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CD Copy Protection Case Goes to Court
grungie writes "From The Register: Belgian consumer watchdog Test-Achats (Test Aankoop), known for its crusade against Nokia's "unsafe batteries", starts the new year with a fresh assault on the music industry. It is taking the music giants EMI, Sony, BMG Music and Universal Music to court for installing anti-piracy systems on their audio CDs. This is excellent news! I was less than happy when I had to use cdparanoia to add The Foo Fighters' latest to my iTunes collection. I used to live in Belgium: Test Achat is serious about the protection of consumer rights. Let's hope other countries follow suit." You can read the stories in French as well as Dutch.
Already as early as 2002, EFN (Norway's version of EFF) has launched campaigns against the purchase of certain types of CDs as well as offering assistance in pressing charges against record producers whose CDs damage CD and/or DVD players or computers.
By the way, the verdict against DVD-Jon is NOT going to be appealed!
People say I'm crazy, I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes...
don't buy it.
HOW'S MY POSTING? CALL 1-800-POSTING
Test-achats's original press release in French, Dutch, and Google's translation to English.
Avantslash: low-bandwidth mobile slashdot.
Test-Ankoop claimed that there was a risk that Nokia's batteries could explode at random. Later, it came out that they actually tested non-brand batteries... So they had to do their test again, and they found out that nothing was wrong with Nokia's original batteries.
I entirely agree with the cause that is being supported, but to be honest, who really thinks that this legal battle will be won by the underdog? The Big 5 record companies have practically unlimited funds, and the recent RIAA suing campaign shows that they aren't afraid to use it the most brutal way they can. What chances does a small albeit well-known group have against them?
Canadian Cynic, canadian politics is less boring than you
..here in India which is notorious for not having a decent return policy. I think, for music CDs almost all countries won't accept a return.
It would be nice to return the RIAA fsckers an opened music CD, in these cases
The best planning can be done after the project completes.
...and all of your problems will disappear. Voila!
Tubal-Cain smokes the white owl.
Other french consumers association already did the same in France ... and win !
(see here, for example).
#include "coucou.h"
The trouble is, if we rightfully boycott a poor and intentionally crippled product, the record companies will blame their declining sales on P2P networks. The government will then step in to provide them a corporate crutch and start putting people using the future of media distribution in jail.
It's an ugly situation. The best thing we can do is help indy music sales and make sure they report their numbers. We need to make it clear that the sales of the Big Five are declining while others are increasing. Maybe the government will notice the signifigance of that.
Then again, maybe not.
Join Tor today!
The UK seems to ban making backup copies of music you've bought, and doesn't permit you to copy your own CDs so you can listen to them on your car cassette player. Allegedly. What's the rest of Europe / the world like? Here's an area where the US has some sensible rules.
Yes - I know you can ignore the law...
Paul "Say no to feeping creaturism"
It is taking the music giants EMI, Sony, BMG Music and Universal Music to court for installing anti-piracy systems on their audio CDs.
Most of these are american institutions of music for young and old. How can a european country dare to take them to court? Don't they have love for good music in their hearts? What is this world going to? What about the poor artists who are trying to make a few dimes for a living. Michael Jackson has to molest children now because he can't afford hookers anymore and Britney Spear wardrobe is practically non-existant since she grows older and older.
This is a sad day for the american economy.
"Hi, I'd like to return this because it's not a music CD."
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
Being belgian, I can attest that Test-aankoop has a valuable function here. Ther can really scare companies, and have more than once forced companies into admitting faults. The fault itself is not necessarely fixed, but the public humiliation in a small country (with only a handfull national TV channels) is enough to scare them.
And being totally independent, they can take some serious badass attitude !
They also have a pretty good website (in dutch & french) that accomagnies their monthly magazine. Each edition has at least a few product comparisions that many many belgians respect. When we bought our childrens car-seats, we followed their advice, even tho their top-pick was 15% more expensive.
They also have a pretty big library of 'target prices' for many products.
When will I end this grieving ? When will my future begin ?
If you buy something from the CD rack of your music shop, and it won't play in your CD playing equipment, you are entitled to a refund.
In fact, buying such a CD, then returning it for just that reason, provides "valuable" feedback to the labels on how acceptable / workable copy-protection isn't. (Maybe we should all go buy the stuff, then return it to send a message?)
