Beware..the RIAA is getting into the hacking business... (1 Viewer)

[Todd H]

Bah! What's more important? The Fourth Amendment or the RIAA protecting their outdated business model? I miss the days when government officials were elected to represent the people, not big business. I think it's high time for finance reform and term limits.

 

[Joshua Clinard]

Of I knew the number of this bill, I might be encouaraged to write my congressperson.

 

[Jean-Michel]

This bill doesn't have a number yet as far as I know. The chances of this bill actually getting to the floor for vote or debate are pretty slim given that the session is almost up.

 

[Mark_Wilson]

I agree with Jeff that copyrights need to be protected but this draconian tactic is not the way.

I'm lucky to buy 2 cds a year. There just isn't enough value there for me to spend $15-$19 for a couple of songs. I only by CDs of bands/artists I really like. Its a small list.

When CDs first came out I remember RIAA saying cd prices would stay a little higher to help finance smaller artists that normally wouldn't sell many copies. I bought into it too. Unfortunately they have not done that, they've only kept the profits for themselves.

I do believe CDs prices need to come down. Unfortunately I think that the artist will lose as RIAA will not want to give up any of their profits. Look what happens in the book publishing world now, its no better. If the publisher 'has' to give a Barnes & Nobles or Amazon a discount on a book then that discount comes out of the author's royalty and not the publishers. Plus the author has no say about it! Some publishers are even requiring their authors to indemnify (defend) them in events of a lawsuit. Both industries need to be reform but I feel it'll only happen with a revolution and P2P may just be the thing that sparks that revolution, IMHO.

 

[Joseph S]

I thought congress and the Pres just made hacking a crime punishable by life in prison?

Apparently, the laws don't apply to Corporations and Princeton.

 

[Dick]

In an atmosphere where Ashcroft and Bush are doing their best to make Government oppression of "suspects" (and eventually, perhaps, everyone...?) easier and legal, it is no surprise to me that such a hacking proposal has been made. I think it might even have a shot at getting passed into law. By the time the current administration ends, I suspect we'll be living in a truly Orwellian world. Sorry about politicizing, but to respond to the header of this thread I found it necessary.

 

[Chuck West]

Nobody is forcing you to buy them. Lowering the price of CDs will do nothing to curb piracy.

Imagine this:
You walk into a Best Buy store, to a "CD Creation Station". You tell a Best Buy employee 15 or 16 songs that you want to buy. The employee then burns you a CD with those songs, including labels and cover art. Then he slaps a $15 price tag on it and you take it to the register. The record labels of the songs you bought get paid. The customer feels he/she has received a real value for their $15. Everyone wins.
This could easily be done, but the greed of the record labels outweighs what their customers want.

 

[Jean-Michel]

Or we could just download and burn them ourselves and save $14.97 (the three cents going to cover the cost of a blank CD-R).........

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Or we could just download and burn them ourselves and save $14.97 (the three cents going to cover the cost of a blank CD-R).........

:rolleyes
That's the whole reason this law is even being pushed. Even though I strongly oppose this as an obstruction of liberty, I all oppose using file sharing programs as bootlegging tools. I use them as a radio. If I like the music, I'll buy the CD. If I don't like the music, I delete it and free up the space. I also use it to download music no longer commerically availiable. But I think (well, thought) most of us still think the people who create and produce the music deserve compensation for their work.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Amen, brother Rob.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

The RIAA DID cause quite a bit of this

I would buy a HECK of a lot more CDs if there were custom burning. As it is, I GLADLY fork over $30 a CD for Japanese bands because you know what? Every single album is 3/4 good songs at least. They release a ton of singles between each album and see what people like and what they don't, and it works.

 

[Jean-Michel]

That's the whole reason this law is even being pushed. Even though I strongly oppose this as an obstruction of liberty, I all oppose using file sharing programs as bootlegging tools. I use them as a radio. If I like the music, I'll buy the CD. If I don't like the music, I delete it and free up the space. I also use it to download music no longer commerically availiable. But I think (well, thought) most of us still think the people who create and produce the music deserve compensation for their work.

