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Questions for a P2P Downloading Panel Discussion?

George P. Burdell asks: "On April 5, Georgia Tech's Honor Advisory Council will host a panel discussion between opposing sides of the P2P downloading issue. Among other panel members, a representative from the RIAA has agreed to attend the event. The discussion is intended to raise the level of awareness of students who may think they know all they need to know about the issue. What are some of the pressing questions the tech community has for panel members on both sides of the issue?"

8 of 63 comments (clear)

  1. To the RIAA: by LouCifer · · Score: 3, Funny

    How's it feel to be a tool for 'the man'?

    How's it feel to work for a conglomerate that sues dead people and old ladies that don't own computers?

    How's it feel to work for a conglomerate that ignores fans of its artists when they beg a record company to release a shelved album so they can buy it instead of having to steal it via P2P?

    I could go on and on.

    --
    Religion is for people afraid of going to hell.
  2. You are already a tool of the RIAA by AtariAmarok · · Score: 2, Insightful
    "shelved album so they can buy it instead of having to steal it via P2P?"

    Sounds like one tool talking to another, if you have bought into the ludicrous claim that it is possible to STEAL just by engaging in possible copyright infringement. They've won you over if you are already using RIAA-speak.

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  3. Question for RIAA by justanyone · · Score: 4, Interesting

    For the RIAA:

    It would seem that all information-based, intellectual property (IP) business models depend on either:
    A. Being able to control the distribution medium;
    B. Introducing risks or rewards that make payment preferable to nonpayment.

    Option A seems to be doomed once the intellectual property is digitally transferrable in its entirity in a manageable size across the internet.

    If intellectual property owners can divide the IP into a transferrable part and a non-transferrable part (like any Application Service Provider does), they can still succeed.

    Option B includes the use of enforcement, which has a huge public relations downside. But, it can also dictate another pricing model. If there is a quality/reliability difference between acquiring a dataset (IP product) from a random location vs. getting it from a known good source, the consumer will prefer the better cost/benefit.

    Isn't it safer to just acknowledge option B is the more sustainable option and pursue lower prices in a higher quality format?

  4. Go Tech! by bpb213 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    As a Tech Alum, I must say it is nice to see my school taking on these issues.

    However, I have a question for the panel, and the submission form seems to 404 on me.

    While I was attending Tech, (only last year), Tech took a stance that it was an ISP, and thus not responsible for filtering the internet. How will a policy on P2P usage effect this stance?

    --

    This .sig looking for creative and witty saying.
  5. Ethics/Morality by BigZaphod · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What are the moral and ethical considerations for using and developing peer to peer software? Is it any different from any other software?

  6. Vexing question re p2p use... by Black+Parrot · · Score: 2, Funny


    "Barely Legal" or "MET-Art"?

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  7. It is impossible to steal using p2p by AtariAmarok · · Score: 2, Insightful
    "Sounds more like a fool trying to reason his existance for all his illegal music files"

    There is no logic to that. Pointing out the fact that one illegal situation is not another illegal situation is not a justification for one of the illegal situations. If someone objects when you call a rape a murder, do you say that they are trying to justify the rape? Same thing.

    "but out-right THEFT of content via P2P (such as that cited by the OP) is just that: THEFT" "It's not copyright infringement, its CONTENT THEFT"

    Theft requires a taking. If you copy something, and leave the original still sitting there, the taking requirement is not met.

    Unless p2p systems DELETE the originals when/after they are copied, they just can't be theft. Come back if you ever find a p2p system that involves theft.

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  8. Question by abrotman · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Can I legally download music that I already own? For example I own the song in one of record,tape,CD, and if so, may I legally download a version of this song from a P2P network or some other source.
    I have never been able to get a real good answer from anyone regarding this. I own hundreds of tapes and a decent number of vinyl recordings. Haven't I already obtained my fair use rights by purchasing the album in one of those formats? Why should I, as a consumer, be forced to pay again for something I already own, if all I want is to be able to listen to it on my computer. And if not, could the industry somehow be persuaded to allow me to "trade in" my older copy with credit towards a CD of the same album? I feel it's kind of rediculous to pay full price for the same album in vinyl,tape, and CD(and whatever the next medium is), especially when I have boxes of cassettes/records/CDs.