Paul "Say no to feeping creaturism"
Look, it's been said before, I'll say it again now, and I'll continue to say it until things change.
Stop purchasing industry CDs!
Your purchase of music released on a label affiliated with the RIAA indirectly supports these efforts which most of you agree is capricious, unfair, predatory and illegal. And yet all I see are a bunch of people who complain about copy protection, the myriad subpoenas being sent by the RIAA standing in line down at the local Best Buy (which is another evil altogether) because they have to have the new friggin' Puddle Of Mudd (or is that Dumm?) CD.
If you really want to send the industry a message, don't buy CDs on labels that are part of the RIAA. Look at places like CD Baby, which are not affiliated with the RIAA, offer 2-minute high-quality preview of many of the songs on each CD, sell non copy-protected CDs, and offer all the rights that you should expect in your CDs. Yes, you can rip the CD and download it to your MP3 player, and no one is going to come and hunt you down like the dog you are merely for exercising your fair use rights.
It really is going to take a big effort on all our parts to get this message out. But while people mindlessly go down to the local box retailer to buy another copy protected CD from some industry teat-sucking band, you're really not helping things.
I noticed it was a Foo Fighters' CD that the story poster bought. How about, 'It's times like these you need to think again...'?
Karma: Excellent Birds (mostly as a result of listening to Laurie Anderson)
don't open that last link. particularly naste goatse-multiple-windows-"hey, i'm looking at gay porno!" wav files, etc....
Didn't some of those "copy-protected" CDs supposedly try to install drivers on Win32-based platforms that prevent you from ripping certain CDs?
Granted, the user shouldn't be running under an admin account (or get infected with all sorts of random crapware), but still. If that's the case I'd like to see them get smacked down for installing software without the user's consent...
Everyone should have equal rights which are based almost exclusively on the right to private property and the right to protect it.
The physical music medium is something owned by someone else. You have been loaned that medium in order to listen to that music. How is this so difficult?
Laws are not needed to "protect" consumers or businesses. Natural law says that if I own a lawnmower and loan it to you under a contract, you have to return it to me.
If you don't like my contract, don't use my lawnmower. The same is true about music.
u can run it on computer for sure.. Its pretty futile for them to even try, because the moment one person cracks it, it hits P2P, and all the ppl who weren't going to buy it anyway, are going to d/l it then... its completely pointless.. Only annoys the ppl who bought it
Since the iPod was this Christmas's "must have" item, and continues to get massive publicity along with selling as fast as they can make the things, I have to wonder:
How much longer will it be before a 'copy-protection' scheme that effectively stops you making any sales to iPod (or similiar) owners harms sales more than the increased level of copying that supposedly happens with non-protected CDs?
When you factor in that its going to be the people most into music who are prepared to shell out for devices like this, these "copy protections" have to be be at best of dubious value.
"I Know You Are But What Am I?"
The physical music medium is something owned by someone else
No, I own the physical medium.
I bought it, I did not license it.
If I take it from a store without paying, they claim it is theft, not a license violation.
My definition of damage is any impairment to proper use.
I should not have to spend ANY energy fixing my stuff due to actions of others.
As an extreme example.
A terrorist can blow up a building and kill a few people, but we can just rebuild and make a few new people. I don't think anyone would argue that such easily repaired damage is insignificant.
Theres no copy protection on the Foo's latest.
And don't buy music from most online music download services either ( that means iTunes , too ), as the RIAA gets ( as per Slashot reporting ) at least 70% of the purchase price as its cut.
:)
They and their member labels probably have some other income streams we can cut off as well. If you know of one, please chime in.
I can't afford a sig!
If the case is won, they should try to move to DVD after CD. It might be trickier to prove harm, but there's also a similar copy-protection.
Would you mind explaining this, I don't get it.
Whether or not they ARE in fact losing money due to P2P is irrelevant. All they have to do is 'convince' a congress-monkey that they're right. If fewer and fewer of their songs are present on P2P networks, the less of a case they have.
"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
The response from people at ifpi , our local RIAA is that users shouldn't expect that their CDs work in their car stereo (main problem for the average belgian joe) is because car manufacturers use CD-ROMplayers in their cars and no music CDplayers (please don't flame me, it's their words, not mine).
