Download Uproar: Record Industry Goes After Personal Use

[ButterflyBlood]

Source: Washington Post

Despite more than 20,000 lawsuits filed against music fans in the years since they started finding free tunes online rather than buying CDs from record companies, the recording industry has utterly failed to halt the decline of the record album or the rise of digital music sharing.

Still, hardly a month goes by without a news release from the industry's lobby, the Recording Industry Association of America, touting a new wave of letters to college students and others demanding a settlement payment and threatening a legal battle.

Now, in an unusual case in which an Arizona recipient of an RIAA letter has fought back in court rather than write a check to avoid hefty legal fees, the industry is taking its argument against music sharing one step further: In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale, Ariz., man who kept a collection of about 2,000 music recordings on his personal computer, the industry maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/28/AR2007122800693.html

---

Wow. RIAA are fucking PIGS.

[Richard D]

1. This would make . . .

. . . like every person who owns a personal computer subject to their law suits. Whew. I think the "Fu&king PIGS" a bit too gentle.

[populistdriven]

34. These threads never make it to the Greatest page, The RIAA owns too many liberal Democrats

And I am about as liberal you can get.

[qanda]

2. Yikes

That makes everyone in my house a criminal, even my 9 year old daughter.

[Morereason]

67. What happened to the "Fair Use" doctrine? Have they destroyed it?

Have they managed to eliminate the backbone of "fair use" that has been a part of copywrite doctrine for centuries? How can they get away with this?

[MikeE]

3. How stupid is RIAA

As a musician myself, I don't see a problem with people copying music to their hard drives. How else can you convert them to an MP3? :banghead: This is why I work independently! Of course I give copies of my scores away for free on my website too. I want people to play and hear my stuff. That is how you are remembered.

[angrycarpenter]

4. most of the cd's I have

were purchased first as albums then as 8-tracks then as cassettes. I have been buying music all my life just to see the format go obsolete. Now we have a format that will never go out of style, and that scares them shitless.

[silverojo]

12. CD's *will* go out of style, maybe sooner than we think

Even for data storage, CD's are getting harder to come by, since DVD-RW drives came on the scene.

MP3's are taking over, and MP3 players are making portable CD players damned near obsolete.

The RIAA is just getting too damned greedy...and as I said in a similar thread (and as someone else said in this one), people need to boycott the RIAA. Hit THEM in the wallet so hard, they'll be scared to mess with people who aren't violating ANY copyright laws. (It's NOT illegal to copy music for your own personal use; it's ONLY illegal if you give said copies to other people.)

[Chovexani]

15. The point is not that CDs won't go out of style

The point is, they want to make us have to replace our CDs with whatever they want to sell us next.

No one will go for that if you can rip CDs into mp3s on your computer.

[silverojo]

20. That's the point I was trying to make

But I'm so damned tired today, I'm just kinda rambling. :)

[kineneb]

38. ahh, but we can adapt old tech to new tech as a work around

I am going to copy some LPs onto CDs- I used to make cassette copies. Having read up on the procedure, it should be easy to copy them over to my laptop, and then onto CD. I even found I already have the proper cable.

As far as I am concerned, if I own a purchased "master" copy, either on LP, CD or tape, I can make copies onto other technologies for personal use. The trick to get around the RIAA is not to store the music on your computer after you make a copy. "Leave No Evidence" (on the computer). It is easy enough to reload the files later.

The RIAA can go stuff it.

Incidentally, oh RIAA goons: the reason I still have and play LPs is because I cannot afford to replace them with CDs. Also, many have not been reissued. So phlibbbbbt!

[Chovexani]

13. Ding ding!

We have a winner, folks.

Now they're just trying to justify their bullshit jobs.

[MadMaddie]

5. You know what maybe it's just time to stop buying the damn

Cds...altogether.

These corporate bastards complaing because of low sales but then they don't hesitate to sue someone for loading their CDs on their own home computers.

Screw em...when enough Americans start paying attention and stop buying into the bullshit we will see who will be crying then...

