I don't think anyone is suggesting that ads would pay for everything in some OSS project. That'd be crazy talk.
However, let's say that we build a screensaver app that allows for other processing, much like SETI or whatever and we say that the profits of this will support some OSS project. That'd be nice, right?
Plus, I see other people's desktops when I'm sitting in an office and see their screensavers. Ads placed there would reach me.
I know some corps are a pain, but I've worked places where the IT admin could make all the systems use the same screensaver and run SETI if he wanted. That's one of the reasons I'd suggest making it run on MS-Windows as well.
One of the comments I saw that was really cool was screensaver advertising.
I think most of us who are willing to use our processor time on things like SETI would be willing to let ads run on our system during screensaver time if it would bring any funding to these projects.
Additionally, if there were bonus incentives for actually looking at ads, etc., I would be on it like a heartbeat. I would support it even from my Windows boxes.
Looking over the responses here, I would like to propose that you try reading James Bamford's book, Body of Secrets. It's about as close to the NSA as you'll get without being invited in.
I personally think Lt. Gen. Michael Hayden has done a great job of letting the public be more aware of the NSA. This man has allowed cameras to go in and look around and so on. Ok, not at everything of course, but that's another matter.
Should we allow the UKUSA agreement to be more public? I don't think we can any more than we already have without threatening resources. Do you want every terrorist organisation to know where all the listening posts are? The NSA does a beautiful job of Sigint, although unfortunately they don't have enough people for enough languages. If you have any language ability and you're a computer geek here good in mathematics, I recommend applying, since they are hiring right now.
What's important to remember is that under agreements within UKUSA and internal orders, the NSA cannot keep track of clearly US citizens and permanent residents (and I believe that applies to other UKUSA countries). If you're in the US, they have to treat you as a U.S. citizen/permanent resident unless your communication clearly indicates otherwise or you're communicating with clearly known terrorists. Still, in the reports, they have to list you without name. Those who can prove that they need to know can find out, but it's not that easy. When abroad, the situation changes. They can record until they know that you're a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
Anyway, while we computer geeks pick on the NSA, I think we should really take a good look at overhauling the CIA. Ask any resident in Peshawar to point out the CIA guys. Requirements for clandestine spooks favour WASPs way too much.
What I've found is really important with my fiancée is that we talk about it beforehand. Blowing lots of money on hardware without consulting with your SO is like her going off and doing clothes shopping that takes up 3/4 of the closet. If it's not discussed beforehand it's a waste of money that takes up lots of space.
I'm really fortunate in the my fiancée is a serious geek as well. She's not a computer geek (though she loves being online), but she's a major Latin and math geek. Thus I don't have to jump major hurdles to get it all to work.
One thing we discussed was building the network and putting it all in when we move to a new place. As long as the sound and heat are contained and there aren't cables everywhere, she's cool with it. I want a machine in the living room, so we discussed getting a little Shuttle machine to put under the TV. She though the idea of setting it up to record programs, compress to MPEG-4, and record on CD was pretty cool (VHS takes up WAY too much space). We've even worked out that we'll put it on the same shelf as a Game Cube, so it'll look cool.
As for wiring the bathroom, that's over the top. Your SO probably thinks you're obsessed, and personally, I do as well. I think the kitchen is generally right out as well (though a monitor and keyboard and mouse port might be useful at some point). I won't go 100% wireless, since I hate having to deal with the security.
Have you tried to figure out what it is that you two HAVE in common? I had problems in a previous relationship, and we finally figured out that it wasn't the machines, it was the fact that we had little in common.
You'll definitely care if your favourite app isn't run on your device. BREW isn't run on a whole heck of a lot, though in the US, Verizon seems to be a big fan.
Personally, I'm a big fan of J2ME, though no one seems to have figured out how to make money selling those games. I think the coolest stuff will end up on i-Mode for a while, since AT&T's mMode allows for billing by bandwidth usage.
I work for a company doing mobile games, and while I can't say we have the niftiest of games in the world, we're doing well.
The cool part about smaller companies is that we have a collective pool of people working on game designs. Basically, anybody can submit a cool idea, and we have a group that consists of graphics artists, coders, and product managers like myself who work out game concepts. We don't have any real restrictions as to who can attend those meetings.
If you have Java skills and feel comfortable with J2ME, I'd definitely look at the mobile gaming side, as people are looking for coders and there is no hard-set design style for that area yet, as there is in, say, the console market.
