p2pnet - rss feed: Sony DRM: unaddressed issues
p2p news / p2pnet: Bill Evans founded the famous Boycott-RIAA.com, possibly the first site to force the RIAA into the public spotlight. It became so popular that he had to sell it to raise $$$ to keep it online but eventually, after major philosophical differences with the new owner, he left him to it.
However, that doesn’t mean Evans lost interest in online events and he’ll soon be joining p2pnet as both an editor and regular contributor.
For now, here he is on the Sony BMG DRM cock-up >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Cheers!
Do you have good lawyers?
By Bill Evans
While contemplating the latest fiasco by Sony BMG I had began to have some thoughts that haven’t been addressed as of yet. They center on the artists and the expenses involved in the production and shipping of these intentionally defective CDs, paid for upfront by the record labels (Sony BMG in this case) and then charged back to the account of the artist concerned, who then has his/her royalties tapped for the money spent to produce the product. And that usually comeds to about 15%.
In addition, there’s usually a hold put on percentage of their royalties for returns.
So who’s going to be paying for this fiasco?
Is this another in a long line of attempts to keep the artist in debt to the record labels to keep them from ever recouping or even having a shot at recouping? See Steve Albini’s article.
Of course you’ll need to add the licensing costs of the RootKit to the costs as well.
For an industry that publicly talks about artists getting paid and which calls downloading theft, this smacks of an arrogance that tells me the real attitude is “Hey! We can spend your money and you can’t do shit about it!”
Where are the artists’ representatives on this?
Did the artists involved know about the so called “DRM”?
Do the artists have any idea how this is going to affect their income?
Are the artists aware that the issue has become the medium their work was presented on, and not their music?
How come the MSM (Main Steam Media), who for a change, have actually covered this to some extent, haven’t contacted the band managements directly to get their input?
What do the artists feel about this?
If the artists were aware of the supposed DRM, did the know it would create security problems on peoples’ computers?
What do the artists say to the people hit by the virus that’s developed from the Sony BMG code?
What did you say to your record label when you became aware of the issue?
Did you ask them if they were covering the expenses to fix it?
Are you the band at risk if the Class action lawsuits go against Sony BMG?
Do you have good lawyers?
Inquiring minds need to know.
November 15th, 2005 at 8:45 pm
what philosophical differences are we talking about?
November 15th, 2005 at 9:50 pm
“Hey! We can spend your money and you can’t do shit about it!”
you got that right but theyll never get called by an artist on it
November 16th, 2005 at 8:21 am
…but that’s why they’ll never sign me, and I’m one of a growing number. ~EJG
November 16th, 2005 at 5:26 pm
I am getting to the point i really don’t care about ” the poor music artists getting ripped of by illegal pirating “.
The record industry will sign up almost any untalented and incompentant rap artist or shred metal band who are a bunch of drug addicted perverts verbalizing about PERVERTED FILTH that give a bunch of impressionable young kids crazy ideas .
Music artists in general are a bunch of media and cultural whores who will SHAMELESSLY sell themselves to satan himself signing a record contract.
They generally get ripped off and stuck where the sun don’t shine pennies on the dollar every time their slave master recording company sells a cd.
I was listening to rush limbaugh other day about what great role models rap artists are for kids when they go to prison for drug dealing tax evasion or other violent crimes or otherwise they get shot to death execution style point blank range in the head in their own recording studios.
Moreover they usually die horrible deaths like Layne Staley of alice In Chains who died from a massive drug overdose and the police did not find his badly decomposed body until two weeks later or they end up like Kurt Kobain of Nirvana when he blew his brains out with a double barreled shotgun.
Oh what great role models.
I COULD NOT CARE LESS…………..
November 16th, 2005 at 6:31 pm
However, not all musicians are in this catagory. It is mainly the ones who are already signed or those who want to be signed. I know plenty of people who make music for the love of it and not for the huge chunk of money they think that they will make. The real musician will have a hard time getting signed by the cartel simply because it does not profit the cartel. The cartel has America and much of the world addicted to its drug-like “pop” music. Like I’ve said many times, cartel sanctioned “entertainment” is rotting the minds of the people. I believe filesharing hurts the music and movie industry, and I’m glad that it does.
I hope this trash industry is PUT OUT OF BUSINESS by filesharing. If this government-sanctioned beast is put down, maybe we can start hearing real music once again. I am not a musician and I have never played an instrument. However I am a geek, and I help real musicians by designing methods of filesharing that will hopefully destroy the cartels that drown out the real musicians. The cartels (and their whores) are shameless and are getting what they deserve.
November 19th, 2005 at 6:30 am
Criminal behavior requires a legal response. When an 18+ year old kid re-released an intenet worm in my town they found him, tried him, and put him away. He was just a stupid kid. Sony’s CEO knew exactly what he was doing. Sony has, with malace and forthought, committed multiple crimes in this action. See www.groklaw.net for good background, See www.opensecrets.org to see how much your congress critters get from sony. Write / call / email your State AG to put this in front of them… And, I for one, will work to get as many people as possible to never buy another product from sony again. Ever. AT LEAST BOYCOTT Nov 25.