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DRM for 1'3" of Silence

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the wierd-forms-of-protest dept.

jc42 writes "In the latest entry in the battle over Digital Rights Management, a fellow has blatantly ripped off a "tune" from the iTunes Store. "Tune" is 1 minute 3 seconds of silence. To compound his crime, he has posted the tune on his web site for anyone to download. I downloaded it to iTunes, and it played just fine (but now I suppose I'm a criminal, too). I wonder what John Cage and Mike Batt would have to say about this? Will lawyers for Apple or Ciccone Youth send a C&D letter? If I were to make my own MP3 silent tune of exactly the same length and put it online, would I be infringing their copyright?"

52 of 637 comments (clear)

  1. Well by Realistic_Dragon · · Score: 5, Funny

    At least that's one song who's lyrics won't offend the FCC.

    Or do you think they mught just be committing quiet obscenities? Better ban it anyway just in case.

    --
    Beep beep.
    1. Re:Well by Dr.Zap · · Score: 3, Funny

      What's this going to do to samplers? Any pause in a song will open it for lawsuits!

    2. Re:Well by EngMedic · · Score: 5, Funny

      and Frank Zappa's instrumental album, Jazz from Hell, got a "parental warning: explicit lyrics" tag, too. I'm still trying to figure that one out.

      --
      filter: +3. Hey, look! all the trolls went away!
    3. Re:Well by Meski · · Score: 3, Funny

      Suggested title: "One hand clapping"

  2. John Cage by suso · · Score: 5, Funny

    Actually, if it was John Cage, you would hear the performer turning the page.

    1. Re:John Cage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      No, if it was John Cage he would shadow-kick your ass.

    2. Re:John Cage by Chundra · · Score: 5, Funny



    3. Re:John Cage by DigitalHammer · · Score: 4, Funny

      No, he'd do the splits and shadow-punch you in the crotch.

    4. Re:John Cage by Rei · · Score: 2, Funny

      You can't copyright chord progressions and simple beats? Take it one step further, and Philip Glass will be in some serious trouble. ;)

      --
      Don't take a knife to a gunfight, or even a knife to a knife fight. Take a gun to a knife fight.
    5. Re:John Cage by Null537 · · Score: 2, Funny

      But in the end he'd sign a picture of himself for you.

    6. Re:John Cage by rwise2112 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hmmmm..

      Is that 4'33" of silence, your own creative work, or a picture of an invisible galaxy?

      --

      "For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert"
    7. Re:John Cage by mobby_6kl · · Score: 3, Funny

      Somebody already mentioned Frank Zappa here, which reminded me of this:

      Guy In The Audience: "Whipping Post"!
      FZ: Say that again please
      GITA: "Whipping Post"!
      FZ: "Whipping Post"? Ok, just a second . . . (Do you know that?) Oh sorry, we don't know that one. Anything else? Hum me a few bars of it, please, just show me how it goes, please. Just sing, sing me "Whipping Post" and then maybe we'll play it with you
      GITA: Ooh-ooh-ooh . . .
      FZ: Thank you very much. And now . . . Judging from the way you sang it, it must be a John Cage composition, right? Here we go, "Montana."

  3. Quality by theantipop · · Score: 2, Funny

    That song has still got to be better than most of the music on iTunes.

    1. Re:Quality by fembots · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yes, it's running at a superior bitrate of 2Gbit/s, I played it on my 6+1 and it was flawless.

      --
      Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
    2. Re:Quality by Taladar · · Score: 2, Funny

      And I bet your speaker power consumption was quite low as well during playing it.

      --
      Linux is not Windows
  4. You're Under Arrest! by serutan · · Score: 5, Funny

    You have the right to remain silent.

    1. Re:You're Under Arrest! by rookworm · · Score: 5, Funny
      You have the right to remain silent.

      But you must pay royalties to the copyright holder(s).

      --
      The toad can't burp - and for some reason can't fart either, so it swells up and eventually explodes. --Anonymous Coward
  5. Infringing on the copyright? by Corporate+Drone · · Score: 4, Funny
    If I were to make my own MP3 silent tune of exactly the same length and put it online, would I be infringing their copyright?

    Well... you could always claim that your MP3 was a collection of 5 seconds snippets of the "tune", and plead Fair Use...

    --
    mmm... yeah... You see, we're putting the cover sheets on all TPS reports now before they go out...
  6. I looked into the RIAA's stance on this. by bobdotorg · · Score: 5, Funny

    But only got the message,

    "Nothing to hear here. Move along."

    --
    __ Someday, but not this morning, I'll finally learn to use the preview button.
  7. Speaking of which by MostlyHarmless · · Score: 2, Funny

    I wanted to find an mp3 of 4'33'' the other day. I searched all the filesharing networks... there wasn't one *anywhere*!

    --
    Friends don't let friends misuse the subjunctive.
  8. |_ by GillBates0 · · Score: 4, Funny

    --
    An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
    1. Re:|_ by Meumeu · · Score: 4, Funny

      Do you realize you are infringing their copyright by writing the lyrics here?

  9. Down for the count by endtwist · · Score: 2, Funny

    Go figure, we silenced a clip of silence.

  10. Don't tell anybody by serutan · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm about to break the exercise video market wide open.

    Six.
    Minute.
    Abs!

    1. Re:Don't tell anybody by DaHat · · Score: 2, Funny

      6 minutes? Why spend that long? I am happy to announce my new line of products under the brand name of... Instant* Abs!

