File sharing is interactive radio
p2p news / p2pnet:- “File sharing is NOT piracy. Piracy is big fat guys manufacturing fake CDs in Mexico and selling them at swap meets. File sharing is tens of millions of music fans swapping copies of things they wouldnt otherwise buy. An ASCAP or BMI-like pool of money allocated in an equitable way amongst copyright owners is the only solution that could be of benefit to creators, consumers and copyright owners. Compulsory blanket licensing for non-commercial file sharing is the equivalent of loosening a tourniquet tied around the entertainment industrys neck.”
So says music business lawyer Ken Hertz, who supports the recording industry withdrawing its co-operation for the iTunes Music Service, describes the problem, as quoted by The Register.
Hertz’s remarks date back to an ACLU awards dinner in 2002 when he also said, “Peer to peer file sharing is really just interactive radio – consumers get to listen to exactly what they want when they want it.
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See:-
The Register – ‘p2p is leagal its already bought its in the air’, October 5, 2005
October 7th, 2005 at 7:54 am
If file sharing is illegal, why are we all forced to pay additional mandatory taxes on hardware devices and cd/dvd blank discs? Who do these taxes go to exactly? How are they distributed?
It’s like me saying, ok, im going to make a product called X, this product has the potential of being pirated using hardware/software, so therefore i want your country to force a mandatory tax on it’s citizens so just in case piracy occurs, i’ll still be making loads of money. And on top of this anticipated piracy, im going to start using litigation to extort even more money out of potential customers who do commit copyright infringement.
Is it just me, or are alarm bells ringing here? They are basically saying we are taxing you just in case you commit infringement, then if/when you do, we are going to sue you as well. This is absolutley ridiculous. And whats worse is, the moronic governments/politicians are going along with it.
I also hear the music cartels want to force a tax on iPods as well. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. It seems as though these cartels are running our countries these days, dictating taxes and laws, not our elected officials. So what the hell is our government for exactly?
October 7th, 2005 at 11:07 am
The tax on blank media was a trade-off with the rights holders (composers and artists, NOT the distributors) to allow “home copying for personal use.” In exchange for the money, the recording industry gave up the right to sue individuals for making casettes from the vinyl to play in the car or to make a copy of the CD to put in the trunk mounted CD changer in their car, etc.
What’s become of the money amassed is a completely different issue, however. It seems the distributors ended up with it and neglected to, uh, well, distribute it…..
October 7th, 2005 at 11:59 am
“In exchange for the money, the recording industry gave up the right to sue individuals for making casettes from the vinyl to play in the car or to make a copy of the CD to put in the trunk mounted CD changer in their car, etc”
How generous of them. What happens if i only use blank cd’s for storing data not copyrighted music? I get taxed regardless? What about making backup copies of software, do the software companies then receive a slice of this taxation? how is it distributed?
It all seems rather slimy to me. CD’s don’t have any direct relationship with music or copyrighted works, so they shouldn’t be taxed. It’s just an excuse to extort more money from people using legal means. Can you imagine them trying to enforce stopping people making backup copies of their music? It’s not possible, thats why they lobbied for this taxation.
It also turns out that my own country, the UK, has a backbone after all, they actually refused to implement taxation on cd-r’s and hardware devices such a burners. This goes against the current european copyright directive. Good news for my fellow UK residents
Now the rest of europe should follow suit and reject this draconian copyright directive and it’s taxation policies.
October 8th, 2005 at 12:40 pm
“Piracy is big fat guys manufacturing fake CDs in Mexico and selling them at swap meets.”
Piracy is also the manufacture of records with songs that have not been licenses. We cought RIAA members Sony and Sonolux each with producing 16 of these pirate records, of which millions were sold. Sonolux initiated the production of the records and then made a deal so that Sony als manufactured the same records.
We are the owners of the songs. We already have a judicial sentence from Sonolux for $1.5 million ($100,000 per record) over a 2 and a half years ago but Sonolux has somehow manage to evade a payment while the lawyers and judge dance arounfd the sentence.
We sued Sony over 5 years ago and guess what? Nothing has hapenned in court.
The pirates are powerfil indeed.
The local press has said nothing. It is the same press that publishes a string of sick articles about the record singer, usually about 10, each time a local Sony artist (Ricky Martin and others) releases a recording. The aticles never say that they are paid for advertisements.
Rafael Venegas
http://www.gvenegas.com