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Friend Or Foe: RIAA Radar

Posted by timothy on from the think-you're-doing dept.

CrookedFinger writes "RIAA Radar is a bookmarklet that helps users find out if an album was released by a member of the RIAA. This will make it a bit easier to decide whether my purchase would fund attacks on my rights or support a plucky independent..."

42 comments

  1. Wow by NeuroKoan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    words can not describe how useful this may be. I ran some of my recent cd purchases through the RIAA radar, and I didn't buy a single RIAA release :)

    But that was just by accident, not by any concious decision to boycott the RIAA. This tool, on the other hand, will make it a whole lot easier to decide what music to buy and what music not to buy.

    Props to who ever wrote this.

    --

    "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation."
    1. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Might be useful if someone made a similar program for Palm/WinCE/Zaurus to use when you're in a regular brick-and-mortar store.

  2. Did anyone else.. by Kelerain · · Score: 4, Funny

    Did anyone else read the title and think, OH MY LORD! DRM has gone TOO DAMN FAR this time!

    1. Re:Did anyone else.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Did anyone else read the title and think, OH MY LORD! DRM has gone TOO DAMN FAR this time!

      No.

    2. Re:Did anyone else.. by schmink182 · · Score: 1

      In all seriousness, I did think it was some RIAA-created radar that they were talking about, though I didn't get freaked out about it. I imagine the day will come when RIAA has tracking devices in all CDs sold.

  3. Uh oh... by seinman · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Can't get it to work. Is it my fault, or is Opera to blame?

    1. Re:Uh oh... by joFFeman · · Score: 1

      doesn't work with opera here, either.

      --
      "Life is great; without it, you'd be dead." -Harmony Korine
    2. Re:Uh oh... by jon787 · · Score: 1

      Only the popup one works for me. I use Mozilla.

      --
      X(7): A program for managing terminal windows. See also screen(1).
    3. Re:Uh oh... by weicco · · Score: 1

      Nah, it isn't Opera to blame. It's JavaScript to blame. But anyway, I din't get it to work on Opera and other browsers aren't supported by me. So I guess it's bye bye for this service.

      --
      You don't know what you don't know.
    4. Re:Uh oh... by buford_tannen · · Score: 2, Interesting
      I found that Mozilla stores the link
      javascript:var index=location.href...
      as
      javascript:var%20index=location.href...
      when the link is actually bookmarked. It worked when I converted it back to a space. Maybe that's what Opera needs, too.

      Hope this helps.
      --
      Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen
  4. Re:Cool.. by joFFeman · · Score: 2, Funny

    well, nobody's perfect... but we're going to have to kill you, anyway. ;p

    --
    "Life is great; without it, you'd be dead." -Harmony Korine
  5. What this means is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    i will buy from the indies, and I won't buy from the RIAA...

    Since this is such a limited boycott (ok maybe not THAT limited, but we do have the tech gap to deal with.) Those savvy enough to care, will just download the artists music for nothing. And feel little or no compulsion to get some miniscule revenue into an artists pocket.

    So far... Bjork, DMB, Chili peppers, U2, Rage and a few other favorites are now on my blacklist (until such time as they break from the RIAA)

    Thumbs up to bad religion..... umm... that's about all I found for my tastes anyways.

    1. Re:What this means is by hswerdfe · · Score: 1

      Bad Religion Rocks.

      They are angry and loud, but the are also deep and thought provoking. I have got to say they (and Nirvana) are my two favorate bands in the world.

      but they Suck live: I went to one of there concerts in TO (canada). it was total bullshit. everone at the concert looked like they were between 14-17, and the Greg Graffin looked like they had gotten Real old, Like Rolling Stones old, maybe he was hungover or something, but he had no energy on stage.

      anyway they are an amazing band, (on CD at least) and you should check them out.

      They have several sample songs on there website for download.

      These are probably the best out of the ones that are posted:

      Recipe For Hate

      American Jesus

      but the best albums IMHO
      "Gray Race" & "Stranger Than Fiction" don't have any samples, sad really

      any way They are amazing and you should check them out

      End Ad

      --
      --meh--
  6. coool!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Sweet, I've been looking for something like this.

    I buy from a mostly indie labels (the kind where you can send out an email to the label head and as soon as he gets home from his non-music-related day job he writes back [or she actually]) ... but occasionaly I buy from bigger labels.

