Beware, kazaa users, of the RIAA

[Straylight]

They're going to start suing normal people who use Kazaa:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/31463.html

These guys are really getting on my nerves
If you fileshare and don't want to be martyred, I strongly suggest you at least disable your shared folder or move all your files somewhere else.

Here's some other useful links (edited to add extra ones):

http://WWW.DONTBUYCDS.ORG - CD boycotting campaign
http://www.magnetbox.com/riaa/search.asp - Use this tool to search and find whether a particular artist is RIAA affiliated

[blueraven]

Yeah...I heard something about this a few days ago...I think. Could of been this morning through...actually might of just been a dream with my memory. Throught it was early in the morning I didn't pay much attention. I hardly use Kazaa, really only to download a few songs from CDs I'm looking to buy in the near future.

[Straylight]

Even if you don't use it much, they will still sue if they see you sharing ANY copyrighted files. Better to be safe than sorry.. they're searching for innocent looking people to make examples out of.

[ShiroiHikari]

My boyfriend told me about this...

I think it sucks. But. I also think we had it coming because there are so many people who abuse the ability to download music....

What about WinMX, and can they still get you on Kazaa even if you never connect?

[sskg0tt0]

if your not connected they have no way of knowing what you have.as i understand they are mostly going after larger users.

im not going to chime in one way or the other on the issue,other then the technical aspect.as of right now if your sharing,they can get you.if your downloading,your in the clear.
if you just HAVE to get a song...well dont share anything.otherwise just forget about the whole sorry mess.we lived with out it before ,im sure we can do without it agian.
better safe than sorry.

[Spencer]

How much is..."a lot of songs"?

::melts into background::

[HeavensTek]

whew boy...

don't get me started on this one.

to say the least, i strongly disagree with the RIAA and it's strongarm tactics against average consumers.

.....i've decided to join a boycott against the top big US record labels.....(90% of the music they put out is crap anyway)

if they want to bite the hand that feeds them....

....then let them starve.



-----
on a side note, even if you don't do anything about it.....check out that website Noz linked up.. http://dontbuycds.org ....and get a bit more educated on what's going on...especially if you file share.

[inkhana]

Originally posted by ShiroiHikari
My boyfriend told me about this...

I think it sucks. But. I also think we had it coming because there are so many people who abuse the ability to download music....

While that's true, and I do agree with you, they still don't have the need to create encryption schemes that won't play in all CD players and even potentially damage you equipment. According to the dontbuycds.com website, cd sales went UP when Napster was around because it exposed people to new things. Now, don't get me wrong...I don't condone the illegal uses of file trading. But get the file trading servers then and leave legitimate customers who want to, oh, I don't know...use their new cds in an old player alone.

[andyroo]

I find it hard to comment on this with out saying some really bad things about those people. I posted here yesterday, but I didn't think it was very wise of me to let up so I deleted it. I'm with heavenstech on this one all the way. I better stop while I'm ahead to keep from repeating my previous post. Althugh, I don't use a file sharing program, but they still tick me off with some of the things they've done. And also when napster was shutdown their sales dropped something like 12% in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2000 (2001?) and I'm sure their sales are going to continue dropping..and... I've said enough already, but you get the idea. I hope.

[madphilb]

This whole situation is a rough one. I agree that the RIAA is seriously messed up (and hasn't done much/anything for musicians)... and some of the things they're doing to "protect" their product is messed up.

On the other hand, there are those (like one of my co-workers) who's got a good system going for burning CDs for people (I don't think he's charging, but he's still breaking the copyright laws).

Frankly I'm a bit miffed that the Christian community still plays these same games that the world does. Keith Green had it right, too bad very few other people caught on.

BTW, if You're using Kazaa, I hope you've gotten rid of all the Parasites that comes with it, if not... take a trip over to http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite and get yourself educated.

Somewhere there needs to be a happy medium... one where an artists work is preserved as well as the art being accessalbe to just about anyone.

PHIL

[Stephen]

I long for the days all record companies go broke, go under...and go bankrupt. Yup, I do. I hate there whole little money making system. I personaly, support bands that go against the grain so to speak...I will be buying Project 86's next cd because it is selfproduced...no more Atlantic records.

