RIAA/MPAA and file sharing

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In a way, pirating can help the music industry. Kind of in a try before you buy sort of way. I download music, then, if I like it and feel obliged to support the artist, I go to buy the cd, if I don't like it, I simply delete it. If it wasn't for piracy, I would buy NO music AT ALL, because I am not very up to date on music styles, so I would have no fucking idea what to buy.

Also, the RIAA and MPAA as well as whoever does the games mainly target sharers and not downloaders.

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Exactly, that's why I think that file sharing is not so bad. If you download some mp3 files of a certain artist and you like it, you'll feel like buying their CD's and checking always for the music.

On other hand, if you don't like it, you delete it, it just takes space on your computer.

As I said earlier mp3 files can work as a promotion to the band too. Think of how many CD's can sell by just letting some internet users to download mp3. In fact, many new bands do so, to promote their music.

So, this also depends on the artist's opinion on this. If the artist thinks that it's OK to share their music then the music industry can't do anything, because they're not the authors of it. Besides, many music labels have had issues with music bands because of that, a music band says: hey, let's allow the people who visit our page to download some of our music, and then when the company sees this, start arguing with the artist, but at the end, it's just the artists desition.

This file sharing issue is mainly because of the music labels, most the artists are not that concerned about it. And the ones who are concerned are shitty artists like Metallica (they're actually shitty), Britney Slut, etc.

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One reason I don't buy music or movies is because everything these days has Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology in it. It's like putting your MP3 files on house arrest; it limits how many CDs, MP3 players, or computers you put them on. Basically, you are just leasing your songs. Do you want limited rights to your property?

That brings me to another point. The RIAA/MPAA vocabulary is bullshit. One word that bothers me is piracy. Pirates commit robbery and/or murder on the high seas, according to US law. Punishment for pirates - again under US law - is death. Not only is downloading music not robbery, but the RIAA/MPAA is not killing downloaders. However, I feel that it is just a matter of time before they try to. The proper term for illegally downloading is copyright infringement. Also, "intellectual property" pisses me off. How can thoughts count as property? They do not physically exist until they are transferred into a physical form, such as a CD/record/casette/etc..

Also, why the hell is the FBI and Secret Service helping their efforts? The FBI has much more to worry about (terrorism) and I didn't know that the Secret Service did anything other than protect government officials. Why should they be concerned about some guy with gigabytes of files on their computer?

The RIAA crossed the line with the lawsuits and the MPAA crossed the line with the shutting down of LokiTorrent and Suprnova (and the message left on LT REALLY pissed me off), not to mention the following lawsuits.

By the way, downloading is not stealing nor is it taking money away from the RIAA/MPAA. Nothing is physically gone; it was merely copied. Nobody took anything, therefore it is not theft and they lost no money. They may lose a potential sale, but that's not the only reason they could lose a sale. It could be a critic's review, a friend's bad experience, a bad video store, or any number of things. Those aren't illegal, are they?

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Quote:
Originally Posted by skater910
One reason I don't buy music or movies is because everything these days has Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology in it. It's like putting your MP3 files on house arrest; it limits how many CDs, MP3 players, or computers you put them on. Basically, you are just leasing your songs. Do you want limited rights to your property?

How old are you? Apparently not old enough to know that on a lease, you're paying monthly, jackass. You buy your CD's they're yours, if they have that DRM or whatever on them, so be it, you can thank yourself, along with all the other pirates that were stealing.

Quote:
Originally Posted by skater910
That brings me to another point. The RIAA/MPAA vocabulary is bullshit. One word that bothers me is piracy. Pirates commit robbery and/or murder on the high seas, according to US law. Punishment for pirates - again under US law - is death. Not only is downloading music not robbery, but the RIAA/MPAA is not killing downloaders. However, I feel that it is just a matter of time before they try to. The proper term for illegally downloading is copyright infringement. Also, "intellectual property" pisses me off. How can thoughts count as property? They do not physically exist until they are transferred into a physical form, such as a CD/record/casette/etc..

What the hell are you talking about? Quit getting all technical and accept the fact you're a thief. They aren't going to kill anyone for stealing a few songs, possibly jail time, but no death, tool.

Quote:
Originally Posted by skater910
Also, why the hell is the FBI and Secret Service helping their efforts? The FBI has much more to worry about (terrorism) and I didn't know that the Secret Service did anything other than protect government officials. Why should they be concerned about some guy with gigabytes of files on their computer?

They aren't going to send uniformed police officers to your door to arrest you. Please, show reference as to where the FBI and SS are in on this with the RIAA/MPAA.

Quote:
Originally Posted by skater910
The RIAA crossed the line with the lawsuits and the MPAA crossed the line with the shutting down of LokiTorrent and Suprnova (and the message left on LT REALLY pissed me off), not to mention the following lawsuits.

You're upset with the RIAA/MPAA because they shut down a big source of this multi-billion dollar theft? They didn't cross the line, they did what was legal, stopped theft. If not stopped, they surely have cut people down on downloading.

Quote:
Originally Posted by skater910
By the way, downloading is not stealing nor is it taking money away from the RIAA/MPAA. Nothing is physically gone; it was merely copied. Nobody took anything, therefore it is not theft and they lost no money. They may lose a potential sale, but that's not the only reason they could lose a sale. It could be a critic's review, a friend's bad experience, a bad video store, or any number of things. Those aren't illegal, are they?

It is theft, you are taking something that isn't yours. You didn't create the album, nor was the album given to you, you're downloading the song illegally. I don't know where in the hell you kids come up with the lousiest things to defend yourselves, but face it, you're stealing. It's theft, there is no way around that. I don't care if you say "you're not physically taking anything," it's still theft. Again, you're taking something that isn't yours.