CRIA attacks Canadian gov’ment
p2pnet.net News:- Canadian Recording Industry Condemns Government Inaction On Copyright
That’s the headline in a CRIA (Canadian Recording Industry Association) puff release “confirming” that it’s taken “concrete legal steps to bring lawsuits against major online music pirates“.
The statement includes the standard Big Music rhetoric against file swapping and in effect introduces lawyer Richard Pfohl as the new CRIA heavy.
There’s also the usual fulsome music industry waffle that file sharing and not bad PR, terrible business decisions, not to mention grossly over-priced and poor quality ‘product,’ are responsible for staff layoffs, “a dramatic reduction in opportunities for Canadian artists and Canadian music,” and so on and so on.
And we have Pfohl saying, “Lawbreakers cannot expect to hide behind a mask of anonymity.”
Oh, those lawbreakers.
But nowhere does it mention government government inaction on copyright – or anything else – although last November CRIA president Brian Robertson did Rise Up to state that while, “bureaucrats have dithered, the music industry has been hit by a dramatic downturn, fuelled in good part by individuals downloading music and illegally file-sharing it with others”.
Oh, those bureaucrats.
February 18th, 2004 at 11:16 pm
The picture of the lawyer(Pfohl), looks like that guy from A Mighty Wind !!
February 18th, 2004 at 11:45 pm
Well, I guess I’m a lawbreaker, then.
February 19th, 2004 at 12:48 am
What makes people think they have a right to freely download and otherwise distibute music? The attitude of the author of this column seems to reflect the general public’s attitude that music should be free for the taking. If the artists and technical peoiple are not receiving financial compensation for their considerable talent and effort, how are they to succed in their chossen field? Do you think music grows on trees? Simple put, if you like a piece of music, but it or leave it alone. The world has enough thieves.
February 19th, 2004 at 12:58 am
I make wine for a living and would like to stop all others from making it or copying it. Stop your freakin whinning and compete like the rest of busines world. cd’s are worth $5 tops most are crap with one or two good songs. You lame ass bastards brought this on yourselfs. I hope Canada stands up to you mobsters.
February 19th, 2004 at 1:39 am
Illegal in the US, yes. However, thanks to a levy on every single recording medium sold in Canada, the same is not true here.
http://www.sycorp.com/levy/index.htm
Sounds like the CRIA is trying to double-dip to me. Maybe they should brush up on the regulatory climate in Canada before they persue legal action.
February 19th, 2004 at 2:27 am
Like this person says. If they go after us should get a retroactive refund on all the blank cd’s we have bought.
February 19th, 2004 at 2:46 am
Here, here, we should hand the internet over to the recording industry on a silver platter, it’ll help stop all the malicious activity. No more porn sites (unless they are sponsered and approved by the recording industry of course), everyone running bussinesses must send the recording industry half of what they make from bussiness conducted over the internet, any data sent over the internet must first be inspected and evaluated by the recording industry, you must agree and sign an agreement which stipulates that every minute you spend on the internet is later tallied to a fine upon your death, which will be released onto your children and if you have no children, immeidiate seisure of any property on your part will cede over to the recording industry. Failure to comply will result in the execution of you, your family, any neighbors who have been subjected to your “evil, criminal” ways.
Simple fact, anyone can spout bullshit.
So, lets review the facts…
Taking the media levy into concern, the majority of canadians already do pay for a small amount of what they download via p2p networks. And if not than the slack is picked up by the other half of the population which don’t burn cd’s containing music, but rather photo’s and data, or whatever you can fit on a disc.
Here’s another point I personally like, I am not spending my hard earned dollar to help fund some cocaine habit some crack addict muscian has. but thats beside the point.
The majority of the ‘costs’ are fictious at best. take the spout bs example above, 90% of people can give meaningless statistics, half the population of portugal knows that. Personally, I don’t trust the figures given, quite simply because they are figures which the recording industry have given, undoubtly biased, no? Just as any statistics given by the music sharing people would give.
Face it, the recording industry is going the way of the dinosaur, unless they realize that becoming litigation factories is no real solution, its a short term “make a ton of cash than settle down in the tropics” plan. you low level employee’s should ask yourself whose side you should be on. It’s definatley not you your arguing for. You’re arguing for your boss, who might be a swell guy, but hey, he’ll be sitting nice and cozy in 2020, when you’ll undoubtly be out of a job or forced to switch profession from selling rubish on disc for an insane price. Fact is, you had a monopoly, and like all monopolies, you’ll eventually not pass go. Quite simply, adapting to new trends isn’t easy for mindless zombies to fathom. I reiterate the GET A REAL JOB line. Consider becoming maybe a lawyer possibly, which might not a good idea, as in the states the thousands of subpeona’s sent by the RIAA has been illegal. Well, at least the method for which doing so has been. The internet was never meant to handle such foreign idea’s that one person can ‘own’ this million bit length of data. It’s like claimg you own the ocean, it’s too big a thing filled with too many individual drops. Personally, I don’t trade on p2p networks and etc because I think it’s unethical, I do so because I have better things to do with my time, as should you.
now, rtfm and sod off!
