Used CD ‘thumbprint’ laws
p2pnet.net news:- Florida and Utah are seriously considering new laws that’ll make selling your unwanted CDs an offence.
And they’ll want to finger-print you.and record personal details if you want to sell a second-hand CD or, presumably, DVD.
Wha? Yup.
“In Florida, the new legislation requires all stores buying second-hand merchandise for resale to apply for a permit, would be required to thumb-print CD sellers and get a copy of their state-issued identity documents, such as a driver’s license,” says Billboard. “Furthermore, stores could only issue store credit — not pay cash — in exchange for traded CDs, and then would be required to hold them for a 30-day period, before re-selling them.”
In addition, Rhode Island also has pending legislation, the story has National Association of Recording Merchandisers outside counsel John Mitchell saying.
Laws that, “result in the curtailment of used CD sales likely would be considered good news to record labels and music distributor executives who have long abhorred the growing strength of the used CD market,” Billboard says, adding:
In fact, until the mid-1990’s labels used to put pressure on merchants who bought directly from them not to carry such merchants. At the time, some majors attempted to kill the strategy by initiating new policies to withhold cooperative advertising from retailers buying directly from them but selling used CDs, a move endorsed by some artists including Garth Brooks.
But that effort triggered a revolt from independent stores and consumers, highlighted by barbeques of Garth Brook CDs, in some places called a “garth-eque.” It also served as a catalyst for a Federal Trade Commission investigation of the music industry practices, forcing those majors to back down from its anti-used CD stance.
Since then, merchants who buy direct from majors who participate in the category say that used CD sales have grown from about 5% to sometimes 10%-20% of overall CD revenues. Also, those sales are more profitable.
No doubt RIAA and MPAA spin-meisters will soon be issuiung long and windy statements supporting the new pawn-shop legislation.
(Thanks, Kelly)
Also See:
Billboard – New Laws Threaten Used CD Market, May 1, 2007
If your Net access is blocked by government restrictions, try Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at thIs the endSurvey: How Did Copyright Infringement Become Equated with Robbery? (of the Net) nigh?zze University of Toronto’s Munk Centre for International Studies. Go here for the official download, here for the p2pnet download, and here for details. And if you’re Chinese and you’re looking for a way to access independent Internet news sources, try Freegate, the DIT program written to help Chinese citizens circumvent web site blocking outside of China. Download it here.
rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss | | Mobile – http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php | | And use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site
Tired of being treated like a criminal? They depend on you, not the other way around. Don’t buy their ‘product’. Do bug your local politicians. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls, faxes, IM, stop them in the street, blog. And if you’re into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep’s doorstep, making sure you’ve contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance. Don’t just complain. Do something!
May 9th, 2007 at 10:35 am
The big marketing ploy when CD’s were first introduced was that unlike records, sound quality did not degrade from playing one multiple times. This was used to justify the exorbitant, almost 2x the price of a record price. (later decreed by the feds to be gouging, which it was) So now the shoe is on the other foot, in that CD’s have been around for a long time and you can now find most of the older and fairly recent catalog for less money used. Of course the entertainment industry can’t stand it when the consumer comes out ahead. I wonder if that bill just applies to stores or if they intend to start arresting people selling used cd’s from Craigslist and yard sales too?
May 9th, 2007 at 11:10 am
Hang on, you were going to run this on April the 1st originally weren’t you?
May 9th, 2007 at 11:32 am
But how are they going to enforce such deliberate stupidity??? If they think this is going to work they ARE insane!!! What about friends selling CDs/DVDs to their friends and/or family, co-workers, etc?
NOPE. Anti-used ‘legislation’ will NEVER work! It’ll only drive the practice underground out of sight, out of earshot and drive __UP__ “Piracy” in the process!!!
May 10th, 2007 at 10:21 am
I’ll let you borrow my CDs until after I’m dead.
May 5th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
What a great idea. When “they” do get my fingerprint for selling CDs, I suppose they will run it against the FBI D-base. Find out I am a terrorist supporter Selling CDs to forwarding money to the Terrorists. What happens if I sell a thousand of my personal used CDs I bought retail? Am looking at a felony? I suppose if sell a Wham or Cindy Lopper CD, this makes me a radical?