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Disney Blames Apple For Music Piracy

Vishniac writes "It looks like Disney CEO Michael Eisner is accusing Apple in part for fostering music piracy, particularly with its 'Rip, Mix, Burn' campaign. Testifying before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee, Eisner said that the ad suggests to people that 'they can create theft if they buy this computer.' Apple? iMac? Impossible."

21 of 695 comments (clear)

  1. Following this logic... by NanoGator · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... I could accuse Disney of promoting the idea that not wearing pants is okay. There is Disney propoganda that dates back as far as World War 2 of Donald Duck clearly not wearing pants. Thanks to Disney, people are learning left and right that not wearing pants is ok.

    --
    "Derp de derp."
  2. Create Theft? by jaavaaguru · · Score: 5, Insightful

    they can create theft if they buy this computer

    Theft is an act. It is not something that is created. People can create pirate copies of music with this computer, but they can do that with most modern computers. Why pick on Apple? Why not pick on Redhat for shipping GRip and and MP3 encoder with their distro?

    1. Re:Create Theft? by sharkey · · Score: 5, Interesting

      buying Senators creates infinite corporate copyrights...

      Oh, wait...is that offtopic for a Disney thread? *cough*

      --

      --
      "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
  3. The problem with corporate media by Jeffrey+Baker · · Score: 5, Insightful
    The biggest problem with Disney's worldview -- and by association the worldview of the RIAA, MPAA, Vivendi, et al -- is that they assume no private person can create anything. All art comes from the generous people at Disney. There are no independent aritsts.

    People like Macs in part because they can rip, mix, and burn their purchased CD collection, or tote it around on their iPods. They also like Macs because they come with the tools necessary to put your own videos on DVD and send them to your pals. The latter is a power Disney does not want you to have. All video entertainment must come from the corporate empire. None of it must come from regular people.

    1. Re:The problem with corporate media by EccentricAnomaly · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The biggest problem with Disney's worldview -- and by association the worldview of the RIAA, MPAA, Vivendi, et al -- is that they assume no private person can create anything. All art comes from the generous people at Disney. There are no independent aritsts.

      Correction, Disney knows full well that art comes from independent artists... they've made a fortune stealing ideas from idependant artists. See this slashdot article about Disney ripping off "Atlantis" from "Nadia" and this bit about Lion King ripping off Kimba. Let's not forget the other Disney "orginals": Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Pinnochio, Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Robin Hood, Aladdin, etc... Disney's whole business model is based off of "Rip, Mix, Burn". Hell, at least Apple pays for other people's technology (e.g. Xerox) before they take credit for it.

      --
      There are 10 types of people in this world, those who can count in binary and those who can't.
  4. And diseny does not? by iotaborg · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I find it funny that Disney has the nerve to accuse Apple of piracy. They even clearly state "don't steal music" in their Rip Mix and Burn campaign.

    Disney is really a hypocrite, I mean it has been proven that a lot of their movies have been ripped off of others, such as Lion King from Kimba the White Lion and Atlantis from Nadia. Where has Apple gone wrong?

    Maybe it is because of the Disney and Pixar issue (where Pixar is bound by Disney and they really want to get out of the contract) and Disney is really aiming at Steve Jobs... Thats probably completely wrong but is a thought.

  5. Re:Pixar by dschuetz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I've always hoped that Disney would purchase Pixar.

    Funny, I've always hoped that Pixar would get big enough that they could buy Disney, or at least Disney's feature animation division. Maybe then we'd start seeing decent Disney movies again.

  6. Apple has been quite responsible by feldsteins · · Score: 5, Informative

    What the Great Eared One fails to mention is the fact that Apple has made several important concessions to the music industry in the design of their products.

    First, there is the hard-to-miss "Don't Steal Music" warnings that one finds in Apple's materials. Second, much to the annoyance of consumers, Apple has designed the iPod/iTunes product in order to minimize the opportunity for piracy - it only synchs one way. Yeah there are ways around that but not with Apple software tools.

    Incidentally Jobs has already issued a response that is quite interesting.

    --
    You like your Macintosh better than me, don't you Dave? Dave? Can you hear me Dave?
    1. Re:Apple has been quite responsible by Tackhead · · Score: 5, Insightful
      > Incidentally Jobs has already issued a response [macworld.com] that is quite interesting.

      I see a new Apple ad campaig in the making:

      Jobs to Eisner - "Bite. My. Ass."

      Actually, what I'd really like to see is Jobs going full-tilt and taking his case public.

      How about a picture of Hollings, Eisner, and Valenti, with scrolling text describing what the SSSCA would do to the computer industry. ("In 2002, Congress held hearings on the SSSCA...") with appropriate soundbites on how "they can create theft if they buy this computer" and other Hollywood claptrap droning on in the background, presented on a giant screen, with throngs of dullards staring blankly at the screen, until someone comes in and throws an iPod through the screen, shattering the telestreen (and the images of the Hollywood Cartel spokesdrones) into billions of fragments.

      "Rip. Mix. Burn. The reason why 2004 still won't be like 1984"

  7. the Steve responds.... by imac.usr · · Score: 5, Interesting
    see news story on MacCentral today...this should prove interesting when the Disney-Pixar contract is up for renewal.

    "If you legally acquire music, you need to have the right to manage it on all other devices that you own," said Jobs.

    Goddamned right.

