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Feds Demand Prison For Guns N' Roses Uploader
Defeat Globalism writes with this excerpt from Wired:
"Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles are pursuing a 6-month prison term for a Los Angeles man who pleaded guilty in December to one misdemeanor count of uploading pre-release Guns N' Roses tracks, according to court documents. Kevin Cogill was arrested last summer at gunpoint and charged with uploading nine tracks of the Chinese Democracy album to his music site — antiquiet.com. The album, which cost millions and took 17 years to complete, was released November 23 and reached No. 3 in the charts. The sentence being sought — including the calculation of damages based on the illegal activity of as many as 1,310 websites that disseminated the music after Cogill released it — underscores how serious the government is about punishing those for uploading pre-release material."
Don't put him in prison for stealing the album. Shoot him for promoting it. 17 years and GNR gives us, what, a big pile of overrated crap.
This is my sig.
Now tax dollars will be used to keep them in business instead of producing decent products. Federal criminal agents will be involved in what is a civil court issue.
Tho many will say 'good, jail him he's a bad person', few will understand what is really going on here.
Freedom takes another hit.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
it only took two hundred years to go from "I regret that I have but one life to give for my country," to, "eat my asshole." :(
No portion of this post may be rebroadcast without the express, written consent of Major League Baseball.
Considering how has been they are he did them a favor. He should be commended on letting people know in advanced so they wouldn't waste their money on this album.
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
You will get a taste of Chinese Democracy.
And you will not be hungry for it an hour later.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! This has got to be one of the most excessive police actions ever. Sending a man to jail for a non-violent offense. I hate this country's legal system.
I fully expect to be modded down for it, but this is just nuts.
Our economy is on the verge of collapsing, we have people around the world trying to kill us and an administration that is walking us down the path of socialism and they waste tax dollars on a stupid record..
---- Booth was a patriot ----
I'm confused: all the merits of the case are civil in nature. How in hell do they justify prosecuting this man in criminal court? I don't understand: can someone please explain (and prove I'm just dumb)?
(My logic is that he made no money off his actions, and they were of absolutly no benefit to him.)
And you think the first is, or ever has been, a healthy kind of relationship between a citizen and their country?
That took 17 years to release, millions to produce, especially something that a nut case like Axel Rose, can't be worth a plug nickel.
That 17 years can be broken down as follows for Axl:
16 years, 10 months: lying around drugged out of his mind
2 months: working on music
-Dave
then organize a nation-wide boycott of music sales.
Whiners.
Mind you, I think the police are becoming an occupying force in this country, an arm of the Dept. of Commerce. But Slashdot makes nothing happen, so log the hell out and go organize.
What is the point of prison time in the first place? Isn't it to keep dangerous criminals off the street so they don't hurt people? So what dangerous crime did this person do? Nothing. So why should my tax dollars be wasted protecting me from, in essence, nothing? Sure, if he shot a guy, lock him up, I have no problems with that because he could shoot again and injure or kill me, this guy though, my tax dollars protect me from a guy who uploaded a few songs. Wow, such a violent crime!
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
Like J.Michael Straczynski said:
First, having talked to distributors, I can tell you straight up that
if a show [or music album] has had too much online exposure and too many downloads, if it's too much out there, they won't distribute it because the market that would want to see it already has. Second, when you download a show, it's not just that you're denying the producers/distributors of that movie or TV show the "price" of the DVD... you're also having a direct impact on the creative people who made that show, and taking from them as well. Actors, writers and directors get paid a fee to make a project, and then they get residuals, which are not a bonus, they are deferred compensation.
Free downloading ultimately destroys the financial structure for artists of all kinds, and will, if left unchecked, eventually make it impossible for any artist to make a living doing what they do. Downloaders think there's no difference between data and entertainment, that everything should be free. Great, it's free to YOU. Now, how do you propose paying the people who need to put food on the plate when they are getting nothing in return?
jms [/quote] From: "jmsatb5@aol.com"
Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:36:27 -0700 (PDT)
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
The title of the album says it all. Only - I always thought they were criticizing the Chinese Democracy.
Underholdning.info
Well, I guess countries who have the first kind of citizen die... eventually.
