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RIAA Sets Their Sights on Russia
Conor Turton writes to tell us that the RIAA has set their sights on Russia for their newest push into anti-piracy. A recent bill was sponsored in the Senate to deny Russia's entrance into the WTO (among other things) if they did not take major action against piracy. From the press release: "The effective protection of American intellectual property has been sorely lacking in Russia. This resolution is significant because it expresses the will of the U.S. Congress that Russia must take effective action against those who would steal America's knowledge-intensive intellectual property-based goods and services. We must not enter into political arrangements with countries ill-prepared to adequately protect our greatest economic assets."
ERussia sets its sights on the RIAA!
Purple, because ice cream has no bones.
In soviet Russia, files share YOU!
MoM++ - A Classic Expanded - [Master of Magic 1.5]
http://mompp.sourceforge.net/
Amazing how much they have in common. Hopefully the RIAA has as much success as the first two.
No Soviet Russia jokes yet?!?!
THIS is a valid reason for the US to not co-op with russia?
Major corruption? Bah
A weak if existant democracy? Bah I say!
But piracy? Close the borders, its war!
I knew the policymakers had deep pockets, but damn!
The system had the verbosity of HTML combined with all the readability of compiled assembly viewed as bitmap images
these guys would it? Nah, they pay royalties to some other russian front who pays to ... well ... not the RIAA.
We must not enter into political arrangements with countries ill-prepared to adequately protect our greatest economic assets.
I don't know which is sadder, that the RIAA has such influence over Congress, or that this might be true.
What a load of crap. RIAA is powerless. The US has Nukes to worry about, not pirated Britney Spears albums.
Grow up RIAA.
You cannot legislate away theft. If you want to curb it, you have to remove the economic incentive to steal. For music/video, you do that by making it easier/cheaper to buy the content from a legitimate distributor than to copy it. The "man" thinks they can also do this by limiting the quality of the output from illegitimate sources (using onerous copy protection systems that probably won't work anyway). They need to believe this if they have any hope of maintaining their rather excessive markups on their product. I am of the opinion that they'll kick and scream some more and eventually mostly give up and use pricing to fight piracy. But we'll see....
China has a rather severe ``piracy'' problem as well, yet you don't hear the USA motioning to deny China access to the WTO...
I suffer from attention surplus disorder.
Russia isn't exactly a place I'd want to meddle in business, even if it's on an international-agreements scale.
--LWM
Hummm.....Why did this never come up when China was being admitted into the WTO???
On a more serious note: So, the **IA wants to blackmail Russia into providing protection of intellectual property rights or risk not being accepted into the World Trade Organization... Like that will work.. 'cause in Soviet Russia, YOU blackmail music... no wait, that's not right...
Given the huge number of social and security issues that Russia faces at the moment (corruption, poverty, keeping track of its nuclear arsenal) I expect that they will put this item pretty low on their list of priorities.
If the RIAA really wanted this to happen, they would pretty much have to offer to pay for the enforcement and prosecution. I would not be suprised if Russia would accept an offer that involved the RIAA paying for the police salaries, especially since the police would also server more useful functions.
Then again, I dont really like the ramifications of a corporate funded police force that had the full backing and authority of the state.
Good thing that I am basically talking out my ass then, I suppose.
END COMMUNICATION
The RIAA wants to protect: "America's knowledge-intensive intellectual property-based goods and services". 'Scuse me but what the RIAA wants to protect is anything but that. The people of the world need to be protected from the crud the RIAA is trying to protect.
Even if Russia passes DMCA look-alike laws, they don't have any resources for enforcement.
Knowledge Intensive Intellectual Property? Please.
Here's some knowledge intensive U2 lyrics for you:
WoooAoo! WoooAoo! WoooAoo! WoooAoo!
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah,
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.
I can feeeeEEEEEEeeeeeel.
I'll subscribe to Slashdot when I see a month without a dupe, a typo, or an article the "editors" didn't read.
Any more these days, the feds represent companies. Why are we in Iraq? Is it WMD, that the admin KNEW was not there? Was it for the downtrodden citizens who were treated bad,but still better than many other nations? Was it to search for Al Qaida there BEFORE they got there (keep in mind, that OBL hated sadaam as much or more than America)? Of course, when we went into to talk to the individual leaders and they asked if we would kick out Sadaam and leave, we told them no. It could not be about oil and business.
in communist russia...
slashdot cliches you
There is one legal copy of Windows in Russia. The rest are copies.
A recent bill was sponsored in the Senate. If you give enough money to your senator, you can have a bill sponsored too. Doesn't mean it will pass...
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
...that any country can "steal" something considered "property" of the other country-without committing an overt, forceful act that would normally be considered an act of war?
Something seems very wrong with this definition of "property", and every attempt to shoehorn it into that box seems to be more of a stretch then the last.
To fight the war on terror, stop being afraid.
"knowledge-intensive intellectual property-based goods"
Hey! Wait! I know those three chords - D-A-G.
"our greatest economic assets."
Hey! Wait! I know those... never mind
In Soviet Russia the music listens to YOU!
qz
This is the same USA that ignores any rulings handed down from the WTO that it doesn't like?
I think this article itself proves the corporate stronghold on American Politics.
...subtract the one...
...carry the two...
...that's really only about 8.5% of the US economy, which totals at about 11 trillion.
"greatest economic assets."
Such a statement is ill-worded. The world wide record industry, according to the RIAA site , is a mere 40 billion dollars. Now, this may seem grand, but on the scale of the entire United States GDP, it's only...
If that's bad math, which I have a rousing suspicion that it is, then please be a good samaritan and fix it.
