You guys here about that lawsuit crap about downloading music off the internet? I think it's rediculous, sure it doesn't make them AS MUCH money, and that's why they are doing it. But don't they make enough millions?

 

I didn't har to much about it, but the more I think about it, I don't like downloading anyway, only if I can't find a CD or a song I am looking for elsewhere.

 

While i understand downloading music isn't exactly "legal." in the eyes of the RIAA, its no different than borrowing a cd from a friend, or using a cassette tape to record it off the radio. There is absolutely no way they can control every aspect of it...somebody somewhere is going to come up with a way to circumvent it.

I for one do download music, but only to try it out and see if i like what that particular group offers. Then i just go out and buy the cd.

The only time i really download and burn my own is if its old stuff you wouldn't typically find in music stores or on amazon.com

 

We worried about downloading illegal music too. So we joined a web-site that u can download all the music u want for $2.99 or $3.99 a month. My 14 year old boy downloads all day. Mostly hip-hop of course. Takes most of the day. No braodband, wireless OR cable in our area. ****! He's never had a problem finding current stuff. And of course I never have a problem finding my oldies, but goodies!

 

Download it, burn it , listen to it. It's that simple, and free. Most of the CD's in my car (no cd in truck) are ones I've downloaded or copied off friends. The whole lawsuit thing is pretty crappy. Who do you think is going to pay for it in the end? They need to work on lowering cd prices or come out with some better and cheaper way of producing music. Apple came out with that download site and for $.99 you can download a song. They sold over 5million songs in the first three months! Now there is someone doing it right. They say that the lawsuits are only going after the people who are sharing the greatest number of songs, but good luck finding the real person. Just more crap from the music business. I guess with all this mp3 downloading they won't be able to buy another gold plated fararri.

 

I'm not sure if it's true, but I heard they'd start cracking down on INDIVIDUALS who are downloading. I'm sure that if this is true, they are also going after the companies. But, my point is, that how would they do this? I think that I also heard they'd start going after people w/the biggest collections. Even so, there must be millions of people that do this, and an operation like that would take alot of manpower not to metion time.

 

I heard about them going for individuals also... I do have a rather large mp3 collection on my backup machine, but most of this is backups from cd's i either own, or used to own. Quite personally, i'm entitled to have backups of things i own.

I also think the RIAA is just out for a money grab, thats going to end up costing them more in the long run, and continue to alienate the music buying public. So long as there is a source of something for free, it will thrive, and the lawsuits are going to force just that situation.

 

its an RIAA money grab.

dont say its for the artists, most of them dont own the rights to their own songs.


StomP

 

This article was in the New York Times last week.

The embattled music industry disclosed aggressive plans Wednesday for an unprecedented escalation in its fight against Internet piracy, threatening to sue hundreds of individual computer users who illegally share music files online.

The Recording Industry Association of America, citing significant sales declines, said it will begin Thursday to search Internet file-sharing networks to identify users who offer "substantial" collections of mp3 music files for downloading.

It expects to file at least several hundred lawsuits seeking financial damages within eight to 10 weeks.

Executives for the RIAA, the Washington-based lobbying group that represents major labels, would not say how many songs on a user's computer will qualify for a lawsuit. The new campaign comes just weeks after U.S. appeals court rulings requiring Internet providers to identify subscribers suspected of illegally sharing music and movie files.

The RIAA's president, Carey Sherman, said tens of millions of Internet users of popular file-sharing software after Thursday will expose themselves to "the real risk of having to face the music."

"It's stealing. It's both wrong and illegal," Sherman said. Alluding to the court decisions, Sherman said Internet users who believe they can hide behind an alias online were mistaken. "You are not anonymous," Sherman said. "We're going to begin taking names."

Country songwriter Hugh Prestwood, who has worked with Randy Travis, Tricia Yearwood and Jimmy Buffett, likened the effort to a roadside police officer on a busy highway.

"It doesn't take too many tickets to get everybody to obey the speed limit," Prestwood said.