He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, which is violation of CRIMINAL law. It's not a civil issue here, no matter how much you wish it was. There are criminal statutes for copyright infringement, and they have been on the books for some time.
In short, it is you and many other slashbots here who do not "understand what is really going on here." Stop with this nonsense, please.
It's worth giving your life for a worthy cause, like protecting you & your neighbors' freedoms from a tyrannical non-representative British government, as the man who uttered that quote was doing.
Otherwise, no.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
Changing laws to convert a civil corporate issue into a criminal issue also fall within my statement.
Its still industries buying laws. Its still misuse of public funds/resources.
And i don't care what the purchased laws say, its still not a 'crime against society'.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
To paraphrase: No one ever won a war by dying for his country. They won the war by making the other poor sap die for his.
But the album sucks. The fact that he actually had the the tracks and listened to them should be punishment enough.
If they even put a quater as much effort into fixing the economy and punishing the people who caused this fuck up, we'd be a super power in a week, and the prisons would be bursting at the seams.
Because it's not like we have enough people in prison now.
Our corporate run detention facilities will start losing money is we don't find new reasons to fill them up with relatively minor offenses.
Half of people in prison are there for violent offenses. That half stays. The other half we need to take a good hard look at just why we're so gung ho remove people from their ability to make a living and pay to warehouse them.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
MacArthur wasn't it?
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
. . . since it obviously means the Feds have solved all the big problems that plague the country. Woohoo!!!
No, Patton.
The album, which cost millions
No wonder people pirate music. I'd pay 20 bucks tops.
Less risk. Is WalMart going to claim each track on that CD you stole is worth $750?
Steal a CD, you're guilty of a $20 crime. But if you do it with a computer somehow you're liable for (14*$750=$10,500) dollars worth of damage.
Or in this poor sap's case, 6 months in a federal lockup for daring to offend his corporate masters.
Amazing, isn't it? That the feds and corporate America are actually making the case that it's better to physically rob a store rather than simply downloading an mp3? It's unreal.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
I'm confused, why is a federal prosecutor involved at all, copyrights are a civil matter. I know there are some cases where its criminal but I thought that was more into the bootlegging category.
Filesharing never included commercial gains so had neatly side stepped the criminal aspects of the law. Or at least thats what I'd thought.
exact quote: "No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country."
There we go . I had to paraphrase it because I didn't want to quote it wrong and was too lazy to open another tab and google it *sighs*
If you are sentenced for under a year, you go to jail, not prison. The author apparently was mistaken.
... is work. You get paid for working. Historically for hundreds of years, people paid to see performing arts. Now, we have a problem.
Then, we had radio and advertisers who played the performances in public, for everyone to watch.
Now, it would seem, unless your shafted by paying for a piece of plastic, your a criminal because you did not buy the plastic the performance is on.
My problem is that it would seem greed has continued to encroach upon our rights because the middle man people here refuse to acknowledge how they have turned business models that made millions for them and they refuse to use anymore because they do not want a limit to how much money they can make.
So they came up with download a single for $4 dollars and then complain when people will not download it and pay for it, calling them criminals.
In fact, this corporatism that is dictating business models to its citizens, even when they do not work, then turn consumers into criminals when they feel the old models of advertising and performances is how people get paid for music, I think THEY are the criminals.
People with music talent should perform and hit the stage to get paid.
Same thing with people who write books, and print media. You get paid, and you put it on the web. People who download it pay through advertising.
It works.
As far as I am concerned people are going to jail because we are being ORDERED TO CONSUME by corporations and the penalty for not consuming is prison.
-Hack
Got Geometrodynamics? Awe, too hard to figure out? Too bad.
The album, which cost millions and took 17 years to complete, was released November 23 and reached No. 3 in the charts. The sentence being sought -- including the calculation of damages based on the illegal activity of as many as 1,310 websites that disseminated the music after Cogill released it -- underscores how serious the government is about punishing those for uploading pre-release material.
Are they trying to insinuate that because this album cost millions of dollars more to develop than most albums should, that pirating it is in some way worse because it will take even longer for them to recuperate such losses?
