April 23, 2006

America is getting more ridiculous by the minute.
what bussiness of mine is it if stuff gets uploaded and i download data of my choice?
Does the fact that this download is for personal use and not intended for commercial gains not give me any respite from this "crude " legislation?.
Would someone please tell me we expect to see this bill passed?

10 years in prison for downloading a cd or movie? Thats pretty rediculous considering you could steal the cd or movie from a store and get a little fine and/or some cummunity service.

As someone else stated, the only people hurting from poor music sales are artists who are putting out garbage. You do not see 50 Cent or Eminem going broke. The same goes for movies, a movie makes 100 million dollars or more at the box office and you still say downloading is hurting your profits? Sorry, I disagree.

A study also showed that the most downloaded music was also the highest selling music. What does that tell you? GOOD MUSIC SELLS.

It used to be easy to go into a cd store on a Tuesday and buy a new release, because you knew you would enjoy the music. Times have changed and so has the music. We have the right to preview something before we purchase it with our hard earned money. You wouldnt walk around a car dealership with a blindfold on and randomly select a vehicle, would you? There is no difference, 12 dollars or 12 thousand dollars, money is money.

And yes, we do get to hear a sample of new music through music videos and the radio, but now-days 9 times out of 10 the only halfway decent songs on a cd are the ones they play on the radio and mtv. That leaves 10+ tracks of filler crap. Perhaps artists should just start releasing maxi-singles rather than half-assed albums.

And yes, there ARE people who just wont buy anything, weather they download it or not. They are just not going to buy it either way. This does not take any money away from artists, labels or motion picture studios.. if someone isnt going to buy something, they just arent going to buy it. At least they have more of a chance of buying it if they get to preview it beforehand.

Most of my extra money is speant on cds and dvds (mostly older cds, as new cds are 99% garbage), And I will continue to support quality music and movies as long as there is something worth spending my money on.

My take on things is this:

Whether its a song I've just heard and really like on the radio, one from a DVD I just watched, or even from a re-run of an old syndicated show on the TV, I feel that I should have the option to obtain it to listen to it again. Thus one of the first things I do is jump on Google and find out the name of the song/singer. Then hit up Amazon for the sound bite (if they have it). Open up Limewire and try and download it. And if I can't find it on Limewire or I want to hear more songs from that singer and its something that really interested me, then hell I've been known to hit up Amazon again and buy the CD. I currently have maybe 1400 songs I've downloaded from the web, AND own somewhere around 240 store bought CD's.

I've made the jump from Napster >> Morpheus >> Kazaa >> to Limewire as one gets shut down. I even bought a subscription to the legit Kazaa and to iTunes. And both times the claim by Kazaa and iTunes of "3 million songs to download" contained none of the stuff that I liked or listened to. So in the end, I always came back to the filesharing program I had at the time.

In my opinion, instead of throwing roadblocks in front of us, enable us to obtain what we want without having to resort to illegal downloads. Workout the contracts with the recording artists and their labels so that its not a case of Company #1 has such and such labels' songs and Company #2 and #3 has the other labels' songs.

I'm 35 yrs old and I have no objection to paying a reasonable fee to someone whose product does the job I expect of it.

Oh yeah, great idea. Let's imprison the millions of folks that download stuff and further crowd the already overcrowded prison system. Hell, let's just make Alaska a huge "Escape From New York"-esque prison. Tax dollars could be spent on better things, like imprisoning violent criminals rather than some 13 year old kid.

The idiotic US administration can pass as many damn laws and legislations as it wants, but it will never stop piracy completely.

Piracy is the result of the greed of the music/film industries, so they have only themselves to blame.

What a problem we have here. It's true about the sentancing priorities being a bit out of whack. I live in Canada myself and we've still to have a law on software pirating. That doesn't mean Canada won't follow this act what with our new all american conservative government.

I'm noticing a lot of control happening since the September 11 attacks. A lot of creative excuses to spy on the north american public. What was at first an issue which only targetted "americans" has become an epidemic of fear which excuses loss of freedom.

Fact is, our goverments (they're very similar) do not trust the people. Where they once worked for the people (or at least somewhat convincingly claimed so) they now work to monitor us. There must be asurance that we are doing everything we are told.

It's very difficult to see what's right and wrong now because it's no longer an issue of morality, it's more an issue of he who has the money makes the choice and they who do not have the money must do as they're told. Even if it means going against our better judgement.