And if a person has legally purchased a CD and it's illegal to download it to a computer then logic says with this argument that it is illegal to download it to....let's say an ipod....

Hey why doesn't the industry sue individuals that purchase a CD and plays it amongst friends...because the friends didn't purchase the CD then they don't have the right to listen to the CD...

We can take this argument anywhere they want to go....in the end it damages the industry even more....yahoo...

[BattyDem]

6. Well , how the hell am I supposed to get the music ...

off the CD and in to my iPod if I don't transfer the songs to my computer first?! :wtf: :shrug:

I often transfer songs to my PC so I can listen to a lot of different music while working without having to constantly switch CDs. Every person I know does the same thing. What the f*ck is the point of buying a CD if you can't listen to it in the way that is most convenient for you? Do they actually think this is going to increase CD sales? :eyes:

[Beam Me Up]

43. I'm with you.

I've put my entire CD collection into my computer because:

1: iTunes allows me to organize all my music in any way I want and, more over, create a variety of mixes to keep me entertained for hours -- even days -- without having to change CDs (which can easily get damaged)

2: I have airTunes and can now broadcast my music to any room in my home

3: I've now traded in ALL my CDs to the local used CD store because it is OBVIOUS to me that CDs are no longer necessary

4: I now buy my music directly online and download directly to my iTunes

[drbtg1]

50. No, it isn't OBVIOUS. Your item #3 may cause you to have a legal problem.

When you traded in your CD's, the physical item that also allowed you to have a license from the copyright holder for personal use of the music, you also gave up that license for personal use. If you still have a copy of the copyrighted material from the CD that you gave away, it is now an illegal copy.

[Beam Me Up]

61. Markets change as technology changes.

There was a time when everything written was written by hand. All that changed fivehundred and seventyone years ago when Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press. Now look where we are? Almost nothing we own or use every day is made 'by hand' -- and the invention of the computer and the connecting of those computers together in the www has changed the very foundation of social commerce. I know corporations hate it when markets change outside their driven control and they fight mightily with every legal argument the can muster to prevent these changes. But the fact remains that societies markets change as technologies change and the winners are always those who grasp the new markets and make use of them -- and the losers are always those who fight market evolution.

ANY of the record companies could compete in the on-line music delivery industry and make more profit than they do selling CDs. Who gets wiped out? The CD manufacturers and the record stores but NOT the recording industry.

[DarleenMB]

60. Yeah, what BMU said

My entire CD collection is now in storage boxes and that's where they're staying. iTunes has made my life so much better because now I'm not tripping over jewel cases because no one bothered to put them back and I can listen to what I want when I want without having to spend 30 minutes digging through my collection looking for it.

When I buy music now I buy it through iTunes and burn a back up copy (legally) which joins all the other cd's in the basement.

The RIAA can kiss my old butt. I've been buying music since I was 17 and have a huge collection of LP's (which I keep telling myself I'm going to convert to digital and put in my iTunes) AND cd's. I now own 4 iPods and 3 computers where my music lives and that's where it's staying. I don't steal music. If I want a tune or an album I buy it.

the RIAA and the rest of the music industry is scared they're going to have to give up their high fallutin' lifestyle. Well welcome to the real world asshats.

[Junkdrawer]

7. The RIAA SEZ: MP3 Players are Illegal, but, most of the time, we'll look the other way:

It’s okay to copy music onto an analog cassette, but not for commercial purposes.

It’s also okay to copy music onto special Audio CD-R’s, mini-discs, and digital tapes (because royalties have been paid on them) – but, again, not for commercial purposes.

Beyond that, there’s no legal "right" to copy the copyrighted music on a CD onto a CD-R. However, burning a copy of CD onto a CD-R, or transferring a copy onto your computer hard drive or your portable music player, won’t usually raise concerns so long as:

The copy is made from an authorized original CD that you legitimately own

The copy is just for your personal use. It’s not a personal use – in fact, it’s illegal – to give away the copy or lend it to others for copying.

