Comments on: Is There Anything More Despised Than A Lawyer Representing the Record Industry? What About a French One?

By: Panzer-Stier Ross

Panzer-Stier Ross — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 20:18:45 +0000

But, Suite-Pee, even you can admit the RIAA is moving the goalposts in terms of what can be defined as theft.

Burning a cd (in other words, music property you’ve already bought and paid for and therefore transmitted a profit to the artist) onto itunes is considered theft. Think about that. You’ve already paid for the cd, but you have to go buy the songs seperately, songs you already own and have already paid for. Doesn’t that seem just a tad excessively greedy?

By: Suite_Pee

Suite_Pee — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:49:16 +0000

When I said music pirating is no better than bank robbing, what I meant was that theft is theft; juts because an mp3 is not a physical object, doesn’t mean stealing it is any different than stealing anything else. And now people continue to give reasons about how much the RIAA sucks, and how it’s so damn inconvenient to get music for free. Thatr still doesn’t make it any less of a crime. I don’t like a few people at my school. I think they suck. They have things I want, and yeah, it’s pretty inconvenient to get those things legally because THEY ARE OWNED BY SOMEBODY ELSE. But I do not steal from those people, because theft is wrong no matter how you slice it. So stop playing like you’re some sort of Robin Hood or something when you pirate music from the “evil” RIAA. Because if you can justify stealing a song, why can’t you justify stealing other things in the same way? That was what I was saying.

By: Max_Fightmaster

Max_Fightmaster — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 03:55:04 +0000

Yeah, I download all the TV I watch because Australian TV networks fuck us around so much. They’ll show a couple of episodes and then the show will disappear. Not axed necessarily, just relocated to the sexy new timeslot of 2am. So I download them. But in the same way that I buy good CDs, I will buy good shows when they come out on DVD. Which usually happens eventually, quite often before the networks actually get around to finish airing the season.
As for global warming ruining beer, it’s true. There will be much less beer in 30 years time. I’m Australian. I know this shit.

By: kingmonkey+1

kingmonkey+1 — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 21:57:47 +0000

That’s right, Swaim! If you download an mp3 illegally, you might as well be holding up a bank at gunpoint. And if you burn that mp3 to a CD, that’s the same as taking a hostage, you murdering psychopath (or equivalent in mp3-stealing terms).

By: Michael Swaim

Michael Swaim — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:12:19 +0000

Hey, what was that show about the high school teachers? Boston Common?

That was a good show.

Also, @ Suite-Pee: REALLY? I’m no better than a BANK ROBBER? Is that actually the belief you’re moving through life with?

By: Wallsy

Wallsy — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:20:48 +0000

You know why I (would, hypothetically speaking) pirate stuff? Because it’s so incredibly inconvenient to get it legally.

If I want to watch Boston Legal, I can wait 6 months for it to be on TV here and then have to put up with ads, I can wait even longer and buy it on DVD, which probably won’t play on my computer because of shitty copy protection, meaning I’d need an actual TV and DVD player, or I can download it. Now. For free. It’s a tough choice.

If they asked me to pay a small fee per episode or something to download it, I’d pay. Because then I wouldn’t have to bother with finding a torrent, deleting it because it was fake, finding a real torrent and re-downloading it.

Or, they could let me watch it online for free, but with ads in it. I’d go for that too, for the same reason. But I’m not going to pay them so they can make things less convenient for me.

By: kingmonkey +1

kingmonkey +1 — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:36:47 +0000

Not to mention the fact that the RIAA is basically condoning ecological corrosion. If you get your music electronically, you’re doing far less damage to the environment than if you buy a piece of plastic that was churned out at the pollution factory.

You may think, yeah, so what? I’m not worried about global warming. Last night, I was watching a news program called The Hour. The host mentioned that there was a report from scientists in Australia that stated global warming, in about 30 years time, could seriously damage the world’s production of barley and hops. The scientists being Australian, I give them the benefit of the doubt when it comes to any science even vaguely beer-related. I have chills just thinking about it.

By: Michael Swaim

Michael Swaim — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 04:47:38 +0000

Jesus, I never even thought about it that way. Thank you for pushing me even further in my extremist beliefs.

By: Ronsonic

Ronsonic — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 05:29:29 +0000

The messed up part is that people were ripping music online for about 8 years before it was even possible to pay for a download. The RIAA morons actually created an environment that made it easier to steal their product than buy it. Any real grownup industry with like real business executives and stuff would’ve taken a machine gun to their marketing department if something like that happened.

You noticed the movie industry hasn’t let that happen. Yeah, there are torrents, but those are less convenient than the legal ways to get a movie online.

Walk into Best Buys, go pick out a recent movie, look at the price then go look at the price on the soundtrack album. Hell any new CD release is only a couple bucks cheaper than a DVD. Somebody is fooling himself if he demands the same return on a $2M record production as the $50M movie.

By: Vinstarr

Vinstarr — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 04:34:49 +0000

One thing I think everyone should see (especially recording companies) is Matt Mason’s ‘The Pirates’ Dilemma’ speech at the Medici Summit. It explains how piracy usually stems from something being wrong in a market, and that the market needs to change. Downloading is obviously the way that future business is going to be handled, and any industries like the music industry that don’t embrace this new medium will fail. When the music industry started suing people for downloading rather than working out how capitalise off it, they basically said “We are not the music industry. We are the little plastic disc industry”. Because if they really were selling music, they’d change their business model to include downloading, not fight it. It’s 41 minutes long, but it’s one of the most informative speeches you’ll ever hear.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6483543718966313073