I totally agree that file-sharing is a grey area. I also had my car broken into and lost hundreds of CDs. Fortunately I had made mp3 backups of some and thanks to file-sharing programs like napster and kazaa, I was able to recoup most of the others. I PAID for those cds already and so in my mind did nothing wrong by redownloading them.
If it hadn't been for the generosity of others sharing their bandwidth and music, I wouldn't have any of them, and therefore file-sharing is not wrong in my mind. The person who downloads the songs without the CD or any intention of buying it is the "criminal"... not people like me.
In retrospect, this was a great learning experience too, as I realized just how much money I had poured into CDs that I barely listened to. It makes me think twice (3 or 4 times even) before I spend money on music that I can get from other sources.
"...To Ronald Reagan than a FIVE FRICKING BILLION DOLLAR aircraft carrier. This will certainly help us maintain our naval superiority over the Spanish Armada.
Cripes, my grandchildren will still be paying interest on the man's wastefull stupidity..."
Okay, I just have to answer this. First of all whether or not a new aircraft carrier was a good decision, $5 Billion is NOT that much money in terms of the US budget and GNP.
Secondly, blaming Ronald Reagan (and a democratic majority in both houses I might add) for defense spending is hardly appropriate. Perhaps you are not old enough to remember the US was at WAR with the Soviet Union, who (despite the turnip jokes) were virtually the equals of the US in terms of military superiority. I for one, think that money was well spent.
This may go contrary to what a lot of people seem to think, but I really and truly believe that people do not want to get their music solely by downloading it. The current thinking and push of business plans seems to be moving everything to a downloadable format, and soon after everyone is going to wonder why online sales have dried up. Why?
Because people want physical copies of their music. People want album art, lyrics, and a stamped cd to hold in their hands. They don't mind having to rip their own cds. The thing that people do not want is the expensive price. It's all a matter of economics.
For example, if cds were $10, I would probably start buying more of them. If cds were $5 I would probably buy hundreds. I don't think the record companies would realize how much money they could make if they would simply lower prices. To me, I don't like the Apple store because for a couple bucks less I lose the most important part of a cd... the physical copy. Record companies' business models need to be changed to revolve around airtime, concerts and other merchandise. And they need to do this before people truly hate them so much even a low price won't save them.
For $600? Are they nuts?! The thing I don't understand is why these companies are touting features like mp3 and now video playback... but have dismal amounts of memory!. I mean good grief, the visor I bought something like 4 years ago had 8mb of usable space!
When I see a palmtop with a 2.5 or 1.5" hard drive inside it, then I might consider getting one with all those A/V features. Why is this so hard? I don't mind a palmtop as thick as an Ipod with similar battery life. In fact, it'd probably be better since many are pretty flimsy as it is. If 'real' mp3 players can incorporate a hard drive, why aren't we seeing this in palm devices?
Either way I think you're going to have to talk to the content producers to get a definite answer.
One idea though, might be to consider making it a not-for-profit or all-profits-go-to-charity venture. The producers in those cases might be willing to negotiate for you to show the content for free, or very cheaply, due to the good public relations they would get out of it. You could still pay a salary to yourself and your workers and be doing something good for the community.
There actually is a fairly nice windows alternative called myHTPC. It's easy to customize, has channel listings, databases, weather, etc...
I chose it over MythTV to avoid a lot of the problems I had trying to do a linux version (finding drivers, configuring, getting it to work well on a slow system...) Plus you have the added bonus of being able to use windows games/emulators on it, and it's easier to use legacy-type hardware like the gamepad I have.
ch-chuck, you hit it right on the money. It seems to me a slowly increasing copyright fee would be the perfect solution...
1st year: $1 after all, in this beginning period, the person who created something needs time to market it. 2nd year: $2 3rd year: $4 4th year: $8... etc etc
This way, an idea is cheap at the beginning to copyright, but gets progressively more expensive as the years go by. This prevents the Disneys of the world from holding on to copyrights forever, as the costs of renewing the copyright in 30yrs (>$1million)would outrun the potential profits. After that it becomes public domain and fosters innovation.
The only exceptions I would suggest are for trademarks and books.
I'd definitely tend to agree with you. Our cable service is certainly 'good enough' for my web browsing and downloading needs.
However I think the real killer here is the wireless aspect. Imagine paying for one broadband account that you can use anywhere sans wires. For me I'd plunk down the extra $10 without a second thought.