I would also consider it good samaritan-ship to be generous and share music, isn't that what they teach us to do in school? To share? It's not as if a bucaneer would ripping it directly off their site w/o permission, they'd really only be sharing music with their friends?
Is their really any difference between lending a CD to friend and sharing music via online?
Why is this cartel being allowed to speak for the US, with Senators as mouthpieces? I'd trust them with diplomacy about as much as I'd trust Enron's stock. If they manage to impose their poisonous interpretations of intellectual property law, maybe we'll have the answer to the question "who lost Russia?"
Intellectual Property is a monopolistic, selfish, and defective concept. It is "tyranny over the mind of man"
So Russia should be able to continue to pirate music with impunity, apparently.
The rules made by the US dictate you
fast as fast can be. you'll never catch me.
... may the force be with you :-/
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
That ephemeral, rather than concrete, goods are now being touted as Americas most valuable possessions is nothing short of depressing.
A nations ability to manufacture real goods is the true measure of its vitality.
Which is why we should all consider learning Cantonese as a second language.
Some days it's just not worth
chewing through my restraints.
The RIAA Pirates YOU!
I mean, America.
Screw it.
http://www.TheGamerNation.com/Forums
From TFPR: "The effective protection of American intellectual property has been sorely lacking in Russia ". (Emphasis mine..)
Why should the RUSSIANS (or insert your favorite country here) care for "protection of AMERICAN intellectual blahblah.."?... When first and foremost, they're supposed to be caring for their own "intellectual blahblah"...
And this will somehow pass, and we'll go on trying to get countries to uphold US Law in their own land, and more and more and more people will get to love us, don't you think?...
Geez...
Karma: Bad (but who really cares anyway?)
I just picked up a VAIO, and was reading the new license agreement. It now includes verbiage that SONY has the right (or a third party) to monitor the system. I have HIPAA covered data on my network, and can not allow anyone access to this data whatsoever, even if they are saying that they are looking for something else. Even a hint of a leak could cause a penalty to be triggered. I guess SONY has lost this sale. For anyone else, I would advise you ALL to look carefully at the license agreements, and think twice about SONY.
The RIAA has decided to be the instigator of an attempt to lay down the law in a country with a serious organized crime problem. As an annoying presence on the internet, they are brave to take such action despite past precedent:4 5212&from=rss
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/07/25/17
I truly hope that they do not find themselves at the recieving end of Russian Mob retaliation.
In Russia, Violin player shoot you with musket if you whistle his song!
Holy crap, an intelligent and thought provoking thread that doesnt follow the usual group think.
I salute you, sir!
Remember folks, slashdot doesn't have a -1 "disagree" moderation!
biting-off-more-than-you-can-chew dept.
I would say way way way more thank you can chew RIAA.
To the RIAA: In sovjet russia we screw YOU!
Does this mean that the Russians sue the RIAA?
I was wondering if anyone knows how much money it costs to buy a piece of legislation. It is a well established fact that our elected officials are addicted to contributions, gifts, and other quid pro quo from special interest groups. I suspect it only costs around $5,000 to $10,000 to get a piece of legislation introduced.
If that is the case, we could start the Slashdot Political Action Committee and bury the RIAA/MPAA with some really interesting legislation. Just a thought.
>> We must not enter into political arrangements with countries ill-prepared to adequately protect our greatest economic assets.
And exactly why should Russia give a hoot about protecting the RIAA's assets? This continues to emerge as a huge issue in international relations.
In the Internet age, the only way to make copyrights & patents work is to enforce them wordwide. And agreements can be made, as long as both involved countries have IP to protect. France, Germany, UK, Japan, I can see why they'd cooperate. But most of the world's nations don't have much commecial IP to protect. I don't see how IP can be protected worldwide without bullying the crap out of a lot of little countries. In fact, I don't think even that will work.
Sure is gonna be messy over the next few decades.
No, this is clearly insane. Those who voted for the senators involved should be shot for being a waste of good air.
On the other hand if the russians want to show the US up all they have to do is announce that they are a P2P safeheaven. Nah, I think this is one of those fantasie ideas that show why the RIAA is such an obsolete organisation.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
I really don't think this will go very far in Russia. The Russian's might play lip service to protecting US IP rights, as the Chinese did earlier this year, but the Russian's have too many real problems for this to be a priority.
The music industry is desperate, because the fat profits are drying up. And if that "problem" weren't enough they are being faced with disruptive technologies that almost make them obsolete. Face it, big music labels are only needed for marketing. With a few thousand dollars worth of equipment you can put together a good home studio, make your own CD, and sell your music online. And if you are good enough to get some grassroots buzz, you will probably make as much that way as signing with the big label. As someone said "last throws."
Think Deeply.
War on _____
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
What does belonging to the WTO bring in advantages to a country? China, which until very recently, did not belong to the body, was not doing badly at all. I guess we all know the surpluses it's running with the US. Russia, despite its not-so-good organization, is in a better financial state than the US mainly because of [quality] arms exports and oil revenues.
What does a country get from belonging to the WTO? Could educated folks enlighten a slashdotter?
In Soviet Russia, the ecording Industry Association of America owns you!
AllofMP3.com is a serious threat.
Tvayu Maht
"...protect our greatest economic assets"...."That ephemeral, rather than concrete, goods are now being touted as Americas most valuable possessions is nothing short of depressing."
