You know, this will only lead to further customer dissatisfaction and LOWER sales for the ENTIRE music industry. MP3s are no longer the major factor of slumping sales, the major culprit is now the disturbing actions taken by the RIAA and it's affiliates.
Another thing that is killing CD sales is the price. Almost everyone knows about how cheap blank cds are, especially in bulk. So why do the big music companies charge $20 a CD? Clay and Ruben's AI cds (coming this Tuesday) will cost $5 and have only ~2 tracks. Did someone say ripoff?
Quick & Dirty Math Calculation (USD): ($5 cd + tax ~7%) / 2 songs = ~2.68 a track 2 songs from Apple Music * .99 per track + .25 for blank CD-R = 2.23 = OVER 50% savings
And one other thing, the RIAA is an organization of music companies which control 80% of the worlds music sales, right? Would this make the RIAA a form of a trust, which is illegal under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act? Any lawyers here that want to comment...
Posts: 998 | Location: Fox Valley, Second Life | Registered: 06-03-02
Ahhh.. but how many of those that YOU have shared files with are?? Verison will have your connection record as well then. And, if the Verison suit sticks, which ISP will be next??
I find it interesting that even after the RIAA sent out their threat to sue hundreds of people, P2P programs still make up 3 of download.com's top ten list. Kazaa had 3,341,658 downloads this week. See: http://download.com.com/3101-2001-0-1.html?tag=pop
Apparently, people aren't scared of the RIAA.
...in other P2P news: Kazaa is now distributing legit files through their partner Altnet. Most of the legit music, video and software is being offered on a try-before-you-buy basis. After the free trial is up, music costs between $.50 - $1.00 (Meets or beats the price of iTunes) It's easy to find these files, just look for the Gold icons in your search results. See: http://www.kazaa.com/us/help/PPM_guide.htm
Posts: 998 | Location: Fox Valley, Second Life | Registered: 06-03-02
Bill would make swapping of copyright file a felony
By Declan McCullagh
July 17 — Peer-to-peer users who swap copyright files could be in danger of becoming federal felons, under a new proposal backed by Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Their legislation, introduced Wednesday, would punish an Internet user who shares even a single file without permission from a copyright holder with prison terms of up to five years and fines of up to $250,000. WRITTEN BY MICHIGAN’S John Conyers, the senior Democrat on the House judiciary committee, the Author, Consumer, and Computer Owner Protection and Security Act (ACCOPS) represents Congress’ boldest attempt yet to shutter peer-to-peer networks, which the major record labels and movie studios view as a serious threat.
Currently, under a little-known 1997 law called the No Electronic Theft Act, many P2P users are technically already violating criminal laws. But if the ACCOPS bill were to succeed, prosecutors would not have to prove that a copyright file was repeatedly downloaded. Conyers’ proposal would require them to prove only that the file was publicly accessible.
Felons? LOL There are several people in my mother's Senior housing apartment building that use KaZaA and kazaa-lite. We're talking about people in their 70s and 80s, on fixed incomes.
Granted, this is a very tiny population, but, if this bill passes, we'll have some dangerous criminals living in my mother's building. I wonder if I should warn her?
Posts: 2219 | Location: denver, co, usa | Registered: 07-22-02
quote:Originally posted by Murray S.: House proposal targets file swappers
Bill would make swapping of copyright file a felony
Murray
CNet's coverage of the bill states that no Republican (which hold a majority) has backed the bill. There is also a Republican president in office, so this Democrat-sponsored bill has little chance of passing.
I think this is a scare tactic - besides does the US government have the budget to sue 60+ million American P2P users?
[This message was edited by JWooden271 on 07-18-03 at 06:43 PM.]
Posts: 998 | Location: Fox Valley, Second Life | Registered: 06-03-02
They don't have to sue them all, just a few of them.. The rest won't want to take the chance of getting caught.
As for passing, I wonder how much money various musicians and record companies gave to the "Republican" presidents election cause and what would happen if that were pulled next time around??
Isn't there a provision in law against unjust penalties? Something like triple damages as the standard? At 12 songs for $18 that is $1.50 per and triple is $4.50. Where do they come up with the present $150,000 or the proposed $250,000 per cut?
The vindictiness and overjealousness of the riaa is despicable.
Posts: 2216 | Location: central fl. | Registered: 06-03-02
Looks like they will comply once RIAA serves the subpeona from their District Court.. Not a roadblock for the RIAA, just a bump..
As for the rest... "About 150 of the subpoenas were addressed to Verizon Communications Inc., which said Friday that it will release the names and addresses only after exhausting all legal challenges. Comcast, which did not say how many subpoenas it had received, plans to comply fully with the requests, a spokeswoman said.
Some educational institutions named by the recording industry, including Northeastern and Loyola University Chicago, said they will comply with the subpoenas.
Loyola traced the address given by the record industry group to a dorm room occupied by two summer school students and notified them of the subpoena, said spokesman Nick Mariano.
At Northeastern, officials have contacted the student in question and are planning to release the information unless he or she raises a formal objection, said spokesman Glenn Hill."
So, not only was Verizon named, but it looks like ComCast subscribers as well are going to get the once over from the RIAA..
Judging from people's locations, those from the USA (3+) are against the RIAA and those (one person) who are for the RIAA's actions are Canadian. Interesting...
Posts: 998 | Location: Fox Valley, Second Life | Registered: 06-03-02