I've searched their site but haven't seen that response listed anywhere, but that's not really strange because their entire piracysection (with subsection for facts, CD-R and internet) are "to be defined" since that section went onto their site months ago.
But on (flemish) TV this is the mantra of the IFPI spokepeople, and with t -my guess is- they're trying to divert the rage of average belgian joe who just bought a CD that doesn't play in his car from the CDproducers to the carmanifacturers (they should have given you a real CDplayer with your car).
Arh, normally I would just say fuck'm , don't buy their crap; but now I'm pissed at their disinformation and want to see them judged for the smegheads the are.
and some background.
Paul "Say no to feeping creaturism"
The first question is: can we expect a landmark decision here?
Yes, I think we can. Like with the Kazaa case in The Netherlands, people will most probably be looking forward to the outcome of this case. Furthermore, legal decisions in a civil case can be enforced all around Europe (when decided for those countries) by means of the Brussels and Lugano conventions.
Next question: how soon will there be a decision?
In a long, long time, probably. When I take my teachers seriously (best of the best of dutch IP lawyers), lawsuits can take years in Belgium, depending on the cravings of the judge. When it's a good day for hunting, you're lost.
However, I do not want to copy this statement directly. Perhaps there's someone from Belgium to throw some light on this case?
Here's a good place to start:
Cool music from a guy you've never heard of.
CD's are RIAA free and not copy protected!
so you disagree with the system, and create an alternative, and expect the rest of the world to agree with that?
i happen to like some of the "industry teat-sucking bands"! in your scheme i'm not allowed to support them out of idealism?
i agree that the system sucks. but i like music, not only indie music.
..thats sure to increase CD sales and profits. How many people rip cd's and put then on their I-POD like devices or into mp3 format. I take my CD's and rip them to an MP3 CD so I can make my in-dash player like a 10 cd changer. I don't even own a "Disc Man" or a typical CD player.
Silly gooses, how long until they realize they need to change their business model for the times.
ZiN
-ZiN-
Only way to let the record companies know "enough is enough" is to stop buying any of their CDs. This means copy-protected ones and, if it persists, just stop buying any CD at all.
I mean, it's not the end of the world if you do not have the latest Foo Fighters so speak with the almighty dollar because in the end that is all that will work with these guys. Curbing your spending will lead to a sales dip as they release these copy-protected CDs and, as everyone becomes accustomed, sales will eventually return close or above to their previous levels. The record companies outlined this happening already. They outline all these possible scenarios when releasing new technology that affects the consumer. They're not stupid.
So bite the bullet and stop buying. I did.
I'm personally back on the wagon regarding going to movie theaters. I'm sick of the garbage put out but started going to the Matrix and Lord of the Ring movies. Now that they're finished the theaters will not get a dime of my money for some mediocre crap. I went 2 years without going to a theater last time around and will go longer this time. Opportunistic movie executives will probably blame the dip on P2P.
Since the "copy protection" is generally done by interfering with the error detection features of the CD standard, this product is inherently less suitable for in-car or personal player use (while jogging, say). It's also more vulnerable to scratches... Almost like in the old days with vinyl records?
But your local RIAA folk are still wrong. Consumers should be able to play their music CDs in ANY CD player. That's what the standard is for, after all.
Paul "Say no to feeping creaturism"
That way you can actually pay for your goods, yet still not give a red cent of your money to the label.
The band/artist does not get any either, but that's no different than buying new anyway.This is, of course, assuming that your goal is to not reward the RIAA, yet still buy music honestly.
Free Mac Mini Yeah, it's
It links to a page with a bunch of nasty porn. To the poster: Thanks jerkoff, some of us do browse the internet at work. It's not funny.
My ghEtt0 webpage.
The easy way to do it is to support it as much as the failed Circuit City DIVIX format.
Insist on seeing the Compact Disk logo. The copy protected disks don't have it. Not buying the non-functional disks don't break the law and have an added benifit of encouraging their demise just like the Circuit City DVD format.
They can add stuff to make a CD useless. Don't cry foul when nobody wants to buy it.
The truth shall set you free!
You should always use cdparanoia. Otherwise you are left with undetected errors. All other rippers cause errors except in ideal circumstances.