February 19th, 2004 at 4:05 am
The techs and artists make less than 10 cents on a CD.
The rest goes to bullshit highly overpaid middlemen and their cronies.
If I could buy my music for say, 25c a song… like a juke box… I surely would.
Keep this in mind: They tried to stop Cassettes, VHS, digital audio tape (largely succeeded) and now we PAY for CD copying with high taxes.
They have succeeded in convincing the brain dead gov’t officials they should tax mp3 players, nevermind that most people that own them actually BUY music… so as to get the best rips.
Face the facts, the “lost profits” are profits that wouldn’t exist. People listen to less ad filled radio, and listen to mp3’s instead.
It’s far, far too late for the CRIA. They should be trying to figure a way to sell us the music…. at a discount… (remember, online music means NO MIDDLE MEN, so they don’t need 20$ per CD!!!!)
I hope the gov’t realizes they are just trying to have their cake and eat it too. It’s a total crock. They need to be bitchslapped.
February 19th, 2004 at 4:08 am
Amen to that brother.
Someone start a lobby group for individuals sick of paying taxes upon taxes (CD’s, dvd’s, tapes, and now mp3 players)
SOMEONE PLEASE!
February 19th, 2004 at 4:47 am
Off to Jail with you …. and 20 lashes with a wet noodle
February 19th, 2004 at 3:51 pm
Does anyone believe they actually needed $20/cd? or even $15?
I don’t. It’s never been a free market as all cd’s are basically in the same price range. And usually only contain 1-2 good songs.
They have been ripping off the public for years by over pricing. Now that they are being forced into the free market, they are attempting to use the money they have already gotten to buy (opps, I must mean influence) the ability to continue their past practices.
February 19th, 2004 at 4:34 pm
IM a 65 year old that has watched this pitiful exercise of pure greed by this recording industry & I hope that some government agency has the back-bone to stand up to & attempt to stop these idiots from further money grabs.Iv no vested interest in the recording of music on or off the net,as a mater of fact right now I would co-operate with anyone that is interested in boycotting artists or agency that is displaying such greed & I suggest that, industry clean up their own throat cutting self destructing industry.
Ron Warner
February 19th, 2004 at 5:26 pm
It’s basically an act of how much money one wants to walk away with..
because the idea in youth to purchase cd’s has become now an past limitation. Within minutes you can listen to the song of your favorite band versus walking down to the mall or music store, having your person searched for weapons of mass destruction, searching for your selection, whilst being watched under close scrutiny because we all know young adults are all theives who’ll rob you blind, going to the checkout and being charged sixty greenbacks for three cd’s, then on your way out pass an anti theft detector aka x-ray/microwave scanner, and also being searched again for weapons of mass destruction. Hey, it’s just like being Jewish in nazi Germany, ‘cept maybe without the being shot tortured and the whole holocaust being thought of as vile.
All I can say is “Yay for democracy!”
/me gets in H.G Well’s timemachine and travels to 1984
February 29th, 2004 at 12:39 am
I heard a talk show today with a Terry Mcbride being interviewed while representing “Network Records” & presenting his case.Well sir you have done a very poor job of that,a snake-oil salesman would have done a better presentation.
I had the impression that the moderator WAS HOLDING BACK FROM LAUGHTER,that this Mcbride Character was Spouting.What really came across from him was the pure “Greed” factor from his industry.I believe people like him has done his industry a great diservice with the arrogance that he displays.Its time to replace people like him in order to get back some credibility to a industry that is set to self-destruct eventually.
Ron.Warner
April 13th, 2004 at 11:56 pm
I guess the “mafia run” music industry won’t be ripping off young “no taste in music” current ignorant teenagers and can’t afford to be putting out any more shit music. They will now have to rely on the true artists/bands to put out good music again! Thank god..let’s have another golden era like 1976-1984!!! That was the time to be a teen. We knew what a good band could do. Our artists actually played and made melodic music!! That’s the real reason no one is buying music. Poor teens today can’t afford it while the adults who have any money to spend wouldn’t pay one cent for “50 cent”.