+1 - Definition of Insightfull.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
http://www.riaa.com/default.asp
their site.
look at the news:
RIAA Lauds Senate Passage Of Measure To Stop Russian Intellectual Property Theft
RIAA Targets Retail Establishments Hawking Pirated CDs
RIAA Brings New Round Of Lawsuits Against 751 Online Music Thieves
MPAA/RIAA Offer Tips To Help Holiday Shoppers Steer Clear Of Counterfeit CDs, DVDs
DiMA and RIAA Beckon Holiday Shoppers to Give the Gift of Legal Online Music This Holiday Season!
RIAA Praises Department of Justice, FBI and Nashville Police Department for Efforts Resulting in Recent Indictment of Music Pirate
Music Industry Files New Lawsuits In Ongoing Enforcement Against Online Theft
what did they do before all this? why do we need them now?
Artists? where is a single mention of artists? I see "illegal" "theft" "money", and now "congress", but no "artists"
and the news item: "we own the congress" is also missing..
america america land of the free.... oh wait....
-------
1. Enjoy your job
2. Make lots of money
3. Work within the law
Choose any two.
The RIAA stands for Recording Industry Association of AMERICA. Last time I checked, Russia wasn't in either of the American continents. "The effective protection of American intellectual property has been sorely lacking in Russia." That's because it's RUSSIA! Not America, you ignorant turdbrains!
http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/10be
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
After a trip to Mexico city, I saw every single sort of software, from Word to esoteric engineering programs, on sale for USD $5. I saw every sort of music, every sort of video. Every video game you can imagine, for almost every platform. All bootlegs, for $5 each, before negotiation. We should encourage the **AA A-holes to go to town in other countries. They'll spend a bloody fortune as the "foreigners" take their money to do not much, the **AA will divert attention from USA extortion schemes, and generally spin their wheels. Meanwhile, my young child thinks music comes out of a computer, knows how to rip a CD, and swaps songs (real, not virtual world) with all of her friends. Outside the USA, Canada and the EU, they **AA has ZERO chance of any actual progress (from their Point of View...and that leaves only about 85% of the planet. If they don't lock us all down with DRM (recalling that other 85% of the planet) they are totally doomed, and another way to distribute will come around, probably a compensated version of P2P. Where's the first musical hit outside the current scheme ?
"The Order of Lenin, for Comrade Bond. The first time ever awarded to a non-Soviet citizen."
"I'd have expected the KGB to celebrate if Silicon Valley had been destroyed."
"On the contrary, Admiral...Where would Russian research be without it?"
That's IP rights for ya...
http://www.asti-usa.com
To your surprise Russia has tight copyright laws and they are enforced rather strictly. Why you [Americans] do not know about such laws? Because they are used only to protect Russia's own music industry. Never heard about music played and produced in Russia? Believe me there are tons of such music but it is never advertised outside the country. Here is the story: after Russia opened in early 1990-s western recording companies did not bother to promote they products in Russia. As a result Russia's music market was lost to local music production with the western music sales being infinitesimal.
Now if western recording companies are not able to compete in the market, they want to pull out a legislation to be able to make a few bucks on a marginal market after loosing it in mid-90s.
That's the gist of the problem. Russian music is crap, Russia's music industry is controlled by mafia but that won't change until US recording companies spend money to promote US music in Russia.
P.S.: In 90-s Russia had its own kind of copyright protection (for its own music of course, not western). There were no FBI warning on CDs or mention of prison terms for copying. The copyright message just said: "Copying this CD is dangerous for your life". That's it! (Translation: "if you copy this CD mafia will take care of you").
AllOfMp3.com is legal.
;-)
gotcha
In Russia, music pirates YOU!
US companies are the best (worst) at pillaging other countries intellectual property and claiming it for themselves. Just look at native uses for various plants that have been patented by a rotten system, with the original traditional "owners" being denied access to any benefits. Maybe some of these pirating companies and countries see you greedy cunts as fair game. Call me a troll or whatever the hell you want to - I actually dont give a flying fuck either way - but its only a matter of time before other rapidly developing countries - India and China two name two will tell the US to get stuffed, and they'll have the economic clout to do so.
.... being fed their own testicles before being stuffed in a trunk.
I have a hard time imagining that Russian piracy rings would be filled with nice-nice people who would be scared of a few lawsuits or even Russian "law enforcement."
Since I can't tell them apart, I treat all ACs as the same person.
That's funny because I proxy all my peer-to-peer traffic through a server in Russia. I wonder if my mass downloading has anything to do with this?
As I recall, Hitler's fatal mistake was to attempt to conquer Russia, as well.
;)
I wonder if this parallel is symbolic of anything?
(To the lemmings who will doubtless now pour out of the woodwork screaming about Godwin's Law, please go back to sleep. That law refers to gratuitous overuse of references to Hitler or the Nazis...it doesn't say they should not be mentioned at all. Although even if it did, personally I'd hardly care...so don't bother.)
I can only say that "effective action" on pretty much anything is something simply inconceivable under the existing regime in this country. In this-day, almost-Soviet-again Russia, "effective" is an oxymoron.
One way China is ahead of the game is their artists / music industry have given up on CD sales revenue. The artist makes money, or tries to, by selling concert tickets and with marketing tie-ins. In India bootlegs are available the day they are released. It won't come as much of a suprise to \.ers that, as the US moves toward this model, it is corporate profits and support staff who seem to be taking the heat / losing the livelyhood.
As a career sideman, I feel no pain for the old industry passing (especially the lawyers), but the job of recording engineer is going the way of the hatmaker. Actually that analogy breaks down: The job of recording artist and recording engineer are being merged and will not pay very well. There used to be more work for painters, too.
