It has gone for a 'hybrid' approach, putting two songs on its website as a free download and charging US$8 (S$12) for the album on CD.

This has worked out well, said Mr Wee, noting that the band has sold more than 10,000 albums - many to overseas fans - since it launched its CD a month ago.

Others, like the European Commission's head of copyright, Mr Tilman Lueder, were ambivalent about Mr Keen's suggestion.

Mr Lueder agreed on one thing, though: 'Businesses need to adapt, to be more entrepreneurial.'

Mr Keen also took issue with the way companies enforce copyright - lawsuits against consumers do not work, he said. He pointed out even the Record Industry Association of America, the most aggressive industry group using this strategy, has recently abandoned this form of defence.

But many companies are continuing in this vein.

For instance, a number of Japanese studios have launched lawsuits against users in Singapore. In one case, four people here were sued for allegedly downloading pirated anime or animated cartoons.

Mr Keen also took aim at copy-protection technologies, which he said had 'failed...Don't believe anyone who says your content can be protected'.

The only way to survive, said Mr Keen, is to find new ways to make money.

Musicians and writers could consider other ways of making money, including seeking 'patronage' from companies and wealthy individuals.

Better-known acts can also make money from charging for live concerts, he said. Some well-known performers already doing this include Prince and George Michael.

Younger bands, or those just starting out, which cannot afford to tour internationally to make money, can look to generating income from websites like MySpace or YouTube.

Intellectual property lawyer Lam Chung Nian disagreed with Mr Keen about the ineffectiveness of anti-piracy technologies.

New technologies like those which can identify infringing material online will help copyright owners stop or at least slow down the distribution of pirated movies and music.

Other systems, like network shaping technologies, can be used to give priority to certain online activities over others.

For instance, an Internet service provider could give priority to a user trying to check his e-mail over someone trying to download a movie.

This could slow down movie downloads, making them less attractive to users.

Currently, people can download DVD quality movies in 3 hours. But with the new priority software, illegal downloads could take longer, say 30 hours.

The two-day Global Forum on Intellectual Property was opened by guest of honour Ho Peng Kee, Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs.

Speakers, including Supreme Court judges, regulators, lawyers and human rights activists, discussed issues like Internet piracy, the counterfeit trade and fair competition with 400 participants from around the world.

chuahh@sph.com.sg