Posted by: Anonymous Coward
on August 03, 2003 09:29 AM
RIAA Pirates part 1
It seems to me that every few days there is yet another article on the web about the recording companies attempts to bring rampant pirates to justice. I think the RIAA's idea of justice might be a little one sided and a double standard. Fact is, the recording companies have been flying the Jolly Roger since day one. They have been perpetrating an injustice on all consumers of their products for decades and I see no indication they are going to correct it.
There is a scene in the original movie "Men in Black" where Tommy Lee Jones and Will smith are at the alien receiving center, in the alien technologies room. Tommy Lee Jones is showing Will Smith these new technologies and he picks up what looks like a one inch in diameter CDROM for playing music and says "I guess I'll have to buy the Beatles White Album again".
Using this example, why is Tommy Lee Jones saying "I guess I'll have to buy the Beatles White Album again" ? He obviously already owns it, the word "again" indicates that. What he is really saying is "I already have a full license to listen to and enjoy the music that is on the Beatles White Album that I now have on CD. But things being what they are with the greedy, pirate recording companies, in order to get the Beatles White Album on this new one inch disk medium, I'll have to buy another license as well. Come to think of it, being as old as I am, I paid for a full licence for the original 12" vinyl LP, the Eight Track Tape, the cassette and the CD. No, wait ! I just remembered. I bought the eight track twice and the cassette three times. Those old tape players ate a lot of good music." In this scenario you might expect Will Smith to ask:
1) Isn't there a way to return the CDROM and pay for just upgrading to the new one inch medium ?
A)The record companies have at no time in the past nor are they likely in the future to (without buyers boycotting) implement any form of new media format exchange program.
2) What happens if the cd cracks or gets scratched,(which is hard to avoid) can you get it replaced or do you have to buy a full license every time?
A)You are out of luck, you have to buy a full license every time.
3) Is there any way to make a backup? That way you can store the original in a safe place and replace the backup when it becomes unplayable.
A)Currently (amid much pig squeeling in the background) you can make backups with your computer but the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) using the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copright Act) are working furiously to plug that hole with DRM (Digital Rights Management) which if implemented, will cripple your computer so that you can't. Already Windows XP users computers are crippled to some degree. (Microsoft is leading the charge trying to establish themselves as the de-facto DRM "Copy Cops" ).
4) What happened to all of those old legally licensed copies you bought.
A)The dollar value of legal, legitimate, licensed music on unusable media that has ended up in dumps and landfills over the years is undoubtedly huge and probably staggering. I don't have a figure but ask yourself how many times you have had to replace a tape or a disk because it became unusable. If your young, Ask your folks how many trash cans they could fill up with LP's, 45's, 8tracks, cassettes,dvd's, VHS, betamax and cdrom's that became unusable over the years. The generally universal answer would be " ALOT"! Now multiply that times millions of homes in the US alone. Yup," ALOT" fits quite well !
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RIAA pirates part 1
Posted by: Anonymous Coward on August 03, 2003 09:29 AMIt seems to me that every few days there is yet another article on the web about the recording companies attempts to bring rampant pirates to justice. I think the RIAA's idea of justice might be a little one sided and a double standard. Fact is, the recording companies have been flying the Jolly Roger since day one. They have been perpetrating an injustice on all consumers of their products for decades and I see no indication they are going to correct it.
There is a scene in the original movie "Men in Black" where Tommy Lee Jones and Will smith are at the alien receiving center, in the alien technologies room. Tommy Lee Jones is showing Will Smith these new technologies and he picks up what looks like a one inch in diameter CDROM for playing music and says "I guess I'll have to buy the Beatles White Album again".
Using this example, why is Tommy Lee Jones saying "I guess I'll have to buy the Beatles White Album again" ? He obviously already owns it, the word "again" indicates that. What he is really saying is "I already have a full license to listen to and enjoy the music that is on the Beatles White Album that I now have on CD. But things being what they are with the greedy, pirate recording companies, in order to get the Beatles White Album on this new one inch disk medium, I'll have to buy another license as well. Come to think of it, being as old as I am, I paid for a full licence for the original 12" vinyl LP, the Eight Track Tape, the cassette and the CD. No, wait ! I just remembered. I bought the eight track twice and the cassette three times. Those old tape players ate a lot of good music." In this scenario you might expect Will Smith to ask:
1) Isn't there a way to return the CDROM and pay for just upgrading to the new one inch medium ?
A)The record companies have at no time in the past nor are they likely in the future to (without buyers boycotting) implement any form of new media format exchange program.
2) What happens if the cd cracks or gets scratched,(which is hard to avoid) can you get it replaced or do you have to buy a full license every time?
A)You are out of luck, you have to buy a full license every time.
3) Is there any way to make a backup? That way you can store the original in a safe place and replace the backup when it becomes unplayable.
A)Currently (amid much pig squeeling in the background) you can make backups with your computer but the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) using the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copright Act) are working furiously to plug that hole with DRM (Digital Rights Management) which if implemented, will cripple your computer so that you can't. Already Windows XP users computers are crippled to some degree. (Microsoft is leading the charge trying to establish themselves as the de-facto DRM "Copy Cops" ).
4) What happened to all of those old legally licensed copies you bought.
A)The dollar value of legal, legitimate, licensed music on unusable media that has ended up in dumps and landfills over the years is undoubtedly huge and probably staggering. I don't have a figure but ask yourself how many times you have had to replace a tape or a disk because it became unusable. If your young, Ask your folks how many trash cans they could fill up with LP's, 45's, 8tracks, cassettes,dvd's, VHS, betamax and cdrom's that became unusable over the years. The generally universal answer would be " ALOT"! Now multiply that times millions of homes in the US alone. Yup," ALOT" fits quite well !
Continue to part 2
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