[shooraijin]

The thing that drives me mad about Digital Rights Management in general (and the primary reason I dislike the DVD format and do everything in my power to subvert it on DVDs I legally own) is that it prevents you from owning what you bought. While you might have paid for it, they're still going to control how and where you watch it. Region encoding is just one of many examples.

Now with a lot of the new audio formats, even though you buy the song, there are controls on how many CDs you can burn it to, and how many units you can listen to it on, and how many computers you can copy it to and from.

All DRM does is annoy legitimate customers, and it won't make any difference to those who would have ignored it anyway.

inkhana also brought up how hearing an MP3 or trying out a copied video makes people buy it. I've bought many things that I heard first as an MP3, or saw as a DivX, because it was good and I decided to pick up the whole thing. Record and media companies should be embracing this as a chance to go for "try and buy" -- I don't mind paying a premium for something I know I'll like.

[Straylight]

The heart of it, for me, is that filesharing is good news for independant artists and bad news for the rich.

Indie scenes are run by artists as opposed to record labels. When I buy a white label 12" vinyl in the UK, I know that most of the money I spent went to the artist, and to the raw production costs. If I buy a commercial CD only a tiny fraction of the money is going to the artist, the rest goes into some already rich managers' pockets. Independant musicians tend to dig filesharing and the internet on the whole as it provides some good exposition that they can't get on the radio. We're kinda lucky here as one of the main radio stations (BBC radio 1) is a non-commercial station. This allows them to play whatever they want. They exploit this to the full by introducing new bands and catering for the various "underground" scenes around the country.

The RIAA would rather you listen to their music, which is of course what you hear in the mainstream media. I say, biggup the underground!

[madphilb]

I agree with you on the indie thing DJ... and frankly I think we'll see some sort of revolution in the Music industry that we're starting to see in the Software industry.

See, I used to be a software pirate of sorts... never sold or anything, but I'd take or make a copy of just about anything for anyone.

But a friend of mine (who did about the same) came to a decision that God presented to him on a retreat. Long before the whole WWJD thing was big, that's kinda what he did. As part of where our line of thing is/was, copying that software was stealing someone's lunch.

Obviously there is a big difference, even with many of the big companies at the time, between software works and how the music industry is (namely the RIAA and such).

Now you can find tons of stuff that's cheap or free, GNU is rocking along, etc. Microsoft is one of the worst in the Software industry, and besides my XBox, the only other MS product that I use is Win98se (no IE or Outlook... Opera and Pegasus for me)... and I've got plans to make Windows a secondary boot at some point (need to expand my tiny 4GB HD to something much bigger).

I found more cool stuff on MP3.COM, much of which I can download for free or even buy a cheap CD (where, I'm guessing, the money is split between the Artist and MP3.COM).

Not having broadband I haven't done much file sharing, but a long time ago I was collecting MP3 files to build a soundtrack for Jet Force Gemini (Nintendo and Rare never released an offical soundtrack). Napster had the only decent recordings around (a guy on the 'net had a collection, but he was using one of those file storage sites, you know the ones.... they all went commerical and required you to register to gain access to anything).

Frankly there are tons of stuff that just isn't released, and sould be... or made PD or something. After a long time my Mom finally found, bid and won a copy of Charlie Pride's Christmas Album (which she has on an old record). I feel no remorse in burning a copy for myself, I would have gone out and bought a copy if they where available (and I will if they ever do).

Ok... I've ranted enough for today....

PHIL

[Rashiir]

Most of the CD's I have bought within the last couple of years have been because of songs I've listened to because I downloaded them. Actually, most of the cd's I've bought recently are soundtracks, because I've already seen the movie and know that they are going to be good and usually all the songs are good, instead of just one track. But, I am for the whole boycotting thing, so tell me which labels to avoid and I will.

[Straylight]

http://www.magnetbox.com/riaa/search.asp - Use this tool to search and find whether a particular artist is RIAA affiliated

[madphilb]

Last two CDs I bought where Game Soundtracks, and both came with the game (Deus Ex came with the GOTY ed that I picked up at EB used and Myst 3 came with the delux boxed set when the game came out, you remember the big boxes that looked like the fake ones EB used to have sitting on the top shelves )

Thanks for the link.. I'll check it out (and bookmark it)... if any of my "favoriate" artists are RIAA linked I may just have to let them know why I won't be buying their albums.

