Forkers Central

having shut down allofmp3 this week, the RIAA have moved onto getting the whole of the internet shut down

they'll probably get your ears shut down for listening to music next...

... ouch that's my right ear gone

what I LOVE about the internet is that whenever I'm on a music or movie download site I ALWAYS now see adverts for big companies like tescos, insurance agencies, travel companies and sky tv etc...that's them practically endorsing piracy right there...

but anyway, it'll never happen...too much of the economy circulates around the internet...it's not like it's just nerds sitting in their basement playing d&d by email anymore...if anything though this could pave the way for the good cop bad cop routine to come into play where bad cop says "we're gonna shut you down completely!" and good cop comes in and says "hey go easy on him frank, billy's a good kid...here's what we'll do kid, we'll cut you a deal, we won't shut you down but we'll take away net neutrality and set up regulatory boards and make you have to apply for a license to set up a website and if you're caught with any illegal stuff on your site then we're shutting you down" "ok I guess that's better than being shut down" *10 years later* little billy clicks on his Skybrowser it loads up but not without showing you 30 seconds of adverts and special offers every time *deal* for a limited time only you could have the advert disabled browser for just £30 extra a month! little billy then searches for an old blog site he used to subscribe to...silly billy, the blog he was looking for was deleted by the regulatory board because it contained hate speech and an image of someone burning the flag with an anti-govt comment underneath...better not try look for that again billy, you'll get penalty points on your license, people get a £20 reward now for just grassing up h4t3rz on the net...no billy, as long as you keep and low profile and don't stand out you'll be just swell, now go over to youtube and watch the Pepsi Presents The Fragile Army's Superbowl half time show from last night...they're duet with the Spears Ten of Sgt Pepper was inspiring although I'm surprised there was room on the stage for them and all of Britney's kids...[/sarcasm][/sarcasm]

i've always found it quite suspicious that the big labels that decry piracy also manufacture things like mp3 players, iPods, and things of that sort. i mean, 'home taping is killing music' was silly and it deserved to be laughed at. but now the internet is directly affecting sales. i doubt that they're going to really try to shut down the thing that's keeping their business alive..

ok i sort of went in a few directions there....but still

1) The Record Industry needs the internet.

2) The Record Industry must understand that certain levels of illegal downloads are going to happen.

3) The Record Industry must continue to go after high level piraters if/when they find them.

4) The Record Industry must put out records worth buying, at an acceptable price to the public.

5) The Record Industry is now paying a price for their greed when the technology wasn't available. Prices of CDs were out of control, too many fingers are in the pie of profit, and the artist, who is the reason there's something to put on the disc, is getting squeezed.

6) The Film Industry is next.

To me, the volume of downloaded music is an indication that price and demand are out of sync. I think the Feds should file a counter suit against the RIAA for conspiring to maintain artificially high prices.

Of course, $0 isn't really a price.

i've always found it quite suspicious that the big labels that decry piracy also manufacture things like mp3 players, iPods, and things of that sort.

yeah and whenever ISPs advertise when they have a cap they're always saying "...40 gigs a month limit, that's equivilent to downloading 40 movies or 8000 songs a month" and this was advertised even before there were legal outlets to download from...I didn't know before then that there were even 40 legal movies and 8000 legal songs to download off the net a month...so it's the equivilent of the ISPs being a dealer giving you some cannabis seeds and some growing lights and saying "hey we just sold these to you and told you that you could harvest a good 2lbs of sensimilla with this equipment, we didn't expect you to go and do it, we're totally blameless, personal responsibilty and all that jazz"

3) The Record Industry must continue to go after high level piraters if/when they find them.

Totally, totally agree. I think that these people need to be thrown in jail, honestly. But finding said folk is easier said than done. I mean, i can understand how a record might be seen as fair game if it's been sent out in promo form. But take a record like The Shins (or Joanna Newsom). Both of those came out way, way before promos had been sent out--way before, even, long lead-time promos came out. We're talking about being leaked during the mastering process. But the problem is--who did it?
Impossible to say.

3) But take a record like The Shins (or Joanna Newsom).

what real fan didn't still buy the album though? any real music fan buys a good band's album because they have the wisdom to know that it supports the band and anyone who just pirates it probably wouldn't have bought it anyway...if anything they may introduce it to someone who appreciates it enough to go and buy it

3) But take a record like The Shins (or Joanna Newsom).

what real fan didn't still buy the album though? any real music fan buys a good band's album because they have the wisdom to know that it supports the band and anyone who just pirates it probably wouldn't have bought it anyway...if anything they may introduce it to someone who appreciates it enough to go and buy it

Well, true. But at the same time, what right does a pirate have to control an artist's work and release it when they feel it's right? They don't, ESPECIALLY that early in the creation process. Mastering isn't finished, esp. with the Shins' record; the version that leaked isn't quite the same as the one that will come out next month.

yeah and whenever ISPs advertise when they have a cap they're always saying "...40 gigs a month limit, that's equivilent to downloading 40 movies or 8000 songs a month" and this was advertised even before there were legal outlets to download from...I didn't know before then that there were even 40 legal movies and 8000 legal songs to download off the net a month...so it's the equivilent of the ISPs being a dealer giving you some cannabis seeds and some growing lights and saying "hey we just sold these to you and told you that you could harvest a good 2lbs of sensimilla with this equipment, we didn't expect you to go and do it, we're totally blameless, personal responsibilty and all that jazz"

I dont' know what ISPs you're talking about specifically, but my company is working damn ard to make sure you have a way to legally download music / movies / games / security apps - so that we can get a cut.

Also, to the comment "we'll take away net neutrality and set up regulatory boards..." Net nuetrality doesn't exist without regulatory boards. You can't say regulation of ISPs is good while regulation of web sites is bad; there's not even any money in access, it's all in content - which is why ISPs are working so hare to get a cut.