|  | Posted by Aaron on 09/11/06 11:48 
trippy wrote:> In article <X7CdnUp-tPbLkp3YnZ2dnUVZ_vGdnZ2d@giganews.com>, Aaron took
 > the hamburger meat, threw it on the grill, and I said "Oh Wow"...
 >
 >> Modemac wrote:
 >>  >>From our friends at Boing Boing:
 >>  >
 >>  >  http://www.boingboing.net/2006/08/22/riaa_propaganda_movi.html
 >>  >
 >>  > You can download a free propaganda film about how downloading
 >>  > copyrighted movies makes you an EVIL TERRORIST WHO WILL BE
 TRACKED DOWN
 >>  > AND CAPTURED BY THE GLORIOUS SOLDIERS OF THE GOVERNMENT!  What's
 more,
 >>  > you can order a high-quality copy of the film on DVD, for free!
 >>  >
 >>  > --
 >>  >      The High Weirdness Project
 >>  >       http://www.modemac.com
 >>
 >> I love that trailer they're putting at the beginning of some DVDs now
 >> with the kids downloading movies on their computer and there is some
 >> song in the background and it flashes "YOU WOULDN'T STEAL A CAR," blah
 >> blah blah, "DON'T STEAL MOVIES."
 >>
 >> That rationalization is so played out. Okay, I'm not saying that people
 >> SHOULD steal music or movies, but it's just not the same THING, people!
 >
 > Sure it is. You *are* taking royalties away from the artists. By
 > downloading a song and not paying for it, you are depriving artists of
 > their due share of the money for a song. Their work, their
 
 Granted.
 
 The point I was trying to make was merely that the metaphor is NOT THAT
 SIMPLE. You can't say that by taking the song from someone you are
 depriving them of it. It's much more abstract than that, and yes, it's
 detrimental to the artists and labels that (presumably) you should be
 supporting. I say presumably because there is a chance that if they'd
 bought the actual album, they would have returned it. People who
 download illegal music are much more likely to be experimenting because
 it's free.
 
 Also, let us not forget that in most cases you are ripping off the
 record label a lot more fiercely than the artist, as the artist receives
 only the smallest portion of record sales. If you really support an
 artist, you would do better to attend their concerts and buy their
 merchandise, for which they receive a larger cut.
 
 > artistic/intellectual property, their money. And filesharing makes it
 > all the more easier. Download enough songs and you don't have to buy
 
 "All the more easier?" That's like a double adjective, you can't do
 that.
 
 > their album and there's millions of people on the internet. If
 > everyone was to download the album for free, what do you think the
 > artists would make? Zilch. Why buy something when you can get it for
 > free?
 
 That's exactly it. Why do today what you can put off till tomorrow? Why
 buy what you can steal?
 
 > But I too download songs from the net, for free, using my favorite
 > filesharing proggie for three reasons.
 >
 > 1) The schemes to provide content to people legally are ridiculous,
 > for the most part. I use the Yahoo Launchcast service for free. It's
 > okay except that part of the subscription benefits is unlimited song
 > skipping. So, once the free skips run out, it's all crap that you
 > really, really wish you could skip through.
 >
 > They play 800 kazillion ads an hour. Pay a small subscription rate and
 > no ads. However, the ads play way more frequently than on commerical
 > radio. That's wrong. At least cut it down to that much, if you're
 > going to do something like that.
 
 Nearly all of the legal, digital music distribution channels right now
 suck, and it's for a simple reason: the music industry is a huge
 conglomeration of fantastically wealthy companies who can't dream of
 giving up control. Control over the playability of the tracks, control
 over the platforms they can be played on and by whom they can be played.
 
 We won't have high-quality, digital music distribution systems until
 they realize that THEY'VE ALREADY LOST CONTROL. Right now I can download
 an mp3 file from an illegal service and ANYONE can play it, or burn it,
 or edit it. And guess what? The same is true for a CD I bought.
 
 The people just want the same amount of flexibility as they've always
 had, and they want to be TRUSTED with it. Record labels treat people
 like criminals even before they've done anything illegal. We hate that.
 
 > Part of the deal they've worked out in order to provide this service
 > is that they can't play only the songs you rate. This too means a lot
 > of crap you wish you could skip through. Although, I will be honest
 > and say that I have found songs to add due to this. Also, they play
 > stuff that's just coming out too so you can look superleet by blending
 > old/new sounds. Still, if you're going to have people rate songs, let
 > them hear them. Work out a better deal so that you don't have wade
 > through as much crap to hear the songs you pick.
 
 Try pandora. It's free. www.pandora.com. There are limited skips without
 a subscription, but there are NEVER audio ads, and you can always rate
 something thumbs down to hear the next track, which DOES affect the
 music played, but hey, if you hated it, you probably don't want to hear
 more like it.
 
 > 2) Sometimes I just want to hear a song and not have the whole radio
 > experience.
 >
 > 3) I've tried to find some of my favorite songs legally and they don't
 > even make the discs anymore. Also, the music that is produced legally
 > is priced sky high.
 
 The price is another reason why iTunes Music Store is doing so well. The
 days of $20 albums on CD are over. People who pay those rates are the
 stragglers.
 
 > 4) I haven't heard of an artist going broke yet due to filesharing.
 > Additionally, most of your piracy is going on overseas, where US laws
 > don't apply.
 
 Not a single one has.
 
 Janis Ian is a multiple Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter who loves
 the idea of file sharing and pretty much rails against the RIAA in this
 two-part article on her website.
 
 Read: http://www.janisian.com/article-internet_debacle.html
 
 The popular group Harvey Danger released their latest album for free on
 the Internet, and here's why:
 
 http://www.harveydanger.com/press/why.php
 
 That should be enough for now.
 
 --
 Aaron
 
 "Mankind are greater gainers by suffering each other to live as seems
 good to themselves, than by compelling each to live as seems good to the
 rest." -- John Stuart Mill
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