    --
    I use Macs for work, Linux for education, and Windows for cardplaying.
  8. Rip, Mix, Burn by sean23007 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I hope some of the Congressmen realize the difference between "Rip, Mix, Burn" and "Download, Burn." When Apple advertises that their computers can do this, they are in no way advocating stealing anything from the music industry (obviously). When you "rip," you take the music off of a CD that you purchased, when you "mix," you remove the crappy songs from the album that were only included so you don't feel ripped off because you bought a CD with only 2 or 3 good songs on it, or you put the best songs from several albums that you purchased onto one CD, effectively discarding the excess crap that the good ol' music industry always surrounds the good stuff with. And I think that even the elected know what "burn" means.

    "Rip, Mix, Burn" does not in any way advocate taking things away from the music industry, in fact it advocates getting rid of the things you paid for but deem worthless.

    --

    Lack of eloquence does not denote lack of intelligence, though they often coincide.
  9. In other news: by Waffle+Iron · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Ford is accusing Sears of encouraging theft by their promotion of "Crafstman" brand crowbars, thereby distressing Ford's customers. When asked about the actual legitimate uses for crowbars, a Ford spokesman responded: "What's the first thing that comes into your mind when you hear the word 'Crowbar'? I bet it's smashing things. Maybe smashing windshields. We just want to help keep crowbar wielding thugs off of our streets."

  10. Re:Pixar by JWW · · Score: 5, Insightful

    On can wonder how long it will be until Steve will announce that the next Pixar movie won't be released by Disney. Eisner has way more to lose by this stupid move than he has to gain. Most Pixar movies gross over $100 million at the box office. Apple users will have to pirate a hell of a lot of stuff to match the loss to Disney if the next Pixar movie goes to another studio.

    If this continues I guess I'll have to boycott Disney someday. Funny, the last purchase I made from Disney was the Tron DVD and if I remember right it was all about giving the users more power. I guess Eisner hasn't seen it.

  11. Rip = Own by Performer+Guy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How is someone supposed to "Rip" if they don't "Own" first? Someone needs to put these companies in their place and protect us from their unbridled greed. We have fair use rights, if we have paid for the music then we are legally allowed to make copies for our own enjoyment. You cannot "Rip" unless you have already purchased the product. Apples rip, mix, burn ads do not encourage theft, they encourage fair use. It is Disney who is encouraging theft by trying to persuade congress to restrict our freedoms for their unfair desire to charge us all multiple times for the same product. Now THAT would be theft.

  12. In other news... by cscx · · Score: 5, Funny

    Disney CEO Michael Eisner blames Microsoft for allowing children access to rampant pornography. Through their technology cleverly named "Internet Explorer," children of all ages are easily given access to hoards of pornography. In addition, their tagline "Where do you want to go today?" has already been answered by many children to the words of "To the bathroom... I'll be right back" and "To take a long shower." This can only serve as proof that Microsoft is using pornography to corrupt little children's minds. Eisner said that the propaganda suggests to people that 'they can easily perform self-pleasure if they buy a computer with Windows XP. We must stop this travesty now.'

  13. what do I do now? by Dr.+Awktagon · · Score: 5, Funny

    I replaced my old iMac partly to get this fancy CD burner and the iTunes software. If only I had known I was creating theft by making copies of my CDs and rearranging the tracks without permission, I would never have bought it.

    But on the other hand, if I didn't buy the Apple computer, my $1300 would be sitting in my savings account, denying the government rightfully-deserved tax revenue (or even worst, I could've put it in my Roth IRA! Only communists use Roth IRAs to deny the government tax revenue!!).

    I don't know what to do! Should I take the computer back and then turn myself into the authorities? Please, won't Bill Gates or Mickey Mouse come on TV and tell me what to do! Or N*SYNC could write a song about it so I'll know what to think! Help! Thinking is hard!

  14. Re:*RIP*, Mix , Burn by GSloop · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Your car is the first step in creating DRUNK DRIVERS!

    Your lighter is the first step in creating ARSONISTS!

    Your Axe is the first step in creating AXE MURDERERS!

    Your Penis is the first step in creating RAPISTS _AND_ PEDOPHILES!

    Lather, rinse repeat.

    If we eliminated all "first step" items, you should just ask Herr Ashcroft to lock up the whole world, and put us all in straight-jackets.

    I prefer to take action that use these TOOLS for bad purposes. (notice I sad bad, not illegal. Sometimes these are defininitely not the same.) Taking away the tools simply because some might abuse them is just plain stupid, unless of course, you prefer a totally "unfree" society.

    Cheers!

  15. Re:I wondered when by killmenow · · Score: 5, Funny
    Haven't you heard? Disney doesn't believe in fair use. And I quote:
    "I am openly, unabashedly in support of the government stepping in to set standards," said Preston Padden, head of government relations for Disney.
    Wait...he continued...this is good stuff...
    "There is no right to fair use."
    Need I go on?
  16. Tools w/ a bad purpose by eples · · Score: 5, Funny


    I prefer to take action that use these TOOLS for bad purposes.

    Eisner is a tool with a bad purpose.

    --
    I'm a 2000 man.
  17. What? by Nailer · · Score: 5, Funny

    'they can create theft if they buy this computer.'

    I made a look at the artlce, and created a stare in disbelief as Eisner established a speak that built an annoying and built a trample of my fair use rights, brewing a pissed me off.

  18. Jobs' reply: by mblase · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Record companies should loosen their grip

    Quote: Jobs suggested that recording labels need to make it easier for consumers to use their own music however they want. "If you legally acquire music, you need to have the right to manage it on all other devices that you own," said Jobs.