Came home by 3AM. Had a fun night 🙂
Thanksgiving was basically a work day spiced by the events of the night.
That is to say if I’m right in assuming Thanksgiving is on a Sunday (and not Monday) O_o
Apart from that, not much new. Well that’s not true. There’s alot new, I just can’t share it here because it would end up insulting someone or other. That’s the inherent problem with a blog: the more popular it is, the more impossible to upkeep its original integrity and purpose without first making sacrfices. Eh well.
Anyone who knows me will know that I’m a huge proponent of the other side of the copyright battle; the one against the RIAA and MPAA. They wish to appeal the US high court decision that makes fileswapping networks legal. The thing that the RIAA wish to make people ignore is the fact that from a general standpoint, filesharing networks are extremely beneficial. It is an extremely efficient system with which to transfer data, reguardless of what the data is. If the RIAA existed in medieval times, they would wish to make sailing illegal because the oceans [filesharing networks] also allow pirates to go on them as well. Now if we look on a less idealistic standpoint of the current major use of filesharing networks, one would say that piracy is rampant.
Yet if it wasn’t for that piracy, I would not own a tenth of the music collection I have now. How so? This is better answered through another question:
With radio and TV only playing the most mainstream pop music, with music stores refusing to allow you to taste-test music, how is one expected to try music from a lesser known band?
Answer: They Can’t. And given the currently exhorbitant and artificially inflated price of music CDs, how is one even expected to dabber in the unknown? The price payed for getting something that they might not like is simply prohibitive. Now the RIAA is responsible for this inflated pricing and thus the dilema, but they rather choose to blame and sue their fans (and then after suing them: still blame them).
So how does filesharing fit in? It is the perfect system to allow people to taste-test music. Once they like it, they go buy the CD. It’s a risk free environment that brings the RIAA great revenue despite them ignoring this facet. There is also payed filesharing, but thanks to the RIAA again, the pricing is much more infuriously expensive for each track (therefore too expensive for the taste-testing bit). If it wasn’t for filesharing, I would of never listened to ACDC, Tragically Hip, U2, Coldplay, Nine Inch Nails, Blur, Dave Matthews, etc. If it wasn’t for filesharing, I would not have bought all the CDs/DVDs I did.
What about the losses we’ve been hearing about? They’re lies! Well by any reasonable person’s definition that is. Despite all that the RIAA has done against its customers, they’ve made more money last year than any other. What they meant by the losses is that in fact the sales have decellerated from the years before. Piracy? Hardly. The decelleration is due to the slowing economy, the fact that less original records have been released last year than any other.
Classic example of RIAA’s greed: The demise of the single. A single. It costs here $8. For one frickin song. The RIAA blames piracy, but c’mon: who in their right mind would pay $8 for a 2 minute song when they can go see a much more fulfilling 2 hour movie for the same price? And speaking of price: despite the production costs, a DVD movie costs less on average than a music CD. They make money from theatres you might say. Well then: take videogames. All their immense production costs must be had from the product they place on retail shelves. They don’t have the luxury of cash-cow concerts like music groups. And yet, they often charge the same. So really: who is truly ripping who off? The RIAA.
Now let’s look at the RIAA as an organisation:
– They’ve been charged of artificially boosting prices of CDs, despite the dramatically falling production prices.
– They give virtually none of the royalties to the musicians they supposedly cater to.
– They’ve sued 6000 customers and settled all of the cases at $3,000 each.
– They’ve pushed congress to make laws that:
>> Make any infrastructure that could hamper their sales illegal.
>> Make any tool could hamper their sales illegal. [INDUCE Act]
Think its ok? Take it from this perspective: had the RIAA shown up 10 years earlier in their current states, it is highly probable that they would of pushed congress to make the internet as a whole illegal. Back when no one cared but geeks (sound familiar?). So if they can destroy such an ultimately good technology then (because it may hamper sales), think of the damage they can do today with future advancements. This cannot be allowed. This isn’t about just music. It’s about out-of-control corporations. It’s about the politicians in their pockets. It’s about the mass of people out there who have no clue about this because the techno-war is supposedly too complicated for them.
Why my emphasis on the United States? Because it is the principle front where these horrid actions are taking place. Once things set in action there, other nations will follow. Therefore, its critical that the right thing be done there.