music...poker
 

The Recording Industry of America sells buggy whips.

I have no problem with the Feds coming down on file sharers so long as they prosecute record company execs under Federal criminal law for price-fixing and other antitrust violations.

Death to all major labels. They're all 4080 to me. Major label execs screw artists and consumers and should have their cocaine, hookers, and convertibles taken away from them. I will not argue about this.

I know dreams of a tech utopia are more 1997 than 2003, but I'd much rather have AppleMusic in charge of delivering music to consumers than UMG and its cronies.

On the subject of poker, there are several poker sites online that allow users to play for play money instead of real money. You have to download software so I couldn't do it at the office on a WindowsXP machine without bribing the tech support people, but it wouldn't take much to arrange a weekend game of hold'em among FB denizens.

music...poker
 

E/O, notcasesensitive and I are in! Your play money is mine, all mine..bwahahahahahaha.

music...poker
 

That's all nice and theoretical and comfortable for thieves, but how much money do you send to the artists when you download?

Or, to the guys working in the disc factories?

Or, to the marketers who spent the money to get the song out there to the stations or clubs or . . .


(Edited to add: it sounds like "well, if they didn't want the car stolen, they shouldn't have left the keys right there!"

music...poker
 

Well, the RIAA is implying that the artists are the primary injured parties, mainly, I assume, because the typical file sharer doesn't really care much about the guy on the record company's payroll who brings the spritzer to the diva between tracks or the driver of the band bus during the record company sponsored tour. Or the indie promoters that are paid by the record companies to hawk songs to radio stations. But ohmigod, I'm hurting Justin! may be what it takes to get some kid who's never seen the point of buying CDs to pick up a sixteen dollar piece of crap CD, er piece of art.

The files that are downloaded the most are also the songs that are on the top of the charts. People are buying that music anyway. Are they buying it that much less than they would have if there were no file-sharing? I'm not sure, and I don't know if anyone is sure. I think many consumers would go ahead and get the song if it were free, but not if they had to pay for it.

I'm conflicted a bit over file-sharing, and my CD collection is 6000% larger than my MP3 collection, but I think that the RIAA is being a little disingenuous when it states that the primary injured party is the artist. Certainly the artist is injured to some extent, but not, I think, to the extent that the record companies say.

Links: http://www.marketplace.org/morning_report/moreinfo.html (article on PRI's Marketplace regarding artist owned labels and the way record deals are structured, I'm pretty sure that the link to the audio goes to the wrong file)

http://archive.salon.com/tech/featur...sto/index.html (paper by an owner of a record label and member of the board of the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences regarding file sharing, presented to the board of governors of the New York chapter of NARAS; note, I think that, not withstanding the 2s and 4s in the quotes, Prince's discussion on the fourth page regarding art and the commercialization of art is fascinating.)

music...poker...(and now movies)
 

People who download music online without permission of record companies are not thieves. The RIAA keeps making that argument as if saying it's so makes it so. De La Soul wasn't stealing from The Turtles when it put an uncleared sample on 3 Feet High and Rising. The Verve wasn't stealing from the Rolling Stones when it put an uncleared obscure string quartet transcription on "Bittersweet Symphony." Posdonus and Richard Ashcroft were never threatened with jail time.

Almost all of my mp3's are legal (downloaded from band websites) or quasi-legal (smashups or bootlegs) or led directly to the purchase of the actual CD from the artist. That's how the artist gets paid. I understand that if all music were downloaded without payment, no payment would go to the artist.
They're probably getting overtime pay for making all those blank CDs, as blank CD sales have surpassed all industry expectations. Those whose jobs are tied solely to the creation of music CDs should look for work because before we know it, most music will not be purchased by buying full-length CDs from a particular artist.

Fuck them. If everyone involved in marketing (and you can expand this to all countries and industries if you want, but that's another rant entirely) died tomorrow, the world would be a better place. So-called "independent" music promoters are helping Clear Channel kill radio right now. I have plenty of anger but no tears for them.

Many thanks to RT for doing the intellectual heavy lifting on the music copyright issue while I frittered away the evening watching 28 Days Later, which is not, as I initially thought, a sequel to the Sandra Bullock rehab movie, but instead, a pretty good horror movie by Danny Boyle. Saying that the picture is his take on zombie movies sounds kind of stupid, but the film isn't stupid. It's not the triumph that Shallow Grave was, and it won't get the acclaim that Trainspotting did, but it's worth seeing.

music...poker
 

Serendipity
 

Of course, by this measure, prostitution should be completely legal as it too is consensual sex.

Same with incest.

reality show quiz
 

What reality show should you be on?

http://www.emode.com/tests/realityshow/index.jsp

NCS, you're destined for Road Rules

You are a team player with a yearning for the open road. It's no wonder that Road Rules is the perfect reality show for you. Think of it as spring break with a chance to win money and prizes (and you won't even need to take your shirt off). Read more about your reality show...


I guess that confirms that my reality tv career is over before it even began. Unless they come up with Gen X Road Rules at some point...

BTW, I'm going to check out the poker suggestion.

music...poker...(and now movies)
 

These are two separate intellectual property issues.

First, downloading music available for sale without paying for it is stealing. You can argue that it is marketing, like a form of radio promotion, if that helps you feel better about it, but the bottom line is that you are stealing. If you want to rip cds to load onto your mp3 player or burn your own cds, buy the cd or buy the songs off of iTunes. Artists are paid a pittance for their performance on cds, but it's still money they rightfully deserve.

Second, using uncleared samples is also stealing. It is not treated criminally unless it is a wholesale theft, i.e., reproducing an entire cd for manufacture with no changes. (Those bootleg manufacturers go to jail and forfeit their businesses. The underground hip hop industry and regional music distributors have been dealing with increased federal investigations for the past two years.)