I say why compromise at 70+ years?? We should give all media 7 years (with perhaps the option of 1 renewal for a total of 14) and THATS IT! After that it's free for everyone to distribute how they please.
The artists, authors, and companies had their chance to profit during that time. These endless copyrights are only stifling innovation and tying up our court systems. There should be no compromise. Let's do what the founding fathers intended and create an innovative society again.
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I totally agree that file-sharing is a grey area. I also had my car broken into and lost hundreds of CDs. Fortunately I had made mp3 backups of some and thanks to file-sharing programs like napster and kazaa, I was able to recoup most of the others. I PAID for those cds already and so in my mind did nothing wrong by redownloading them.
If it hadn't been for the generosity of others sharing their bandwidth and music, I wouldn't have any of them, and therefore file-sharing is not wrong in my mind. The person who downloads the songs without the CD or any intention of buying it is the "criminal"... not people like me.
In retrospect, this was a great learning experience too, as I realized just how much money I had poured into CDs that I barely listened to. It makes me think twice (3 or 4 times even) before I spend money on music that I can get from other sources.
Okay, I just have to answer this. First of all whether or not a new aircraft carrier was a good decision, $5 Billion is NOT that much money in terms of the US budget and GNP.
Secondly, blaming Ronald Reagan (and a democratic majority in both houses I might add) for defense spending is hardly appropriate. Perhaps you are not old enough to remember the US was at WAR with the Soviet Union, who (despite the turnip jokes) were virtually the equals of the US in terms of military superiority. I for one, think that money was well spent.
Because people want physical copies of their music. People want album art, lyrics, and a stamped cd to hold in their hands. They don't mind having to rip their own cds. The thing that people do not want is the expensive price. It's all a matter of economics.
For example, if cds were $10, I would probably start buying more of them. If cds were $5 I would probably buy hundreds. I don't think the record companies would realize how much money they could make if they would simply lower prices. To me, I don't like the Apple store because for a couple bucks less I lose the most important part of a cd... the physical copy. Record companies' business models need to be changed to revolve around airtime, concerts and other merchandise. And they need to do this before people truly hate them so much even a low price won't save them.
When I see a palmtop with a 2.5 or 1.5" hard drive inside it, then I might consider getting one with all those A/V features. Why is this so hard? I don't mind a palmtop as thick as an Ipod with similar battery life. In fact, it'd probably be better since many are pretty flimsy as it is. If 'real' mp3 players can incorporate a hard drive, why aren't we seeing this in palm devices?
Either way I think you're going to have to talk to the content producers to get a definite answer.
One idea though, might be to consider making it a not-for-profit or all-profits-go-to-charity venture. The producers in those cases might be willing to negotiate for you to show the content for free, or very cheaply, due to the good public relations they would get out of it. You could still pay a salary to yourself and your workers and be doing something good for the community.
Just an idea, of course.
I chose it over MythTV to avoid a lot of the problems I had trying to do a linux version (finding drivers, configuring, getting it to work well on a slow system...) Plus you have the added bonus of being able to use windows games/emulators on it, and it's easier to use legacy-type hardware like the gamepad I have.
ch-chuck, you hit it right on the money. It seems to me a slowly increasing copyright fee would be the perfect solution...
1st year: $1
after all, in this beginning period, the person who created something needs time to market it.
2nd year: $2
3rd year: $4
4th year: $8... etc etc
This way, an idea is cheap at the beginning to copyright, but gets progressively more expensive as the years go by. This prevents the Disneys of the world from holding on to copyrights forever, as the costs of renewing the copyright in 30yrs (>$1million)would outrun the potential profits. After that it becomes public domain and fosters innovation.
The only exceptions I would suggest are for trademarks and books.
May I please have a phone with a good antenna that doesn't drop too many calls? Please??? Bluetooth might be nice too. Thank you
I'd definitely tend to agree with you. Our cable service is certainly 'good enough' for my web browsing and downloading needs.
However I think the real killer here is the wireless aspect. Imagine paying for one broadband account that you can use anywhere sans wires. For me I'd plunk down the extra $10 without a second thought.
regards,
Nik
I say why compromise at 70+ years?? We should give all media 7 years (with perhaps the option of 1 renewal for a total of 14) and THATS IT! After that it's free for everyone to distribute how they please.
The artists, authors, and companies had their chance to profit during that time. These endless copyrights are only stifling innovation and tying up our court systems. There should be no compromise. Let's do what the founding fathers intended and create an innovative society again.