Amazon AutoRip — 14 Years Late

An anonymous reader writes "Amazon just debuted a new service called Autorip, which grants you MP3 copies of music when you purchase the CD version. This is a technology people have been trying to introduce since 1999, but only recently have the record labels — and the courts — seen fit to allow it. 'Robertson's first company, MP3.com was one of the hottest startups in Silicon Valley when it launched what we would now call a cloud music service, My.MP3.com, in 1999. The service included a feature called "Beam-It" that allowed users to instantly stock their online lockers with music from their personal CD collections. ... Licensed services like iTunes were still years in the future, largely because labels were skittish about selling music online. But Robertson believed he didn't need a license because the service was permitted by copyright's fair use doctrine. If a user can rip his legally purchased CD to his computer, why can't he also store a copy of it online? ... the labels simply weren't interested in Robertson's vision of convenient and flexible music lockers. So MP3.com was driven into bankruptcy, and the "buy a CD, get an MP3" concept fell by the wayside.'"

Comments

Nice, but that raises a new question.

[geminidomino]

Why can't we get copies of our ebooks when we buy the dead-tree version?

Re:Nice, but that raises a new question.

[Marcion]

Why can't we get copies of our ebooks when we buy the dead-tree version?

Because you they want you to buy it twice. (Unless your smart like Cory Doctorow who lets you have the ebook free to try before you buy the paper one).

Re:Nice, but that raises a new question.

[CNeb96]

Why can't we get copies of our ebooks when we buy the dead-tree version?

I bought a book on machine learning from Manning - they do the popular "In Action" computer series http://www.manning.com/catalog/by/subject/ and they do give you a free non-drmed ebook (includes PDF, ePub, and Kindle) with every physical copy of the book you buy. http://www.manning.com/about/ebooks.html "If you did not buy the pBook from manning.com, you can still get the free eBook in all available formats by setting up a Manning account, and registering your copy."

Re:Nice, but that raises a new question.

[Threni]

Er..no, it's the same thing. It was written once, and typeset, edited etc. The it was a) printed in book form, and b) rendered into a pdf (or whatever). Exactly the same content. And my kindle can be read in exactly the same places a book can be, sunlight or otherwise. And when I read the same thing on my Android phone, I don't need any form of light as it's backlit. And if it were convenient/practical to print a pdf, or scan a book into a pdf I'd do that and not give a fuck about the law of it (I'm in the UK, where ripping CDs to MP3s is illegal, and I've done that for every single CD I've ever bought, and I don't give a fuck about the law there either).

Re:Nice, but that raises a new question.

[Runaway1956]

"How do you buy 'it' twice when the 'it' is two different things,"

That is so, so wrong.

My wife never bought a video cassette because she wanted a video cassette. I never bought a music casette because I wanted a cassette. Never bought a floppy drive just because I wanted a floppy drive laying around. Ditto with CD's, DVD's, ebooks, real tree books, or whatever.

It's the CONTENT you're paying for.

I want to watch the movie, or read the book. That's why I pay real money for it. The book is the same whether it appears on screen, or I have to hold the book open. The movie is the same whether it's on DVD, or video cassette. And, I only expect to pay for it ONCE to be entitled to use it as I see fit.

Even if the content is edited so that it is more usable and/or appealing in a new format, it's still the same stuff.

Re:Nice, but that raises a new question.

[davester666]

Actually, a third time to get the audiobook version as well...

Re:Nice, but that raises a new question.

[Anonymous Coward]

I totally understand that wanting a free ebook version when you buy the paper version as the digital version ads little expense once you factor in having purchased the book from an online merchant with digital distribution capability in place (assuming it was digitally stored before printing). But seriously, an audiobook version requires them to hire (hopefully good) voice talent and a studio to record the reading.

ugh, mp3-only

[loshwomp]

Can anyone who has used it confirm if amazon's service really mp3-only? (Sources seems to imply that it is.)

I don't want shitty mp3s--just give me lossless files (you know, like what I could get from the CD and let me shift them to the format of my choosing.

Re:I didn't want the CD anyway

[Lumpy]

"CDs are big, bulky, and easily damaged. Why are we still using them?"

Because its the only way to get full quality DRM free music.

Re:I didn't want the CD anyway

[Scarletdown]

"CDs are big, bulky, and easily damaged. Why are we still using them?"

Because its the only way to get full quality DRM free music.

And if you get tired of a CD, you are free to resell it, give it to a friend, trade it to someone for something else, donate it to a thrift store, etc.

CDs?

[Charliemopps]

People still buy CDs? It seems that the MP3.com idea may have saved CDs... tied the license to the CD itself, so you got to buy that to get a legit MP3 license. Instead they kept their heads up their asses for 15 years and the world moved on. Artists: I can get your music for free, at any time of the day or night, from nearly anywhere in the world. I can have your entire album in under 5min. It's easier, the quality is often better, it wont get scratched, it's free, there's no taxes, it's environmentally friendly... Think of a new business model. The universe is against you on this one. Trust me.

Re:The biggest flaw

[SQLGuru]

Who said you had to check the box to give it as a gift. ;)