Copying music isn't stealing. Plain and simple. If it were stealing, I'd have the music after I took it and the artist would have nothing. Back in the days when the internet wasn't available there was money to be made on CD's and tapes and all that jazz. Thing is, time's have changed, it's time for the market to change as well. Find new ways to make money. I don't see 50 cent and Eminem begging for money on the street to afford their next meal. They're filthy rich even with this "piracy" we see. Their standard of living is infinitely greater than those they claim are stealing from them.

Who do you think is the real criminal? These people live in nice houses, drive nice cars and buy nice things. The people supposedly stealing from them live in apartments, drive beaters and actually have to worry about making the bills on time. Greed is the motivation for this kind of witchhunt.

So what happens when this bill is passed? Well for starters, our government will have "just" cause to wiretap 75% of the population. We will go from a nation of "free" people to a nation of criminals overnight, all because of this greedy decision.

I have noticed in Canadian media that our goals in the last few years have focused on improving roads, education and industry. Now we've switched to a conservative government and after all the warnings that our new PM would be a Bush supporting ass kisser it's finally becoming obvious that the warnings we within reason. Our media is no longer focusing on civic issues, it's all about the fear. Top that with the PM's new obsession with terrorism and we've got our fear machine in place.

Let's face the facts, the last 5 years have been all about fear and blame. We've been so afraid of an unseen enemy which is only shown to us by people with an obvious bias that we're willingly giving up our true freedom. When will we realise it's too late? Will we wait until the life we're "given" by our goverment sucks in comparison with a life which carries a risk of "terrorist" threats? The only threat which poses a real risk to the standard of living we have now is the one we're allowing to happen by accepting inprisonment in the name of security.

DMCA and Patriot act are both so similar in nature that it's almost impossible to ignore their real purpose. To know what people are doing, when they're doing it. No one lives a perfect life, NO ONE, what right does one man have over another to tell him he's wrong. Sure killing someone is wrong, we can all agree on that. But rest asured, if you're arrested for "stealing" music, it'll be by a guy who beats his wife or children, or cheats on his taxes, or drinks and drives, or smokes pot. We're all sinners, it's just a game of calling the pot black. A game of power to the few and control over the rest. Sins are ok only so long as you're important enough to afford them.

Wow...palladium on a global scale. What does go through the head of a man proposing this ? And as far as the enforcement goes, our jails are full as is. As stupid as it sounds it seems someone watched the recent V For Vendetta and admired the governmental/societal structure portrayed in that film. I lived under communism and there is no chance in hell I will let it happen here in the US.

Vendetta!

Freedom!

Forever!

Truthfully piracy does not hurt the label or the artists. Generally the gross for a big concert is the same as the gross for every million albums sold. Meaning, if an album goes 2x platinum ~$14,000,000 and an artist does 10 shows a month for 4 months and fills stadiums, ~$400,000,000. Of course that's gross and profit ratios are higher for album sales because they're cheaper to produce and distribute. But even if you assume a pessimistic 50% net for concerts and 10 for albums you still have a ratio of 200 to 10. That only leaves room for greed.
And, undiscovered artists profit from file sharing. Would you rather sign to crap contract with a 2 bit indie label with minimum chances for success, or get famous on your own and get picked up by a major label, (or start your own label). So instead of coming up with thousands of dollars and time to press CD's and distribute them, an unknown can freely distribute their recordings on p2p software with minimal effort.

Lets all remember that Bush and his administration shares one-third of the power to pass bills and such. I have read all the comments that everyone has wrote on this subject and counted 34 posts. Not one has said anything in defense of our President, who was elected by a generation who grew up without computers or the internet. Bush represents those who stick to the old ways (hence the name "conservative") and they beleive this: If something has a price on it and someone gets it for free, its stealing. I do though, agree with most that the 10 year imprisonment is ridiculous. I download music, heck, I'm listening to some right now. But, If this bill passes... so what? It won't stand long, as others have mentioned. The up-and-coming generation that DOES use computers daily and DOES download music can vote it down in the future, which I will probably try and do. Me--I can't do anything about this now for many reasons: I'm 15 years old, can't vote for 3 years, grew up on a farm in southwest Kansas under Republican parents and older siblings so going to them and asking them to vote it down would end up in an over-whelming NO and lead to a lecture on "Why we should unquestionably follow our Leaders." As for the wire tapping, I see it as an invasion of privacy, yes. Thats a given. But, as long as one has done nothing to get one's self in trouble with the law, one really has nothing to worry about. One more point that really urked me on one post, someone calling President Bush a terrorist for working agaisnt America. What in the world, man? So he tries to make the country safer with a some-what fascist-like wire tapping plan... that makes him a terrorist? The person said "Bush is a terrorist - not for what he's doing in Iraq, but for what he's doing to the U.S. Isn't HE supposed to work for US? The fact is, this person is too bull-headed to determine actions and consequences of Right and Wrong. I believe that people don't seem to want to punish the terrorists who attacked the World Trade Centers, the Pentagon, and the plane that went down in Virginia I think it was, I can hardly remember--I was 11 at the time. I was 11 years old and still knew the difference between "What Terrorists get done" and "What needs to be done to Terrorists." If you have any rebuttals on my statements, please email me with them.