OT: There's a bigger issue here about labor and specialization - the best singer I've ever knew (hits in the 60s) was taking an occasional plumbing job in the 80s and wasn't bitter: The way he put it was: $30 an hour. This while commanding $2-$4k for 20 - 40 oldies shows a year. I didn't quit playing during the 90s net boom and still work a lot now. I also stay buzzword compliant - this year: AJAX(ugh) and psych-folk(cool).
Physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it.
In Soviet Russia, Russia sets their sights on the RIAA!
The Intellectual Property of American's doesn't start and end with the RIAA. So how can they lobby to introduce a bill that has ramifications outside their own industry?
Shouldn't there be checks for overstepping one's bounds? Or is it just their money talking again. Funny that, with all the money they have spent on lawsuits and trying to buy laws it's no wonder they are losing profits.
The %AAs can kiss my ass. Their desire to "Protect American's Hard Earned Intellectual Property" has F*CK all to do with American's Intellectual Property and everything to do with the executive's wallet.
There was a time I may have actually started to buy CDs/DVDs again. Real standardized media, not pieces of round plastic that may or may not work with my "shit". Then the %AAs has to go and start all this overstepping of bounds that is so far beyond their business mandate it's in the vacinity of the Pleiades.
The %AAs have shown they care nothing for consumers and nothing for their clients (artists). I just wish the politicians (even the good ones) would actually take a serious look at what they have been paid to endorse. I think we would see most of the proposals defeated with little resistance. Wishful thinking though I know but there it is.
There are only 10 kinds of people in the world. Those that understand binary and those that don't.
i can understand a common standard when it comes to things like human rights and environmental. but we have gotten to the point where we make other governments submit to our standards when it comes to IP? that's like me telling my neighbor that he must paint his interior walls the color of my choosing. i say choosing, because i don't like the color, my wife does. i don't need to tell u who the wife is in this analogy
Substitute in for good:
Bad govt + Money = govt - Money
illustrating a truth that bad governments are soon without money and wind up raising taxes to get more.
Second Corollary:
The best way to keep a government good is to deprive it of money.
Yup. Britney.
Its the best we've got to offer these days...
Lurking in the desert
This is the RIAA trying to shut down All of mp3. Basically, the RIAA contacted the Russian authorities about allofmp3; the response they got was that allofmp3 was legal under Russia's copyright laws. So now the RIAA is trying to get the US in to changing Russia's laws. It would be wise for the US to remember that Russia still has all of those nukes from the cold war before thinking about doing an invasion of the country the way the US invaded Iraq.
Are they aware that the Russian mafia will likely do the same -- and not in some wordy, lawyerly way...
I suggest you read Slashdot
The prospect of sparking off World War III probably has a lot to do with that.
World War III was the Cold War. World War IV is the War on Terra'.
" This is the same USA that ignores any rulings handed down from the WTO that it doesn't like?"
The RIAA isn't the US. You all don't like charges of hypocrisy when slashdotters are the one's being accused, but you see no problem doing the same to a nation.
I'll miss walking down the streets of St. Petersburg, with their retail stores selling repackaged "warez" and movies. I don't remember the name of the chain, but there's a chain of warez stores that even advertises in subway stations....
http://www.exile.ru/ A lot of it seems to be written after drinking way too much alchool. A lot of it seem to be written by Americans in exile that don't seem to like America all that much. But give the links a try.
I have my eyes set on an 18 year old Russian bride. I'll make sure she doesn't listen to any pirated mp3s for them.
I hope the folks at the RIAA have a good supply of gas masks:
Google: A Patriot's Letter
Wait, wait... The corporate pansies are going to challenge piracy in Russia? Does anyone with any sense in the RIAA understand that the Russian Mob runs that? Along with a huge portion, something like 1 in 3 or more, of businesses in general?
Holy crap, I needed a good laugh. They have a hard enough time with college programmers, but they think organized crime in a country brutalized by totalitarian communism will be a peice of cake. Hoo boy, it was hard enough to take the recording industry serious before... are they trying to turn their organization in a farce? Come on. Well, then again, the world could use some comic relief. Keep it up, RIAA, you're lifting spirits everywhere. By making asses of yourselves.
Ex nihilo nihil fit.
...the US' greatest asset, or more appropriately the rubbish that the bulk of the RIAA and MPAA members produce.
C'mon, now, if that stuff is all our greatest asset, then we're pretty much done for as a country and an economic power. And it's as disturbing that Congress views it that way too.
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
You don't see America upholding Russian copyright law, either.
If they did, everything created more than 30 years ago, including most of the Beatles' catalogue and a certain popular mouse, would be public domain.
Of course he is talking about 50 Cent's album 'Guess Who's Back?'. with such titles as 'F*ck You','Whoo Kid Freestyle', and the ever popular 'Get out the Club'.
one day legislators will realize that just because the RIAA has an official sounding almost government-like acronym doesn't actually make them an important organization.
We must not enter into political arrangements with countries ill-prepared to adequately protect our greatest economic assets.
... what is the nation with which America has the largest trade deficit in its history, that has been ripping off our "intellectual property" and high technology with impunity, and has the willing collusion of our elected leaders and most powerful corporations. Never mind the fact that that nation just happens to the greatest totalitarian state on the planet at the moment, and arguably should receive very little from a nominally more-principled nation such as the United States. If the **AA's of the world want a good place to start protecting their oh-so-valuable "intellectual property", I'd say forget about a has-been like Russia and start worrying about China.
Let's see
And the very best of luck with that, Mr. Sherman. Let me know how it works out.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
My solution to getting rid of the RIAA ( or at least making it less needed ) thought out in 15 min. And yes, I have googled it and found groups out there already trying this, problem is that you have to get some mainstream well known music service in on the act for those to be fully effective.
