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Legal Issues Don't Bother American Downloaders

Posted by timothy on from the varies-by-household dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Ipsos-Reid has released its latest research on file trading. Bottom line, the great majority of users do not believe they are breaking the law. Only 9% feel there is anything wrong with their actions. With 40 million Americans identified as active file traders this is indeed stirring information, though not surprising. Another stat, 73% of US downloaders report that their motivation for trading was to sample music for later purchase. You can see the charts and original press release here."

16 of 619 comments (clear)

  1. Released by a Reputable News Source by Scoria · · Score: 5, Funny

    After submitting data, participants were rumored to have disappeared. When approached by reporters, Hilary Rosen stepped outside of her Mercedes sedan and emphatically responded, "The result of this survey was entirely unexpected and blatantly anti-American. Like, who would've thought?" Screams emanated from her automobile, but Rosen was quick to assure her interviewers that they were merely products of her favorite Mafia films. Jack Valenti was hesitant to comment.

    --
    Do you like German cars?
  2. haw haw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Piracy is a victimless crime, like punching someone in the dark.

    1. Re:haw haw by gearheadsmp · · Score: 3, Funny

      ...except for the fact that if you punch someone in the dark, so to speak, they are at the very least going to grunt, yelp, scream, etc.

    2. Re:haw haw by tony1c · · Score: 2, Funny

      It's also a harmless crime, like punching someone in the appendix.

  3. I think this is right on. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I have downloaded about 30 Gigs of music, all for the articles.

  4. In Other News.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    56% of americans said "I get mp3s off kazza but I dont file-share"

  5. Names.... by idontneedanickname · · Score: 5, Funny
    Please just fill out this form, it shouldn't take you long.

    Why do I need to put my name and adress? You said this was an anonymous survey?

    Oh, that's just for ehh ... our computer, eh... so he can list you in alphabetical order, and ehh geographical area... yes, that's it! *Scratches back of head nervously, looks away*

  6. And they proably smoke pot too. by smcavoy · · Score: 3, Funny

    Let's round 'em up and throw them in jail for 5-10, that'd outta fix 'em.
    I'm mean if it's illegal, it's got to be bad.

  7. Newsflash: More research by borg · · Score: 5, Funny

    In other news:

    • 95% of drivers over 18 years of age think it's not a crime to go up to 7 mph over the speed limit.
    • 100% of fourth graders think that they shouldn't have to pay anyone to sing "happy birthday" in class.
    • 82% of record company CEOs didn't think that they did anything wrong when they conspired to raise the cost of a CD.
    • 100% of christine aguileras surveyed thought it was ok to teach fourth grade girls how to be whores.

    ok, i'm not sure what i'm getting at (especially with that last one...), but it's something along the lines of "law doesn't equal ethics." you can buy a law, but Leges sine moribus vanae ("Laws without morals are useless.")

    --
    Fermat's other theorem: "I have a simple proof, but I can't write it down as I fear it's a DMCA violation to discuss it"
  8. Duh.... by GeneralEmergency · · Score: 4, Funny

    .

    Information wants to be free...
    ...and apparently is having no difficulty finding the exits!

    --
    "A microprocessor... is a terrible thing to waste." --
    GeneralEmergency
  9. It's too late by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Kid Rock Starves to Death: MP3 Piracy Blamed. Sad, but true.

  10. Download with intent to buy? by sandbagger · · Score: 2, Funny

    Wow.

    People were downloading with a promise to buy?

    I'd better get some kind of big, honking raise 'cause it looks like I am going to be spending a fortune on porn in the future.

    --
    ---- The above post was generated by the Turing Institute. Maybe.
  11. Sounds Good by miketang16 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Just don't go over your RIAA-set limit of 600 songs a day... =) Especially you Verizon ISP customers.

    --
    -------
    "In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."
    -- George Orwell
  12. Still a good analogy: by Tokerat · · Score: 4, Funny


    The RIAA has been yelping and screaming ( "OW! My profit!!!" ) ever since they (well, their affiliates) brought us fabulous new talent like 98 Degrees and Sum41.

    "Gee, Bob, I can't understand why people aren't buying the CDs, these bands are practically clones of the last big hits we signed... Ahh, must be those God-damned pirates again! Betty! Can you get my lobbying group on the line, please? We got some ass to kick!"

