Darth Wong wrote:The morality of MP3 downloading is similar to the morality of tax evasion. You're stealing, but you're basically stealing your own money back from people who have a questionable claim on it in the first place.
Singuler Quartet wrote:Does that mean it is Illegal for me to play music I downloaded off the internet when I already own the CD, but, say (since he's evil) my dog chewed it to pieces?
On a similar note, I know of several friends of mine who have had their entire collections stolen (out of their car--don't say it...)
In order to get that back, I have to shell out more money all over again. Total BS...
Yeah its stealing because we're getting em for free. They've been screwing us with the ridiculous cost of CDs though- so they can SUCK IT DOWN, BIATCH!
We get it for free. That doesn't make it stealing. I prefer the term "pirating." But seriously, if it is provided and ou don't have to pay for it, it is not stealiong. It's like saying that you are stealing webspace off of Angelfire.
weemadando wrote:
I have a large mp3 collection. Nearly all of it is of CDs that I own merely for convience.
The rest is hard to get or other indie music.
And fun loving criminals, eminem, and other groups that it feels wrong to pay for when you read their lyrics.
My breakdown of my .mp3 collection is roughly this:
70% Tapes and CD's I own and either ripped myself or downloaded including CD's I downloaded then went out and bought
20% One hit wonders or older bands that release a CD with only one good song on it (I'm looking at you Metalica!). I'm not spendin $12 - $15 for a single song.
10% CD's I've downloaded but haven't gotten around to buying. Some are hard to find, others I just keep forgetting about.
Lord of the Farce wrote:I don't know if it's a fact, but I heard that there was a positive correlation between people using Napster and overall music sales. Go figure.
It worked that way for me. Napster was a huge boon for indie bands whose main problem was getting their music out to people.
Napster was a huge monster for established artists who thought if they put out a crappy album with just one hit on it millions would buy it just cause their name was on it. (I'm still looking at you, Metalica!)
People can now listen to the whole album and decide if it's worth the money. The RIAA needs to concentrate on making better albums for less, or accept weakening sales. Due mostly to increased entertainment competition. I used to buy more CDs than any other single entertainment purchase. But last year DVD's overtook CDs.
they are gpoing to have to change then because the computer revolution is as bigf if not bigger than the industrial revolution and its changing everything
Brotherhood of the Bear Monkey Clonemaster , Anti Care Bears League,
Bureaucrat and BOFH of the HAB,
Skunk Works director of the Mecha Maniacs,
Black Mage,
I don't want the RIAA to change. I want those fuckers to run themselves into the ground. That way, artists distribute their stuff through the internet and get their money from tours and concerts ... like they do now.
The RIAA is now a completely unnecessary middleman that pisses more people off than anything else. Time for it to go.
Damien Sorresso
"Ever see what them computa bitchez do to numbas? It ain't natural. Numbas ain't supposed to be code, they supposed to quantify shit."
- The Onion
How many people does the music industry employ? I don't mean the greasy haired fat cats. I mean the middle income people just feeding their families. If you all get your wish and the RIAA flattens itself, who takes the hit first? Who will have a harder time getting another job?
Also, who packages, advertises, discovers said talents, pushes the video on MTV etc etc?
Don't get me wrong. I used to have Napster and I still used Kazaa, Imesh, WinMX and a bunch of other ftp sites. I like to find the small, local bands.
I always wondred why the RIAA was so worried. It's not like such pirates are bankrupting them. Artists are still going multi-platinum and making millions. Piracy has been a part of society since there was stuff to pirate. The RIAA will jsut have to live with it. They odn't need to restrict our freedoms so they can squeeze every cent out of us.
The RIAA wants to restrict our freedom to exercise our own fair-use rights without fear of prosecution. If I buy a copy-protected CD and find a way to rip MP3's off it, the RIAA considers me a pirate, and the US government considers me a criminal. And what have I done? I've exercised my fair-use rights. Once a freedom, now a crime. Read before you post.
"It's not evil for God to do it. Or for someone to do it at God's command."- Jonathan Boyd on baby-killing
"you guys are fascinated with the use of those "rules of logic" to the extent that you don't really want to discussus anything."- GC
"I do not believe Russian Roulette is a stupid act" - Embracer of Darkness
"Viagra commercials appear to save lives" - tharkûn on US health care.
No, if you profit from ripping that music, its a crime. I have ripped cds and given them to buddies. That is perfectly legal. Should I charge them for it, that is where the line is crossed.
Now if you want to gripe about that bill some RIAA bought off congressman tried to pass that would allow entertainment companies to hack into suspected pirates' computers, I am with you.
No one here has been advocating piracy for profit. But the RIAA considers it a crime to exercise your fair-use rights. If you had ripped that CD for your buddies and it contained any kind of copy protection at all, you would be guilty of a federal crime under the DMCA. You don't see that as an abridgement of your rights?
"It's not evil for God to do it. Or for someone to do it at God's command."- Jonathan Boyd on baby-killing
"you guys are fascinated with the use of those "rules of logic" to the extent that you don't really want to discussus anything."- GC
"I do not believe Russian Roulette is a stupid act" - Embracer of Darkness
"Viagra commercials appear to save lives" - tharkûn on US health care.
The RIAA isn't a government agency so what do I care what they think? And the DCMA is still up for debate. I am pretty sure if anyone actually challenged it, it would get shot down.
Durandal wrote:No offense, but are you stupid or something? The DMCA is a law. People can and have been fined heavily and thrown into jail for defying it.
It is in the process of being challenged, but it won't go down as easily as you seem to think it will.
I did missword that. I knew it was a law but I am certain that as soon as it hits federal courts, a judge will shoot it down.
Doubtful. You'd be surprised at what an incentive money can be to politicians. How do you think the media giants keep Fritz Hollings leashed and chained?
Damien Sorresso
"Ever see what them computa bitchez do to numbas? It ain't natural. Numbas ain't supposed to be code, they supposed to quantify shit."
- The Onion
They haven't pissed off this many people before. As soon as Sony or somebaody hacks into the wrong computer, its gonna be the mother of all shitstorms.
It'll be abolished when we get some younger people in Congress. I give it 15-20 years at most.
"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance--that principle is contempt prior to investigation." -Herbert Spencer
"Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain." - Schiller, Die Jungfrau von Orleans, III vi.
NO, it will be abolished when more than 40% of the elible voters bother their ass to do so. Let the ELECTED OFFICIALS know the will of the VOTERS. There really is only so far a kickback can take a politician. We are still the ones who choose whether or not they keep their jobs.
ElBlanco wrote:NO, it will be abolished when more than 40% of the elible voters bother their ass to do so. Let the ELECTED OFFICIALS know the will of the VOTERS. There really is only so far a kickback can take a politician. We are still the ones who choose whether or not they keep their jobs.
Well into the near future at least. The bulk of voters seem to be getting stupider and stupider with each passing election.
Re: stupidity of voters. Remember the Gallup Poll in which 44% of Americans said that the Earth is less than 10,000 years old because the Bible says so?
I rest my case.
"It's not evil for God to do it. Or for someone to do it at God's command."- Jonathan Boyd on baby-killing
"you guys are fascinated with the use of those "rules of logic" to the extent that you don't really want to discussus anything."- GC
"I do not believe Russian Roulette is a stupid act" - Embracer of Darkness
"Viagra commercials appear to save lives" - tharkûn on US health care.
But seriously, if it is provided and ou don't have to pay for it, it is not stealiong. It's like saying that you are stealing webspace off of Angelfire.