I dunno, but my experience with Red Hat has been less than satisfactory, and I can't figure that the customer support is really worthwhile. Basic support with Red Hat is similar to basic support with Windows. Most of the stuff can be found online, which is why I always got student license or OEM license for MS stuff, since I wasn't going to bother to pay the extra amount so I could get two free calls to MS tech support and have somebody basically read my what was online.
I'm completely amused that I've been considered flamebait for stating my preference for non-predatory practices in a market that's fighting a much larger behemoth. I guess either the Red Hat or Microsoft boys got mod points today.
If I ever needed an excuse to avoid Red Hat again, well, this takes the cake.
I find it sad that you can upgrade from other professional Linux platforms with $10 off, but not from Windows or anything else. It seems to me that Red Hat is taking a cheap shot at the other companies.
Of course, $10 off doesn't mean much to me here in Finland. So, it just seems they're solidifying their market, which is the US market. I think I'll stick with SuSE for now.
First off, yes, you're right that the only decision made so far is that they can't use freedom of speech. Of course, as I've seen, this actual case hasn't gone through yet.
Second, as was presented by someone else, courts DO look at ruling of other courts, in particular when they are ruling on laws affecting them. Yes, California may not be Oregon, but the reality is that the law being ruled on is the First Amendment of the Constitution.
Third, I'm no wannabe paralegal, and I think having spent well over 17 years with a lawyer (as opposed to the paltry three hours you suggested), might entitle me to see the insight in to how to use this ruling and the eventual outcome of this case.
Lastly, you failed to even touch the part I mentioned about the SEC, which could very well have jurisdiction over this within regulating claims made by publicly-traded companies.
Of course, I fully expect that as someone who clearly posts with an ego, you yourself would never present any insights or strategy into going after some of these abusive corporations. I also love how my question became quoted as a statement. People with such little linguistic insight should never argue in a courtroom (or perhaps a public forum).
So, does this mean that we can now sue Microsoft for all the FUD they plaster all over their website about what's legal and what's not?
I really hope that this one gets appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court so that this gets sets as a nationwide ruling.
Of course, it would be nice if the SEC would make rulings ahead of time to prevent crap like this and Enron and so on. I think any publicly-traded company should be required to be honest. Lying to the public that trades your company is not a freedom of speech. It's failure to disclose.
They tell us we can't buy machines without an OS. Then they say that we're not allowed to remove the OS. Oh, and we can't give away the machine without a Microsoft OS either.
Oh, and you can be sure that they think that a machine with Linux preinstalled is an OS-free machine.
These guys play both sides so much you'd swear they were U.S. negotiators in the Middle East. Well, granted, Microsoft has been more successful. Bill Gates to solve the crisis in the West Bank???
So will Microsoft be giving away a new version of the X-Box as a digital tv receiver? That'd be about the only way to boost sales of X-Box games there.
If you want your company to be able to avoid any BSA audit, there are a few things you can do.
The first thing is never buy any piece of software that's represented by the BSA, or at any rate don't buy it directly. Buy it through an intermediary.
Second, never register software with the manufacturer. It's hard to demand that you give someone a copy of a contract (the EULA?) if they never know you have one.
Third, set up secure areas in your company. If you have a machine running BSA-audited software in an unsecure area, then have all the licenses available right there. If they want to go further, tell them they need a search warrant, and you'll see them in court.
Fourth, if they decide to do an audit, be sure to have the senior person sign an NDA or something else like that. Be sure that your NDA contains high penalties and that you have the right to search their premises whenever to verify. Be sure to bring up that NDA in court.
Finally, if they did get that audit, and you did get the NDA, be sure to audit the BSA at least once a month. They'll be such happy campers. They know stuff about your company by checking your machines. I'm sure those criminals are selling it.
I know that Congress has jurisdiction over interstate commerce, but if I buy a locally-produced sci-fi product, well, Congress doesn't have the Constitutional right to tax me on that.
Remember, boys and girls, they had to get an amendment just to do that silly income tax.
I just wrote a long e-mail to this guy debunking his ideas.
I did a little digging, and found that, tada, their server is running on Linux, an open source (and hence, in his view, Communist) server. I kindly informed of why chmod works the way it does, and that chmod 666 isn't nearly as powerful as 777, and that, well, they can do the same thing on their server.
I don't know. Being a Christian myself, these guys are an embarrasment. I know where they get there ideas now more and more. If you want an interesting read on the developments of the Church and the Jews, read Constantine's Sword. Maybe you'll understand why these guys have such misplaced views.