·The owners of copyrighted music have the right to use protection technology to allow or prevent copying.
Remember, it’s never okay to sell or make commercial use of a copy that you make.

http://www.musicunited.org/2_thelaw.html#5

[silverojo]

16. Here's a secret most computer users don't know

You can bet that the "royalties" you pay to get higher-priced audio CD's don't go anywhere near the pockets of any artists. So why pay the RIAA for no good reason? You can make perfectly good audio CD copies onto data CD discs. :rofl:

Memo to RIAA: Sales are slowing because PEOPLE CAN'T EVEN AFFORD TO HEAT THEIR HOMES, LET ALONE BUY MUSIC!

[qanda]

19. Not only that, but hardly any of the music is worth listening to anyway

I say make your own music or support indie artists. At least you won't have to worry about getting sued.

[kineneb]

39. the CDs I buy are quite listenable... Bach, Beethoven, Mozart...

Yes, I do buy a "master" copy. Then I do with it what I want.

I somehow doubt the RIAA will be going after copies of classical recordings; they make very little money off of them. Some recordings sell out quickly (small pressing runs), so copying is sometimes necessary for particular pieces.

I like my composers dead, preferably over 150 years; some of the best have been dead far longer.

[Igel]

40. So here's a question ...

Could you get both Die Zauberflote and the Bach B minor Mass on an iPod, and still have room left over for a decent amount of Sweelinck? (I have no idea what iPod memory's up to, or what a 4-5 hours of music compresses to in mp3 format.)

[kineneb]

41. don't know

I still don't have an MP3 player, so I imagine it would depend on the memory size. It might be pushing the technology to get all of that on one, yet. I really would like one to hook up in my car, so I wouldn't have to haul the CD player/CDs around for long trips.

(not a Luddite, just poor, and spend extra $ on woodshop tools and oil painting supplies...Santa brought me a real easel!)

...still have LP set of B-minor Mass; also Christmas Oratorio (done in 1957?, in the Thomaskirche, just before the DDR cracked down on such things); and two albums of recordings of G. Gabrieli, done in San Marco in the 1960s, w/E. Power Biggs, Edward Tarr Brass Ensemble, and several choirs- great stuff and they have not been re-issued on CD!

[riverdeep]

46. It depends on the capacity of your Digital Audio Player (ipod or somesuch),

and how much you compress the file. I typically convert it to an average of 192 Kbps in variable bit rate mode. Variable as opposed to fixed- variable changes the rate of recording according to how much musical info needs to be converted and it does it automatically, less dense info-less rate, more info, higher rate. Fixed converts it to the same rate regardless of what's happening in the music. Variable generally results in highest quality, lowest file size for that particular rate range. Sometimes you may need to record in WAV (creating much larger file size, because WAV doesn't compress at all) because classical music can sometimes create weird artifacts with mp3 conversion. Most of mine is in mp3 though, and it sounds fine.

Right now on my mp3 player I've got Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring and Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D, Penderecki's Musica de Camera and 2nd Violin Concerto, Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, Pretty much everything by Anne Sophie Mutter (my fave violinist) which includes entire long pieces of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, Sibelius, and 29 Chopin piano etudes, and various shorter pieces. It takes up about 4.3 gigs. I have a 40 gig player, so it's not a problem. Very roughly, if you sample at 196 Kbps, it will take up about a gig to get 713 minutes (just under 12 hours) of your music converted, so that can give some idea.

Ipods, if you're interested in those, go up to 160 I believe. The stuff you mentioned, shouldn't be a problem. Note that gigs get more expensive the smaller you go. So an 80 gig at $250 costs $3.13/gig. A 30 gig at $170 costs $5.67/gig (when comparing within the same version line, in this case only music no video, and hard drive as opposed to flash storage).

[Igel]

68. Ah.

That's more than I expected--although given how cheap memory is these days, that was an unreasonably low expectation.

Might have to put an iPod on my wish list.

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

58. Easily. Ipods make 80 gig versions. Thats more songs than I can comprehend.

[EnviroBat]

52. Right on...

When our album is finished later this year, we will be giving it away... I've been a musician for way too long to start worrying about making a living with it now.

