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Subject: Re: RIAA+SCMS (was:FM Recorder owner - 3% Rockbox content)

Re: RIAA+SCMS (was:FM Recorder owner - 3% Rockbox content)

From: Bradley Alexander <storm_at_tux.org>
Date: 19 Dec 2002 21:02:59 -0500

On Thu, 2002-12-19 at 15:37, E Doc wrote:
> >Archos did an excellant job - they implemented SCMS, but it can be
> >disabled. And they didn't further cripple the device with DRM
> >"features". That alone makes it the best device on the market IMO. The
> >fact that the product is also really good is just icing on the cake :-)
>
> OK, I completely agree with everything that Justin has said here. However,
> because I dig the Equal Time concept, has anyone done any analysis of how much
> income the "artists" represented by RIAA have actually lost due to piracy? I'm
> talking about straightforward cases here like, "Due to digital piracy, artist
> MadonnaShakiraSpears lost 35 squidjillion dollars."

Okay, let's look at it from a different angle. When Napster, who the
RIAA proclaimed as evil, reinvented itself to be an RIAA-friendly pay
service where the RIAA was getting its pound of flesh under the guise of
"we're protecting the artist, its their kids whom you are starving
yadayadayada...", someone studied how the breakdown worked out. In order
for the artist (who was being "protected", of course) to make a penny,
napster would have to sell something like 13,000 copies of a song.
Protecting the artist, indeed. They also don't tell you that Napster,
during its time in existence, actually _increased_ music sales.

Its not about the money directly, its about power. The RIAA wants to
control media, thereby controlling what we listen to (or watch, in the
case of the MPAA, which is just as evil).

> Also, I wonder, how much have the "open-ness" of formats like .mp*, etc. have
> helped artists on smaller labels? I'm talking about very straightforward cases
> here like, "Because we sell our music over the internet, we've been able to
> establish an international fan base, and make enough money to keep us out of
> the poorhouse?" Does anyone know if there are any studies of this sort of
> thing?

Yes, it actually has. There have been cases (Beastie Boys come to mind)
where the artist has put mp3s on their website, only to be threatened
with legal action by the RIAA for putting _their_ music on _their_
website for _their_ fans.

-- 
--Brad
============================================================================
Bradley M. Alexander                |
Debian Developer, Security Engineer |   storm [at] tux.org
Debian/GNU Linux Developer          |   storm [at] debian.org
============================================================================
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RSA 0xC3BCBA91: 3F 0E 26 C1 90 14 AD 0A  C8 9C F0 93 75 A0 01 34
============================================================================
Teamwork is essential, it gives them someone else to shoot at.
						--Murphy's Laws of Combat
Received on 2002-12-20

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