True enough. Given the over-emphasis of the American Revolution, I can't tell you how many times I've heard idiots remind Brits "We kicked your ass!". I mean, it's all well and good, but failure to understand that the "revolutionaries" were only about, maybe, a third of the population leads to these huge myths.
The most amazing thing about the creation of the U.S. is not its Declaration of Independence, but its Constitution.
I've wondered this many times about how the media affects people and how instant media changes the dynamics. I remember the repeated instant images on Spetember 11th and the sheer hysteria that has occurred.
Having taken several courses on film and media, I know that all media is filtered. While we seem to find that the news is objective, we fail to understand that instant news is as subjective as possible, as instant coverage of an even often presents only one side to the story.
The sad thing is that our education systems don't teach us to question the news. I remember being in my social studies class and we read the the news and treated it like it was all the facts.
I think sites like Alternet are a great counter-culture to mass media. People need to learn to look at several news sources, as well as read up on the background behind the stories.
Perhaps in the United States, a country that seems to be involved all over the world, more emphasis should be places on world history and world cultures in education.
I remember way back when I decided to get IE and Outlook Express, etc. This was shortly after the 4.0 browsers came out for both IE and Netscape. The big reason I dumped Netscape was because if I tried to use it for mail and browsing, if the browser crashed, my mail would crash, and I had a POP3 account, and occasionally lost mail because of that.
Now, you could argue monopoly in that perhaps if Netscape knew how the OS worked better they might have been able to build a better browser that was more stable. But then again, I doubt it. The 4.0 branch was bloatware and was focused on having opposing standards to Microsoft, who was also building tools, unlike Netscape.
Now, Mozilla, on the other hand, makes me happy. I have standards support and I can count on a browser that runs on multiple platforms. I'm waiting for a full release for Windows so I can dump a slick fast version on my work machine, which (unfortunately) is bound to use Windows (for now).
As a person who loves Linux and the open source community, I have to say, that I chose IE as a chose between two CLOSED SOURCE applications (IE and NC), but now I prefer an open source browser (Mozilla).
So, are there any suggestions as to how to going about reorganising the music industry?
I see the same thing happening in several other industries. While I realise that people in many different media and tech industries will lose jobs, the people who find a new model to last the next 20 years will at least make life semi-stable for some.
I'm personally getting involved in metadata projects to try to find a way through this, a way that supports artists, license holders, and the consumers. I'm also looking at joining intellectul property law groups to look at good (i.e. sensible) legal proposals.
As an avid music fan who lives effectively between the US and Europe, let me put my two cents in.
I think there are numerous factors going into this. Does illegal copying affect sales? Sure! I have friends who think that it's perfectly ok to go hunt after music online because they can't find in a store here in Finland. Or better yet, one person will have the original and the rest will copy it. I rant and rave about IP laws, and get stared at.
On the other hand, I've noticed that a LOT of people upon reaching their 20's just couldn't care less about downloading the music. Most of the people I see downloading now are those teen pop trash fans. So that is probably hurting sales to some degree.
However, I'm the kind of person who is perfectly willing to buy good music. I'll buy good releases, but I won't rush to get them the instant they come out. The problem for me is being aware of what's good out there. There's too much hype about the latest teen sensations and no enough real coverage of good music.
Conscientiously, I've decided to not necessarily rush out and buy big-label records. I'll often get them used. I will buy small-label records at retail, as they're less likely to abuse artists.
Lastly, hey, the future ain't looking as bright as in the middle of the dot-com bubble. I incurred plenty of debt then and so did a lot of other people. With the joys of interest and shaky jobs, I reckon that quite a few others are working hard to pay of debts quickly and save some money for the anticipated 'rainy day'.
Suggestion for recording industry? Put something worthwhile in the CDs for the kiddies who download all the time so they might buy that bubble-gum pop crap, and find some quality artists that you don't abuse and let them get some press coverage.
Slashdot Mirror
What the MPAA and RIAA don't seem to get is that people like me, who really hate them, are also copyright holders.
So, what happens when the MPAA and RIAA use phrases I've used? I accuse them of violating my copyrights and crack into their systems.
Open season, nothing. It's more like opening up a case of tactical nukes for public consumption.
I don't think anyone is suggesting that ads would pay for everything in some OSS project. That'd be crazy talk.
However, let's say that we build a screensaver app that allows for other processing, much like SETI or whatever and we say that the profits of this will support some OSS project. That'd be nice, right?