All I can tell you about copy protection is that in my home, for Christmas 2002, a DVD/CD player was received that only played mp3 music if it was recorded at a specific bit rate, with a lot of restrictions. The gift giver was thanked, and asked to return it.
We have put off purchasing a DVD/CD player (and now recorder) for the living room, two portable mp3 players, a DVD-Ram/+R/-R recorder for the computer, an mp3 stereo deck for the car, a kitchen CD/mp3 player radio for mom, and a portable mp3 stereo for outdoor trips all because it is unknown if any of these items will restrict us from playing the music that we own.
I'll be taking a cd with mp3s on it to the local electronics outlet in the next few months to see if there are problems playing mp3s on several car stereo decks in the price range we can afford. We'll gladly give up a bit of sound quality (especially in a car) for the convenience of being able to play over a hundred songs on a single cd rather than shuffling cds while driving, especially being able to eliminate songs we don't like.
DVD recorder for the computer? Was planning on getting a deck that included DVD-Ram thanks to the random access feature, especially suitable for computer files and archiving, but which can also be used for audio and video creation for playback in the living room. That plan appears to be on hold because we're waiting to see if DVD-Ram format survives, and waiting to get more info on the ability to playback music and videos we own, without ridiculous restrictions.
Portable mp3 stereo playback? We'll wait to see what becomes popular. Probably another year. In the meantime, cassettes that we can record at home without restrictions will have to do (which is something we've been doing since cassettes overtook 8-track player/recorders).
Living room DVD player? Forget it. If we need to play back a video, it will be piped from one of the computers on our home lan through a s-video output to the television, as we are already doing. Thanks to broadband, and a relative's dvd player (and his patience), we can watch any dvd we want without paying for a player. Our house is between his house and his job, and he doesn't have to buy any videos, we keep him well supplied.
Without full disclosure on restrictions, we won't waste any money on consumer electronics unless we find out beforehand through someone else's experiences, whether the hardware works with the music and videos we own. We've been burned by incompatible software, and software that doesn't work as advertised, costing hundreds of dollars each, and we aren't going to start the same thing with consumer electronics. I have another relative who has been burned by the Sony mini-discs.
Any consumer electronics we buy in the future MUST be compatible with the music and videos we own, and must be able to play (and record for backup) them in every way currently available and every way that makes sense. Or we won't purchase them. That's the bottom line.
That's not copy protection. The mac just committed suicide after being forced to play Celine Dion :-)
"'I pass the test,' she said. 'I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel.'"
- JRR Tolkien.
and I still vote with my wallet.
I haven't bought a CD for myself ever, I've been given CDs. But I'm relatively happy to just listen to the radio (rock station here isn't too bad), since I only really listen to music as background, or when on public transport (my phone has an fm radio).
Yet even I can make an impact, as I used to buy CDs and gift vouchers as presents for others. No longer. I'd rather search for a better present or resort to money then give a music voucher.
That being said, I still encourage others to buy CDs second hand, or to support indie bands.
Just kick it 'Old School' and make tapes off the radio! Just remember to be real quiet whe it's recording. Maybe they can stop us from taking camcorders in to a movie theater, but they can't come into our bedrooms and take our cassette recorders away! At least not yet.
-------- In Soviet Russia, "Soviet Russia" sigs hate Slashdot.
In Canada I have the legal right to copy a friend's music disc, etc, this has been decided by our copyright board (as long as I make my own copy). In my humble opinion, copy controlled discs are violating my rights granted by my government. In a seperate issue, if I can legally copy someone else's music cd, can I not legally copy software? :)
Why use cdparanoia when you can just go online and download it from your favorite P2P service? :)
Secession is the right of all sentient beings.
A lot of this stuff can be summarized as "The man in the middle attacks." Media as intermediation. The corporation as the "person" behind depersonalization.
It's pretty clear that the artist has ownership rights to some high degree, and that the purchaser of the art has ownership rights. Similarly for the farmer and the those sitting down to eat. But in our system of middlemen the artist and farmer on average barely scrape by, often holding a second job to do that, while those about to "consume" get an abundance of adulterated junk of low artistic and nutritional quality while our money makes the middlemen very comfortable indeed. Meanwhile the farms and music makers are forced to consolidate into megafarms and megastars....
