No, this does not mean that suddenly artists will get compensated properly for their work. I am very interested in seeing how much they do get out of this; if it's essentially nothing, then I don't think I'm even going to bother.
Incidentally, BMG and Columbia House are also engaged in another major screw-the-artist operation: those oh-so-tempting CD clubs. Know why those CDs don't have barcodes (or if they do, they're different from the in-store discs)? That's because those discs are manufactured as promotional items. No sales from those clubs incur any royalties for the artists. If you care about the music you listen to, don't sign with those damn clubs. (And they rape you for postage anyway.)
So... where does this leave us, really? Slightly better off than before, but only slightly. And then there's all those companies other than BMG out there slavering and licking their chops.
William Gibson gabba gabba corporate gabba gabba rights online gabba gabba Linux gabba gabba future gabba gabba hacker gabba gabba cyberspace gabba gabba privacy gabba gabba... I don't know about you, but hearing Katz drone on and on about this stuff without a germ of real insight is getting really agonizing.
Anyone can CLEARLY see the image is that of Douglas MacArthur! I mean, sure, you sort of have to squint and tilt your head to the side a bit, but there ya go!
Save your money! Run for the hills!
on
D&D Trailer
·
· Score: 1
My God, if this awful trailer isn't enough to convince people to stay at home and play the game (that's probably more entertaining than the damn movie in the first place), then there's very little to convince. What genius thought of the jive-talking elf?
Horse manure. I'm sorry, but this paper is just so loaded with BS I can barely dissect it properly. Aside from the usual knee-jerk nonsense ("Third World Exploitation" is such a wonderfully convenient buzzword, even if you don't really give a damn about the Third World except in as far as it serves your arguments), it's littered with an amazing number of impossible generalities. Arguing against intellectual property is like arguing against gravity or sunlight. People have always had ideas; it's just that we've recently begun to acknowledge how they can be recognized and traced back to their creator. What's next? I don't have the right to sign my posts?
The "right" to use terrorism and violence (except we don't call it that -- we call it "activism" and "guerilla warfar") in response to anything we perceive as a threat.
The "right" to prevent other people from choosing their own paths, even if they don't coincide with ours.
The "right" to wrap the whole thing in a sanctimonious cloak that excuses everything.
Katz, once again, has chosen a real winner. There's a reason I don't listen to him anymore.
Despite what I think about her otherwise, Courtney has a lot of guts to actually put her money where her mouth is and dive into the "new media" revolution wholesale. I wish more artists would do the same -- dump the bloodsuckers that pocket most of the profits from their stable of artists. Get the artists talking to their audience directly. They may not make as much money, but let's face it: who is? Surely not the session musicians or the middle-tier artists who depend on their tiny but loyal core of fans to even keep their discs from being deleted.
The business about record clubs is a longstanding thorn in my side, one of the reasons I refuse to do business with those vultures. BMG and Columbia, both -- none of these guys care about artists, just ripping off the gullible and getting all their dough back from you eventually. 11 CDs for only a cent? Only if you've been smoking their brand of weed. They get it all back from you one way or another.
The whole "mp3s as a replacement for CDs" controversy to me is a non-issue. I know of no one, and I know a buttload of people, who seriously consider MP3s as a replacement for an actual studio-mastered copy of a record. They are at best a proxy if you can't find a copy. And this doesn't even have anything to do with encoding quality or convenience; it has to do with pride of ownership. People LIKE to own a tangible copy of something they enjoy. This is not going to die, no matter how many Nomads get sold.
Like I said, I wish more artists would take the plunge. Maybe PayPal and WinAmp could hook up and create some kind of certificate-protected pay-for-play system?
Slashdot Mirror
No, this does not mean that suddenly artists will get compensated properly for their work. I am very interested in seeing how much they do get out of this; if it's essentially nothing, then I don't think I'm even going to bother. Incidentally, BMG and Columbia House are also engaged in another major screw-the-artist operation: those oh-so-tempting CD clubs. Know why those CDs don't have barcodes (or if they do, they're different from the in-store discs)? That's because those discs are manufactured as promotional items. No sales from those clubs incur any royalties for the artists. If you care about the music you listen to, don't sign with those damn clubs. (And they rape you for postage anyway.) So... where does this leave us, really? Slightly better off than before, but only slightly. And then there's all those companies other than BMG out there slavering and licking their chops.
...gets punched.
At least he spelled Shadowrun correctly. And the other game's full title is Magic: the Gathering.
FYI.
William Gibson gabba gabba corporate gabba gabba rights online gabba gabba Linux gabba gabba future gabba gabba hacker gabba gabba cyberspace gabba gabba privacy gabba gabba... I don't know about you, but hearing Katz drone on and on about this stuff without a germ of real insight is getting really agonizing.
Anyone can CLEARLY see the image is that of Douglas MacArthur! I mean, sure, you sort of have to squint and tilt your head to the side a bit, but there ya go!
My God, if this awful trailer isn't enough to convince people to stay at home and play the game (that's probably more entertaining than the damn movie in the first place), then there's very little to convince. What genius thought of the jive-talking elf?
Seriously, vis-a-vis Napster, I'm reminded a bit of how Luther Campbell from 2 Live Crew wound up being a First Amendment case....
Frankly, the more I read about Ralph Nader, the less I trust him with anything more modern than a spoon.
Horse manure. I'm sorry, but this paper is just so loaded with BS I can barely dissect it properly. Aside from the usual knee-jerk nonsense ("Third World Exploitation" is such a wonderfully convenient buzzword, even if you don't really give a damn about the Third World except in as far as it serves your arguments), it's littered with an amazing number of impossible generalities. Arguing against intellectual property is like arguing against gravity or sunlight. People have always had ideas; it's just that we've recently begun to acknowledge how they can be recognized and traced back to their creator. What's next? I don't have the right to sign my posts?
The "right" to prevent other people from choosing their own paths, even if they don't coincide with ours.
The "right" to wrap the whole thing in a sanctimonious cloak that excuses everything.
Katz, once again, has chosen a real winner. There's a reason I don't listen to him anymore.
Despite what I think about her otherwise, Courtney has a lot of guts to actually put her money where her mouth is and dive into the "new media" revolution wholesale. I wish more artists would do the same -- dump the bloodsuckers that pocket most of the profits from their stable of artists. Get the artists talking to their audience directly. They may not make as much money, but let's face it: who is? Surely not the session musicians or the middle-tier artists who depend on their tiny but loyal core of fans to even keep their discs from being deleted.
The business about record clubs is a longstanding thorn in my side, one of the reasons I refuse to do business with those vultures. BMG and Columbia, both -- none of these guys care about artists, just ripping off the gullible and getting all their dough back from you eventually. 11 CDs for only a cent? Only if you've been smoking their brand of weed. They get it all back from you one way or another.
The whole "mp3s as a replacement for CDs" controversy to me is a non-issue. I know of no one, and I know a buttload of people, who seriously consider MP3s as a replacement for an actual studio-mastered copy of a record. They are at best a proxy if you can't find a copy. And this doesn't even have anything to do with encoding quality or convenience; it has to do with pride of ownership. People LIKE to own a tangible copy of something they enjoy. This is not going to die, no matter how many Nomads get sold.
Like I said, I wish more artists would take the plunge. Maybe PayPal and WinAmp could hook up and create some kind of certificate-protected pay-for-play system?