    --
    CAn'T CompreHend SARcaSm?
  13. Open Source Music? by Punk+Walrus · · Score: 5, Funny
    Seeing the open source model, I wonder (not "predict," but wonder) if this is what will happen:
    1. Government bans swapping
    2. Sales still go down
    3. M$, RIAA, and the like make some sort of anti-theft device in CDROMS like they did with DVDs (yes, you can bypass, but not easily for the average user)
    4. Sales still go down
    5. They raise album prices, because of "continued piracy" and renewed advertising cost.
    6. Sales still go down
    7. This model becomes "Hollywood Critical," meaning no innovation because industry people are afraid to take risks in a cutthroat environment. Sales falling through the floor as boy band after boy band thrusts their craft on Nickelodeon. "Latest polls" show 40% of the males aged 12-24 like new star "B*Bop Pinky-Poo," a girl who is genetically part of every race in her demographic target (not too white, not too tan, kind of Asian, kind of black, but not TOO black... and is that a hint of Hindu?), and all about gi--, er, unisex power! Sales are still dropping. B*Bop is forced to make dance remix of Hendrix's "Watchtower." She's found dead in a hotel room over a sleeping pill overdose when even her decrepit sellout morals collapse in on herself. A new artist, "Sharon Apple," who can't possibly offend anyone with her music, turns out to be a computer.
    8. Independent artists begin to spring up everywhere, and thrive because everyone is so sick of the bland crap pumped into their face from countless car ads (thank you Mitsubishi), and there's only so much "classic" stuff you can listen to before it's not classic anymore but, in fact, "reruns." Cyndi Lauper's residual checks even start to dwindle.
    9. Sales still go down. It must be piracy! Raise the price! CDs now going for $50, but now they have videos on them! Music industry desperately tries new format, but it's selling less than 8-tracks did. They start forcing new albums to be on this new "music memory stick" format. The albums only play if your fingerprint matches what they have on file, and can only play on a device that can call home to check and see if you're allowed to play it. Sales still go down. Piracy so rampant, it's like the black market in late 70s Russia.
    10. Artists begin to compose music... not because they want to make money... but because they are artists. They start swapping in Vorbis format or something. Kind of like how people are working on Linux and stuff not for profit, but because they are programmers and wants stuff that works. P2P-like networks show REAL hits, in real-time, and new pop stars spring up from basements and garages around the world. Kind of like MTV when it started. And no money is changing hands.
    11. Music industry collapses. Distributors flee to third-world overseas markets.
    12. Years later, people reminisce that there's no "good live concerts" anymore, and that digital feed HDTV of "Seamus Chien and his New Durban Posse" isn't the same as "Aerosmith" or "Kid Rock." Kids born after 2010 wonder why anyone would expose themselves to all that pollution and crime in the outside world just to see someone sing and pay $30 for a tee-shirt. "Ticketmaster," is officially entered in the Oxford Dictionary as an old synonym for "ripoff."

    Okay... maybe not...

    _______________________________________________
    "A planet where walruses evolve from men?" - Get your flippers off me, you damn, dirty pinniped!

  14. prostitutes want to be free by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    Sex is not a product, which once taken cannot be given again to someone else. Indeed, you can give sex to many people at once, and still have more sex to give around. The initial development costs of the sexual organs far outweigh the distribution costs of sex. Greedy religious people want to use threats of fire and brimstone to restrict the free distribution of sex, thus gaining an unfair monopoly on the terms under which a person may have sex. Sex then becomes a gift bestowed by the religious hierarchy rather than a fundamental right.

    Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the providers of sex, the ladies (and occasional men) of negotiable affection, to recognise that sex wants to be free, and to provide their talent on demand. By sharing their sex, others are able to contribute to it, improving their technique. Ultimately the government should create a "sex tax" to pay these sex workers, while housewives would be prohibited from only providing sex to their husbands.

    We must also abandon patents on sexual positions and toys, as they have stifled creativity in the sex industry. But we must also recognise that Free as in Free Sex does not mean the right to spam herbal viagra products. Indeed, viagra will no longer become necessary under the Free Sex utopia, as we will expose ourselves and feel comfortable with our bodies in a way not seen since Roman times.

    Sex workers of the world unite!