More threats from IFPI boss
p2pnet.net News:- “The global music industry is fighting a determined war on piracy, suing thousands of persistent violators from teachers to managing directors,” says Reuters, quoting IFPI boss John Kennedy, who used to run France’s UMG, a founding member of the Big Four record label cartel which owns Kennedy’s present employer, the IFPI ( International Federation of the Phonographic Industry0.
“None of this makes us feel wonderful,” Reuters has Kennedy saying.
“We tried to educate people to raise awareness and then, only as a last resort, did we commence proceedings and even then only against the worst offenders,” he said, wiping away a crocodile tear.
One is irresistably reminded of Lewis Carol’s The Walrus and the Carpenter with Kennedy as the Walrus and Big Music’s BPI chairman Peter Jamieson as the carpenter.
BPI is short for British Phonographic Industry, another cartel-owned enforcement organization.
Kennedy said 7,000 people were sued in 2004 for sharing music illegally online, “including one case of a 12-year-old girl,” says the report, going on:
“Anyone who claims you’re going to win the war on piracy is a very foolish person. But if you don’t fight the war, it gets worse,” he told the music industry annual conference, Midem, in the French Mediterranean coast city of Cannes.
“There will be more (lawsuits) in 2005. We look forward to the day when they won’t be necessary.”
The enormously rich and politically powerful music industry says teenaged file-sharers are responsible for “devastating” its multi-billion-dollar businesses, blaming a “dramatic fall-off in sales” on them.
However, it’s never been able to even begin to explain how one download equals a lost sale.
Its problems are, in fact, caused principally by poor quality product, a lack of good ‘acts,’ changing customer demands and its flat-out refusal to accept that it’s operating in a digital era where physical product is rapidly becoming obsolete.
It accuses file sharers of being thieves when, through the corporate music sites, it’s trying to make them pay a dollar or more for low-fidelity, compressed mp3 copies of original CD tracks which aren’t worth much more than a few cents each.
File sharers will gladly pay for their music – when the cartel starts opening its catalogues at reasonable prices so the corporate music providers can in turn sell tracks for a maximum of 20 cents per download, say.
In the meanwhile, Kennedy says it’s perfectly acceptable to sue12-year-olds such a Briana LaHara to protect is bottom line, a sentiment similarly expressed, recently, by Jamieson.
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See:-
last resort - The Digital Music Revolution, p2pnet, January 19, 2005
determined war – Music industry boss defends file-sharing lawsuits, Reuters, January 22, 2005
similarly expressed – Sue kids in UK piracy suits?, p2pnet, October 10, 2004
January 24th, 2005 at 9:56 am
I would not even pay 20 cents. Not now. Not ever. They drew the line when they started sueing individuals. That to me is disgusting. Also their music is consistently crap. I will NEVER support them EVER again.
I hope they all rot.
January 24th, 2005 at 4:04 pm
Count me in too! As a matter of fact, I just might buy a DVD burner for a friend of mine who rents a bunch of movies and get her to copy the rentals for me. I supply her with blank DVD’s, and she makes a copy for herself and me. I’m a firm believer in boycotting unjust companies (if I’m not forced to buy their product).
I remember what my relatives in Eastern Europe did when they finally had enough. They (and the rest of the people) told the powers that be that they had enough and that they were no longer going to be slaves. It resulted in the downfall of the East German government. How bad is it going to have to get in America before we are willing to regain our freedom. Yes, most of us live like kings in our own houses, but how much time to we get to spend at home?
Are we truly free to speak our minds? Do we really get uncensored news? Are we free from unreasonable searches? Do we have any real choice at the polls when we vote for an “elected” thing? We may be free physically, but we as Americans suffer from a more dangerous form of imprisonment. We make out decisions based on the information we get from our environment. A very big part of our environment is the cartel controlled radio, newspaper, and televison. The first step in regaining our freedom is by shutting off the flow of misleading information. I for one like independent music and film. When I do want to see a mainstream movie, I always wait until it has been on DVD for about a year. I can then judge the movie on its merits rather than media hype. I get my news from independent sites on the Internet. I know many of these sites have an agenda,but I am able to get the news from different sites which run counter to each other. I believe that news outlets such as CNN selectively interview those who have the same viewpoint that those in charge wish to perpetuate. I’ve seen Fox news hosts cut off those thay are interviewing before they have a chance to finish making their point.
When people tune out and turn off the major media, they will begin to see the truth. Example: In the last Presidntial election, most people I know did not like either political candidate. They voted for one because they were afraid of or disliked the other. I know of many people who voted for Kerry because they hated Bush. I know of others who voted for Bush because they were afrais of Kerry. Most of the people never heard of Michael Badnarick (http://www.lp.org), Michael Peroutka (http://www.constitutionparty.com), and other viable candidates for U.S. President. Most of the ones that have heard of these are convinced that voting for one of these means “throwing away one’s vote.” This is not the case. Each year, as we lose more and more of our (physical) freedoms and economic power, we blame the politicians that are in office. at that present time. We have had almost nothing but Democratics and Republicans in office for over a century, but things are continuing to decline.
We have the best people that money can buy. The only trouble is that the money is coming from the likes of the Movie and Music cartels and not “We the People.” This is why there are software patents and why Digital ‘Rights Management,’ CS and other oppresive technologies are foised apon us. This is whay We the People make a bit more than minimum wage working at Walmart or Burger King instead of producing the best electronic and automobiles in the world. In the so called “Service Economy” we are the servants.
The people of the likes of Jon Newton are the real journalists of the day. We need a lot more like him. Want less tainted news? Log on and search blogs. Do a Google search on “Heemeyer” and “Granby”, and you will see an example of a story that got buried. I think it was metioned once in a byline on CNN. This story shows the potential of of person to do immense good or evil. Try doing a search for someone by the name of “Linus Torvalds.” Here is a man who started a revolution against the Software Cartel, and yet how many times do you hear him being talked about on CNN or Fox News? Linus’ Linux kernel is making and saving companies BILLIONS of DOLLARS, yet there is seldom mention of the Central figure in the relovution. This ought to tell people something.
The point of all of this is if you want the best propaganda that the Cartels want you to have, continue to watch, listen, and pay for their news, movies, and music. If not, cut off their money supply and the attention that you give to them, and you will rip the belly out of the Beast. If you don’t, you will likely receive the Mark in your forehead (how you think) and/or in your right hand (what you do, say, buy or wear) because of the media. You can continue to enjoy your new Nike’s while you listen to Mario’s ‘Let Me Love You’, or you can elect to buy high quality clothes for less than 1/2 of the price (and no, I don’t mean cheap imitations of name brands) of the media promoted stuff, listen to independent bands and share with those of like mind