PHIL

[Erenan]

Transferring a copyrighted file through a file sharing network is a felony. 'Nuff said about that.

Yes, CD's cost very little to make. That's why blank CD's are dirt cheap. Producing an album of music takes a little more effort. If you spend months recording and mixing and engineering, you're not going to be selling your artwork for five bucks a pop, and if you did, you would not make a profit (if you have to pay the employees as the recording industry does), and you would have to find a new job.

The recording industry has wronged recording artists far more than it has wronged consumers. As a consumer, the only real complaint I have is the notion of producing CD's that do not play in computer CD drives. I doubt this will last very long, however, because there are too many people who use audio CD's in their computer to do their job. So I'm not particularly worried. As for recording artists, they are taken advantage of through dishonest deals and contracts by conniving executives who lie and pay themselves grossly disproportionate sums of money in comparison to their employees. It is the employees and artists who should feel wronged, not the general public. And unless I'm mistaken, boycotting CD's will hurt the employees and artists far more than it will hurt the executives, so I don't think a boycott is the solution.

What is the solution? Artists need to stop allowing themselves to be taken advantage of, and people need to establish record companies that strive for honest business practices in order to set a good example.

My two cents.

[Spencer]

So, uh, if say, a band I thought I was gonna buy the CD for is on that RIAA thing, I should just burn their cd? Cause I was about to go buy Dizzy Up the Girl (Goo Goo Dolls) but I saw it on that list...So that means GGD don't get profit, the producer or whatever does?

[Erenan]

If I understand it correctly, they will get some of the profit, but in terms of percentage, very little of it. That's the problem. Unfair division of income. But if you burn the CD, the artist will get NOTHING.

[Straylight]

As far as profits go, if I bought a CD for 12 quid in the shops, the artist would probably only get between 1-2 quid of my money. The rest would go to the record label.

[Shinja]

hoe much is a quid in relation to a pound. or are they the same?

[Stephen]

Shinja...your sig pic is awesome.....that is all.

[shooraijin]

Yes, a quid is a pound.

[LorentzForce]

they'll never find me, thanks to my file transfer system where the file i download is never shared. so, i only leach

[Master Kenzo]

I can't belive it...and I thought Christian CDs were safe...

DARN YOU RIAA!

[LorentzForce]

oh they'll never be able to do that. it simply is impossible, considering the number of possible ways that people can use in order to 'hide' the sharing...

and any destructive method of dealing with sharing is illegal anyway. destructive = worse kinds of damage done by virii = off the bat sue-age = multimillion dollar losses by music industry.

and most 'pop' singers can't sing properly anyway. those who are never seen in televisions are the ones who know the music truly well...

yeah sure, i'll pay for porn with lyrics... *rolls eyes*

[Straylight]

yeah sure, i'll pay for porn with lyrics... *rolls eyes*

Amen to that. MTV and a lot of the other music video channels are terrible, aren't they

[Turbocat]

I've always held the view that if RIAA got on the bandwagon instead of being stubborn, they could've avoided this situation and made some money too...I don't approve of the way the record industry does business, but neither am I happy about downloading copyrighted files without paying for them. I would gladly pay a few dollars a month to download music legally-how much easier that would be than going out and laying down $16+ a pop just for one or two songs I like? (like I have the money anyway??)- that way the artists get their royalties and we don't have to pay out the nose for a CD. Of course the companies don't get their profits that way I suppose...what about the rest of you- would you support something like that (like it will ever happen)?

BTW, just curious but why can we discuss downloading music and even post links, but we can't discuss fansubs and downloading anime? Seems a little incongruous to me I've got alot of decent anime I'd like to review on CAA but it's only available on fansubs...

[Ashley]

Well, I didn't know there were links posted like http://www.kazaa.com or something; those would be edited out right away. Information about RIAA, etc. is ok...but no outright illegal sites. Secondly, fansubbed reviews would be okay. Fansubs themselves are okay by me personally, but I still don't know for sure how the US--or any other--government sees it. To be safe, as long as your not providing places to find this anime, we're clean legally. At least I think we are.

So the short of it is: informational sites are different then downloading sites, and fansubs are okay to review.