Anything that you do which could in some conceivable manner deprive a large corporation an opportunity to make you pay for something you don’t want or need.

Maybe not yet, but i’m sure it won’t be long now.

But Cecilia Gonzalez was fined $750 for each of 30 MP3s that she had downloaded and then kept. The crux of *that* case was that of the 1000 Mp3s all but 30 were from CDs she owned. Even though all 1000 were allegedly available for upload.

So which is it? Is downloading illegal? Or uploading? Or making available for uploading? And if it’s downloading, is it only downloading from well known P2P programs or is downloading from other sources ok? Which other sources? What about commercial operations in other countries?

yours, confused.

“…level the playing field…”

Please, when has the music cartels EVER been interested in leveling the playing field? Ask any indie group how level that playing field is. Or think, when was the last time you heard an indie on the local commercial radio station? It’s sort of like chicken teeth, they don’t exist.

“…including students at the college campuses…”

This isn’t random law suits. This is the purposeful targeting of what the RIAA believes is the highest class of infringers with the secondary objective to scare the crap out of students that they KNOW beyond a doubt won’t have the money to fend for themselves at this point in their life. It is my hope that those same individuals will remember this the rest of their lives and encourage all around each and everyone of them to not buy the cartels offerings. Without the feeding of the beast to the diet of money, they will surely starve to the death they most richly deserve.

“The end of the year is an especially important time for the music community, and an especially fortunate time for music fans, with a great slate of new releases in stores,”

Yes, it is important to the music industry. 40% of their annual sales from the year come from this point in time. It is so important that Sony, who has a “slight problem” by their own statements with the xcp rootkit, hasn’t pulled the problem from store shelves anywhere but in the US where they are being sued after announcing a recall that isn’t happening except in the news. Wonder why that is, Sony?

As far as the slate of new releases, who wants them? What, rehashes of 20 to 40 year old songs at new song prices? Or entertainers (I surely can’t call someone who can’t play instruments at professional level an artist.) that can barely pull of a live preformance without the help of the modern technology assisted studio? The same performers that pretty much play at everything they know of in the first live concert doesn’t stike me as a qualification as a slate of great new releases. Pray tell, why is it that the music industry has failed this year (or last year) to have sustainable long term #1 hits? Is it that inspite of all the money being thrown to influance what should be a hit, that the customers aren’t buying it anymore? Could it be that the music industry has lost touch with what the customer wants and that all the computer programs in the world can’t really be that successful in predicting which one will actually be a hit? After all, garbage in equals garbage out when it comes to a program.

“We must do everything to protect the integrity of the marketplace….”

The only intergrity that the cartels are interested in, is the one of no competion. One where the customer pays top dollar for junk. Surely that is what we are seeing with the DRM protected offerings of product now on the shelves today. Accountants have never been able to determine the worth of art, simply it doesn’t compute in the world of figures.

“…That means educating fans about steering clear of pirated product and continuing to enforce our rights to send a clear message that stealing music will bring consequences…”

Well I’ve heard it called many things, this educating, that includes it being called finacial terrorism. No need to go into the defination of theivery, I suspect everyone but the music industry already knows that one. But where do “our rights” end? Some next century when we are all dead or is this just the latest scheme until the next petition to yet expand the length of copyright again?

“…At stake is the music industry’s ability to invest in the next generation of music and a chance for legal online music services to flourish.”

The music industry’s ability to produce next generations is already suspect with far less and less new stuff coming out that is not in touch with the customer. What good does it do to attempt to sell what the customer isn’t interested in? No amount of forcing is going to get the customer to part with money over what he is not interested in. I do have another question though, why is it that movies cost more than a music cd when it costs far more to make a movie? Why is it that those customers that buy a product from you are having more problems after the purchase with your product than it is worth? Do you as an industry think that making it harder for the customer to use his purchase as he sees fit is actually winning you more customers? Intelligent people want to know…