Why does the RIAA and promoters exist? To promote music, people, etc, to the general public? Do away with the RIAA and use iTunes, Napster, whatever to promote new music, artists, etc. When you have a large enough base of users that use music service XYZ, then you have a large number of people that can be quickly and easily reached. How?
+ Reach them by researching what kind of music the person purchases, then giving them free downloads of singles that are related to their preferences.
+ Make these free sample singles auto-download into their music libraries (opt out of course). I think Tivo already does something like this unless you tell it not to.
+ On the start page of music service XYZ, put banner ads for new bands.
+ They can tell if a band is popular or sufficiently popular by the number of downloads, feedback, clicks the band gets.
+ If very popular, then bring in a promotion company to arrange concerts, etc for them.
+ Thus fixed costs for promotions go down, research costs go down, RIAA is largely not needed, and prices of music can go down and thus much less music piracy
Problems:
-- Many people are still not in the digital age, so some CD stores must still exist, although even those are now much cheaper
-- DRM; hey, it's a digital age, take a look at how much DRM crap is stuffed into the ipod, DRM is so heavy because they have yet to figure out a good way of doing it that doesn't treat everyone like criminals.
-- Must still handle the costs of the promoters, making CDs, paying artists, etc.
I thought this whole thing out in like 15 min; any other ideas on how to render RIAA null or reduce the need for it?
when you allow any tom, chuck and *AA the right to bear arms and form an Malitia
Josef Boobsucksky Thriller .. ..
ofcourse it would be 'From RIAA With Love'
7-8-9-10-0
Tangible property (essentially raw resources and finished goods) and labor. Labor is getting normalized to its global value of, what? A few $USD a day? There are more laborers every day and less real estate (resources). That means stuff is getting more valuable and labor less so - simple supply and demand.
But this isn't what we see in the real world (yet).
Seems to me, a lot of the wealth in the world is just "made-up". This made up stuff is "intellectual property". Trade makes both parties better off. The more stuff there is to trade, the better off everyone is.
If you reduce the worlds economy to (only) tangible items everyone will be worse off.
As long as everyone (or at least enough) plays nice and repects intellectual property, you have a larger economy with more trade and more people end up materially better off than without the extra trade. Using intellectual property without paying for it may not have direct costs to anyone, but it aguably makes the overall economy smaller.
People need food and shelter. Those are real resources. Nobody needs music.
Do you really want a world economy based entirely on supply and demand for food and shelter?
I think I will go look into some real-estate investments in farm country now... I have no idea what I am talking about.
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
In Soviet Union, music pirates YOU!
Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
How much money does the RIAA spend on these crusades? Maybe if they spent a little less they could lower prices. Nothing combats piracy better than a low price.
For the most part, China does a good job at funneling tourists and foreigners into certain areas. I haven't been to Russia, but after visiting China I can tell you that you'll be shut out of most areas simply because you look differently, ESPECIALLY if you can't speak the language/local dialect. I've been to shopping areas in the Beijing area where mini-mall sized areas sold bootleg/pirated movies, software, music and hacked video game consoles with uniformed police officers standing around these kiosks openly.
Military exports tops them all...
p
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/mil_us_mil_ex
TOTAL: $10,661,802.00 thousand
or
$10,661,802,000.00
I think 10 trillion tops anything the RIAA can do.
B.
This is a sig. This is only a sig. Had this been an actual sig you would have been informed where to tune for more sigs.
Slashdot, in a move heralded by the sounding of trumpets has decided that along with more cowbell, many of their headlines must include the phrase "sets their* sights"
"their" will be replaced by the appropriate descriptive pronoun
Damn I need better drugs...
That is Billion not trillion like I thought. Too many damned digits...
B.
This is a sig. This is only a sig. Had this been an actual sig you would have been informed where to tune for more sigs.
There's NOTHING intellectual about American intellectual property if we're talking about the so-called "music" that RIAA is so desperately trying to "protect". If fucking Kenny Chesney is intellectual property, I better just go fucking off myself with a shotgun right now. Jeezus motherfucking christ!. What has this country become? I'm fucking serious. This is goddamn depressing...
knowledge-intensive intellectual property-based goods and services
Since when does Britney Spears and the rest qualify as this?
Ryosen
One man's "Troll, +1" is another man's "Insightful, +1".
Piracy
piracy
I'm not condoning piracy. But I am very tired of everyone assuming that piracy and theft are the same thing. Theft actually deprives someone of something, costing them a loss. Piracy might be depriving the creator of sales, but only if the pirate would have actually bought the product. At worst, piracy deprives a company of sales but does not cost them a loss in any other form. As often as not, however, piracy probably deprives the owner/creator of the product nothing (because the pirate does not feel the product is worth the price, or because the pirate cannot afford the cost of the product (as is the case in Russia and many other impoverished countries)).
/dev/random
Singapore didn't sign on to the Berne Convention until 1998. That was after they had transformed a largely agrarian society into a technological powerhouse in the space of less than a century.
It's not a coincidence, in the sense that the USA pressures any country that wishes to trade internationally to implement copyright protection.
Singapore did the right thing, and built a strong economy first before implementing copyright--like the USA did. Russia made the mistake of implementing copyright as part of the "market reforms" that the west told them would transform their country, and look at their economy now. So now we're going to tell them that the problem is they haven't tried it hard enough...
