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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.'"
They actually deem us significant enough to allow us the privilege of having a copy of something we purchased. I feel so... so... special.
For the morons that don't know snark when they see it. /SNARK!!!!
Having to work for a living is the root of all evil.
I tried to use Amazon recently to obtain an mp3, they only offered it in 128kb/s. It used to be that one could purchase mp3 files from Amazon and download the songs or album through the browser in high-quality. However, this appears to have changed. Now it will shove the music into what Amazon calls their "Amazon Cloud Player" and the user has two options for downloading. One option requires a proprietary MS-Windows/MacOS-only program, which of course is not an option for Linux/Unix users. The other is to use a browser-based player-downloader for any OS...
When downloaded through the browser, it gives no options at all about quality and will offer only a lower 128kbps version. I chatted with their support for 20 minutes and they seem to indicate that is how it works. This limitation is not even documented anywhere in their help system.
So you think it is better with the "downloader"? Nope. Same thing- there, no quality choices at all. So all you are allowed to download is 128kb/s from ANYWHERE on Amazon that I can find, regardless of method. I can't believe they are getting away with this. I know most consumers are clueless, but this is just wild.
I sent them feedback that some people will *NEVER* purchase music from Amazon with this glaring limitation in place. I am one of them. I generally like Amazon so I hope they will change.