What would happen if our food middlemen decided to add substances to, say, the potatoes of one distributor that would poison only those who ate the meat of another distributor? You don't, after all, have to eat those potatoes. You don't have to buy those copy-protected CDS, either, or combine them with musical equipment they won't work in. (My DVD player plays CDs. Just why should I want to buy a separate CD player to play the crippled ones?) But clearly something's wrong here. Food from different suppliers should be as fully compatible as possible. Musical items from different suppliers, likewise.
Anything else is restriction of the fundamental ownership rights of the artist/farmer and the appreciator/eater. The laws need to be restructured so that the middle men are allowed only those rights which in no way infringe on the fundamental rights owners, who produce and consume whatever the middlemen distribute. Distribution should be recognized not as ownership, but as the relation of a cargo carrier to the cargo carried.
And we must realize that anything which robs from the final customer also robs from the original producer. The century-long history of the obliteration of small farmers due to the stranglehold on markets by middlemen amply demonstrates the economic principles involved when middlemen are allowed too much sway. One way to address this is to alter the balance of laws so that fictitious corporate "persons" never have rights equal to individual living persons - whether the persons who play music, the persons who run family farms, or the persons who enjoy a good tune with a good meal.
"with their freedom lost all virtue lose" - Milton
I still buy CD regurlarly and do rip & download MP3s at will.
I buy CDs because the artist/band that made it deserves recognition (money) for its sweat.
Do I agree with RIAA....no, but we still need to prove them that sharing on the internet doesn't discourage us from buying real CDs, granted that the price is right.
What the RIAA need to understand is that in order to get us to buy the CD, they need to offer that little something we can't already find on the internet.
They need to understand that they need to change, they can't fight the internet (its sharing part of it anyway), instead, why can't we convince them to embrace the change.
An example? There's a local artist here, a humorist who gets his CDs ripped very quickly simply because he's very popular, so to motivate us into buying his stuff, with every CDs he gives a mini membership cards that allows us to download stuff from his website, things like videos, making-of, unreleased material...etc.
This is what I'd like RIAA to do but if I don't show them that I'm willing to buy their stuff in the first place, how can they be motivated to give me extra stuff ?
about 50% of my music collection are legit CD, that's about 250 CDs.
That is why I keep and will keep buying CDs.
If you look like your passport photo, you're too ill to travel. - Will Kommen
Here is a quick and dirty translation of the link given by parent, since it's in French.
...). Having bought a CD that can't be read everywhere means by this decision that you are entitled to a refund.
CD copy protection condamned.
TGI, Nanterre, 2003/09/02
(TGI is Tribunal de Grande Instance, the french court for those cases)
Facts
Due to "plaintes" (basically people complaining and/or filling suit) on the impossibility to play some CD on certain car cd players, the UFC-Que Choisir association (UFC is an association created to defend custumers) filled suit against EMI Music France, producer of said CD.
Decision
The Tribunal of Nanterre accepted UFC's complain. Juges looked at the juridic's "vice cache". "The 'vice cache' is the delivery of a merchandise that looks correct in respect with displayed properties, but contains an anomaly that restrains its usage".
It has been demonstrated by the court that the litigeous CD was not working properly on every player. "This anomaly restricts the normal utilisation and thus consitute a 'vice cache' in the sense of Article 1641".
Commentary
Court's decision shows the contradiction between rights of custumers and copyright holders.
Copyright holders have the legal right to put copy protection mechanism. Article 6 of EU-Directive of 2001/05/22, which should be translated in French law by 2002/12/22 sets the juridical framework of copy protection mechanisms. But, this right must not contradict rights of custumers. In this case, it was the custumer's right to listen to his CD on any player (car player, computer CDROM,
In a similar but hypothetical situation, the presence of copy protection mechanisms can interfer with the custumer's right to make private backups. Such a right is written in French law, by Article L 122-5 of French's copyright code. The conciliation of this copy protection mechanisms and of the right of the custumer to backup is actually a hot debate.
It should be noted that the Court of Nanterre has already condamned EMI Music France, in June 2003. EMI was tried and condamned at that time for mascadaring sold product. This is illegal as of Article L 213-1.
End of translation.