News flash big business: if you spend 10x as long, and 10x as much money as anyone else in that industry would on creating a product, it is not society's responsibility to compensate you. You deserve to lose money, and probably deserve to go out of business over the project.
Besides the ridiculous cost and timeline for developing the album, it seems the primary stakeholders were determined to tank this project regardless (see: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/india-news/axl-rose-blamed-for-band-missing-no-1-album_100126311.html/). Blaming piracy for any financial difficulties this album has suffered is more ridiculous than usual.
Taking my money to pay somebody else's housing bill is theft of labor.
Replace the word "housing" with "medical", and you have the basis of health insurance.
Or don't you believe in health insurance either?
I don't disagree with you that it's frustrating beyond belief that we live in a "capitalist" nation, where people should "live by the dollar, die by the dollar," but when people & businesses make fiscally irresponsible decisions, it's OK to rob from the responsible to support the irresponsible. But this still isn't theft. Agreements (explicit or implicit) exists between you and them that permit this to happen. In terms of insurance, we pay to be part of the socialist program. In terms of government, we elect the bozos that enact these asinine policies.
So, it's not theft. It's the government. (If you want, you may choose to finish this response with, "Same difference.")
So I have a question: When you read the banner, did you try going to the website antiquiet.com just to check it out, or did you not dare to visit it for fear the feds would be monitoring who hits that site?
*** *** You're just jealous 'cause the voices talk to me... ***
Good news. He can rot in jail along with all the bankers the feds arrested for stealing hundreds of billions via fraud. Oh wait...
Moderation in everything, including moderation.
George C. Scott, I believe, actually.
It costs way too much, and the punishment does not fit the crime. House arrest with a tether, a fine (stiff, but not back breaking), and a stereo that plays "Air Supply" 24x7 for the length of his sentence. But prison time? That's fucked.
For a "crime" described as a misdemeanor? Isn't that whole "cruel and unusual punishment" clause still in effect somewhere?
The contest for ages has been to rescue liberty from the grasp of executive power. -- Daniel Webster
In addition to asking for Mr. Kogill's imprisonment, the RIAA is asking the Judge to order Mr. Kogill to pay them $30,000 "restitution" and make a "public service announcement". I think directing Mr. Kogill to do a "public service announcement" for the RIAA would be "cruel and unusual punishment".
Ray Beckerman +5 Insightful
If Martha Stewart or Bernie Madoff lived next to you, would your life, property, freedom, or the lives of your family be threatened? No.
Contradicts
Petty theft? No.
Isn't petty theft a threat to your property by definition?
Other than that I do find your ideas pretty interesting. I would be all for legal reform along these lines, IF (and only if) the standard was applied universally, regardless of socioeconomic status, race, or demographic. Fat chance of that ever happening.
I do think that jail, though, can be a lesson. Remember the legal system should exist to punish and reform behavior, and not just make sure people pay back some "debt". Spending a weekend in jail can sometimes work wonders, especially for things like petty theft and graffiti (which should net the death penalty, IMO, even if I'm against the corporal punishment).
A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. -edward abbey
I guess Axl wasn't kidding with the lyrics to the track IRS off the record:
Gonna call the President
Gonna call a Private Eye
Gonna get the IRS
Gonna need the FBI
If YANAF, you might not understand the Italian fashion term prima fascia, which means "the belt is the best," a motto used by designers who favor sashes, cummerbunds, and other such accessories.
However, such obscure phrases are subject to much misunderstanding and misuse, which constitute prima facie ("on its face") evidence that such linguistic frippery is better left unused when possible.
But somehow killing a few hundred thousand people and torturing thousands of others has less moral hazards then trying to prevent the complete collapse of the value of real estate in America.
The footstools of the business party continue to scream, "Let the market do it's job!" It just did it's job - unregulated financial transactions led to a huge bubble which has burst. We are now doing what is necessary to correct the mistake of allowing Wall St to run it's own show. Glass-Steagal rules from the Great Depression are coming back, having just been removed in 1999. Banks will not be allowed to do anything but bank, and insurance agencies will not be allowed to do anything but insure, and hopefully this generation will never again listen to the bullshit argument that deregulation is a good thing.