      *Notice: Results may vary

      --
      Help Brendan pay off his student loans
  11. thoughtcrime by sum.zero · · Score: 5, Funny

    it doesn't matter if they vocalize the words, we all know they are THINKING them.

    sum.zero

    1. Re:thoughtcrime by TheViffer · · Score: 4, Funny

      Thoughtcrime? Dont think so.

      This is clearly a copyright matter. You just can't take Ashlee Simpson's works and post them freely on the internet. She needs to eat too.

      --
      -- Knowing too much can get you killed, but knowing who knows too much can make you rich.
    2. Re:thoughtcrime by Rei · · Score: 2, Funny

      Clearly it is a copyright matter, as the person's account was suspended ;)

      account suspended

      Your account has been suspended. We have sent you an email explaining why. This email should also contain information on how you can unsuspend your account.

      --
      Don't take a knife to a gunfight, or even a knife to a knife fight. Take a gun to a knife fight.
    3. Re:thoughtcrime by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      She needs to eat a sammich.

  12. Copyright by ojthecat · · Score: 4, Funny

    The only problem with this is that Microsoft has just been issued a patent for a method of producing no sound via a mp3 data stream.

  13. Huh? by el_gordo101 · · Score: 4, Funny

    One foot three inches of music?

    --
    TODO: Insert witty sig
  14. Listen to it backwards... by techmuse · · Score: 3, Funny

    1'3" of silence sounds very impressive when played backwards - especially the backwards lyrics. :)

    1. Re:Listen to it backwards... by SamSim · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'm also told it syncs with The Wizard Of Oz in the freakiest way.

      --
      qntm.org
  15. Dont Forget Pootie Tang! by jwegy · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm sure pootie has his silent song copyrighted!

  16. RIAA's new tactic. by bobdotorg · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm offering this very file for download here on my website. So go ahead, download it (1.1 MB) and break the law with me.

    Letter to plasticbugs.com from the RIAA:

    Dear PlasticBugs,

    It has come to our attention that you are hosting copyrighted material on your website. In the past we have dispatched goons. Unfortunately this takes up to a week.

    In order to more effectively destroy your ability to distribute copyrighted material, we have decided to destroy your server by providing a link to its content to a very popular website's front page.

    We wish your server well in its next life.

    Sincerely,

    JC42

    --
    __ Someday, but not this morning, I'll finally learn to use the preview button.
  17. It's not really silence! by Honorbound · · Score: 2, Funny


    If you play if backwards and turn up the volume you'll hear, "Developers, developers, developers, developers!"

    --
    "I'm not, like, that smart. I, like, forget stuff all the time." -- Paris Hilton
  18. I want a silent MP3! by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 2, Funny

    I want to play it on a cell-phone, charged by air!

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
    1. Re:I want a silent MP3! by brianosaurus · · Score: 4, Funny

      Ha!

      Use it as your ringtone. Piss off everyone who tries to call you when you never, ever answer.

      --
      blog
  19. Re:Ahh, yes but... by decipher_saint · · Score: 2, Funny
    "And we all know that lacks the warmth and depth of analog silence."
    I hear ya, you just can't get the full range of nothing on a digital track...
    --
    crazy dynamite monkey
  20. i should add... by sum.zero · · Score: 5, Funny

    that any ashlee simpson song consisting of silence would be a vast improvement over those with noise.

    sum.zero

    1. Re:i should add... by Ravenrage · · Score: 5, Funny

      A moment of silence for his web server

  21. Re:Still dumb, but I'll answer, anyway. by darkpixel2k · · Score: 5, Funny

    I guess we should all observe about a minute of silence then...

    --
    There's no place like ::1 (I've completed my transition to IPv6)
  22. It's not the same tune at all! by raygundan · · Score: 4, Funny

    This version is an old-school hip-hop track, consisting solely of short, reordered samples from the original, with the addition of turntable scratching with the mixer volume turned all the way down.

  23. Re:This is just dumb. by bani · · Score: 4, Funny

    depends. what's the key, b-flat?

  24. I guess the track could be worth a listen by GMFTatsujin · · Score: 4, Funny

    But on the other hand, I'm kind of getting sick of cover versions...

  25. Re:This is just dumb. by js7a · · Score: 3, Funny

    I suspect the "six figures" mentioned are something like "$", "1", ".", "0", "0", and ".". What a great publicity stunt for Batt and Cage's legacy, no matter what the amount. Well done!

  26. Re:Already Slashdotted by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    It felt like a million geeks were silent at once, and then were silenced.

  27. Re:But it may be a DCMA violation. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Actually, that would be "Don't Copy My Ass".

  28. Re:Account Suspended by omahajim · · Score: 2, Funny

    Here's a mirror then:

  29. You're Under Arrest...... by AKosygin · · Score: 2, Funny

    Anything you say will be used in a court of law, and anything you don't say will be used to prosecute you for copyright infringement.

  30. Re:OMFG by Phat_Tony · · Score: 3, Funny
    Actually, it's all part of their evil plan. They will copyright silence, then refuse to sell that track anymore, and then sue anyone who's NOT listening to music, as they are listening to silence, which is copyrighted, and hasn't been legally purchased.

    Therefore, you must always listen to music to avoid fines. In this way, they will sell more music.

    --
    Can anyone tell me how to set my sig on Slashdot?
  31. The Law... by NoseBag · · Score: 3, Funny

    "If I were to make my own MP3 silent tune of exactly the same length and put it online, would I be infringing their copyright?"

    The Law is silent on this issue.

    --
    Cloned foods give the statement "We had that last week!" a whole new meaning.