[FloridaJudy]

8. I'm a criminal?

Wow. Just wow. Since when am I not allowed to transfer music from a CD I bought (and paid waaaay too much for) to my computer? Is there another way to get it into a MP3 format? I'm sure the recording industry would rather I paid all over again to download it, but that just ain't gonna happen.

Sheesh.

[PSPS]

9. Apple must be delighted!

It says in iTunes instructions:

"Importing songs from CDs

You can import songs from your CDs into your iTunes library. Imported songs are stored on your hard disk so that you can listen to them without having the original CD in the disc drive."

Maybe they're trying to stimulate sales at the iTunes store.

[BattyDem]

14. I just posted something about iTunes in another thread. Obviously, they didn't get the RIAA memo.

From Apple.com (iTunes Support):

How many times can I burn my purchased music?

Songs purchased from the iTunes Store can be burned to audio CDs and data CDs an unlimited number of times. However, each unique playlist can only be burned to an audio CD 7 times.

http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/store/burn /


So, according to the RIAA, if I buy a CD and copy it to my computer so I can put the music on my iPod, I'm in violation of copyright law.

But ... if I buy those same songs from iTunes and I copy them to my iPod, then a burn a CD to play in the house and another CD to play in the car, that's just fine. :eyes:

[krispos42]

10. Okay, fine.

Then I demand that the RIAA start a nationwide chain of kiosks where I can put in a CD and it goes direct to my mp3 playter. For free. And anonymously.

And I mean everwhere. If McDonald's can have a RedBox DVD-rental machine in every store, RIAA can do it with this kiosk idea of mine.

Betcha Burger King and Wendy's would like to have something that brought foot traffic into the restraunt!

[Chovexani]

11. Where are the RIAA apologists now?

Waiting.

[D23MIURG23]

21. I didn't know they existed at all.

Thats an eye opener. You mean somone actually likes these assholes?

[Chovexani]

23. Oh trust me.

There's a handful of industry shills that come out whenever there's a story like this to chastise us dirty, rotten pirates for "stealing music".

[Junkdrawer]

25. They're running their arguments past focus groups as we speak....

Paid shills usually come late, but in force...

[populistdriven]

35. The DNC has appointed a RIAA director to the upcoming DNC convention

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/04/12/dnc_appoints_riaa_sh.html

Today, Jenni Engebretsen was named "Deputy CEO for Public Affairs," for the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Denver -- but she is better known as the Director of Communications for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

The RIAA is the most hated "company" in America, according to a recent poll on the Consumerist. The RIAA's campaign of suing thousands of American music lovers has been the single biggest PR disaster in recent industrial history -- which is why Engebretsen's employer beat out Halliburton, Blackwater and Wal-Mart for the coveted "Worst Company" slot.

-snip-

Washington, DC –Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean today announced the six members of the senior leadership team for the 2008 Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC). This talented group of professionals brings extensive experience representative of the commitment to excellence, inclusion and accessibility that will be a hallmark of the 2008 Denver Convention...

Jenni Engebretsen, Deputy CEO for Public Affairs
Jenni R. Engebretsen is currently the Director of Communications for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Washington, DC-based trade group that represents the U.S. recording industry. Before joining the RIAA, Engebretsen spent eight years working in Democratic politics, most recently as a Regional Communications Director for the Kerry-Edwards for President campaign, where she was responsible for developing campaign communications strategy for top-targeted states including Florida and New Hampshire. During the 2004 presidential cycle, she also served as Deputy Communications Director for the Democratic National Convention in Boston and as Press Secretary for the Edwards for President campaign during the primaries. Before that, she worked on Capitol Hill in the communications offices of Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Chuck Schumer ( D-N.Y.) and in the White House press office during the Clinton Administration. She is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.

[Tesha]

70. (It's likely that) nobody here likes the RIAA, but some of us...

(It's likely that) nobody here likes the RIAA,
but some of us understand that when you buy a
piece of plastic with music (or a movie or
whatever) on it, what you're really buying is
a *LICENSE* to use that music (or movie or
whatever) in certain ways.