Canada and it's "socialist" banking system, complete with protectionism, hard regulatory rules, and total government oversight, is now rated as the best banking system on earth. It's a crazy world, isn't it?
"it only took two hundred years to go from "I regret that I have but one life to give for my country," to, "eat my asshole." :( "
Don't think of it as poor speech, think of it as brevity!
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
Social Democratic programs can be implemented in ways that create jobs
That's of course the most important thing, and I have the PERFECT solution!
You're going to need a plot of land and a bunch of people who need a job. Half of you take the first day off. The other half digs a whole. On each subsequent day, each person in the first half fills up an empty hole, while each person in the other half digs a new one. Compensation is all the produce, split evenly.
There you go, jobs for everyone.
I can haz prsidenzy?
If the government can make the legal case that unlawful pre-release of material causes harm, why cant the opposite argument be made?
1) The commercial value arguement- The amount of time something has been released should be directly related to the amount of damages one can claim, If a pre-release violation creates more damages then a violation of an old copyright should create less damages
2) The abandonware argument- copyrighted material that has gone out of publication cannot be litigated for damages because it has ceased to have commercial value.
when he posted it and people had a chance to hear how badly the album sucked they didn't have to buy it first to figure it out ......
and friends. And because this is not the West Bank, communal punishment is not an option.
Timo's Audio Software http://www.esseraudio.com
No, Duke Nukem.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Unfortunately, it all seems to boil down to intimidation and trying to hammer home the whole "respect my authority!" thing.
Back in the early 90's, I had a whole group of FBI agents descend on my parents' home (while I was off at work), to search for and seize my computer systems that ran my hobby bulletin board system. They had guns drawn and the whole bit for that, as well.
(After sitting on my property for about 3 years and doing absolutely nothing with it, it was all returned to me one evening, by a rather sheepish and apologetic agent, who dropped it all off in the family station wagon.
Obviously, there's NO reason to go into ANY of these scenarios with guns ready to shoot, unless they had expectations the person in question was going to put up a gunfight or something. Yet they do and HAVE been doing it for over a decade. Go figure.....
Terry Pratchett in "Monstrous regiment".
-- Put crudely, the world is an extremely large problem instance. (Russel/Norvig Artificial Intelligence)
It's overkill ... ... maybe they are preparing for the worst?
but I guess it's to make their position clear
You can kill people for breaking and entering into your house, normally
No, I am not an English major. My posts are subject to typos and incorrect grammar. Do not expect perfection.
Obviously with this kind of "justice", we live in a Chinese Democracy.
The record industry is just a promotional vehicle anyways - you only make money on concerts after getting famous.
So I take it you think all genres of music are either A. amenable to live performance or B. not worth making a living from. Such a mentality would likely have shut down The Beatles after Revolver; later Beatles albums relied on editing-room special effects to create a distinctive sound.
...really?
I didn't realize music pirates were so dangerous these days.
Gettin' rough out there on the bleeding edge of the internet...
Already, Mr. Coward, sir...
Since you seem to be so knowledgeable about what is going here, please, enlighten me as well as the other "slashbots" because honestly, I don't see why this is a criminal matter (except for the obvious reason that this law should clearly be a CIVIL law and NOT a criminal law).
Less-geeky computer repair alternative for Lansing, MI
Steal a CD, well you have your own CD.
"Do it with a computer", and you have given those fourteen tracks to some large number of other people, they are guessing this is worth something like 525 CDs ...
Isn't this guy in trouble for putting the track up on the network, not downloading them?
ever tried paying the rent with art?
idiot
DRM-free indie games for the PC and Mac: Positech Games
What were the charges?
Is copyright infringement really a criminal offense now?
Why is the government serious about punishing a guy who apparently disseminated copyrighted material, and not serious about an organization conspiring to fix prices, engage in a campaign of frivolous litigation, knowingly use evidence obtained illegally, and violate the 4th amendment by conducting illegal searches of protected computer systems without a warrant or permission.
Why is the government more serious about protecting industry from the people than protecting the people from industry?
They're using their grammar skills there.
Disrespect != Assault
Even if the assault is a wimpy overhand toss of footwear.
