Just got the new yellow pages delivered and wondered who was smart enough to NOT advertise in this dinosaur…

The CBC announced last week that it would begin experimenting with Bit Torrent downloads and would release high-resolution episodes of the show Canada's Next Great Prime Minister, beginning last Sunday.

Considering that it's from two of the three people most influential on the musical opinions of millions of viewers by critiquing, reviewing and deciding the fates of thousands of American Idol hopefuls, the recent release by Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson, is a decidedly unambitious endeavor. You can watch the video here, but really, why?

An article in today's National Post declared, "The pirates have won", in reference to the music industry's increasing adoption of the internet as a distribution medium.

Personally, I wouldn't go that far. I don't think they've won anything. I do think that a lethargic industry is rolling over in its sleep; a sign that it may soon awaken.

I'm no savant for perceiving that the current model is broken. It a well-established fact, heralded by artists and consumers alike. But, save a few forward-thinkers (Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, etc.), there has been a tremendous reluctance to change it. You can almost hear the record companies muttering to themselves, remembering the mid-nineties, 'But, we had it so good!"

The situation is hardly different for movie companies. With current, full-length features readily available for download, many viewers are choosing to watch in the comfort of their own homes, rather than in a theatres. It only makes sense, after all, given the investment many families have made in their entertainment centres, combined with the expense of an evening out at the movies.

And it's not only pimply-faces teens who are flouting convention. Downloading has gone mainstream, with web-savvy users in their thirties and forties regularly partaking of the content smorgasbord.

In the movie world, there are even fewer adopters of the digital revolution. Morgan Freeman's film "10 Items or Less" was available for purchase online just 2 weeks after it appeared in theatres, and stands out as a surprisingly rare example of progressive thinking.

It all boils down to this: the model has to change. It has to change quickly, into something that is sustainable.

I applaud the statement made by Eddie Schwartz, president of the Songwriters' Association of Canada. He says, "We are not for lawsuits and locks and shutting down peer-to-peer networks. The consumers have spoken in terms of the popularity of those networks, so we don't need to engage in behaviour modification; we need to monetize the activity."

That might be the sanest statement I've heard yet from the industry.