And what you licensed (usually) is the right
to use that music yourself in non-commercial
settings. You didn't license the right to play
that music in a bar or disco (a commercial
setting). And you didn't license the right to
make copies and sell or even give them to
others.

If you get tired of the music, you can transfer
the license (by selling your piece of plastic).
But you must then stop using all other copies
of that music that you made, whether CDs,
cassettes, or MP3s.

This stuff is all very simple, and it's all based
on long-established law.

But some people get their noses out of joint when
told that there really is no free lunch. If you
want free music, stick to music performed by
groups that license their music freely and avoid
the products that use the more-conventional
licenses.

Tesha

[stlsaxman]

17. I rarely buy commercial cd's any more. buy all my music on iTunes then print it onto a blank cd...

to play in my car.

RIAA is just plain stupid.

don't get me wrong- i am totally against stealing music.

support independant music! hey wanna buy my bands cd???

http://cdbaby.com/cd/psychotronics

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=256405570

[depakid]

18. Eventually, they'll push it too far

I can see an Edwards adminstration taking on the serious abuses of intellectual property laws- starting with the RIAA.

Something Clinton would never do....

[NYC]

22. Audio Home Recording Act (AHRA).

http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap10.html

The last time I read this, it was legal to make a copy of music you bought for your own personal use.



From Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_Home_Recording_Act

Private, noncommercial copies by consumers using "digital audio recording devices" are explicitly protected by §1008. The Senate report defines noncommercial as “not for direct or indirect commercial advantage,” offering examples such as making copies for a family member, or copies for use in a car or portable tape player.


Unresolved Questions

Still, the AHRA was unsuccessful in its attempt to “conclusively . . . resolve this debate” over the legality of home taping. Section 1008 explicitly allows private, noncommercial home copying with 'analog' devices and media. The primary difficulty lies in the definition of “digital audio recording device.” Though there are no reliable figures on the subject, the meager returns to the Copyright Office's DART fund amidst widespread copying and dissemination of digital music suggests that a great deal of copying, noncommercial or otherwise, is accomplished using devices not covered by the AHRA. For these devices, including MP3 players, computer hard drives, and most CD burners and CD-Rs, the section 1008 exemption, which applies only to copies made with a "digital audio recording device" as defined by the act, may not apply.
------------------------------

Re definition of digital audio recording device:

A CD-R recorder included as part of a personal computer would not be a digital audio recording device under the Act, since the personal computer was not marketed primarily for making copies of music. The same recorder, sold as a peripheral and marketed for the express purpose of making digital audio recordings, would fall under the Act's definition of a recording device.

---------------

See also:

http://www.fullinlegal.com/article.jsp?practArea=25&articleIndex=1

[DRoseDARs]

24. Techblog Engadget dug a little deeper and found this WaPo article to be misleading...

...he's actually being sued for run-of-the-mill illegal downloading. All the RIAA is doing different is just reiterating its (bogus) argument that ripping legally-bought CDs into mp3s on the owner's computer constitutes making "unauthorized copies" in their view.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/30/riaa-not-suing-over-cd-ripping-still-kinda-being-jerks-about-it/

[DRoseDARs]

44. I wonder if anyone in the past 6 hours clicked the Engadget link and read about the ACTUAL lawsuit.

Or, failing that, just reading what I posted above the link about the guy being sued for illegal downloads, NOT for ripping his legal CDs. :shrug:

Edit: My bad. Looks like Crabby Appleton noticed earlier that the CD-ripping story was bogus.

[Tesha]

69. So after all those replies, it turns out the guy is just a common file-sharer.

And that, no matter how many people like to bloviate
about it here, is entirely settled law. If you "share"
someone else's property without their permission, you're
breaking the law.

The law about personal use of music (and other media)
is also clear: you have the legal right to do it and
the RIAA can't do anything about it, even if you copy
the music to other media. But the bloviators don't
want to pay for the music in the first place.

Tesha

[aquart]

26. Well, good luck with that, fellas.

Guess we're all going to jail.

[Guaranteed]

27. Sounds like an infringement on my license.

Countersuit!