Strawman argument. Why do people believe this is an effective debating tactic? I most certainly did not support the war.
Hey, don't strawman a strawman. I saw your sig supporting Fox News, and naturally assumed you shared talking points with Sean Hannity and the rest of the animal-brained.
Nor do I support redistribution of wealth from my wallet to other persons to buy them Lexuses.... er, houses. Those persons need to sell their houses and move someplace cheaper, like an apartment, not resort to theft from their neighbors.
First of all, you need to read the Wealth of Nations, especially Book V. You'll discover that Karl Marx isn't the only person who believed that people should contribute according to their ability to the state (for example, graduated tax rates where the rich pay more taxes.) This is not about anything but the stability of an economy. The boom and bust cycles inherent in markets require something to calm the cycles. There's a lot of information in the market, but that doesn't mean it cares about it's own survival. It's subject to the "irrational exuberance" and panic of people.
Moving along... There are two basic ways I see out of the housing asset bubble, which is the worst current symptom of the deregulation of the financial industry. As you can see here, there appears to be no bottom to home prices. This kind of drop even leaves hard working people, who made good choices, with an asset that is now worth 20 or 30% less than it was two years ago. These people have no choice but to stop spending money, since they cannot open lines of credit against an over-leveraged asset, and many of them are also losing their jobs.
As the real estate prices continue to drop, the economy will continue to implode. Imagine if you lose your job, and your home drops in value to where you're $80,000 upside down, which may be reality if you look at historical home prices. You're probably going to ditch it, because trying to survive and pay your mortgage is basically a dead end, further flooding the market with another foreclosure, leaving another bank with a toxic asset, and the cycle deepens. We can either let housing prices fall back in line with inflation and hope that the economy doesn't absolutely collapse, or step in to soften the landing with a combination of government spending, slightly higher inflation, and come out the other end with better infrastructure in the process.
This is the downward spiral that thinking people are worried about. If you aren't worried about it, that's fine. But present some real argument, instead of an idea spoon-fed to you by ideologues who were hired for their entertainment value.
Maybe it reached its no. 3 chart position thanks to actions like this?
A lot of people who downloaded the album probably went to the record store afterwards to buy the CD. I usually download an album before buying it to avoid paying $20 for a record just to find out that it's pure crap, and not being able to return it since the seal is broken.
Life at the federal minimum wage, with any money he makes above that level garnished until 3x the amount he stole is repaid. He may receive no more than 2087x the federal minimum wage, including gifts or in-kind donations for the rest of his life. Anyone disobeying this order shall be held in contempt of court and be enjoined as jointly and severally liable for his court debt. Joint property with any party (including his wife) shall be sold and the proceeds split 50/50.
That way, if any of his family tries to help him out, they forfeit everything.
It's just a matter of crafting the ruling properly. If people can think up a way to make 20% per year by reselling mortgage risk multiple times on the same money, they can craft a ruling that will make him live like a pauper for the rest of his years. And THAT would be the best punishment for him.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
It's one thing to just steal a CD from a store. It's completely different to go ahead and upload those tracks to the internet for free distribution to millions of people.
> Oh and since you consider debt relief to be a human rights violation I can't wait to hear what you call forced homelessness and starvation.
"The American Way"?
Yet another numerical indicator of the phenomenal rate of wo]mankind's progress...
Requiem for the American Dream
The album STILL sucked dong.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
How the eff does an album by has-been musicians take "millions of dollars and 17 years to complete"? Seriously, our sense of monetary value for certain things in the world is seriously out of whack. Who decided that musicians, athletes, and actors are worth millions of dollars? Far be it for me to sound Marxist but come on people, this is ludicrous.
He does a non-violent misdemeanor. He was arrested at gunpoint and is looking at 6 months in prison?!?! WTF !!! Don't get into a fist fight in that city, or they might execute you!
For crying out loud quit wasting prison space on non-violent people.
Ruin the guy financially and save the prison space for taking real threats to society off the streets.
Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
Ha, the gov't only cares if we upload pre-release stuff. They must not give a damn about the already released stuff...
What? You say you have to? Okay, then live with this horseshit.
Maybe it reached its no. 3 chart position thanks to actions like this?
