The RIAA has lost it

-or- complete and utter BS

Published on February 16, 2006 By BlueDev In Current Events

Throw away your iPod. Toss out the Zen. Nuke your Nomad.

Apparently the RIAA no longer thinks that ripping your CDs to put on a portable music player is covered under "fair use". And don't you dare back up those CDs either, you miserable little thief.

Even though, for a while now, they have been telling us it was okay to rip our CDs to put on a computer or portable music device, they have changed their minds. Now we need to get individual permission from whoever holds the copyright. So looks like we will have to contact the labels, artists, etc. just to use our iPods.

Bull.

That is just ridiculous. Look, I understand wanting to stop piracy. I support that (depending on the methods used). But the principle impetus in my wanting to get an iPod is so that I can load my entire CD collection on it and then carry it with me wherever I go. I don't use iTunes to purchase music, as I would much rather purchase the actual CD.

And you can forget it if you think I am going to buy all my discs again, just so the RIAA is happy with how I am loading my iPod.

I thought they were a bunch of blood sucking wackos before. This confirms it.

Comments (Page 1)

thatoneguyinslc

on Feb 16, 2006

Screw em Doc. Load it all up. There is no possible way they can prevent this. Even if the add some freakish code to newer CD's. Someone will figure out a way around it.

BlueDev

on Feb 16, 2006

Screw em Doc. Load it all up.

My sentiments exactly. This is just one more bit of evidence that they have become an entirely irrelevant organization.

ParaTed2k

on Feb 16, 2006

Ironic that this would come out in a year that paid (legal) downloads finally out paced "pirated" songs. We see the future and the idiots in the RIAA only drown in the past.

bakerstreet

on Feb 16, 2006

Being allowed to rip your cds was a concession they were forced to make to get their moronic law passed. The minute they got that done they started ignoring all the parts of it they didn't like. The companies involved have done their best to make backup copies of DVDs and CDs impossible, even when they agreed that it would be acceptable.

They are liars, and greedy, and frankly I think thwarting them is great as long as the music in question is your own property. The problem is people are too damned interested in getting their crappy media to boycott the fekkers and hit them where it really hurts.

I wrote a piece this afternoon about something related to this. We're in a lot of trouble if we let our corrupt Congress collude with business to rob us of our rights. We can't even be the ones to vote on our own laws anymore. It all has to be done behind closed doors with lobbyists, and all we can do is hope the people we send to serve don't get bought off.

dynamaso

on Feb 16, 2006

Thankfully, the Australian version of the RIAA hasn't announced any similar conditions yet.

They are liars, and greedy, and frankly I think thwarting them is great as long as the music in question is your own property

Well said. Copyright, like any laws, are really only going to stop law-abiders anyway. Unfortunately, there are always going to be people who want to cheat, steal or defraud others of their hard-earned dollars. But stopping those who pay for and own a peice of music from duplicating it for their personal enjoyment is just plain wrong.

cactoblasta

on Feb 17, 2006

Thankfully, the Australian version of the RIAA hasn't announced any similar conditions yet.

I don't think they can. There's a new law scheduled to be passed in the next few weeks that guarantees the right of Australians to have copies of TV shows and own media on several different platforms, but with the same source. So we can own a cd but have the music on a computer, an ipod, an old-school tape - whatever. As long as we've paid for the tracks somehow we have a right to playing them on whatever we like.

Chaos Manager

on Feb 17, 2006

As long as we've paid for the tracks somehow we have a right to playing them on whatever we like.

Now THAT, I like. Too bad it'll never fly over here. It makes too much sense. And as we all know, Americans (esp. American governtment and corporations) can't due ANYTHING that makes sense.

marcusjm

on Feb 17, 2006

The irony here is that they are doing it simulatneously to lifting huge amounts of cash
from tape/cd sales. I wonder how they wlll justify this ban combined with charging extra money on cd-r sales?

Irony 2 is that the Movie/Music industry was basically started by crime lords(ie mafia). Suddenly they became law
abiding citizend.

.

marcus

KarmaGirl

on Feb 17, 2006

Why is music different than a computer program?

When you buy a Stardock product, you buy a license to use it. If we compared this to Music, you would always need the CD in order to use the program. What happens if the CD gets scratched? Isn't an electronic copy a good back up?

If you bought the license to use it, and you are the only one using it, why should it matter where you are playing it? Now, if you loaded it on your computer then gave the CD to your friend, then there would be an issue. But as long as you are the only one accessing it, how can they justify that not being "OK".

It's just stupid greed on their part.

foreverserenity

on Feb 17, 2006

boycott the fekkers and hit them where it really hurts.

I would so love to see this happen.

and all we can do is hope the people we send to serve don't get bought off.

This is often the reality and it's a sad state of affairs! (and no I have no proof but how else are these laws allowed to pass with the consumers being the ones to get burned?)

BlueDev

on Feb 17, 2006

Exactly. This isn't about sharing. I have no problem with them wanting to quell that. But come on, if we purchased the music shouldn't we be able to use it for ourselves how we want to?

Gideon MacLeish

on Feb 17, 2006

They might have just exposed their achille's heel here. There is strong legal precedent with a 30+ year history against them, as this very same issue was addressed regarding cassette tapes.

This is one union that needs to be busted. They're hurting the artists more than anyone, as the artists have no control over their own music anymore.

ParaTed2k

on Feb 18, 2006

This is one union that needs to be busted. They're hurting the artists more than anyone, as the artists have no control over their own music anymore.

Which is ironic since, when the liars in the music industry put out there propaganda against downloading, they use the line, "it's your favorite artists you are hurting most".

Bunnahabhain

on Feb 18, 2006

It's just stupid greed on their part.

And therein lies the crux of the problem.

These greedy dopes (and especially the record labels) have squandered the greatest opportunity that they will ever have to earn money in this new medium by worrying far too much from the beginning about the potential for piracy. The world of online music distribution (read huge profits) was their oyster in 1996.

By 2000, it was nearly obliterated by Napster while these guys just sat on their collective arses, pissing and moaning about how unfair the world was to them. Heck, the DMCA was even passed back in December, 1998. While it may have bought them some time, they mostly wasted it by focusing on developing "stupid copy protection tricks" (Sony, 2005).

It seems that they'd rather have 100% of a dollar than 98% of a trillion dollars. Collective greedy morons!

Bunnahabhain

on Feb 18, 2006

Which is ironic since, when the liars in the music industry put out there propaganda against downloading, they use the line, "it's your favorite artists you are hurting most"

While I don't have a source to quote, I remember hearing that the average band was paid something like $0.88 for each CD sold. The Rolling Stones with all of their clout were able to negotiate something like a whopping $1.27 per CD.

This isn't about hurting the artists as much as it's about hurting the labels.

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