Plus, I see other people's desktops when I'm sitting in an office and see their screensavers. Ads placed there would reach me.
I know some corps are a pain, but I've worked places where the IT admin could make all the systems use the same screensaver and run SETI if he wanted. That's one of the reasons I'd suggest making it run on MS-Windows as well.
One of the comments I saw that was really cool was screensaver advertising.
I think most of us who are willing to use our processor time on things like SETI would be willing to let ads run on our system during screensaver time if it would bring any funding to these projects.
Additionally, if there were bonus incentives for actually looking at ads, etc., I would be on it like a heartbeat. I would support it even from my Windows boxes.
Didn't the NSA, et. al. consider this prior to launching satellites for Sigint?
There are several reasons they nixed it.
Anyway, I'm sick of wireless. Maybe I can get my friend John to get some fiber splicing equipment again and run fiber to my house.
Looking over the responses here, I would like to propose that you try reading James Bamford's book, Body of Secrets. It's about as close to the NSA as you'll get without being invited in.
I personally think Lt. Gen. Michael Hayden has done a great job of letting the public be more aware of the NSA. This man has allowed cameras to go in and look around and so on. Ok, not at everything of course, but that's another matter.
Should we allow the UKUSA agreement to be more public? I don't think we can any more than we already have without threatening resources. Do you want every terrorist organisation to know where all the listening posts are? The NSA does a beautiful job of Sigint, although unfortunately they don't have enough people for enough languages. If you have any language ability and you're a computer geek here good in mathematics, I recommend applying, since they are hiring right now.
What's important to remember is that under agreements within UKUSA and internal orders, the NSA cannot keep track of clearly US citizens and permanent residents (and I believe that applies to other UKUSA countries). If you're in the US, they have to treat you as a U.S. citizen/permanent resident unless your communication clearly indicates otherwise or you're communicating with clearly known terrorists. Still, in the reports, they have to list you without name. Those who can prove that they need to know can find out, but it's not that easy. When abroad, the situation changes. They can record until they know that you're a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
Anyway, while we computer geeks pick on the NSA, I think we should really take a good look at overhauling the CIA. Ask any resident in Peshawar to point out the CIA guys. Requirements for clandestine spooks favour WASPs way too much.
What I've found is really important with my fiancée is that we talk about it beforehand. Blowing lots of money on hardware without consulting with your SO is like her going off and doing clothes shopping that takes up 3/4 of the closet. If it's not discussed beforehand it's a waste of money that takes up lots of space.
I'm really fortunate in the my fiancée is a serious geek as well. She's not a computer geek (though she loves being online), but she's a major Latin and math geek. Thus I don't have to jump major hurdles to get it all to work.
One thing we discussed was building the network and putting it all in when we move to a new place. As long as the sound and heat are contained and there aren't cables everywhere, she's cool with it. I want a machine in the living room, so we discussed getting a little Shuttle machine to put under the TV. She though the idea of setting it up to record programs, compress to MPEG-4, and record on CD was pretty cool (VHS takes up WAY too much space). We've even worked out that we'll put it on the same shelf as a Game Cube, so it'll look cool.
As for wiring the bathroom, that's over the top. Your SO probably thinks you're obsessed, and personally, I do as well. I think the kitchen is generally right out as well (though a monitor and keyboard and mouse port might be useful at some point). I won't go 100% wireless, since I hate having to deal with the security.
Have you tried to figure out what it is that you two HAVE in common? I had problems in a previous relationship, and we finally figured out that it wasn't the machines, it was the fact that we had little in common.
You'll definitely care if your favourite app isn't run on your device. BREW isn't run on a whole heck of a lot, though in the US, Verizon seems to be a big fan.
Personally, I'm a big fan of J2ME, though no one seems to have figured out how to make money selling those games. I think the coolest stuff will end up on i-Mode for a while, since AT&T's mMode allows for billing by bandwidth usage.
I work for a company doing mobile games, and while I can't say we have the niftiest of games in the world, we're doing well.
The cool part about smaller companies is that we have a collective pool of people working on game designs. Basically, anybody can submit a cool idea, and we have a group that consists of graphics artists, coders, and product managers like myself who work out game concepts. We don't have any real restrictions as to who can attend those meetings.
If you have Java skills and feel comfortable with J2ME, I'd definitely look at the mobile gaming side, as people are looking for coders and there is no hard-set design style for that area yet, as there is in, say, the console market.
