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Bootlegged Music in Russia
Guppy06 writes "MosNews.com has an interesting article on the thoughts and opinions of everyday Muscovites on the rampant music (et al) piracy in their country. It seems that some of them don't have much trouble justifying it to themselves, with quotes like 'Yes, I know that some of the sellers are here with burned CDs. But they have to earn a living too, I can understand them.' The article also mentions 'In a country where the average monthly salary is about $240, buying the latest album for $15 is a grotesque luxury, let alone spending $600 on Adobe Photoshop or a similar computer program.' Apparently, catchy slogans like 'Listen up, you pirate, I choose copyright!' just aren't working."
...EVERY single CD I found in shops were bootlegs. I couldn't believe that people were actually buying them. Some of them were so bad that you could see the inkjet printer lines on the cover/back. Needless to say, I didn't buy any of it, but in some places, people have no trouble with this kind of behaviour.
A blog like any other.
My research indicates that it's legit, and has been online for awhile. According to the copyright laws of the US, you can "import" things from outside the US, even if they violate US law if purchased here. As long as it's legit where you get it, and you import it for your personal use, you're OK. Kind of the same how you can buy bootlegs outside the US and bring them home. Heck, it even gets good reviews
Plus, they have not ripped me off since May, and so far no one has shown how this is illegal.
While I know it's not Soviet Russia, it's damn cheap. You can download an album for $1.50- and it's legit.
> Apparently, catchy slogans like 'Listen up, you pirate, I choose copyright!' just aren't working
Well if respecting copyright is a choice then why would anyone choose to pay?
The iPod Lite Project taking orders soon.
Accidentally posted anon (and want to be able to see replies):
It's hard to justify the cost of a CD (or DVD, etc) to anyone in any country, if they've done the math and figured out where the $16 to $20 from each CD is going. Break it down and you'll find that about 75% of the points are going to the label in one way or another. Worse, as much goes to pay for advertising and promotion of the CD as goes to all other places (artist, representation, printing and pressing, shipping) *COMBINED*.
I found the best way to deal with this is just to avoid paying. I don't have cable anymore. I ditched it because the terrible programming wasn't worth $110/mo. I also don't buy DVDs or CDs and I don't go to the theater. Few movies are worth $10 per person these days. What, am I going to blow $20 so myself and a date can go watch Eurotrip? Get real.
I've taken the money I would have spent on the MPAA/RIAA/BSA goons and redirected it toward buying USED books. Instead of $30 to buy the latest ridiculous Spielberg rehash (ooh, this time he added three lighting effects in this one scene that weren't there before!) - I can use that $30 to buy half a dozen good reads. I've been working my way through the Top 100 Science Fiction Books of All Time (excluding the ones I'd previously read). Much better value. And when I'm through, I can hand them off to someone else without worrying about the MPAA/RIAA/BSA sending the FBI to break down my door and put me in prison for four years without due process.
The Chinese deliberately steal Western software, videos, and music, make millions of copies of such intellectual property, and then proceed to export the illicit goods into the American market. The pirated copies of, say, Windows XP compete directly against the real McCoy in the American market. The FBI have arrested numerous Chinese for pirating software, music, and videos.
The piracy rate in Russia is 87%. The rate in China (which includes Taiwan province and Hong Kong) is 92%. The rate in Russia is lower than the rate in China; moreover, the Russians do not export the pirated software into the USA to compete against the original manufacturers of the software.
Clearly, piracy in Russia is a problem but is nowhere near as bad as piracy in China.
I just returned to the US from a vacation in China, and in many of the rural areas (near Yunan, Dali, I was in the southern area) 400 RMB a month is enough to eat, rent an apartment, buy clothes, and still afford a few vcds and dvds a month. That's roughly $50 USD. Do you seriously think those people are going to see a $9.99 USD CD and think "oh what a bargain!"? No, they'll grab the 7 RMB copy next to it instead.
I browse Slashdot at +3, Funny
I dream of a day when the big labels have been completely plundered and real music is again produced by artists/managers/promoters/executives that aren't becoming insanely rich beyond what they deserve. Britney (insert artist of your choice) has not EARNED her millions. Same for movies. I also hope television dies a slow painful death.
