O/T RIAA Wins First Round

[AVATAR-X]

I just can't see the "taping off of the radio" being a proper analogy. Tapes and the Internet are completely different.

For one the issue of quality. There a number of people who dislike MP3s for their lack of "quality." The quality of something taped off the radio is bound to be less than an MP3 off of a Cd master.

Another point - ease of obtainability. Plain and simple, it is easier to get a Cd ripped Mp3 from the internet than wait for the song to pop up on the radio. Even in HEAVY rotation, who is going to wait by the radio for a song when they can just to a 10 second search on Napster?

Very close to the last point is the ease in which a song spreads. Sure we've probably all made a copy of a tape or two for a friend, but how far has that spread? Sure, one extra copy might not mean much; I doubt the RIAA is going to sue you over it (it would be too much trouble). But what about one Napster server. Assuming a moderate bandwidth, you could have given that song to 100 people by tomorrow. But of course chances are that the thousand servers with that song can do more damage than one server (and much more than one guy with a tape recorder).

All I'm saying is that Tapes and Mp3s are not the same thing, and you cannot treat them as such. That was the whole reason we needed a "Digital Millenium Copyright Act," so that the goverment would get with the times, and see the difference the digital age has made.

P.S. As for record sales being up after Napster was around, perhaps its true. On the other hand - Post Hoc Ergo Proctor Hoc.

P.P.S. I am not against Mp3s, I'm just against people who think trading copyrighted materials, for free, over the internet is a God given right. If your going to do it, at least understand that is not really legal.

[Dr Mordrid]

Think this at its most elemental level;

Stations transmit music by radio waves ---- Napster transmits music digitally by ISP's

Tapes store music on storage media ---- so does MP3, though it may be non-magnetic

But yet it's legal to tape music from radio and record programs on a VCR from TV, but not to download MP3's from the internet? I have a problem with that rationale, and I'm no friend of piracy.

What's the difference, other than those brought about by advances in storage technology?

Dr. Mordrid



[This message has been edited by Dr Mordrid (edited 30 July 2000).]

[AVATAR-X]

Alright, here is what I think about DM:

Simply put, the question is if a copy is made for personal use (as a backup) or if it is made to be distributed.

Making an Mp3 of your favorite Cd to take with you to work is not a problem. But, if you make an Mp3 and give it to friends that is not alright. The same goes for tapes - distributing them is illegal.

Now, some people think that if you only give a copy to a few people or do not make money off of the copies, that it is not illegal distribution - not true. The only reason individual people are not sued by record companies, is because it would waste too much time, money, and would be too hard to prove. On the other hand, stopping a large company from facilitating distribution (e.g. Napster) can be done more easily.

Think of it differently: would it be legal to use the Matrox Macrovision crack to copy a dvd and give copies to several friends? I would hope you said, no.

In the end, Napster is going to lose, just as Mp3.com lost. Napster will have to make reparations and will most likely make a deal with the RIAA to have a pay per download system.

One last thing: Radios pay to play songs over the airwaves. No one pays to download them off the internet (that is the reason behind the lawsuit).

[This message has been edited by AVATAR-X (edited 30 July 2000).]

[dchip]

I still think the exposure from Napster is good for the record industry and especially the creative artists. Hypothetical example: I download an MP3 and my friend hears it one day and says "cool, I didn't know so and so had released a new one." My friend just happens to be the non-computer type and runs out and buys the CD. Or if my friend is a computer user but still prefers to have that genuine jewel case in hand, he/she will likely still pop over to amazon or somewhere and get that CD.

Free MP3's or not, true CD collectors who simply MUST have a CD "collection" will always be there. I think the RIAA is incorrect in thinking that everyone who grabs an MP3 off the WEB is a lost sale or that everyone who grabs an MP3 off the WEB did so to avoid buying the CD. I still feel that most of these downloaders are unwittingly advertising this music.

[Dr Mordrid]

Exactly.

Napster often serves the same purpose as AM and FM radio: as a "teaser" that can actually stimulate you to buy an album.

Whatever pure piracy is being done is a response to predatory pricing on the part of the record industry. They need to look in the mirror for the solution to that part of the problem.

Dr. Mordrid

[dchip]

Heck, I just remembered I have several examples of being thus stimulated in my own CD collection. So much time, hardware and software has gone by, that I had almost forgotten: Anyhow, here's just one:

Back in 1996 or 1997 when I first started downloading wavs and later, mp3s, and before settling on 1970's stuff, I spent some time in an "oldies" room on IRC. One day I grabbed an MP3 of Ella Fitzgeralds rendition of "Stardust." I enjoyed it so much that I wanted more music from her during that period. I actually went to amazon and looked through literally dozens or LP's by her until I found one with similar tunes on it and ordered it. No question about it, if I had not grabbed that MP3 from that anonymous person I would never have purchased that CD.

Heck, more: Beatles, "Sgt Pepper's LHCB" (I have the vinyl, and like a proud packrat, the 8 track, in a dusty closet somewhere but I purchased the CD because somebody stuck a few tracks in an MP3 room on IRC and after that I couldn't get all the other songs on it out of my mind. Turntable was dead, Amazon was up and running)... Gordon Lightfoot, "Sundown" (somebody on IRC offered "Wreck of the Edumund Fitzgerald" and I patiently downloaded that huge file, a favorite of mine from the 70's. I began to think about the other Lightfoot classics I listened to as a teen. Back to Amazon)..

So I am asking the RIAA for help. I have been a victim of this free music being passed around on the internet.

(paulw, I'm glad you started this thread. It has ended up reminding me that my mother has my Ella Fitzgerald CD and I want it back)

[Dr Mordrid]

And let's not forget that Napster is perfect for obtaining music that is NO LONGER IN PUBLICATION.

My wife very much wanted to buy several songs she listened to as a child when our son Erik was born 2 years ago. MORE THAN HALF of them could not be found either in music stores or on the internet. We couldn't even find them as used albums or singles.

Napster to the rescue.

Dr. Mordrid