I dunno, but my experience with Red Hat has been less than satisfactory, and I can't figure that the customer support is really worthwhile. Basic support with Red Hat is similar to basic support with Windows. Most of the stuff can be found online, which is why I always got student license or OEM license for MS stuff, since I wasn't going to bother to pay the extra amount so I could get two free calls to MS tech support and have somebody basically read my what was online.
I'm completely amused that I've been considered flamebait for stating my preference for non-predatory practices in a market that's fighting a much larger behemoth. I guess either the Red Hat or Microsoft boys got mod points today.
If I ever needed an excuse to avoid Red Hat again, well, this takes the cake.
I find it sad that you can upgrade from other professional Linux platforms with $10 off, but not from Windows or anything else. It seems to me that Red Hat is taking a cheap shot at the other companies.
Of course, $10 off doesn't mean much to me here in Finland. So, it just seems they're solidifying their market, which is the US market. I think I'll stick with SuSE for now.
Well, talk about overreactions.
First off, yes, you're right that the only decision made so far is that they can't use freedom of speech. Of course, as I've seen, this actual case hasn't gone through yet.
Second, as was presented by someone else, courts DO look at ruling of other courts, in particular when they are ruling on laws affecting them. Yes, California may not be Oregon, but the reality is that the law being ruled on is the First Amendment of the Constitution.
Third, I'm no wannabe paralegal, and I think having spent well over 17 years with a lawyer (as opposed to the paltry three hours you suggested), might entitle me to see the insight in to how to use this ruling and the eventual outcome of this case.
Lastly, you failed to even touch the part I mentioned about the SEC, which could very well have jurisdiction over this within regulating claims made by publicly-traded companies.
Of course, I fully expect that as someone who clearly posts with an ego, you yourself would never present any insights or strategy into going after some of these abusive corporations. I also love how my question became quoted as a statement. People with such little linguistic insight should never argue in a courtroom (or perhaps a public forum).
So, does this mean that we can now sue Microsoft for all the FUD they plaster all over their website about what's legal and what's not?
I really hope that this one gets appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court so that this gets sets as a nationwide ruling.
Of course, it would be nice if the SEC would make rulings ahead of time to prevent crap like this and Enron and so on. I think any publicly-traded company should be required to be honest. Lying to the public that trades your company is not a freedom of speech. It's failure to disclose.
Is it just me or does this contradict things?
They tell us we can't buy machines without an OS. Then they say that we're not allowed to remove the OS. Oh, and we can't give away the machine without a Microsoft OS either.
Oh, and you can be sure that they think that a machine with Linux preinstalled is an OS-free machine.
These guys play both sides so much you'd swear they were U.S. negotiators in the Middle East. Well, granted, Microsoft has been more successful. Bill Gates to solve the crisis in the West Bank???
So will Microsoft be giving away a new version of the X-Box as a digital tv receiver? That'd be about the only way to boost sales of X-Box games there.
If you want your company to be able to avoid any BSA audit, there are a few things you can do.
The first thing is never buy any piece of software that's represented by the BSA, or at any rate don't buy it directly. Buy it through an intermediary.
Second, never register software with the manufacturer. It's hard to demand that you give someone a copy of a contract (the EULA?) if they never know you have one.
Third, set up secure areas in your company. If you have a machine running BSA-audited software in an unsecure area, then have all the licenses available right there. If they want to go further, tell them they need a search warrant, and you'll see them in court.
Fourth, if they decide to do an audit, be sure to have the senior person sign an NDA or something else like that. Be sure that your NDA contains high penalties and that you have the right to search their premises whenever to verify. Be sure to bring up that NDA in court.
Finally, if they did get that audit, and you did get the NDA, be sure to audit the BSA at least once a month. They'll be such happy campers. They know stuff about your company by checking your machines. I'm sure those criminals are selling it.
I love these kinds of games, since they're very much geared towards learning.
Am I mistaken in thinking that these guys helped fund Reinventing America (I and II)? That was a really cool idea which I'd like to see brought back.
That's assuming we believed any of that FUD.
Maybe we should start buying the Wal-Mart OS-free machines. I'd love to see Microsoft try to take Wal-Mart on over that.
Can Congress actually leverage a sales tax?
I know that Congress has jurisdiction over interstate commerce, but if I buy a locally-produced sci-fi product, well, Congress doesn't have the Constitutional right to tax me on that.
Remember, boys and girls, they had to get an amendment just to do that silly income tax.
I just wrote a long e-mail to this guy debunking his ideas.