Internet / Piracy, the fall of capitalism? Because the politicans will have to implement some very bizzare laws to keep it.

The 10 years in jail thing is a scare tactic, they don't even have the room for inmates now. And as for Bush giving ok to wiretap suspected pirates, well his ass is in hot water and pretty much anything with his name tagged to it will be going wayside (file 13). Ypu have the RIAA suing dead people, and people that don't even own a computer. And are losing support at a fast rate.And we all need to stand up to these fucks and ask them about all the years they have robbed us with there bullshit product. Know why microsoft doesn't really go after people for copyright infringement? Well if I owned a company that has a expert virus team, that create and release them, I would want to keep all eyes off me to. Thats the great thing about microsoft workers, the love to leak things. IBM also had a virus team,its no different then the mechanic that uses a part knowing full well you will be needing it replaced in 2 months.So in short if we started suing them for there bullshit products more often, then they would be forced to create a good product and that would lead to less piracy.

Everyone does remember how wonderfully successful prohibition was, right?

O2 + S3 = R

Oppression and Starvation equals Revolution.

The math is simple.

Not a word said again about the copyright holder taking control or turning off a consumers product by way on there intellectual property rights. The copyright holder has the unyielding right to stop your product from working at any time as was done in the printer cartridge cases or the Directv cases when they turned off the programming customer had paid for. They could turn off your computer or car at anytime and you cannot take measures to stop the theft of your own property. Dangerous presidence.
Then when the victim who has just had there property taken from them, they go to jail for exercising there constitutional right to protect there property from theft.

Dear American People - Please, please PLEASE stop obsessing on the trivial music part of that proposed legislation and go back once AGAIN and re-read - to try to absorb the bit about expanded powers for wiretapping and surveillance.

Think about what that may mean for other areas of your life. Between taxation policy and the exportation of jobs, your middle classes are disappearing and you are descending into the madness of a South American banana-republic where there are a tiny number of wealthy people controlling all - and a huge number of poor, essentially enslaved workers - kept ignorant, dirt and in the dark.

Why is it that the most powerful country in the world elects an idiot to be its Commander In Chief. It beggars belief, what is the USA moving towards?

That's why I download foreign music. None of the RIAA's music is worth pirating. I don't think the RIAA can nail me for downloading if I'm not downloading their music.

Unless next they will make it illegal to listen to anything that's not on the radio.

To Dave S:

Everybody go to jail for listening to music that you haven't paid some music executive for - the world is coming to an end!

You are one crazy, mean mofo, Dave. I sure am glad I don't have a brain like the one that you have that sees the whole world as going to hell in a handbasket. Tell us all what it's like to be the pure, pompous ass that you are, won't you?

First They Came for the Jews



First they came for the Jews

and I did not speak out

because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for the Communists

and I did not speak out

because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists

and I did not speak out

because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for me

and there was no one left

to speak out for me.




-Pastor Martin Niem?r




If this passes, we will be witnessing a manifestation of this poem in the music (or all media based) business.


We can't forget the reprocussions beyond the nonsensical punishment.


Assuming this passes, record companies could see their profits fall gradually over the next few years as exposure for many rather unkown bands/artist is lessened if people cut down on their "illegal" sharing. If that happens, they'd probably be the first ones lobbying for it's repeal.


On a similar note, the next generation of bands/artists will recieve less exposure and notoriety if people cut down on their music sharing. People could be afraid to give their friend a copy of a new "cool band's" CD. And that "cool band" could be the next big thing... that doesn't make it because people are afraid to pass them around.


Without big hits, new artists, next big things, and people passing around those great songs that you have to get, where would the music industry be? Now I'm not saying they'll dissapear, but I figure that each of those will take a hit if this passes.