    It's just nice to know how many of your CD purchases are funding the RIAA which then funds Congress which then passes those lovely laws.

    Actually to be honest the RIAA isn't quite as scary as the MPAA when it comes to these things ... any chance of a movie version?

    1. Re:coool!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't need one of those. I'll rent any movie I want to... for free :-) gotta love working at a movie store

  7. 4AD!! NOOOOO!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    NO!! Not 4AD! Please say it's joke! ^cry^

    I didn't even know a foreign label would associate with the RIAA. WHY??

    My Cocteau Twins collection! Posters, CDs, vinyl.... My Lush CDs ... Miki how you could!!!

    Dead Can Dance .... Pale Saints .. Hope Blister .. THIS MORTAL COIL!!!

    ALL TAINTED!!! ARGH!

    This is like learning your wife of 30 years is a double-agent.

    *weep*

    Oh well. *snifff* I guess since they are mostly 5-10+ years old it doesn't matter too much.

    1. Re:4AD!! NOOOOO!!! by schmink182 · · Score: 3, Funny
      This is like learning your wife of 30 years is a double-agent.

      Nah, that'd be cool. This is more like learning your wife of 30 years is a guy.

    2. Re:4AD!! NOOOOO!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nah. The hole is in the right place. Learning his wife is a guy, would be like opening his CD case, like always, and instead of a CD, he gets poked in the eye by a memorystick.

      What he's talking about is like learning his wife is gay, wants all of his stuff, and plans to take up welding and men's golf.

    3. Re:4AD!! NOOOOO!!! by MrHanky · · Score: 3, Informative
      NO!! Not 4AD! Please say it's joke! ^cry^


      All right, all right, it's a joke! Happy now? Unfortunately, the radar seems to think the distributor of the album is the company that released the album, so even small Norwegian independent labels like Rune Grammofon (I did a test with Supersilent) get tainted by being distributed in the USA by ECM/Universal. 4AD is a British company, and should be quite independent of the Recording Industry Assosiation of America.

      This means this RIAA Radar is quite useless for anything released on a non-US label and distributed by a major label, unless you really don't want them to have any of your money. Then I suggest you buy your CDs from amazon.co.uk instead.
    4. Re:4AD!! NOOOOO!!! by poptones · · Score: 1
      Unfortunately, the radar seems to think the distributor of the album is the company that released the album, so even small Norwegian independent labels like Rune Grammofon (I did a test with Supersilent) get tainted by being distributed in the USA by ECM/Universal. 4AD is a British company, and should be quite independent of the Recording Industry Assosiation of America.

      Uhhh... Polydor is (or was) a british company. You think they're not an RIAA member? Most of these giant labels distribute worldwide and have ties from the US to China to Japan to Russia. You don't seem to understand the very definition of "distributor." No matter whose studio the recording was made in, and no matter whose "indie" label it's on, if it goes through an RIAA member for distribution then it is indeed "tainted" because:

      1) the "tainter" (the distributor) owns the exclusive right to that recording in the country in question (in this case the US). Which means...

      2) Purchasing said "tainted" content does indeed mean you are funding the RIAA and its lobbying efforts. It also means "distributing" that content yourself via the internet may well get you slapped with a DMCA violation.

      There are plenty of "indies" that manage to get distribution without being "tainted." Sioux records, for example, manages to get their limited release product even into Virgin Megastore yet remain "unattached." Granted, Siouxsie fought for years to get such a deal, but they managed and (from what I can tell) are doing quite well.

      I dig Cocteau Twins and DCD as well, but I really don't feel any remorse about downloading their stuff when I find it - especially seeing as how I already bought it - most of it years ago when those POS cassettes were the only media you could find in many stores.

    5. Re:4AD!! NOOOOO!!! by Centinel · · Score: 1
      Nah, that'd be cool. This is more like learning your wife of 30 years is a guy.

      Reminds me of that line from Dude, Where's My Car?: "Dude.....you're a....dude!!!"

  8. Excellent. by NegativeK · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'd just like to point out to people that according to this site, a band may not stick with just one label. A lot of Prodigy's stuff seems to be RIAA tainted, but Jilted Generation is not. In short, if you want a CD, check to see if its under RIAA grips instead of going off of other albums you've seen/may have.
    Major props to the creator of this program; I can now feel purchase a replacement of my old Jilted Generation without convulsing from guilt. =)

    --
    This statement is false.
  9. I don't get it by ajuda · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I don't get it, I thought that we were supposed to buy RIAA DRM CDs and then return them as "defective" -- won't that hurt them a bit more than simply not buying the CDs?