So, yes, I think so too, the RIAA should put everyone into jail to get their artists in the top-5! ;) ... eradicate those who could copy!
Sounds like a great business strategy
--- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..
societies do not need to be terrorized with this dimwit copyright crusade by their governments against their own people. intellectual property needs to be abolished. this, im saying despite being a liberal in terms of economics.
Read radical news here
No, really, it isn't.
Copyright infringement is "piracy" in the same way DRM is "consumer rape"
I know that sounds weird. It's too big, too dense, but a strange piece of art. Appetite was a piece of its time, ages ago where the world and pop culture are concerned. After everything here's this really strange overblown symphonic hair metal techno(?). Riad is a cool groove and IMHO the best track.
Of course I didn't like it enough to buy it. I listened to it while they were streaming it free off myspace. Not great, but rock's finished anyway (unless some Radiohead fan wants to flame away)
Apologies in advance for posting without ranting about the RIAA.
Physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it.
It would be one thing if the G'n'R tracks from Chinese Democracy were awesome, and the best they've ever put out.
That's far from the case, it's the worst G'n'R I've ever heard.
I find it ironic that the Feds who really have bigger fish to fry want to make such a lame example of this poor kid. I think instead they should arrest Axel and put him in prison for 6 months for even wasting our time.
Shouldn't the Feds be out there doing something useful like finding Elvis, Jim Morrison, even a Sasquatch or space alien?
"Is that real poncho or a Sears poncho?" ~~FZ
A man may fight for many things. His country, his friends, his principles, the glistening tear on the cheek of a golden child. But personally, I'd mud-wrestle my own mother for a ton of cash, an amusing clock and a sack of French porn.
At the very least he should be jailed for distributing such bad music.
Now instead when I see his face
I take him away to that special place
And if he stared too long
I probably wouldn't give a damn
(Woahhhh) Sweet child o' mine...
The Russians would dispute this. Year after year they died, incurring more losses than any other country (2 dead Russians for every 1 dead German), and yet they still beat back the Nazis. So the quote's conclusion is wrong.
Well, what do you expect? You're quoting a movie scriptwriter - not a war expert.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
"It's worth giving your life for a worthy cause, like protecting you & your neighbors' freedoms from a tyrannical non-representative British government"
Imagine if there'd been no American Revolution: we could all be sitting here speaking *English* and drinking tea.
The horror!
And our leaders could be making war and levying taxes without caring that we're opposed to it. Thank goodness we're free of *that*.
You are not a brain: http://books.google.com/books?id=2oV61CeDx-YC
People Choose go to jail all the time, here in Canada. When charged with a minor criminal act, you are fined by the government, $5,10,25,000, whatever. You can either pay the money, or go to jail instead. Duration based on the amount you owe. Lots of people do not have the money to pay the government, so they go to jail. They're allowed out to go to work, returning after for a nice hot meal and a warm bed. Use the gym facilities, watch a movie, read a book. Prison on the other hand. Is shawshank redemption meets the midnight express. Not much fun.
"Luck is a tag given by the mediocre to account for the accomplishments of genius." -Heinlein
If you're going to get fucked m
Apply an equal standard. A handful of tracks released = prison time. Actually releasing the album should have been a capital offense because it was so godawful - they should put Axl behind bars.
You don't do any good dieing for your country/cause/purpose but through the willingness to die in the all costs achievement of strategic aims that do benefit and to which you join the effort of achieving.
As for the twit somewhere above about the tyrannical British, go get a better grasp of the history.
1. Download/Pirate/Share/Whatever the music you want.
2. Send the artists who made what they would have made (from about $1 to 20 cents) if you'd bought it.
3. The artist have now been paid and, unlike residuals, the record company can't keep the money to pay off "marketing costs".
If people did this as a matter of course, bands would flourish and record companies would perish... at least as distributors and marketers - two services artists don't need but are forced to pay for. The few things they do well, getting a producer, or getting the artists a loan (ie. the advance), can still be done; but at the discretion of the artists who now have the power because people pay them directly.
My friend and I started a site which let people look up artist contacts where they could send money, but then I got high and sort of wandered off...