Seussie:
You need not protect me. I live in Texas not Canada. The youth of this nation need to VOTE these old rich farts out of office NOW.
"VOTE NO INCUMBENT."

Posted by: Muddle at April 26, 2006 09:00 AM

The youth of the 21st district in Texas need to vote this media corporation whore out of office.
Put down your joystick, turn off that iPod and ascend the steps of your mothers basement long enough to go register then vote. The youth demographic, who disagree with copyright extension, patent fiascos, DMCA etc. in his district is large enough to boot him out of office. Perhaps 10 years in pound me in the a$$ federal prison can motivate the youth of this country to do something about this problem. To young to vote nag your parents or turn them in to the RIAA for all the tunes you've downloaded. Perhaps 10 years in Camp Fed will change your parents tune on who's interest Rep. Smith is advocating.

Posted by: Seussie at April 26, 2006 08:51 AM

Glad I live in Canada..downloading is legal (uploading is not)

Posted by: Zac at April 26, 2006 11:53 AM

This is a perfect example of what is wrong with the country we live in today.

`The Media` running our country... Pure Insanity.

I used to be proud to say 'I'm an American', but it get's harder and harder every day.

when i'll take it a step further....i am no longer proud to be an american. espesially one that feels certain artists are given more rights than the other 99% percent....come on most of these so called artists don't even right their own music, they are handed lyrics...maybe this gives us the right to be handed songs......?
oh and f the riaa....they are pieces of shit.

free the internet.....

The key phrase in this bill is "will also expand federal police wiretapping and enforcement powers." Remember Paul Revere and the other Revolutionary War heroes? Me thinks they were fighting a country (England) much like ours today!!

Bush is a terrorist - not for what he's doing in Iraq, but for what he's doing to the U.S. Isn't HE supposed to work for US?

Maybe, it's going back to the "good ol' days" where church and state or in this case church and media are working together, where as in the christian, chatholic, etc. religions, every sin is as bad as any other e.g. stealing music vs homocide. In god's eyes its all the same haha. But then again if they are doing this God aka Riaa/church should give us a chance to repent, and relieve us of our sins. haha just sounds more like it to me.

Why do we all keep complaining and do nothing about it?
Why don't you just stop buying the damn music right here and right now?
You need to make sure that the artists and the record feel it where it hurts and that is in the wallet.

This issue has already exceeded "ridiculous" status. I can see the artists' point in that they produced the music, and they should be able to sell it to make a living. Does file sharing make this impossible for them? Hell no. Last time I checked, most of the major artists made a damn sight more money picking and singing than folks in labor positions who actually produce something, or offer services that really benefit people (i.e. firemen, disaster restoration companies). These artists drive luxury cars, live in mansions, and throw wild parties with all the other "celebs" while working America slaves away to keep the country running. Then they cry when their fans, the people who support them ("Have you heard ? They're awesome, you should check them out!", "Yeah, we're going to the concert tonight. The tickets cost $150!"), "steal" their work by downloading or copying tracks on a CD. The product in question is a form of ENTERTAINMENT. What's wrong with this picture when we have entertainers making millions a year while people whose goal is to make a difference struggle to buy food and clothing for their children? Are we really that bored? And now they want to put these people in prison for 10 years (as well as taking away their rights to vote and own firearms, part of being convicted of a felony) for downloading or copying their favorite music? Music is one of the most beautiful experiences to be had in life. It can provide inspiration, motivation, even consolation. It should be free to everyone, IMHO. However, since not everyone can devote their life to making it, those that do should be able to survive by doing so. They should not, however, stack bank accounts full of money while some of the real workers starve. Being able to download and distribute music by no means inhibits the artists' ability to make a living and survive. It allows the average Joe to have access to his favorite tunes without eating up his sparse paycheck.

This is a perfect example of what is wrong with the country we live in today.

`The Media` running our country... Pure Insanity.

I used to be proud to say 'I'm an American', but it get's harder and harder every day.

I agree with Remy Porter...I'll get less of a sentence if I just steal the damn CD/DVD. Way to encourage today's youth to shoplift, R*AA - something tells me a modern day Dante would have a special ring of Hell for you people.

The artists are already starting to see the future.

Let them charge for their Celine Dion CDs, the Internet could sprout the indie labels of the future. Soon it will be possible (technically, I believe it already is,) to release full-length films shot entirely on digital video, edit them onproduce more. a home pute, and distribute them via the Internet -- bypassing the studios entirely.