So, in France, EMI has been tried twice already, and was condamned by the courts twice. Looks like this copy protected CD are having a very hard time here in Europe.
"This is excellent news! I was less than happy when I had to use cdparanoia to add The Foo Fighters' latest to my iTunes collection."
Well it's certainly nice to see that the "boycott RIAA" is working well. Good thing we're not seeing some real repression, or we may just have to start throwing some CDs into the harbour.
Good for you! I'm in the same boat. I can't imagine how much consumer products I have NOT bought because of these stupid restrictions. I still use audiotapes for the most part because they're easier to copy and play in the car than CDs. I have never owned a DVD player, videotapes give me time and geography-shifting freedom. I have no i-pod or similar device for the above reasons. I don't buy CDs, my sister copies her CDs onto audiotapes for me. I have two TV sets, one was built in 1983 and the other in 1985. I have two VCRs, both from the 1980s. My audiocassette deck may be as recent as the early 1990s, I can't remember. The only new consumer product in my house is my computer.
The consumer electronics manufacturers need to stand up to the content-protection "industry." The consumer electronics manufacturers are losing their shirts, compared to what they COULD be selling, if only they would sell new products which were as consumer-friendly as their 1980s products.
I was gonna say the same.
But in the end it doesn't really matter.
We want it both banned; copy protection AND celine. Don't we?
And if it's only to save a Mac or two...
Stand up!
...pause...
Fight for our rights
/sheepish grin
Just don't...err...waffle.
Gah! I feel dirty for a pun of such depravity.
Have you read the moderator guidelines? Well, have you, PUNK? (and I want a Karma: Gnarly option)
On what, exactly, are you calling bullshit? He didn't lie. He just said something you disagree with. Ergo, there is no reason you should 'call bullshit.'
I long for the day we can leave this 'calling bullshit' bullshit behind.
fs
But you DON'T own the music, you own a license to it.
DOH!
Sorry, got my windows mixed up. I thought I was reading about DVD-Jon, not the CD protection story. I apologize. Please mod as off-topic.
"Derp de derp."
I think everyone should have to use my new standard: the CD-RX...but only for the POP CDs. The rap CDs will be using the CD-RXW standard and....
Do any of the copy protection schemes, fit within the actual specification of Compact Disc? If the format of information, or the way it's written on the disc differs in any way from the published standard, couldn't a case be made agianst said product being actually called a compact disc. To the best of my knowledge there were no specifications for copy protection in the original CD standard. Has the standard been updated, or are all these companies trying to pass off a sub-standard, non spec conforming product, ( basically a conterfeit product) to us?
This space intentionally left blank.
Was planning on getting a deck that included DVD-Ram thanks to the random access feature, especially suitable for computer files and archiving, but which can also be used for audio and video creation for playback in the living room.
Get a DVD +/-R combo drive and look into Packet Writing/UDF sortware such as DirectCD. I've been using CD-RW with random read/write access for many years, and I'm sure the same features work in the DVD world with DVD-RW.
Portable mp3 stereo playback? We'll wait to see what becomes popular.
Get a mobile phone with mp3 playback. Mine has zero restrictions on copying music to and from it, and get this...it's a Microsoft Smartphone. Takes an SD-card flash memory, so you can carry multiple cards around. You already carry a phone (don't you?), so why carry another gadget?
I'll be taking a cd with mp3s on it to the local electronics outlet in the next few months to see if there are problems playing mp3s on several car stereo decks in the price range we can afford.
I didn't have any hassle getting my mp3 player for the car; it's not had a problem with any track I've thrown at it, hopefully you will find the same. Google Groups is handy for finding out other peoples experiences with products.
I doubt a boycott would be effective if it only lasted one day. The only thing that a 1 day boycott would do is how that we can organize and for it show that we would need to make sure a significant percentage of CD purchasers and filesharers were involved.
I think we must stop purchasing CDs, filesharing, listening to the radio, and maybe even going to concerts (do we need to let the artists known that we won't stand for this?). A smller group can do that and still show the RIAA that we mean buisness and still get them were it hurts, thier wallet.
If enough people do that, for even a few weeks then the RIAA will know that they need to change thier tactics in order to make money...if we boycott for one day they will (most likely) make enough throughout the rest of the year to make up for it.