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
how about the usa give away it's music and movies away for free outside the usa (as if it doesn't already in many spots unintentionally)
why?
because american cultural influence, i think, is more important than a couple tens of billions here and there
the usa is currently spending billions fighting negative impressions of this country, including propaganda
additionally, there is a lot of propaganda being spewed by various vested interests around the world painting the usa in a very ogrish way (this is in addition to any actions the usa is actually doing that paints it in a very ogrish way)
what better pro-american propaganda and propaganda which counteracts foreign vested interests (valid or invalid) then that which hollywood produces?
how much money and many lives are saved if a movie conquers a country instead of an army?
someone get this meme in a congressman's ear quick, the riaa and mpaa will be out of business (foreign country-wise) in a week
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
The biggest herpes on the music world is ClearChannel who makes Microsoft seem quaint and U2 is ClearChannels biggest commodity from concert booking to promoting and touring, you name it.
That u2 was directly involved with the big Clearchannel Live8 scam this summer which served only to give Blair an Bush a big hummer for the whole world to see is fitting.
The fact that they are Irish, doesnt change anything.
And who will exactly back US sanctions against Russia? US doesn't sell much to Russia. C'mon, with this trade deficit, does US actually sell anything abroad? And Russia doesn't sell much to US, so the actual sanctions could be funny... ;)
As for American cronies in Europe... Just watch them sanction Russia and lose all the cheap natural gas from Russia. In Western Europe when Russia says "jump", every politician asks "how high?", whether he is from left, right or center.
I just can't wait to see Putin curl up and die of fear after hearing "protect our intelectual property or else..." from America.
Robert
Bastard Operator From 193.219.28.162
I guess the RIAA thinks Britney Spears is one of "...our greatest economic assets."
I honestly don't see how piracy can be rooted out in Russia any time soon. I lived in Zheleznodorozhnyj (near Moscow) for 15 years and the amount of "intellectual property" flowing around is humongous. Out 2000-odd local area network had a dozen local ftp servers filled to the rim with hundreds of gigabytes DVD rips, albums, software and what not. I myself shared 50 gigs or so (shh! don't tell anyone...) It is practically impossible to find legitimate copies of CDs and DVDs, no matter how many tons of pirated discs they publicly crush with bulldozers every week! And, as many people previously commented, it is most rediculous to prevent such a large and influential country to enter WTO because of IP.
09 f9 11 02 9d 74 e3 5b d8 41 56 c5 63 56 88 c0
Letterman (paraphrased): "Despite all the problems that we face in this great country of ours, I think we can all be proud that America is still the world's largest exporter of Amy Fischer TV movies."
Recording Industry Association of America.
The 'freedom point' is where people sing their own songs, and write their own software. From there, you can vary so that some buy songs that others sing, and some buy software that others write. When the RIAA stop trying to change Berne Convention ... 50 years after the artist's death, his/her songs become free ... and start respecting the other 'fair use' points, then they will have more success at getting everyone else to repect Berne. It cuts both ways.
In case you haven't heard the Russian Tax Police is not your average CPA... They wear skimasks and carry machineguns to work!
Why does Russia need to be in the WTO anyway? sell some of them nukes to Iran or Syria for $$$ and Oil.
Or... simply imply it.
Everyone knows that Russia can't get enough American English music. Russians aren't spending nearly as much on American music as Americans, so they must be pirating the difference, unless perhaps some of them are pirating Russian music which the RIAA has little or no interest in.
May Peace Prevail On Earth
Yep. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the RIAA is deliberately abusing human rights here. They're still fighting to get the insane laws they want enacted in countries where rights are foremost, and so they take their fight to countries where rights are less well established, but economics are more vital. I'm sure they've never taken the time to really consider the morality of it, but I think anyone who does will realise it's blackmail at best, and simply sickening at worst.
I'm feeling sick. Pass me the bucket, please.
Anyone seen those movie kiosks showing pirated american movies in Russia? I came across a couple movie review sites listing which movies were available in kiosks, theatres. I was wondering where all those pre-2000 internet kiosk companies' hardware was sold to... hehehe, no really has anyone seen these kiosks? What do they look like? What software do they run? I think kiosks showing licensed movies would be a great idea for the U.S., and remember watching cartoons this way for 25 cents as a kid.
After a lifetime of severe repression, in a country -or rather in an empire, where those that could get access to copying machines and were willing to produce banned works of art and publish them illegally despite counter-measures that were the equivalent of capital punishment and ostracism for all the members of the publisher's family...
I imagine it will be difficult for the Russian government to effect any measures that a foreign power might insist on in order to turn back that particular clock.
If they were willing to do all that just for the sake of art, they are going to show a lot more spine when anyone can do it and where there is money involved and NO government reprisal. The US recording industry must have a poorer grasp of human psychology and world history than the fool on the hill.
In Russia the mods come to you.
This is Russia, guys. They don't probably realize what that really means...
First of all, 'Russia' and 'property' are mutually exclusive. Russian society has always been based on the concept of common ownership of assets and the traditional 'obshchina' (~ commonship) values dating back to the pre-Viking times are still as strong here as ever. You don't own anything here, you work for the good of all and add whatever you produce to the common pool, from which you are entitled a share. When Forbes starts to count the money in the Russian richest guys' pockets, I can't help smirking. They don't understand that nobody really owns anything here. Tomorrow your friends may decide that you have too much and gone too far and they come along and say, hey, do you know that things are not done like that? To share is the law!
Yeah, to share is the law. If the concept of 'property' which has always been alien to Russians is somewhat unapplicable here, then the concept of 'intellectual property' is almost an oxymoron here. You don't even 'own' anything in the western meaning here, why would anyone respect rights to something intangible?
Now this might sound somewhat of an exaggeration, but, you have to live here to understand. (Although many of you would rather not live here, depending on how strong your feelings about being able to truly own anything and have certain rights are.)