[Guaranteed]

29. Oh, and further- what a great way to make CD's even MORE obsolete

and irrelevant! Prohibiting their transfer to a PREFERRED format.

People will just buy straight from iTunes or otherwise.

[Gman]

28. If you are not sharing files, they have no way of knowing EXCEPT

if something is letting them know you're ripping CD's. Hmmmm.... what uses half of a new computer's minimum 1 Gig memory to run digital rights management policing software and hardware? Begins with a V...

Don't know, haven't heard of it, but I wouldn't trust Microsoft near as far as I can throw Bill Gates.

[Crabby Appleton]

36. The WaPo article is totally misleading, the guy got caught using kazaa

to share music files, that's what the guty got sued for.

http://www.ilrweb.com/viewILRPDFfull.asp?filename=atlantic_howell_071207RIAASupplementalBrief

[truthisfreedom]

30. This is already backfiring on them. They'll totally destroy their market if they don't allow people

to load music into mp3 players. It's the final nail in the coffin for the industry... Bands will simply sell their music DIRECTLY to iTunes rather than get involved with this new cannibalistic RIAA.

[dbt]

31. Death to the RIAA, the last gasp of CorpoMuzik.

Long LIVE free choice via the Internet!

:evilgrin:

[humbled_opinion]

32. Attacks on our Privacy ... When will it stop...

[EnviroBat]

53. When we start standing up to the bullshit.

[populistdriven]

33. I wish Conyers would stop supporting every piece of RIAA legislation that comes along

I understand he likes to hang out with the BET crowd but the RIAA is a revolting outfit.

And seeing crap like this really makes me angry
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/riaa/democrats-hate-america-riaa-flack-hired-for-dnc-251981.php

[Crabby Appleton]

37. The WaPo article is misleading, the guy got caught using kazaa

the defendant said he didn't realize that kazaa program was sharing the files with others, he was sued for the sharing, not the copying.

http://www.ilrweb.com/viewILRPDFfull.asp?filename=atlantic_howell_070820OrderGrantSumJudg

(cross posted in other related threads)

[datadiva]

42. I purchase a cd, its my cd

I copy it to MY computer. My cd, my computer. As long as I don't give it away to someone else, its still mine. Geez, what next.

[onenote]

49. A suggestion: check the previous posts in a thread before posting

As you will see, the article is misleading. The lawsuit alleges unlawful distribution via KAZAA not unlawful copying.

[and-justice-for-all]

45. the RIAA is pretty much the SS of the music world....

or at least pretend to be. There is a large amount of artist that have never seen a check from the RIAA or are even aware of them or what their purpose is.

Do not blame the fans, blame the record industry for not keeping up and doing what they can to keep CD prices at a fare rate. I only download tracks when they are availible on a bands offical website or their MySpace page, but I do buy CDs and I do it from a local independent record shop or from The End Records dot com.

[EnviroBat]

54. Soon it will be illegal for you to listen to a CD,

If you weren't the one who purchased it. Have a party with tunes playing? Arrest everyone in the place! The music was enting their ears liiegally! This shit has got to stop.

[shadowknows69]

63. Technically anyone playing music for other people is supposed to be liable for ASCAP/BMI fees

[and-justice-for-all]

65. That's some dumb shit...nt

[onenote]

66. "Technically" that's not exactly correct

Or to put it more precisely, you have overstated the law. A "public performance" of a musical work requires a license, typically granted through a performing rights society such as ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC. Does a public performance occur anytime anyone plays music for other people? No. The law defines a performance is considered "public" when the work is performed in a "place open to the public or at a place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances are gathered."

So if you set up a set of loudspeakers in a public park and play music for anyone to hear, yep, that's a public performance. Play it in your living room for a bunch of friends. Nope.