If the industry-approved player has an audio out port, be it normal 1/8th inch or otherwise, the cd can be ripped, albeit not in the normal fashion.
They can release their own players with their own built-in speakers and headphones, but all you've to do is splice in wires. Besides, that would be virtual suicide, as no one wants to use the industry's headphones, they want to use the ones they have (in my case, a pair of studio-quality noi-sedampening Labtecs).
Striking fear in the authors of godawful fanfiction, I am here, appearing in darkness, Tuxedo Jack!
That's right - you're hard earned dollars support music companies in the taxes placed on all computer media. How is not buying the product a fix?
The offending link is in the sig.
He's changed his sig now, so it really IS a screenshot.
Nasty tactic for trolling and getting the moderations marked as "unfair".
DISCLAIMER: I haven's actually seen the offending link. When I tried it, it was a screenshot. This does not mean that I was looking for gay porn. It means that I was studying pop-up technology. Honest.
Irene KHAAAAAAN!
I've been buying LPs for the last four years and I have yet to encounter one with copy protection. Also: - They have wonderful sound - I've found my musical tastes have opened up immensely - They cost - well - nothing in some cases - You can buy most new popular music (rock, rap, etc.) on vinyl Also, keep in mind that recording quality reached it's height in the years between 1955-1965 with the advent of 35mm film sound recording...
Who is this delectable creature with an insatiable love of the dead?
There will always be a steady stream of customers who will never consider the politics of the industry, and are quite unlikely to try to save the buck or two at the used shop.
Really the only reason I hardly ever buy a new CD is that there is very little coming out that I am interested in.Supporting an indie label/artist may make some statement, but the volume is so low compared to the national "sanitized for your protection" outlets, that it would take a major nationwide hit to make them notice. And even then, the band would besigned by a major/ the small label would be bought or lawyered away.
Free Mac Mini Yeah, it's
I for one get very annoyed when I buy a CD and can't shift the content onto my family server. From the server I am able to pipe music to any room in the house that has a computer. (And in my home that's quite a few.)
Just recently I bought the new Listening Library's "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" 23 CD set at the tune of $75.00. It play's fine in a CD player but if I try to create ogg files for my server many tracks make very annoying popping noise.
No where can I find any warnings that the CDs are copy protected.
I have tried every ripping program that I can find but have not yet been able to create good files. I paid for the CDs. I should be allowed to listen to the content in the manner that I choose!
The race isn't always to the swift... but that's the way to bet!
buy it in mp3 format from authorized distributors. You may not like it but with digital lossless quality copying now available to everyone your rights are limited.
The record industry machine is really a complex distribution framework. Do-it-yourself is not OK with the copyright holders. Legal online distribution of music is not compatible with do-it-yourself ripping in the long term. If you want a CD version, buy the CD version. If you want an mp3 version, buy the mp3 version. You may do otherwise, and it may be legal under current law, but if the online music industry is ever going to survive, and thrive, that cannot last long.
If you disagree the moral recourse is to not support those whose copyrights are not configured to your liking, not to coerce them using the framework of government. I have no support for this action.
What on Earth are you talking about? Is this some sort of crappy, distilled-down, market ideology? I've NEVER seen this happen in real life, and more to the point, more and more used CD stores appear every year in my city. Heck, I got 3 House Of Freaks CDs used for CAN$8 a piece, whereas a few years ago they would have gone for CAN$12 each used.
If anything, the prices will go down as the supply of used CDS increases all the time.
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
As a Belgian - To give more weight to this suit: Belgian watchdog organisations don't "settle" cases. As opposed to what you're used to seeing in the US in many class action suits and state-x versus Microsoft, Belgian courts and consumer suits like these don't settle in court for cold cash. It's fought out to the bitter end and the result is enforced. Traditionally, it might take a decennium or so to get trough all 3 layers of justice but eventually there will be a conclusion even a multinational mogul will have take into account. I await the days where Belgium and maybe even europe (third layer of jurisdiction, above national appeals court) is scrapped from distribution of these crippled goods! shock and awe that :)
MODS AND META-MODS:
This IS in his journal:
"Post a link to a Linux program, get modded up by Linux zealots, then change your Sig file to add a Windows tool. The majority of Slashdot readers use Windows, so they will click that. But redirect the Windows tool to a site like Last Mesure. When someone points out that its a goatse link, change your sig to a normal link! The poster will look like an idiot and get modded -1, offtopic, while you reap in the karma, and teach people a lesson for using Wincrap!"