Now you see where that brings us to. There is no respect for IP here and there won't be any at least for a couple of generations more. There is no moral objection against sharing software, songs or movies at all. There are pirated copies of pretty much everything sold openly in certain specialized markets, and they only way for the legal owners to compete is to ask for the same price as pirates do, which is 70-100 roubles (2.5 to 3.5 USD) for a CD.
And if anyone is going to try to change this... I'd just say, good luck, suckers. You will need a lot of it, and it wouldn't help you either.
FIRE ZE MISSILES!!!1!!!1!1!!ONE!!!!!~!
-jX
Don't you just love politics? It's like a comedy of errors.
Good luck for RIAA breaking through that communism forcefield.
Per Aspera Ad Astra.
There was a great big sign
n d
That said private property
And on the other side it didn't say nothing
That's the land for you and me
From the USA's alternative national anthem. The one that corporate middle class US America hasn't rammed down the throats of children for the last 70 or so years.
Some alternatives:
This land is your land, it once was my land,
Before I sold you Manhattan Island;
You banished my nation, to the reservation,
This land was stole by you from me.
This land is my land, it isn't your land
I got a shotgun, and you ain't got one
If you don't get off, I'll blow your head off
This land was made for only me
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Land_Is_Your_La
Anyone care to translate this for a Brit?
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wiped out their foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
http://www.bcpl.net/~etowner/anthem.html
If the RIAA *wants* to be a world super-power with the muscle to dictate international political behaviour, let let's treat them like the "super-power" their actions define them as... ...which of course means it's time for some RIAA carpet bombing ^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H er.. "police actions".. We can justify it.. they ARE a weapon of mass destruction.
chown -R us
Why? Because Putin and W are buddy pals. One phone call from Putin to W will have that Veto pen out and ready to trash the bill. Guaranteed.
$5 gazerbaijuhullion? That would be the entire gross national product of Chechnobyl!
"it expresses the will of the U.S. Congress"
Whatever happened to expressing the will of the people?
It isn't Sarin, it isn't a CBW agent (although it could be used for temporary area denial). Just think of a very, very powerful stink bomb. It probably was used during a shake down by a rival outfit offering "security services".
I'm following this with more than a little interest as I'll be staying a few klicks away from their next week (Moscow district in St Petersburg). Back to the subject, the cheap CDs were still available from a nearby market.
See my journal, I write things there
I certainly don't care if some poor Russian who only makes $100 a month buys a movie he would otherwise be unable to see for a buck.
Do you care if some poor Russian who only makes a $100 a month will ever benefit from an economy as productive as ours? Say he decides to start making his living writing software, or developing specialized business processes that can make him and his company more prosperous, raising the Russian standard of living. Do you think it will help him or hurt him if the prevailing economic framework in his country is built around him having no recourse when someone decides to rip him off? Don't you understand that it's a two way street? You're suggesting that the poor Russian guy will never have what it takes to work with systems, processes, creative material - his brain - and thrive the way that the rest of the western world does, so you're willing to throw that poor dumb guy a bone in the form of cheap, ripped off western entertainment?
What if he's the guy that dreams up an important process that would make other people want to invest in him and his partners? If you don't think that the Russian government should enforce the rule of law that would make such investments worth considering, then you don't think that him or his country should be anything but a bunch of cheaply entertained peasants. Right now, the only entrepeneurs thriving in Russia are fake ones: the Russian mafia. They are parasites, not creators, and they don't have a vested interest in anyone (Russian citizens, programmers in India, screenwriters in California, novelists in Romania, or Korean elevator control chip programmers) being able to make a living from the work of their own minds. Not putting diplomatic/trade pressure on their system means thinking it should stay that way. Incredibly short sighted.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
Back to the subject, the cheap CDs were still available from a nearby market.
And will be in a foreseeable future. I tell you as a Russian.
Seriously, the best the USA can get from us would be a lip service and maybe a showcase crackdown for a few days. After that it will be back on the track. It takes much more than external demand to change buyer's culture.
17779 eligible voters in a district, 17779 'vote' as one. This is Russia.
It isn't copyright which is questionable part of US business, nor their right to protect it (or seek protection);
Problem is USA tries to proactively protect IP by using software patents, and even tries to enforce patents(and laws like DMCA) outside of it's borders (preventing infringing companies from doing business in USA even if it isn't connected to actual "infringement", or arresting people for doing something what is legal in their countries). For every sane person copyright is more than enough to protect software. Important is what happened in Europe, it was the turning point of sw patents not only in Europe, but in the whole world. Directive was, luckily, rejected because public didn't buy the patent hype, but rebelled. If it was accepted, many world countries would probably follow.
US patent office grants trivial patents, not because they are incompetent, but because it is a policy with a goal to prevent non-US companies from competing, even if they are fully capable. And since most other countries don't implement anything simmilar, US patent holders can compete there, while domestic companies can't compete back in US because of patent law. This is called protectionism. Hopefully, it isn't working. See Creative vs. Apple case which is coming. Shitty US patent directives used directly against US company, it is the only way current situation can ever be changed. Since many foreign companies care to file patents in USA system, it's primary purpose(keeping tech advantage) is obstructed.
Similar bull**it happens with drug patents and/or patenting genome. Can you imagine, hepatitis C genome (created by natural evolution, not some research group) is patented by US company, so noone is allowed (without paying a license) to use it to develop drugs/detection methods/vaccines! Obviously, greed is what describes US legislators.
