is it illegal?
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- unknown
is it illegal to download a copyrighted mp3? or do you have to listen to it, to make it illegal?
- TransFatty0
legal shmeegal
data wants to be free
rock.
- brooke0
Heh.
- AD0
if a tree downloads an mp3 in a forest - is it illegal if nobody's around?
- TransFatty0
ice cream
- unknown0
who the fuk uses KAZAA?.
IRC bots will do it for you.
- ok_static0
you can download it, but you can't keep or spread it, something like that.
this is ridiculous.
this file will self destruct in 30 minutes....
- kodap0
kodap likes music
- jking760
seems like the same thing as making mix tapes and giving them to friends..
as long as you don't sell the shit?
- nosaj0
It's stealing, the only difference is there isn't a monetary value beyond lost profit on lost sale. It’s like there is a back door at the movie theater that everyone knows about but the theatre can’t stop people from coming in and watching the movies for free.
It has to be killing the record industry, I know several people who have drastically seriously back on the amount of money they used to spend on music because it is so easily accessible.
That being said, I can't say I'm disappointed that the music industry is getting shook up. I hope it brings down the fools that are giving us the shit top 40 music that is being forced on me everywhere I go (I don’t want to know the lyrics to Britney Spears songs but I do). Maybe if the possibility to put a band or pop act together and make a huge cash grab with little or no talent is gone, then those without the passion and need to create music will be filtered out. There's no way to stop those who need to make music, from making music - and those are people I want to hear.
- CAJTBr0
i don't think it is killing the music industry. i think they're making more cash now than ever. but they think that it will kill them off if they don't do something about it.
since mp3's been around i've been able to 'try' tons more stuff. i can download an mp3. if i don't like it i delete it, if i really like it i'll look for some more, if some of that is good i'll buy the band's stuff. i probably buy double what i used to, because before it was impossible to find stuff that i liked without taking the risk of just buying cds without hearing the music first.
i think the reason they're so hard on it is not because of lost biz (album sales have acutally increased since mp3, though admittedly singles have suffered), it's because of distribution. if mp3 took off properly and people quit buying cds, then what's to stop artist X from distributing themself? distribution becoming decentralized would kill these peoples businesses. all these lawsuits are just about retaining control.
you could call it stealing. but if i'm buying the stuff that i like, and deleting the stuff i don't, it's little more than 'pull radio' rather than commercial push radio.
besides, the music biz has stolen enough over the years.
there's a good article by courtney love (of all people) from salon a couple of years ago about the systematic theft of artist's rights by big music:
http://dir.salon.com/tech/featur…
as for this whole deal, i think it's stupid and violates the rights of individuals on the supposition of guilt. they'll look at everyone who's downloading mp3s to find those who are downloading ones that they own the rights to. meanwhile anyone who's legally downloading mp3s loses their right to go about their own business without being spied on.
however. it's probable that all your data is looked at by the govt anyway, so the erosion of privacy is just a tiny step further, allowing you to now be prosecuted for illegal activities that the govt can't tell you they know you're involved with.
- Danski0
It's illegal to make the file *available* for download. It's also illegal not to bust the contents of your wallet into a bucket when hilary rosen asks. It's illegal not to hand over the contents of your lizardly brainmeats when asked. It's illegal to have MP3's hiding between your buttocks between the hours of twelve and four AM.
- Blofeldt0
why would you download an mp3 and not listen to it?
- mbr0
It is killing the music industry. Sales declined by 3% two years ago and 11% last year. There is an article in the current wired about it, estimating the industries demise in less than 5 years.
And it is not like getting into the movie theater for free. It's like watching it at your house, with your equipment, for free. At the theater you pay for the seating, the screen, the sound, the experience - just as you would pay for a concert.
Big difference there, you are 'sharing' files, not stealing them, just as you would share a recorded Simpson episode, regardless of the ridiculous legalities.
- pr20
CAJTBr that's a scary article.
- unfittoprint0
mp3 likes me.
- zanetate0
mbr, you said "It's like watching it at your house, with your equipment, for free. At the theater you pay for the seating, the screen, the sound, the experience - just as you would pay for a concert." You're exactly right. The theater carries an added value though, just as you described, which is why people still flock to theaters rather than just waiting to rent the DVD. The RIAA should think about that, and begin adding value to its product rather than punish its customers for not buying. Sales of singles have declined, but there's been no reason for them to to go up. All you get is a song that isn't really that great. The labels should sign better artists and add value to their product (like DVD-A), then sharing wouldn't be an issue. People would have more reasons to buy. That's just good business.
- dstlb0
Whats the position if you already 'own' the music, a lot of stuff I download I already have on vinyl or tape but it's a pain in the arse to convert those formats to mp3 and the quality suffers, so instead I download it.
Seems unfair to have to pay for things twice.
- mitsu0
"There is an article in the current wired about it, estimating the industries demise in less than 5 years."
hmmm, too bad, can't wait for the same demise for the movie industry. that's when we'll see some REAL talent... when people who really do it for the sheer love of acting and not the money, fame and awards.
also, i've heard a different take on this music industry issue, and though i can't back it up, it said that artist make more money from their shows, and the music labels are the ones that get hurt because of mp3s. hmmmm, ok, i support that. f 'em.
- mitsu0
and here's another take... what if i encode my mp3 with my recipe for tomato basil soup? is it still the same data that was pulled from the disk? at what point does the copywrited song just become data? because we'll figure out a way to engineer it so that it's no longer theirs.
in fact, it wasn't even the same after it was converted to mp3.