discussion alert! you have been warned:
apologies to shutthefuckupists for increasing the text/spam ratio - to
return to the commercial broadcast just activate yr killogfile/antiantispam
shield, press button on keyboard with 'delete' written on it or keep eyes
shut tight for the duration of this message.
quoted 4 lines From: ben gill <gillette_foamy@yahoo.com>
>From: ben gill <gillette_foamy@yahoo.com>
>Subject: Re: [idm] Life after SoulSeek
>Message-ID: <20030211052337.51782.qmail@web41510.mail.yahoo.com>
>
<>
quoted 5 lines When is
>When is
>Tigerbeat6 or Morr or Blah Blah going to form a
>coalition such as the APG and search out those who
>have downloaded their artists, to demand a payment due
>to copyright infringement?
If these kinds of action are successful, I'm sure there would be any number
of no win/no fee collectors and agencies. You are talking about a lot of
labels and it would only takes one bloody-minded label, publisher or artist
to complain. Are you that confident? I think you'd be surprised at how many
small artists and labels who don't know how they should react when they see
their stuff as mp3z. Realistically, I think the problem is more likely to be
a case of self-censorship with ISP's pre-emptively blocking ip's/ports and
filtering content to avoid potential lawsuits.
quoted 5 lines Essentially, we're talking about two different
>Essentially, we're talking about two different
>worlds--I'm talking about IDM-sized labels, if not IDM
>style music; you're talking about WEA and the like.
>This explains your doomsday-Orwellian tambor (and my
>indie "fuck em all" doggedness.... :)
<>
quoted 9 lines No matter how cynical you are, how hopeless you
>No matter how cynical you are, how hopeless you
>believe the situation is, or how powerless you think
>individuals are compared to the music industry,
>alternatives will always exist. If we take it to its
>logical end, and indeed your picture of the future is
>correct, I believe more and more artists will eschew
>the Big Brother reality you've illustrated, and revert
>to a model that abandons copyright as we know it
>altogether.
<>
quoted 2 lines Again, you're more concerned with majors
>Again, you're more concerned with majors
>whereas I'm not. Clearly our concerns are different,
<>
quoted 10 lines seems like the principle you're getting at is that
>seems like the principle you're getting at is that
>those in charge will remain there, and will recoup
>their losses, no matter how underhanded the means.
>Agreed. Jump ship as soon as possible, to the largest
>extent possible.
>
>From: Mark <mef@ecst.csuchico.edu>
>CC: idm@hyperreal.org
>Subject: Re: [idm] Life after SoulSeek
>Message-ID: <3E48ACE6.1090101@ecst.csuchico.edu>
<>
quoted 6 lines this future you describe was lobbied last year in a bill that was quckly
>this future you describe was lobbied last year in a bill that was quckly
>killed for those above reasons. why the bill? because the tech
>industry is WAY more powerful (in terms of cold hard cash) than the
>entertainment industry. i highly doubt the tech industry would ever
>succumb entirely to these "pressures". unless, of course, it is
>mandated by the government, and that didn't work.
The entertainment industry continues to lobby to get this stuff mandated by
law in the US (to be followed by anyone who wants to do business with her).
So far they got the DMCA and the battle between entertainment and tech
industries is still ongoing
(
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/28882.html).
This is where companies like Microsoft and Sony come in. Sony is both a
tech and entertainment company and they have openly stated that they intend
to throttle copying at the hardware level while MS is openly working on
Palladium, which will only run signed content (some beginnings here -
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/28938.html). In other words, these
companies are going to implement this stuff in any case with or without
government mandates.
So wtf has any of this tech politicking got to do with you, me and
tigerbeat? We can just do our thing while the men in suits do theirs... Only
problem is that at least about 90% of us are using MS. What format are
tigerbeat supposed to release on when the choice is between some digitally
signed MS format or something that is free but that only a small number of
people can use? The distribution margins are already cut to the bone for a
microlabel and excluding a large section of the market while maintaining a
distribution deal will not be an option. (You could also say a label's job
is to get the music out there to the audience). Even worse, what if a
license is required to encode music into this proprietary format - say
something that costs $5k per year, cheap to a big label but unthinkable to a
small one.
So for tigerbeat to be able to avoid these formats, the vast majority of the
audience must have some kind of oldschool or linux-y playing equipment. This
could become difficult in terms of availability alone, I bought a hifi for
someone recently and I was shocked by how hard it is now to actually get
something which isn't a 5:1 dvd system; I just wanted some plain separates
for a simple cd stereo system - even in a big city the choice was tiny.
Seems like most companies stopped making this stuff already. And if it is
difficult to get playback equipment it will be doubly hard to find
manufacturing facilities for physical products.
I think it is pretty safe to say that this will affect us all.
--
ed
http://www.noiseloop.com
np: lazyfish demo
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org
For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org