If you watch Survivor (insert reality show of your choice) you are crapping on your own brain.
So, kudos to the Russians from a Canadian who cares.
"Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest." - Denis Diderot
Buddy, your hatefull slur has nothing to do with my post. It is beside the point what you are trying to say here. Hodorkovskiy's case is exactly representative of what is wrong with that fucked up country (I have a right to say that, I was born there.) Of-course noone in that country owned anything before 1991. Didn't I say that already? I talked about the elite robbing the country. But it is not the point. Roman Abramovich is free. Hodorkovskiy is not. What's the difference? One is interested in Chelseas and the other in politics.
Putin is a good representative of that culture, after all, he is a former KGB agent.
You can't handle the truth.
I was born in Odessa, Ukraine ... which damn close to russia :P (I lived there for 11 years)
and just about EVERYONE tries to make a living ... you know those plastics bags that every store gives u in US? in Ukraine you came with your own bags! or you bought plastic bags :-\ (you'd wash them, too)
college students re-sell Turkish made ripoffs on markets because after going to a uni, there isn't much hope for them to earn an honest/legal living ...
just my 2 bytes
"cover the costs of development and to underwrite further research.
I heard an interview on the radio a few weeks ago regarding just this. I cannot remember the interviewee's name, but I do recall that he was presented as a very credible person from a university who sits (or once sat) on the Pharmacutical Review Committee*. Of course, he may have had a barrow to push, but he certainly didn't overtly bash the drug industry during the interview. If I recall correctly he was being interviewed over the ramifications of the Australia-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and how it might affect Australia.
Anyway, according to that chap, R&D costs account for about 10% of the retail price drugs are ultimately sold at.
Proportionally, most of the costs of drugs (more than 50% IIRC) are taken up by advertising and marketing. He said that executive salaries generally cost the big drug companies more than their research does. He made a point of clarifying that he meant executive salaries, and that he was not referring to the salaries of the scientists at all.
* In Australia, most drugs are placed into the Pharmacutical Benefit Scheme (PBS) which caps the cost of drugs to the consumer (the government makes up the difference) Consequently, any new drug that comes along has to apply to the PBS for entry onto the register, lest consumers be forced to pay full price (which would in turn mean far lower sales of the drug, very often ZERO sales). The PBS is overseen by a committee, which is made up of representatives from drug companies, academics, doctors and politicians. The committee decides on which drugs will be admitted and which will not. Hence, anybody who sits on the committee should have a fairly good idea of how the industry works.
"You can't fight in here, this is the war room!"
Actually, this goes both ways.
I believe America has been blatanly violating Russian's copyright for a very large product category for many many years.
What's the product you ask? Machine guns. Specifically, Kalashnikov design that had a world copyright (AK-47). US even resold unlicensed AK-47s to other countries.
I think there was even an article on slashdot about it.
Tit for tat? One Madonna for two pointy AK-47?
Since I am working and living in China I am used to the huge amount of DVD piracy here.
We had some korean customers coming to the China office and over dinner we offered to take them to a good quality and very cheap pirate DVD store.
The two koreans looked at eachother and then one replied:
"Why buy DVDs when we can download for free ?"
I guess the piracy industry is getting killed by Kazaa and eMule these days.
You could make a CD in Russia from their service and bring it into the US since it would then be a tangible object and be legit. There is no difference here.
Not to mention, we have software "export" laws governing what crypto can go to other nations. By your argument, if I make that software available to someone in North Korea, I'm not exporting, I'm letting them reproduce.
I noticed your arguments on this way back in September and you were one of only two people arguing that this was illegal yet you were nearly HALF the posts. I have no idea why you feel SO strongly on the subject but considering KCTL radio switched to using AllofMp3 (site down, can't confirm) for their content, I don't see where you have a leg to stand on.
- gtaluvit (prnc. GOT-tuh-LUV-it)
Lived in russia (not Moscow or St Petersburg) now for just over 6 months.
:-)
/. are aware that music and games in the UK cost on average twice what they cost in the US.
I still havnt seen a single legal copy of anything apart from Night Watch (big Russian blockbuster film... totally strange plot but enjoyed it anyway).
