Kudos to the students who aren't backing down in the face of a lawsuit by the music "majors", whose representative body is sueing the kids to the tune (sorry) of $150,000 US per song.
In the early days of the net, a quote (attributed to John Gilmore) often bandied around was that "the internet sees censorship as damage, and routes around it." I believe that this still holds true. The music industry may try to call the downloading of music "theft", but that's because it's in their interest to do so. Listen to music isn't theft, and prohibiting someone from downloading songs via the web is censorship -- which, for the time being at least, the internet still impressively resists.
Comments
14 comments
i really think this is ridiculous. music shouldn't be about the money, as it sadly has become, it should be about spread a message. of course i think supporting the artist is important, don't get me wrong. but spending $20 on a cd is simply outrageous. maybe if corporations are so afraid losing money they should start concidering the prices they're charging for their products. secondly, there are plenty of bands who don't really care if people download songs. in fact, many encourage it. for me, i'm not spending big bucks to purchase something i only want one or two songs off of. if i like the whole cd, then sure i'll invest the extra money...but charging thousands of dollors for downloading one song is nothing short of theft. i personally think it's not about supporting the artist, because i agree with supporting them. i do not agree, however, with filling big music corporations with more and more money, they're just being greedly. anything to make a buck.
I agree, Ashley -- and I think most internet-using music-lovers do too. That's why they're voting with their feet.
The big industries can't sue *all* users -- so they pick on a few students to "make an example".
I believe their plan will backfire; the industries are losing the respect of music consumers.
In all honesty it has been quite a struggle to find useful websites leading the charge against the RIAA and friends. It seems like a lot of the people have fallen into line, and you really can't blame them. After all the same people who control the record labels either own, or have friends who own media outlets that always publish fluff peices showing the horrors and perils of downloading.
Thebrandonshow.com is still leading the way though, you're right, the plan will backfire, but there needs to be some kind of concentrated effort to get the general public to know they've been lied to...
hello,
yeah i agree but my first experience being was being kicked off napster by metallica a couple years ago.i asked for the double metallica cd for
christmas.my grandmother honered my wishes on christmas day i popped in the cd to the song so what, it started off okay but where the first cuss
words started a loud beep sound came on.after trying to listen to this mess of stacked beeps
i took it out obtained the reciept and attempted to return it to wal-mart.the lady working the counter said i couldnt return it unless it was
a factory damaged copy.i insisted she call her supervisor who said i could exchange it for the
same cd!
there had been nothing on the cd to indicate it was censored using loud beeps.wal-mart can go to hell for their attempt at censorship.
after this what do i do but download the songs on the cd that were edited.metallica then has napster kick me off,even though the law allows
a backup copy of everything youve bought.just another example of corporations sticking together
the law taking their side and us the young being
taken for a ride.
question: if we download songs we get sued?,...or is it if we share songs we get sued which one is it?
You are actually getting sued for downloading songs, but the main way that they find people is by looking at people who are sharing, so if u dont share you most likely wont be caught. I just wanted to say that, even if you are worried about getting in trouble, or your parents are pressuring you not to do it, thats fine, don't download music. The important thing is to not buy cds from the corporations who are leading this because if they get more sales they will think it is working. Downloading doesn't take money from them, but buying cds does give them money.
KAZAA is the greatest site ever because porn is the best
if you guys EVER want a 'free' CD i have devised something simple, err, kinda.
OK, so if you open a sucky CD/game/DVD, or if a relative bought you one and lost the receipt (or it is edited) and you would like to return it, take it back and say it didn't work with our CAR STEREO, or Playstation (or w/e media is used.) Car stereoes are more fidgety and less likely to play, so use that! (if they ask to prove it to them, tell them the you are borrowing your parents car.)
then exchange it for the same title, once you have the UNOPENED media, DO NOT OPEN IT!! take this to another electronic store and say you bought it as a gift, they already have it (or some ther type of plausible excuse), you lost the receipt and would like to make an exchange. get the game/cd/dvd you want, and everyone is happy!
I think it's tottaly iddotic that you are getin sued for downloading music, I think if they were going to sue you they should of had something that said pay for the music or be sued, It is terrible that people all over gettin sued, now just to let you all know not all the artists are complaining about us suing just the greddy ones.
Hey I send Kazaa $30.00 to download and now they are talking about, we can get a fine now what is really going on.Have anyone else sends some money to download on Kazaa?
Hey my name is Nathan and im a senior in high school and im doin a term paper on the controversy of downloading music and i need some info about how to start my term paper
Hey my name is Nathan and im a senior in high school and im doin a term paper on the controversy of downloading music and i need some info about how to start my term paper
No one has been sued for DOWNLOADING! The RIAA lawsuits are not about DOWNLOADING! Let's clear things up. Only those who were SHARING have been sued. Regardless if the shared collection was 'downloaded', ripped from their own CDs, or borrowed. Doesn't matter HOW you get the media. ONLY the fact that you SHARE copyrighted media can get you sued. ONLINE SHARING is the real issue here. Downloading without sharing (ie. leeching) is 100% safe, and I offer anyone to challenge that. So don't let the RIAA, media, or webpostings brainwash you. Of course we all know that if no one shares, blah blah blah. Yes, leeching, as well as copyright infrigment are both bad, however those are totally different topics, and as it stands, DOWNLOADING, borrowing CDs, duplicating, are all moot points. Who cares if "you're gonna keep on downloading" or "not going to take the risk of d/ling anymore". WHAT risk??? Most of you have your 'sharing' feature turned off anyways! Remember, it's the SHARERS that the RIAA went after, not DOWNLOADERS. They didn't give a hoot whether the shared music was D/L'ed or legally purchased. They were angered that it was being SHARED, PERIOD. My point: keep the "Downloading" out of all lawsuit / RIAA discussions and focus on the SHARING! Any Comments?
Indiegirl: Thank you for saying what I've been saying since the RIAA started filing lawsuits. The issue is SHARING, not DOWNLOADING. But the mass media, even music publications like Rolling Stone, continue to use the two terms synonymously. THEY ARE NOT THE SAME THING! When a Rolling Stone article has a headline that says "500 more downloaders sued by the RIAA" it's simply poor journalism and is incredibly irresponsible and innacurate. When did downloading and sharing become interchangeable when discussing the issue? Maybe some of the confusion comes from the fact that technically both actions are illegal - but NOBODY has been targeted for lawsuits because of DOWNLOADING, just SHARING. The RIAA website is very clear about that, so why is everyone so scared of downloading? Because maybe they will some day go after downloaders? Very unlikely they would ever waste the money and resources to file a suit against someone who is downloading 1 or 2 random songs. So everyone please stop being so easily confused. Downloading is not going to get you sued. Sharing could.