    1. Re:I don't get it by XipX · · Score: 3, Informative

      Not if the store doesn't accept the return as warning labels are starting to appear on DRM infected CDs.

  10. Privacy Policy? by Lshmael · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Although the creator "assures us that the bookmarklet is safe," how do we know? And what is with the "Most Recent Queries" box on the right?

    1. Re:Privacy Policy? by m000 · · Score: 1

      The bookmarklets are written in JavaScript, which is easy enough to read. You needn't use the bookmarklets if you don't want to. All they do is strip the ASIN (Amazon store identification number?) from the Amazon product URL and append it to http://www.magnetbox.com/riaa/check.asp?asin= for lookup. You can do the same thing manually.

      For instance, http://www.magnetbox.com/riaa/check.asp?asin=B0000 5B36H.

    2. Re:Privacy Policy? by PhilHibbs · · Score: 1
      And what is with the "Most Recent Queries" box on the right?
      What's the problem? They get a query that contains an album ID, they look up the name, and link to it on their front page. What's the problem? Nowhere is the query for that album linked to you. Now what would be neat: split that box in two for recent "warning"s and recent "all-clear"s.
  11. Wonderful by Dachannien · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...but I sure wish this had hit the main /. page.

    1. Re:Wonderful by d34thm0nk3y · · Score: 1

      No kidding, this is the first useful slashdot story I have read all night!

  12. Oh, the irony! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    A tool to avoid an abusive business interest that only functions in the product of another abusive business interest...
    That is to say, it only works in Microsoft Internet Explorer.

    1. Re:Oh, the irony! by mcrandello · · Score: 1

      Works fine in Firebird. Easy way to test is just to click one of the recent searches in their sidebar.

  13. Cool use of Amazon web services by nixman99 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I mean this seriously, not as flamebait

    1. Create a tool to help people boycott the RIAA
    2. Get said people to buy CDs through your link
    3. Profit!!

    1. Re:Cool use of Amazon web services by poptones · · Score: 1

      It ain't flamebait at all... and I'm pretty sure you're right. Why else limit the functionality to Amazon.com?

  14. oh no! by d34thm0nk3y · · Score: 1

    aggh!!!! not Bjork!! Oh well, I'll still see her shows, but not buy any more albums. I wonder how long her contract is for.

  15. Someone should come up with a non-RIAA logo by michaelmalak · · Score: 1

    ...one that perhaps conveys custom copyright permissions, such as the promise to make it free after, say, 20 years. At a minimum it should convey that the media has no copy protection.

    1. Re:Someone should come up with a non-RIAA logo by PhilHibbs · · Score: 1

      The UKCDR is considering this.

  16. Oops by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You forget that Bad Religion was on major for some time (1993 - 2000). Their last album was the first back on Epitaph. The albums you mentioned, "Recipe For Hate", "Gray Race", and "Stranger Than Fiction", were released on Atlantic. Atlantic is a RIAA member.

  17. Hmmm... scAmazon required? by asackett · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Whoa now. We want to know if the RIAA is behind an album we want, but we have to visit the evil Bezos' site to do it? WTFO?

    --

    Warning: This signature may offend some viewers.

    1. Re:Hmmm... scAmazon required? by angle_slam · · Score: 1

      Well, you don't have to order from Amazon. Just think of it as using up their bandwidth. :-)

  18. Why all the fuss? by ratfynk · · Score: 1
    Sony aka DGG, Columbia etc, and all the labels are just pushed by the chains. Small independant music stores that still do exist then can not compete in price for any label, independant or not. The mega store buisiness model kills more creativity than any other aspect of todays music industry.


    Since home computers are realitively new to the music industry, Mp3 and file sharing just cannot find a home yet.


    My vision of a new buisiness model would be in store burning of disks with any mixed content for customers. With write protection on the disk for a number of reburns. I believe this buisiness would take off, as music stores could include coffee etc, etc.


    The oldested story about not paying the musician happenend centuries ago in Germany. The music industry needs to evolve, but paying the piper is still the real issue.

    --
    OH THE SHAME I fell off the wagon and use sigs again!