You seem to have missed the point. The idea that these "make your own CD booths" are a magic bullet that will "save" the record industry from piracy is silly, since the people most interested in "custom CDs" are not going to fork over $15 (which even the RIAA admits is too much, not that they care) to get something they can get for three cents at home. Besides, even making the argument that the industry needs to "change" or "adapt" to new technologies is fallacious anyway since it basically buys into the industry's nonsense propaganda that said new technologies like MP3s and file-sharing services are "destroying" or at the very least significantly hurting their conventional business model, which is demonstrably false.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The idea that these "make your own CD booths" are a magic bullet that will "save" the record industry from piracy is silly, since the people most interested in "custom CDs" are not going to fork over $15

I for one would, if the quality was there. But I agree... trying to charge for a service that's already widely availiable (however illegal it may be) is generally pointless. But by concentrating on getting better talent, putting out better releases, with linear notes and all the trimmings at a lower price would be the way to go. Give the Emperor his clothes back and people will return to buying CDs again. The quality of "Did you get the latest so-and-so release" isn't replicatable in the Kazaa universe. Since every CD anyone makes is different, music is devalued.

 

[EugeneR]

I should stop being surprised at what our politicians are capable of doing for a buck, but they still amaze me sometimes. The gall of the record companies is disturbing enough, but having politicians supporting these insane ideas...
Since when has vigilante justice become OK? A record company will be able to break into my computer on a "reasonable suspicion" that I'm stealing music? Won't it be fun when they try to break into a Pentagon computer because someone downloded a song? And who decides what "reasonable suspicion" is, pray tell? The same record companies, I presume. And I have to jump through hoops before I can even sue these bastards for damaging my private property? Maybe I'll go download that Beatles song--"I'm back in the U.S.S.R." It'll be an appropriate soundtrack for this preposterous bill.

 

[Brian Kidd]

Ladies and Gentlemen, this will never fly. The American people aren't as facist as the current government would lead you to believe. WE elect the lawmakers. They work for US. If they don't do as they are instructed by the American people, then they're out of a job come election time. The only way this works, however, is by contacting your congressman and VOTING!!! I love my country with all my heart. I also will not stand by and watch our freedoms be flushed down the toilet.

 

[David Lambert]

Good post, Brian.

May I remind everyone of the immortal words of Benjamin Franklin:

I realize that this entire thread is bordering on one of those political discussions which mods often feel they have to shut down. So allow me to keep this very general:

Here, the "safety" is that of protecting copyrights, as Jeff Ulmer speaks to. It's definately "temporary", as those who intend to pirate will always find their way around the safety measures. Shall the law-abiding citizens give up their Liberties where this area is concerned, so that others may be "temporarily safe"?

I don't think that's a good bargain at all.

 

[Mike Broadman]

Who is the sadistic creep that keeps handing the record industry guns to shoot themselves in the foot with?

Pardon my naivety, but I would think (and hope) that treating all of your potential customers as criminal suspects will alienate them. Would you want to buy product from someone who thought you were a crook?

I hope this legislation does pass, so that people will be angry enough to stop buying music. The industry needs to be purged of those currently in control and the obviously ridiculous excuse for a business model they use.

 

[Chuck L]

So basically the government would be doing what they have put people in jail for...hacking.

I understand the problem....but they are only adding to it and basically I feel that if something like this was to happen...there would only be about three people in this country with working computers. Bad idea. Then again, I quess that this is really something to worry about on the government level. I mean lets protect the rights of the RIAA and not worry about what is going on overseas. Making sure Mariah can have food is so much more important than real problems in the world.

 

[Ben Tallen]

For anyone interested, the bill is H.R.5211, I believe.
Please write to your representative (and senators too, if this bill actually makes it that far) and let them know exactly what you think of this attack on your freedom. Send e-mail for starters but snail mail is much more effective. Even more effective is a phone call or even (gasp!) a Link Removed.
Go here to get addresses and phone numbers:
Find your representative!
Find your senators!
Remember, if you just ignore your rights they will go away.

 

[Roberto Carlo]

Ladies and Gentlemen, this will never fly. The American people aren't as facist as the current government would lead you to believe. WE elect the lawmakers. They work for US. If they don't do as they are instructed by the American people, then they're out of a job come election time.

I wish that it were that simple. The fact is that the interest groups that would favor such a measure, the RIAA and MPAA, are organized, motivated and easily identifiable. On the other hand, people who oppose such a measure are none of these. I'm certain that a large majority of Americans would oppose giving media companies the right to poke around on their hard drives, but for for them preventing such a thing is number, oh, 224 on their list of priorities. For the MPAA/RIAA enacting such a measure is in the top ten, at least. This disparity, and not venality on lawmakers' part, is why measures like this sometimes become law. Groups like EFF and others carry very little clout in Washington.

To fight such a measure, someone has to make defeating it and institutional priority. Someone has to think about how to spin it -- imagine a "Harry & Louise" type of ad that asks "did you know that Congress wants to let Hollywood rummage around in your hard drive?" -- in the media.