Technically it's impossible to play a CD without copying it (temporarily into memory - this counts as a copy under UK law). AIUI when you buy a CD you create an implicit contract which allows you to copy it for personal use, thus allowing you to play it in the first place, and also to transfer it between formats.
Sorry. Just pulled some cassettes off the organizer. Nothing about a license.
As another poster has posted, if I were to steal a cassette or cd from the local mall, I'd be charged with theft, not a license violation.
There's been court cases over the past 20+ years, and laws subsequently passed to back it up, protecting my right to back up my music to the same media, to different media, and in different configurations/order than it was originally provided in.
Some concessions were made to the entertainment cartel that gave them a small commission for each blank audio tape sold, each blank digital audio tape (which they succeeded in crippling), each blank video cassette, etc. Let's not forget that after the entertainment cartel failed to ban vcr recorders outright, they proposed a "modest" royalty fee of $100.00 US per blank video tape, the same tapes that you are now paying less than $1.00 each now.
When betamax decks were still hot, vhs pre-recorded movies at the local video store cost the video store owner about $100.00
There are different laws concerning public performances. That may be where your confusion is arising from. In that case, licenses for public performances come into play. Not so for personal private use.
A license carries a presumption in every case I'm aware of, that the license can be revoked. And is also provided in writing, in full, to the licensee. And are ruled null and void daily in courts across the country because of how they are written, or because they are contrary to other laws, or contrary to good public policy, etc. Other than public performances (which still wouldn't result in my losing my media), under what circumstances would my license for my cassettes be either revoked, or modified? None? Then it isn't a license.
You may wish that I don't own the music, Mr. Valenti, or industry hack, but the courts don't see it your way.
It's great to be a Belgian (song lyrics)
Chorus Potverdekke, it's great to be a Belgian
I'm not English, I'm not French and I'm not Dutch
(I'm not Spanish, Portuguese or German)
I'm a Belgian, so thank you very much!
As I walk along the streets
With my mayonnaise and frites
You can tell I'm as happy as can be
With my Duvel in my hand
Then you must understand
I'm a Belgian, so nothing worries me!
Chorus Potverdekke, it's great to be a Belgian
I'm not English, I'm not French and I'm not Dutch
(I'm not Irish, Italian or Danish)
I'm a Belgian, so thank you very much
Without the Belgians there would be no saxophone
no Tintin, captain Haddock or Poirot
and you'll excuse me if I 've missed
anybody of the list
These are the only Belgians that I know!
Chorus Potverdekke, it's great to be a Belgian
I'm not English, I'm not French and I'm not Dutch
(I'm not Finnish, Austrian or Swedish)
I'm a Belgian, so thank you very much!
Chorus Potverdekke, it's great to be a Belgian
I'm not English, I'm not French and I'm not Dutch
(I'm not Spanish, Portuguese or German)
I'm a Belgian, so thank you very much!
Now the English egg and bacon's not so bad
Especially since all their cows went mad
But if they've never tasted mussels
On the Grand Place down in Brussels
It's no wonder they're feeling very sad!
Chorus Potverdekke, it's great to be a Belgian
I'm not English, I'm not French and I'm not Dutch
(I'm not Irish, Italian or Danish)
I'm a Belgian, so thank you very much
I'm a Belgian, I'm not Irish, I'm not Greek
I don't drink Guinness or Retsina, I drink Kriek!
On the Schelde or the Meuse
You find me drinking Gueuze
Or Leffe or Chimay or Lambik!
Chorus Potverdekke, it's great to be a Belgian
I'm not English, I'm not French and I'm not Dutch
(I'm not Spanish, Portuguese or German)
I'm a Belgian, so thank you very much
Chorus Potverdekke, it's great to be a Belgian
I'm not English, I'm not French and I'm not Dutch
(And me, I'm not a Luxemburger)
I'm a Belgian, so thank you very much
Chorus Potverdekke, it's great to be a Belgian
I'm not English, I'm not French and I'm not Dutch
(I'm not Spanish, Portuguese or German)
I'm a Belgian, so thank you very much