The more ridiculous this crap gets, the more the actual fans wll get fed up with the industry, and the more likely that this will take off.

Don't any of these folks know that alienating your core audience is the worst possible marketing strategy? WE all seem to.

And yes, I do feel free to speak for a large clique of musicians and comedians who already have no problem distributing their stuff freely over the Internet.

We see useless stories all the time about "what's on Dick Cheney's Ipod" or "what's on The Pope's Ipod"...

my question is, are all THEIR tunes legal? has anyone even checked? Hey R*AA, go catch some REAL criminals!

-----------

�Quis custodiet ipsos custodes� � WHO IS WATCHING THE WATCHMEN? ...

The youth of the 21st district in Texas need to vote this media corporation whore out of office.
Put down your joystick, turn off that iPod and ascend the steps of your mothers basement long enough to go register then vote. The youth demographic, who disagree with copyright extension, patent fiascos, DMCA etc. in his district is large enough to boot him out of office. Perhaps 10 years in pound me in the a$$ federal prison can motivate the youth of this country to do something about this problem. To young to vote nag your parents or turn them in to the RIAA for all the tunes you've downloaded. Perhaps 10 years in Camp Fed will change your parents tune on who's interest Rep. Smith is advocating.

Glad I live in Canada..downloading is legal (uploading is not)

Posted by: Richard at April 26, 2006 05:24 AM

...It's about time something is done about this problem that is tearing society apart at its very seams.

^^^^
that's a bit of an overstatement, don't you think? tearing society apart at its very seams?

So it's a simple misdemeaner and gets you community service to walk into Best Buy and walk out with a plasma TV but if you download Disney's Magic Artist you should go to jail for ten years... Yep! Makes perfect sense to me! If you are going to steal something, get some exerxise while you do it! This is just enforced fitness! :)

“At this rate, it's safer to just shoplift the CD or DVD.”


The sentence will be alot shorter at least.
I propose raids on warehouses that contain CD‘s and then passing them out on the street.
NOT selling them, just giving them away. Hands-on-music-sharing.

So if i memorise a song have i "bypassed" the DRM? And if so should i goto jail for 10 years as a hardened criminal?

You people are thieves, plain and simple. You belong in jail along with the pedophiles and car thieves. It's about time something is done about this problem that is tearing society apart at its very seams.

If you download child pron its only a 7 year sentence. So now its going to be 10 years for downloading legal movies?

Dillon, Read & Co. Inc. and the Aristocracy of Prison Profits

Inside the Financial World, Government Agencies and their Private Contractors Lies a Hidden System of Money Laundering, Drug Trafficking and Rigged Stock Market Riches

http://www.narconews.com/Issue40/article1644.html

The above is a 6 part series from a lady who was a big shot on Wall Street and in D.C who tells a tale of how the privitization of prisons has led to newer and newer laws with longer sentences (for existing laws as well) purely for the purpose of putting more people in jail. Why? Every prisoner in jail raises the stock value of the private prison corporations.

This bill is the best thing since the Brownshirts, ah, Nazi style repression is alive and well. In an unrelated bit of news. the US Kleptocracy is building massive gulag-stye "internment" camps in isolated areas of the west.

I think I'd start learning Australian, mate.

This is my thoght... Music is free... was free... and will always be free. Do what you want, but we rule this country Mr. Bush, not you. If enough of us gets fed up with this crap, we will rise against the stupid "copyright infringement". Sharing with your buddies is not a crime. Listening to the radio, "free music", is not a crime. Why is shareing some of the best tracks from your favorite artists? I was reading an artical about a woman being sued by RIAA for distributing music files across the internet... she doesn't even own a computer. These are feeble and the most rediculous laws in America. I believe that everyone has the right to have their material copyrighted, but get with the program, I don't want credit for Garth Brooks' Ropin' the Wind. I also don't want credit for Stephen King's "The Stand". I just want to want to watch it, or listen to the music.

w00t, my copy of Handbrake is gonna land me in jail.

At this rate, it's safer to just shoplift the CD or DVD.

Do we really want the people who sue dead women and grandmas for illegal downloads to be able to send people to jail? The same people that extort money from people before they sue them- "Just give us some money and we'll make this lawsuit go away." This just can't end well. Especially not for average citizens.

Take a Sony DRM'd CD, rip it into MP3 in your iPod, 10 years in jail.

That doesn't seem like a good election platform to me.