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U.S. Sides with Record Labels Over DMCA Subpoena Powers
Injektilo* writes "The Washington Port is reporting
that the U.S. government sided with the recording industry in its dispute with Verizon Communications Inc. on Friday, saying a digital-copyright law invoked by
record labels to track down Internet song-swappers did not violate the U.S. Constitution." We've been following this case.
It's not just the Republicans that are in cahoots with the RIAA- the Democrats are just as bad. Even if we had a different executive administration, the RIAA would still have governmental support in cases like this. How can the American public's voice be heard when its elected officials repeated do not accurately represent them, and kowtow to corporate interests? What can be done?
guess what hillary rosen's up to these days?
just heard this report by investigative journalist greg pallast that says she been tasked with re-writing iraq's intellectual property laws.
so we've got corporate vultures writing iraqs laws... people with no experience in government or nation building... pretty disturbing.
Using my European logic to think, I think the answer is very simple. Do not vote for the Republicans nor Democrats, and tell all your friends to do the same.
You do have alternatives, don't you? If you don't, that's scary...
Well, what did you expect?
That the junta^Wgovernment repeals a stupid law? Has that ever happened in the recorded history?
Govermnent does not kill stupid laws, judges do.
That't why the Bush clan made sure that judges sympathetic to their cause have the majority in the important courts.
This is how a dictatorship works, you know? The government makes stupid laws, and there are no independent judges to declare it unconstitutional.
no joke), public performers, stores who play popular songs in elevator music, etc. You know what? The artists do not see a dime on this!
Then they turn around and complain that they do not have enough money and want drm in everything.
My guess is if they could ban all p2p the tarrifs would remain so they can make more money. Remember when cassatte tapes cost only $6? Cd's were expensive so they charge more, then got more money from people buying music they already on tape, then as cd's began becoming cheaper then tapes to produce, the RIAA raises prices!
Oh gee people aren't buying the latest spice girls and Britney spears cd's for $22 each! It must be piracy.
The sadest thing in all of this is that the executives really believe this. They actually think that people buy cd's based on how sexy the artists look on TV( sex sells), and the music quality has gone down the tubes.
If you were John Carmack from ID software trying to negetiate with a game publisher to cut your cd's would you accept only a $1 per game while activision charges $40?
Hell no. THey work for you right? Well in the RIAA the exact opposite thing is happening. An artist wants to put his cd on store shelves. The RIAA comes in and says we will stock it. But under the condition that you recieve a $.50 per cd for royalities while we get $12 and the store gets $5. If you do not like it, get the fuck out of my office.
The RIAA is a monopoly and needs to be split up. Hell if I had billions in the bank I would start a record label where the artist gets %75 of the profit per cd while I would get %20 and the store would get %5. The cd's in return would sell off the shelf if they were only $10 each vs the britney collection for $18.99!
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http://saveie6.com/
>copying things is a moral right, like
>freedom of speech, that exists above government.
So you are saying that creative works (books, music, movies, games, etc.) are fair game to copy because of free speech. The constitution guarantees anyone the right to profit from their creative works for a limited time to protect against illegal copying of works. Copyright is the right of the materials creator to designate who can copy and distribute a certain work.
Better question: where is the moral right to profit from my own creativity???
I am a filmmaker and my partner is a music producer. Not major label, but I'll tell you,we make a living creating material that people like to see and hear. P2P is going to kill us. It is not only the Corps who need these abilities to protect themselves from pirates like you, and so steal my work and I will use these and any other tools to protect my work.
"Seems the record companies are complaining of lack of revenue in CD sales... yet they have no qualms about spending millions in legal fees to piss off consumers."
If I were an investor in the RIAA I would be pissed. One million dollars would reduce the price of one million cds by one dollar. Lower the cost, increase the demand, make your customers happier.
I don't think they've only spent only one mill here. Pity they didn't use that money to increase advertising or to make places like Listen.com better.
"Derp de derp."
So who will the RIAA go after when a computer in a 7-person household using NAT to share bandwidth downloads an mp3? If a minor downloads the music, are the parents liable?
The founding fathers were very cautious to specifically mention individual rights, and to limit power. The early governments of the United States were equally cautious.
To be granted a patent (a monopoly on production of an item) required the approval of the Secretary of State, among others.
A corporation was only created for a very important matter. I mean, before the United States was its own country, the entire damn colony of Virginia was a corporation. After the founding of the United States, corporations were created to do something such as build a public work: the first one was created by the US Government on contract to build a bridge. It wasn't until practically the end of the 19th century that it became commonplace to create corporations for personal profit.
The founding fathers simply never assumed that corporations would be mutated into what they are today. A corporation in their time was a charter from a King to do a given job. Now it's given to anyone who wants to sell something.
has led me to quit buying CDs/music. I don't buy it anymore. Really. I have what I have and am content with that and will not buy another music CD in my lifetime. I accept compilations and copies from a friend or two now and again but that is pretty much it.
I haven't bought ANY M$ software of any kind since I bought my first PC (a top-of-the-line 486DX-33 in its day) for similar reasons. I don't like the behavior or politics of the producer of the product, so I don't friggin' give them ANY money at all.
They need me more than I need them (speaking as a generic "consumer"). Take that simple fact to heart and live by it. Realise that you really don't NEED to buy any CD or software package. You may WANT to but you do not NEED to and, in fact, you can get by very well if you simply refuse to spend your money on the crap. Spend it on more worthwhile alternatives, blockade giving them blood money. Make them find a new line of work or reform.
In Bushworld, they struggle to keep church and state separate in Iraq as they increasingly merge the two in America.