[mogster]

47. The music business has become redundant

The music really don't need the artificial distribution structure of the music business, as the structure itself is old fashioned and obsolete. The music industry shares this trait with the mass media. Once people start to become the media themselves, the one way media structure seems old fashioned. Both structures have info that is easily distributed by people themselves, and stopped being important the moment the internet was a fact. The music industry showed it's dino status (and this is no compliment to capitalism) when the internet arrived; they refused to see the new possibilities this opened for making money, and instead reverted into denial.
The informal exchange of music as mp3 started in 1998, while the first net shop for music in that format (iTunes) did not start until 2002-2003. To the music business, the internet is the enemy and they also treat their customers as the enemy. Which isn't a good thing, if you're adhering to any world outlook that isn't strictly commercial.
I think the music business will pay for this, and good riddance I'd say.

[Perry Logan]

48. "He who takes what isn't hisn...must give it back, or go to prison."

[Snarkturian Clone]

51. Never purchase music again.

Ever. Copy all of your cd's and give them away to all your friends and tell them to do the same.

[B3Nut]

55. That's why I swear by my turntables

and will be saving up for a new one, either a modded Technics 1200 from KAB (1200's ain't just for DJ's, they have a well-deserved audiophile cult following too) or a Music Hall mmf5.1, which I've auditioned. Between small-shop audiophile pressings and reissues to mining for gems at the Goodwills and yard sales, vinyl is a fun and often cheap way to collect music. I don't own an iPod or other mp3 player...I prefer deliberate listening at home, though I do play CD's in the car.

As for my CD's, most of those have been ripped to Windows Media Lossless and played on my PC. I have the originals, so contrary to the RIAA's crackheaded notions I have every right to play music I've paid for on whatever equipment I own. Talk about trying to bite the hand that feeds you! Downloading to avoid paying for music is indeed theft, no rational person disputes this, but fair use is a cornerstone of a free society. I often carry burned CD's in the car leaving the originals at home...they may not approve, but I don't care. I've lost/had damaged and had to repurchase too many CD's. I have a right to back up my original media...hell, I sometimes back up vinyl to my reel-to-reel deck! (Yeah, I'm old-school.)

But if you want to give the RIAA the finger, used vinyl is a cool (and cheap!) way to do that. My original vinyl of Kansas "Point Of Know Return" actually sounds better than the latest CD remaster, thanks to a horrible muddy-sounding remaster job. They killed most of the original dynamics, the music doesn't "breathe" like it should. That's another reason CD sales are flat...too many current releases sound like complete ass! And I'm not about to buy lossy-compressed downloads...if I buy music I want a physical object, either an optical disc or a vinyl record.

Todd in Cheesecurdistan

[KharmaTrain]

56. The Horse Is Long Out Of The Barn

Ah for those halcyon days of the original Napster, WinMX, Audio Galaxy, Kazaa and other programs. It was a music collector's field day. Tons of music was out there...including many, many tunes that were long out of print and almost impossible to get from the record companies. The serious collectors stocked up in those early years and had moved on or cut down their downloading long before the RIAA started realizing what was happening.

This led to hundreds of people around the world having music and putting it online. The RIAA tried to fight this from the downloading end...going after those 20,000 people. Now it looks like they're going after the uploaders...trying to keep people from converting CDs and then making them available.

I'm hoping someone challenges these bloodsuckers under the "Fair Use" policy that applied to cassette tapes one would record off the radio or from their albums...or even your VCR. They'd have to show how the transfer of this music costs them money...and if the owner doesn't have a file sharing program, I hope the RIAA not only loses but gets countersued.

[OneBlueSky]

57. for years I made custom compilation cassette tapes for friends and family . . .

for special occasions (birthdays, graduations, Christmans, etc.). . . now I make custom compilation CDs for the same purpose . . . so sue me . . .

[WillowTree]

64. They can, you know.

Keep advertising that you do so and they may just track you down and prove it.

[pleah]

59. Record companies are obsolete.

[shadowknows69]

62. I might as well go back to downloading illegally

I admit I used to but halted as soon as the litigation against Napster and the like started. I BUY most of my music on Itunes but have uploaded my personal collection too. If I'm going to get just as sued for that why bother buying anymore.

[Tesha]

71. Read the complete story; this guy was sharing. If you're not, you're safe. (NT)