I did a little digging, and found that, tada, their server is running on Linux, an open source (and hence, in his view, Communist) server. I kindly informed of why chmod works the way it does, and that chmod 666 isn't nearly as powerful as 777, and that, well, they can do the same thing on their server.
I don't know. Being a Christian myself, these guys are an embarrasment. I know where they get there ideas now more and more. If you want an interesting read on the developments of the Church and the Jews, read Constantine's Sword. Maybe you'll understand why these guys have such misplaced views.
Does anybody know what metadata specifications the OAI uses or can use?
It would be neat if it used PRISM or SCORM. (Or both!)
Perhaps we need "getoverit" training.
True enough. Given the over-emphasis of the American Revolution, I can't tell you how many times I've heard idiots remind Brits "We kicked your ass!". I mean, it's all well and good, but failure to understand that the "revolutionaries" were only about, maybe, a third of the population leads to these huge myths.
The most amazing thing about the creation of the U.S. is not its Declaration of Independence, but its Constitution.
I've wondered this many times about how the media affects people and how instant media changes the dynamics. I remember the repeated instant images on Spetember 11th and the sheer hysteria that has occurred.
Having taken several courses on film and media, I know that all media is filtered. While we seem to find that the news is objective, we fail to understand that instant news is as subjective as possible, as instant coverage of an even often presents only one side to the story.
The sad thing is that our education systems don't teach us to question the news. I remember being in my social studies class and we read the the news and treated it like it was all the facts.
I think sites like Alternet are a great counter-culture to mass media. People need to learn to look at several news sources, as well as read up on the background behind the stories.
Perhaps in the United States, a country that seems to be involved all over the world, more emphasis should be places on world history and world cultures in education.
I remember way back when I decided to get IE and Outlook Express, etc. This was shortly after the 4.0 browsers came out for both IE and Netscape. The big reason I dumped Netscape was because if I tried to use it for mail and browsing, if the browser crashed, my mail would crash, and I had a POP3 account, and occasionally lost mail because of that.
Now, you could argue monopoly in that perhaps if Netscape knew how the OS worked better they might have been able to build a better browser that was more stable. But then again, I doubt it. The 4.0 branch was bloatware and was focused on having opposing standards to Microsoft, who was also building tools, unlike Netscape.
Now, Mozilla, on the other hand, makes me happy. I have standards support and I can count on a browser that runs on multiple platforms. I'm waiting for a full release for Windows so I can dump a slick fast version on my work machine, which (unfortunately) is bound to use Windows (for now).
As a person who loves Linux and the open source community, I have to say, that I chose IE as a chose between two CLOSED SOURCE applications (IE and NC), but now I prefer an open source browser (Mozilla).
So, are there any suggestions as to how to going about reorganising the music industry?
I see the same thing happening in several other industries. While I realise that people in many different media and tech industries will lose jobs, the people who find a new model to last the next 20 years will at least make life semi-stable for some.
I'm personally getting involved in metadata projects to try to find a way through this, a way that supports artists, license holders, and the consumers. I'm also looking at joining intellectul property law groups to look at good (i.e. sensible) legal proposals.
As an avid music fan who lives effectively between the US and Europe, let me put my two cents in.
I think there are numerous factors going into this. Does illegal copying affect sales? Sure! I have friends who think that it's perfectly ok to go hunt after music online because they can't find in a store here in Finland. Or better yet, one person will have the original and the rest will copy it. I rant and rave about IP laws, and get stared at.
On the other hand, I've noticed that a LOT of people upon reaching their 20's just couldn't care less about downloading the music. Most of the people I see downloading now are those teen pop trash fans. So that is probably hurting sales to some degree.
However, I'm the kind of person who is perfectly willing to buy good music. I'll buy good releases, but I won't rush to get them the instant they come out. The problem for me is being aware of what's good out there. There's too much hype about the latest teen sensations and no enough real coverage of good music.
Conscientiously, I've decided to not necessarily rush out and buy big-label records. I'll often get them used. I will buy small-label records at retail, as they're less likely to abuse artists.
Lastly, hey, the future ain't looking as bright as in the middle of the dot-com bubble. I incurred plenty of debt then and so did a lot of other people. With the joys of interest and shaky jobs, I reckon that quite a few others are working hard to pay of debts quickly and save some money for the anticipated 'rainy day'.
Suggestion for recording industry? Put something worthwhile in the CDs for the kiddies who download all the time so they might buy that bubble-gum pop crap, and find some quality artists that you don't abuse and let them get some press coverage.