Just a general reply to the P2P discussion -- the reality is that there
*are* economic and legal alternatives that might cut through the current
impasse, but the RIAA have stalled and blocked any progress towards a
solution because Internet distribution directly threatens their monopoly
on music distribution and thus the harsh control they exercise over the
industry as a whole.
For example, one idea being heard a lot recently is the idea of a
compulsory license, where everyone accessing the Web will have to pay a
monthly fee [say a few dollars] and will then be able to freely
download whatever music they want from wherever they want. An
independent body would be in charge of measuring [probably by
surveying/sampling] downloading activity and calculating payments, which
could be made directly to artists. The RIAA may eventually come to
accept this solution, but not without a fight...
John
Renick Bell wrote:
quoted 97 lines How much time and money is it going to cost to download an album over
>> How much time and money is it going to cost to download an album over
>> a shared 56k
>>
>
> dialup from a Calcutta cyber cafe, or somewhere similar in Thailand,
> China, Brazil, etc?
>
> A friend of mine just returned from a business trip to Shang Hai.
> Dial-up accounts are
> free all over China, I've been told; you just pay the cost of the
> local call.
>
> The friend said much is available on the street or in markets; this
> person wasn't a fan
> of idm, but I'd guess that you aren't going to pick up Delarosa and
> Asora from a
> bootlegger there. Still, if you are one of the lucky minority in
> Shanghai who can afford
> a PC (which is as cheap as the states, if not cheaper), then the cost
> for obtaining
> something via p2p is considerably cheaper than buying a Made in the
> USA imported IDM 12"
> or CD. On a monthly salary of $571 (rough liberal average for rookie
> white-collar
> worker), that's a lot of incentive to use p2p. These same people, like
> their Western
> counterparts, are working in companies with T1 lines or DSL, where
> they are able to spend
> their employed time just as many in the West are or were able to.
>
>> From what I know, cyber cafes in Thailand and China aren't using 56k;
>> they're broadband.
>
> You'd be surprised. I couldn't get reliable DSL service living in
> Harlem for more than a
> year after I first subscribed. Now, living in Asia, I live in the
> freaking mountains and
> had DSL within 2 weeks (it has been perfectly reliable ever since).
> Verizon couldn't do
> that shit.
>
> There's a widely held misconception state-side that America is
> technologically superior
> to anywhere else on the planet. More Americans ought to travel more;
> they'd begin to see
> that life in America isn't so grand, or at least doesn't have a
> monopoly on reasonable
> standards of living. There is little doubt that many more people
> suffer than belong to
> the wired class (for a variety of reasons); but Americans are often
> ignorant about the
> truth of living standards in various places around the world.
>
> So, back to IDM and p2p... have you ever been record shopping in
> Tokyo? There's a
> shocking experience. CDs in Japan are extremely expensive, making p2p
> look even better
> for consumers there. While I'm not too sure about the number of p2p
> users downloading IDM
> in China or elsewhere in Asia, I'm sure Japan has a large number of
> users.
>
> I understand Jeff's points about the benefits for artists provided
> labels, but I don't
> understand his skepticism about the online world. At any rate, it's an
> argument about
> economics and practicality that's been rehashed here dozens of times.
> The customer will
> always try to find a way to get the same product for less. When p2p
> makes it so easy,
> there is only time between now and the end of label-as-business (as we
> know it). There
> will be clever business people (probably not musicians) who will
> figure out the model for
> profitting on this new way; hearing labels gripe is like listening to
> the frustrated and
> dying old guy in a wheelchair at the nursing home, griping to everyone
> about how the food
> doesn't taste as good and how his family doesn't visit as much as they
> used to. Sure,
> it's sad, but he's going to pass away, and he'll be forgotten. His
> family and close
> friends will mourn for a while, but even they will move on.
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Everything you'll ever need on one web page
> from News and Sport to Email and Music Charts
> http://uk.my.yahoo.com
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org
> For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org
>
>
>
>
--
John von Seggern
producer remixer DJ
Digital Cutup Lounge [Hong Kong / Los Angeles]
email <johnvon at digitalcutuplounge dot com>
home <
http://www.digitalcutuplounge.com>
bio <
http://www.digitalcutuplounge.com/newsite/jvsremix.htm>
current remix projects
Trilok Gurtu - Maya
Shaan - Tanha Dil [Indo psycho trance]
Asuka Hayashi - Akekaze [Japanese drum'n'bass]
David Bowie - China Girl [breakbeat trance remix]
Too Phat - Boogie Down [Malaysian hiphop]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org
For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org