When i buy games here (not really bought much music) they are usually on decent quality disks. Sometimes not, youve just got to learn which sellers to go to. Customer service is fantastic. You go up, ask for something. 90% of the time they do, or if they dont one of their mates will have it.. you should see them running around. Went and asked for UK version of X2: The threat. Guy ran around like crazy for 10 mins. Couldnt find it. Said come back tomorrow and the next day it was waiting for me. Most of the games/applications cost (in my city... cant say about moscow) between 60-160 roubles, which translates as roughly £1.20-3.20 or $2-5.5. This is an acceptable price for Russians. Read on one post that average salary is $240/month. I believe most people here are (officially) on less than that. Basic wage for a nurse here is around $50-$100/month. My mother-in-law as head of her department at the university is on $200/month. Of course everyone is on the take and generally supplement their incomes in various ways. The most obvious example is the road police. They will pull you for anything and everything. You can even get fined for having a dirty car or so ive heard. Anyway, they get a decent wage compared to many but the actual money they make is very good because you have a choice. Pay the official fine (and spend a day in a queue at the police headquarters - which is out on the edge of the city) or give them 50-100 roubles and go on your way. Obviously most people give the police money. Been pulled 3 times now. First was for parking in a no-parking zone (the no-parking signs are quite hard to spot sometimes... i think its deliberate). Was still new to russia and didnt understand they system and got robbed for 500 roubles. Next time was just a random passport/licence check, no fine. Next time they claimed i wasnt wearing a seatbelt. Now knowing how to behave i indignatly annouced that "... i am english... we always wear our seatbelts!!" And they let me go without a fine. The policeman still tried to get 10 roubles out of me but couldnt find a reason. Fortunatly i had washed the car recently
One thing to note is that the wife and I left the UK because we couldnt afford to live there. The cost of living is stupid. One of the richest countries in the world? My left bum cheek!! One of the most expensive more like. Both me and the wife had good jobs but by the end of each month we were scratching around for money. And dont even get me started on house prices. Because my wife is Russian and didnt have extended leave to remain they wouldnt take her income into consideration for a mortgage and on my wage alone (just to reiterate... it was a good wage) i could just about afford a one bedroom flat in a crappy part of town. At least here in Russia i have a good job which keeps our heads above water and a nice flat in the center of town. Ok, my car is a Lada but if youve drove on russian roads you will know if you have a foreign car the repair bills will kill you financially.
Ok, got slightly off topic there but back to the main point. Russian people cant afford full price CDs/DVDs. If piracy in russia was somehow obliterated it wouldnt help sales of originals one bit. Who could afford to buy them?
On the point about free trade (notice how companies are all for free trade when it benefits them, and run to the courts crying when they are big fat monopolies and rely on trade restrictions keeping their profits)... oops wandering again... If the company can afford to sell CDs for example $5 in China but charge $15 in the US then its blatantly obvious that they are ripping off those closer to home. Im sure that a lot of people on
Come the revoloution (what revoloution?) im sure the RIAA and MPAA will be the first against the wall....
Actually, the Geneva convention requirements for a uniform could be satisfyed by having requirements for wear with some patches or something. There are also exemptions for counting militia type fighters who 'don't have the chance' to organize and get uniforms. A Baseball cap could count.
The Taliban don't count because:
1) They're not a signer
2) They're a previously organized group, and had plenty of time to get some sort of uniforms
2a) The US revolutionary army managed to get uniforms, were the Taliban poorer than we were in 1776?
3) They were mostly foreign to Afghanistan
4) Deliberate usage of civilians and protected sites in an attempt to protect their forces
On the other hand, we mostly treated them as POW's. The only real problem is the lack of allowed communication(I think they should of had it) and the duration of holding them. The conventions assumed that both governments would still exist at the end of the conflict, and that you'd have strong national ties.
They're a poor fit for the current situation. Something like a third of the prisoners released from Gitmo have been found to have involved themselves with terrorism/freedom fighting again. For them the conflict isn't over. This in and of itself is enough to not release them, even without a trial. You don't have to release POW's until the end of the conflict, unless other factors intervene that renders the POW uncapable of further fighting anyways.
I don't read AC A human right