downloading music -- P2P networks??

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AndrewClarke

Guest
Poisoned

For those of you on a Mac, there's Poisoned which is pretty good. For those of you using Windows, get a Mac.

Seriously.

OK, and to add to all the FUD on this topic:

1. It's not piracy. Nobody's sailing the high seas, making poor record company executives walk the plank. Hey, let's just skip the intermediary steps and call it "murder" or "terrorism". As an aside, piracy really was a form of state-sponsored terrorism -- see many of Sir Francis Drake's exploits for example (note that he was knighted for his noble deeds) -- so calling copyright infringement "piracy" really is calling it terrorism from one historical perspective.

2. On that note, I'm also not sure that "theft" is the correct term to use here. "Copyright infringement" would probably be more accurate. Which still doesn't make it legal.

3. Personally, I rip my CDs with Apple's Lossless codec, so a 128kpbs mp3 off P2P isn't a particularly welcome long-term addition to my iTunes library. However, it's great for figuring out if I like a particular artist or CD. If I like it, I go buy the CD. If I don't feel like spending the $$, the music gets deleted and I move on with my life. This may not be legal, but other than that one pesky little detail I don't find it particularly immoral.

4. P2P networks are also useful for me to download those 20 or so CDs I own but can't find. Since I own a right to listen to the music, having purchased the CD, I don't have a problem with downloading it. I haven't used it yet, but www.allofmp3.com seems like a reasonable way to refill those gaps in my library as well. It looks like Metallica's anti-p2p stance of a few years ago scared Master of Puppets (one of my missing CDs) off the site, but they do have an extensive catalog. At $0.01 (IIRC) per MB, you can get anything from 128kpbs to FLAC lossless, so it's a better deal than iTunes. It's also completely illegal in the US, so other than what I would consider "reasonable" uses like obtaining songs you already own, I wouldn't personally spend money to break the law.

OK then.
- Andrew.
 
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V

Veneficus

Guest
rover4x4 said:
it couldnt take more than 5$ to make a CD
Click to expand...

I think I read somewhere it actually costs 1.77 materials cost to make a CD.

My buddies get on my case a lot because I am staunchly against downloading music and not paying for it. I want my musicians to make money so that they will be able to focus more time on creating music and not worrying about paying the water bill. I make copies of my CDs to take in my cars so I don't ruin the originals, but with all this illegal stuff going around some artists try and make it so you can't copy CDs. That stinks because then I would have to use the original in the car.
 
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bcroz

Well-known member
May 7, 2004
201
0
63
Midland, MI
Got to agree with John on this one, stealing is stealing. Hell, most online services only charge .99 for a download. Would you work all next week for free?
 
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AndrewClarke

Guest
Christopher said:
When you download and install free P2P clients, you'll probably also be installing spyware. Giving up your system's security and your personal privacy is the cost of "free" P2P software.
Click to expand...

Yet another reason to get off Windows. You know, there is a Better Way (TM).
 
Loydster

Loydster

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
685
1
I use winMX

I use it to listen to albums before i buy. Most albums are crap. I love that I am able to buy songs from itunes etc. But rather than pay first regret later i will listen first pay later. I am not a big fan of mp3 anyway. quality is a real issue. Anyway i do think it is stealing except in the instance such as mine where i have bought everything that has been released in the US and some import stuff by NIN and have downbloaded other versions of the songs from the albums. Is it stealing if it was never for sale. I dont have an answer to that question. I can say that if i find a version of a NIN song that i dont have i will download it to add to my collection. I look forward to the release fo the new album and will buy it the day ti comes out.
 
Axel

Axel

1
Staff member
Apr 1, 2004
1,857
11
Quebec, Canada
www.discoweb.org
I'm with John on this one as well. Downloading copyrighted material without the owners permisson and without paying for it, is theft. Paying 99 cents, a dollar or whatever per song from a legit site, or downloading a song the artist willingly provides for free is not.

As John also said, making a copy of a CD or songfile you legally purchased for your own use, is legal. I have thousands of MP3's on my portable player which I use in the car and while commuting to work, but every single one is ripped from a CD I purchased legally. And I won't give you a copy of any of the files.

There is some validity to the argument that CD's are overpriced and that a lot of times you get only one or two good songs per disk. But that don't give you the right to go out and steal those two good songs. Buy them from a legit site instead. The record companies and artists will figure out soon enough that if they provide good, reasonably priced content in an easy to use dowload format, there is money to be made (and money to be saved by not having to deliver the content on a physical medium, producing physical inventory and so on). This distribution model have worked well for the software industry for years.

I am looking at this from both the consumer and media content producer angle. As you know, Discoweb produces videos. We charge $29.95 for a copy on DVD. Does it cost us $29.95 to produce each copy? Of course not. But, there is a considerable amount of time spent on obtaining the raw footage, editing it, producing the DVD master and so on. There were also money invested in camera and editing equipment, so that the end result would be as good as we can make it. It then takes me several months to produce a DiscoWeb DVD after the footage is in the can.
Some may say that $29.95 is too high for a DVD. Fine, don't buy it, then. The price was set so that we can have a reasonable profit margin based on the amount of videos sold, time spent in creating them and so on. Why do we want to make a profit on the videos? So that Ho, Kyle and I don't have to take money out of our own pockets to keep this site available to all of you without having to charge any access fees. We ask for 5% on classified sales for the same reason.

Now, if someone does not want to buy a DVD for $29.95, that's just fine with me. You don't have to. But don't go out and burn yourself a copy from the copy your buddy paid for, either. If you do, you are breaking the law (The videos are copyrighted), and you are stealing from DiscoWeb and everyone that have contributed to keeping the site up.
 
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freddie

Guest
for all those that are opposed to p2p networks and such. How many of you can say that every program you have on your computer is legit? you went out and bought it. not borrowing a copy of it from your friends and such?
To take it a step further. Borrowing a friends CD and either burning a copy or making mp3's out of it is the same. You did not buy and and thus you are stealing it.
fred
 
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