Critics accused the RIAA of resorting to heavy-handed tactics likely to alienate millions of Internet file-sharers.

"This latest effort really indicates the recording industry has lost touch with reality completely," said Fred von Lohmann, a lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "Does anyone think more lawsuits are going to be the answer? Today they have declared war on the American consumer."

Sherman disputed that consumers, who are gradually turning to legitimate Web sites to buy music legally, will object to the industry's latest efforts against pirates.

"You have to look at exactly who are your customers," he said. "You could say the same thing about shoplifters _ are you worried about alienating them? All sorts of industries and retailers have come to the conclusion that they need to be able to protect their rights. We have come to the same conclusion."

Mike Godwin of Public Knowledge, a consumer group that has challenged broad crackdowns on file-sharing networks, said Wednesday's announcement was appropriate because it targeted users illegally sharing copyrighted files.

"I'm sure it's going to freak them out," Godwin said. "The free ride is over." He added: "I wouldn't be surprised if at least some people engaged in file-trading decide to resist and try to find ways to thwart the litigation strategy."

The entertainment industry has gradually escalated its fight against piracy. The RIAA has previously sued four college students it accused of making thousands of songs available for illegal downloading on campus networks. But Wednesday's announcement was the first effort to target users who offer music on broadly accessible, public networks.

The Motion Picture Association of America said it supported the efforts, but notably did not indicate it plans to file large numbers of civil lawsuits against Internet users who trade movies online.

MPAA Chief Jack Valenti said in a statement it was "our most sincere desire" to find technology solutions to protect digital copies of movies.

Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., who has proposed giving the entertainment industry new powers to disrupt downloads of pirated music and movies, said the RIAA's actions were overdue. "It's about time," Berman said in a statement. "For too long ... file-traffickers have robbed copyright creators with impunity."

The RIAA said its lawyers will file lawsuits initially against people with the largest collections of music files they can find online. U.S. copyright laws allow for damages of $750 to $150,000 for each song offered illegally on a person's computer, but Sherman said the RIAA will be open to settlement proposals from defendants.

"We have no hard and fast rule on how many files you have to be distributing ... to come within our radar screen," Sherman said. "We will go after the worst offenders first."

The RIAA declined to estimate how much it expects to spend on the lawsuits.

Personally i don't think this tactic is gonna work. Although i don't have a large collection i'm still going to use p2p file sharing. RIAA is just out to make money nothing else IMO.

If your concerned about RIAA click here

 

I have about 200 songs on my computer, but they arn't in a file to be shared. I think it's just stupid. I read an article that said (forget the name of the software) had between 3.4 and 4.4 million users on, good luck! I don't even think they could find out who I am I'm not registered or anything. I havn't boughten a CD in a long time. Most of the time it's because I was sick of spending 15 bucks and finding that I only like 2-3 songs on the album. The heck with that, I'll DL 15 songs I like and make a CD. I saw on TV maybe a year ago when all the Napster stuff was going on, that album sales were still rising. I would support them if the artists/recording companies were not so rich.

 

The thing I don't like about buying CD's is that there will be only one or two good song, the rest is fill with crap. But you still have to pay some inflated price for them.

I download the ones I like, but don't have a burner yet.

 

You don't have to be registered for RIAA to find you they use I.P. adresses to track users when they download. The software i have has a feature built in so it does'nt show how many files i have.

 

hell i just use kazaa i have over 1000 songs on my computer everyone in my family downloads them and even those movies in theatre you can download before they even ome out on dvd or vhs take long time though if you dont have any of that broadband crap

 

I use mIRC to get my stuff.......and I will continue to do so. Hell....those companies make enough money off of the cd's that they make for $1 and sell for $16.

 

I have Kazaa as well, it's great !

I never buy CD's, I just burn them on the laptop, and they sound great in the truck I must have burned well over 20 CD's lol
I have at least 200 songs burned to the laptop alone.
I still have the old Napster files on the older PC
Don't know how I could get along without downloading music.