"If you teach a man to fish...", he'll sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
[ ]Clever sig [X]Lame sig
Well, we all know what the US and Australia do to other sovereign nations they don't like. Take Iraq as an example... All we can hope is that Russia puts up a better fight (not that Iraq didn't try). US and Australia are so hypocritical it isn't funny - ie: ok to be a sovereign nation as long as you do it our way...
I can't stand the music that is hyped today in the US. Yes there is a lot of bad music out there. But thats where friends come in. When I was in college we did have CDs, but not MP3s, and I could afford a CD-ROM or enough hard drive space to store a ripped album. (40MB was about $200!)
But there was plenty of music swapping going on in the dorms. You go to someone's room and listen to a bunch of music. The stuff you really liked you would buy, the stuff you kind of liked would get put on a cassette tape (are you old enough to remember those?). I sorted through lots of music that way.
You expose yourself to new music, and then hunt for more by the people you liked in the past.
Think Deeply.
My Wife is from Russia (St. Petersburg) and we discuss this topic from time to time.
Since you still live there, what do you see as the current priorities Russia has at the moment?
At one time I thought (one of them was) their naval power, but then Kursk happened...
So rise up, all ye lost ones, as one, we'll claw the clouds.
Who would stop from a sound technician going to community college, get an associates in Bussiness and start his or her own studio service? The artist and or band pay for the use of the studio for a per session fee and use of the sound equipment. The artist/performer/band would still have the copyright but the cost of recording equipment and acoustics would be covered. The money won't be as lucrative as working for the label but the money would be decent if the person sets shop in the right area.
I don't think having an iMac and a mic would be a good subsitute for an actual studio with the right acoustics since most people's homes aren't designed for acoustics and the cost of building an acoustic shed and a pc would be rather pricey for people who already plunked down for intruments and spent time writing the music.
It isn't Sarin, it isn't a CBW agent (although it could be used for temporary area denial). Just think of a very, very powerful stink bomb. It probably was used during a shake down by a rival outfit offering "security services".
I think most people are interpreting it as a warning: "This time something harmless, next time - who's to say?"
And will be in a foreseeable future. I tell you as a Russian.
Hang in there, dude.
Maybe Russia should ask the question "How is Walmart^H^H^H China dealing with this rule?"
Join the Slashcott! Feb 10 thru Feb 17!
Oh so high and mighty, and me as an AC found the same wikipedia article you did :P
g hts_of_the_Child
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_on_the_Ri
The convention says a child is a child until 18.
State laws on executions have a minimum age of 16.
There was a 2005 supreme court case that may have ruled that executions under 18 are unconsitutional, but state laws have not been updated yet.
So while yes we aren't enforcing the treaty yet, we are taking steps in that direction. The whole federation system tends to take a while to work in cases where the states do indeed have rights, as it should.
two hundred years ago states disagreed on who was and wasnt a human being, now they agree on that but disagree on who is a child, so it seems we are progressing.
How do you like that russia more free than america. nuf said.
I'm going to be buying Roger Waters' Ca Ira from a Russian source - because that is the only way I can rest assured knowing that not one single dime from that purchase will go into the pockets of Sony, the single most evil member of the RIAA.
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
I hate to point this out, but there are no such things as "natural rights." There are certainly rights that are morally positive to maintain and fight for, but none of them are "natural."
Quite frankly, the only rights you have are the ones you earn by fighting for them - a lot of people have died to preserve these rights for those of us in democratic countries, but that's the way it has to be. If history teaches us one thing, it is that rights are very easily taken away from those who don't stand up and fight for them.
Just wanted to make certain that the distinction was drawn.
Robert B. Marks
Author, Demonsbane in Diablo Archive
sad to hear that RIAA seriously think they can get rid of piracy...As long as the internet is here there will be piracy its possible to get rid of some pirates but they will never get rid of all
last time i checked it stood for Recording industry association of america... not Real Itchy Assholes are Annoying.. or Retarded Idiots Asinine Actions .... but seriously do their lawers really thing that US laws will hold up over seas? or do they thing that if they boycot russia by not selling their cd's there that it would make it so they would stop downloading? pretty much any action they take (except for selling CD's for resonable prices) would cause people to download more... oh well it is their funeral what has been long over dew
(yes i know i suck at spelling fell free to correct my grammar and/or spellin i dont care, im still not going to change
Note that the RIAA press release speaks about expressing "the will of the U.S. Congress."
Whatever happened to the "will of the People" in the United States?
Oh, that's right, I forgot, the will of the People is irrelevant, now that corporations can buy Congressional votes.
It's an interesting Freudian slip, and speaks volumes about how groups like the RIAA see government's role (kowtowing to them and their corporations, the public be damned).
Gateway managed to get away with a license for their Gateway Tenth Anniversary System. Hidden inside the box was a piece of paper that denied your right to sue, and compelled you to use the abritration service of Gateway's choice (without mentioning the $2000 fee for arbitration). This happened in 1996.
I just want a ringside seat with popcorn and beverage of choice!
Do they think that Russia, the worlds second largest Oil Producer, has no bargaining chips or that they don't know how to bargain. Are these not the guys who bargained 70% of Europe from Uncle Sam after the second world war???
Headline from todays News: "Russia, the world's second-largest oil producer, sees energy as a key foreign policy tool." We will see what the US government really values, or whose rear end they will have to kiss when there is a recession because of energy shortages.
music pirates you!
Can anyone recommend a good therapist for me.. er.. my schizophrenic network card?
They can't even deal with America and they're going for Russia too? lol They're already fighting an uphill battle, with fewer people than the other side, and less opportunities to strike than the other side (they can only release more DRM software when they release something, hackers can break the software any time) - how is going to Russia, a place which doesn't exactly have a shortage of pirates, going to help?