RIAA vs The Economy
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- zanetate
Since there's been a lot of discussion about file sharing here in the past, I thought this might be of interest:
http://www.boycott-riaa.com/arti…
"I would assert, however that it does make the case in cold, hard numbers that the RIAA's claim of digital piracy ravaging their sales must be taken with a rather large grain of salt."
- bob0
DNFL
Did not follow linkBut, I would completely agree. The RIAA and the big bad record execs should be thanking file sharers for the growth and pervation of the music industry into pop culture.
I buy all my music, but many many times I borrow or download music first before purchasing it. It is just fair to see or hear the product before you buy it.
- jox0
"...should be thanking file sharers for the growth and pervation of the music industry"
So, Adobe should be thanking all 14-year-olds with warez-software then? Let's face it, we're doing something wrong, no need to blame anyone else for it.
- Danski0
Things are changing. The industry doesn't want things to change. Therefore friction is generated.
Plus, even though p2p hasn't done much damage, it's an excuse to get some nice lucrative lawsuits in, isn't it? Mmmm... money... if I were a record exec I'd have platinum bollocks, I would.
- zanetate0
Well, this is more about music sharing than general software piracy. Granted, piracy is piracy. But I think the RIAA's claim that file sharing has hurt the industry's sales needs to be debunked. Their sales declines have followed economic declines. Plus major label products aren't really worth their costs.
I buy songs from Apple now too, btw.
- b34r0
interesting... still it won't stop.
It's only just begun. As bandwidth / pc hardware get cheaper and more accessible to joe public - they are gonna take (d/l) because to them - its free.
I do d/l a fair bit... but theres nothing like the original CD in your collection. However, with databases filled with info like song lyrics, record labels and artists - it becomes easier to find the name of that track you heard years ago... and thus easier to search and locate in p2p software.
Of course there more sides to this argument - but i won't go on...
I love p2p. It brings back memories.
:)
- Danski0
even the apple store... still about a buck a song, right? that's a stitch, for a start.
- zanetate0
I think the RIAA should focus its resources elsewhere like helping advance innovation. They thought recordable cassettes were gonna hurt them back in the day, but they didn't cuz CDs were so much better. The same could be said for DVD-A now if it were ubiquitous enough. The RIAA could help that along. Also, IMO, vinyl still sounds better than CDs or MP3s. Maybe the RIAA could help that side of the industry advance some more too. Why share MP3s when everything else would carry a better quality?
- mitsu0
"ahhh...
I wonder what will happen if one day, artists and entertainment industry execs wake up and realize that they no longer have the cheap money-making scheme called copyright law. That they suddenly have to WORK for a living, like those among us with REAL college degrees. Like those who DIDN'T flunk out of highschool to do crack and/or live it up with their homies"tee hee
- jgjh1510
Lets assume they can't stop or there is no option to stop so-called illegal file sharing. What can they do to work with it? Where do we go from there.
- jgjh1510
I think it is great for the future of web technologies, feel sorry for the artists who are not getting more money for their work, but they are already swimming in the green.
This will spawn all kinds of new development.
- Dolan0
In some foreseeable future, a couple years maybe, they will release the unrippable CD. They've already given up on protecting existing CDs (redbook format), but the next gen CD and CD players will function like DVD, and have a copy-protection software-hardware component. Sure, some people will always get around it, but it will be hard enough to dissuade the average person (like Divx, etc --- easy for savvy users but your Mom isn't doing it). Then they'll drop MPAA style lawsuits on anyone trying to distribute 'hacking' decryption programs like they went after the DeCSS guys (and won). They'll grandfather in playability of old CDs, but you won't be able to rip new ones. This is probably already happening and I wouldn't be surprised if new CD players already had a chip in them that they're not telling you about. PS: I was inside the industry as an exec for +10 years.
- Dolan0
Of course, as is often stated, like designers few recording artists are 'swimming in the green' --- you are buying into the rockstar hype. It's maybe 1-5% who make good loot. Most end up broke, owing money, and would have put more in the bank if they had spent the time working at McDonalds.
- Nirvous0
There will never be foolproof copy protection for cd's. You can copy dvds as easily as tapes now and even the best protection will eventually fail over time. The RIAA needs to innovate their industry instead of taking college children to court over file sharing. The RIAA is a comtemptable lot. They can suck on it.
- zanetate0
Nirvous, I agree. That was the point I was trying to make.... that trying to lock media down is a waste of time and resources when they could be innovating instead. They could accomplish so much more.
- mitsu0
as a musician and a software engineer, i believe if the lock can be broken, i might as well put a welcome mat out for everyone.
something as intangible as a sequence of bits should not be copyrightable. it should be sold at a fair price to curb piracy, because that's the only thing that will keep people from taking something that's so easily within reach when their only other option is $699.00 for a registered copy of software that may or may not even make them a profit, or $17.00 for a cd, something to find more storage space for, something that may get listened to just a few times, something purchased for 1 hit song...
- Dolan0
Mitsu is right and no lock will every stop [all] piracy. The industry must seek ways to stop the motivation to pirate, not just the means to do so.
- bob0
To reduce thief in an industry, the product's availablity for purchase must exceed the availablity without purchase.
The majority of people, if asked, would say that they do not steal.
That being said, people must have a way to purchase the object that is so easy stolen.
I think with the emergence of intigrated systems of paying for downloads to listen devices like the iPod, the same amout of music will be downloaded and much more of it will be purchased.
- Redmond0
It's kind of like saying, if it weren't for jpgs I'd be a billionaire right now just for being an artist.