When artists use uncleared samples, they are forced to pay royalties for the samples they use and/or are forced to remove the track from later manufactured discs. Interestingly, it is considered a matter of pride for independent artists to finally receive the lawyer's demand letter about their uncleared samples.

The difference between you downloading a song and an artist using a sample of someone's music is that they are creating art, while you are stealing.

poker
 

I've played hold 'em on games.yahoo.com since our poker discussion. We could easily just set up a time and a table.

Karma
 

This story amused me:

Man Sells Fake Bronze, Gets Paid in Counterfeit

A Vietnamese man who used cow fat and paint to pass off a lump of iron as valuable black bronze found buyers -- but was paid $64,000 in counterfeit bills. A justice official said 12 people involved in both frauds were arrested and were undergoing trial in southern An Giang province.

Eight were accomplices of the accused metal fraudster, while three were involved in the alleged counterfeiting, the prosecutor said.

State-run Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reported that Huynh Van Gat confessed he had painted a one kg iron lump with cow fat and black paint and tried to pass it off as black bronze and sought to sell it for one billion dong ($64,683). Black bronze is used in making jewelry and ornamental objects like statues.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...etnam_fraud_dc

Could I be creating the art of stealing?

No? Ok Then.


Personally, I think that downloading music from the Internet if you do not own the EXACT song you are downloading already, is stealing. I know there are many arguments that it is not, I believe them to be nothing more than rationalizations. Of course reasonable minds can differ on this. But in the end, whether you figure Kazaa is responsible or not, Napster was responsible or not, it doesn't matter. Because the user that downloads a song knows that em is taking something em didn't pay for, period. Most people wouldn't walk into a store, take a cd, walk out without paying. Why is this different?

Oh I understand downloading music, I do it from time to time myself, sometimes for legitimate research purposes, but most often not. But I don't think we should delude ourselves. Does this make me a thief? Why yes, I think it does in fact. I don't lose any sleep over the handful of songs I have, but I don't pretend it is something else. I also speed too much. I don't lose sleep over that either.

I think however that RIAA is fighting a losing battle. I think they need to reconsider how they sell their music and what they charge for it, and until they do, the average every day person will keep downloading music. Add to that movies and software too. People just have a real problem paying 150 bucks for the newest version of Windows, or whatever it costs these days.

The companies need to wake up and accept the fact that people feel they are being overcharged, and until they stop feeling that way, many of them who are otherwise law abiding, respectful people, are going to take advantage of the ability to download music for free.

Attacking computers, suing individuals, all these things will do is make people more resentful and look for even more ways to download the music for free. Just to screw the companies that are screwing with them. We'll find ourselves in a technology arms race, and the industry simply cannot outlast everyone else.

music...poker
 

Veddy nice Jack, I like the interface better than most online poker places, and you can create your own table, which is nice. Even, ncs, you ought to download the software and get on board....let's coordinate a time sometime to play...it would be best if we had at least 8 players, but 4 handed would be interesting too.

Bon chance,

Flinty

reality show quiz
 

I'll see you on Road Rules.
I won't see you at the poker table. Anyone else intimidated by gambling? I like casinos, the people watching is great, but the idea of sitting down to play a game for money frightens me. Money-wise I'm very conservative.

music...poker
 

Sorry, y'all, but that mac-hating game is not compatible with my system.

So, have fun without me.

Well, if you beleive that all property is theft, then I'll agree; otherwise...
 

So, e/o, having accepted the RIAA's reasoned and unbiased analysis as persuasive, would you then agree with the following statement?

Jamie Kellner, chairman and CEO of Turner Broadcasting, which encompasses everything from CNN to TNT and is a part of AOL Time Warner, was asked in an interview why PVRs were bad for his industry. He responded that it's "because of the ad skips ... It's theft. Your contract with the network when you get the show is you're going to watch the spots. Otherwise you couldn't get the show on an ad-supported basis. Any time you skip a commercial ... you're actually stealing the programming."

Link to the full Salon article.

Why is TiVOing "Friends" and skipping the commercials distinguishable from walking into BestBuy and stealing a "Friends" DVD? How soon until Mr. Kellner proclaims that there is no difference?

Confidential to Anne Elk: the truepoker site has a "play money" option. I wasn't planning on playing for real money.

Your point is well taken Jack, it is illegal because of the present state of the law. The law could easily be changed. Not everything that is illegal should be so. Case in point just last Friday after all.

However, no one signed a contract or agreed that they have to watch commercials when they watch tv. I don't know about you, I normally change the channel or leave the room. Does that mean I am breaking the law? To my knowledge there is no such law that says so. However there are laws about copyright violation, and also, about walking into a store and stealing a cd.

A lot of laws haven't caught up to technology and copyright is a huge problem area.

I think that the laws need to be changed and/or made more clear in the file trading area and, as I already suggested, that the companies need to embrace this situation somehow, instead of alienating more and more potential customers.



And on a sad note, Katherine Hepburn has died.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Movi...bit/index.html

last Friday was doing away with laws that shouldn't be. copyright law is tougher and really hasn't caught up to the internet at all. on the other hand maybe last friday was just catching up with the times.
"skipping commercials" as theft is simply a desperate cry from a tv exec who revenues are drying up. fuck him.*
file sharing is copyright theft- ain't no question. i work in an IP boutique and for awhile we were afraid about being a test defendant for Napster use. Plaintiffs in copyright cases often pick out an IP firm as an example. but it is a type of copyright violation which can't be effectively policed. say each of us infringed a patent each day- plaintiff couldn't come after us- too expensive. its silly to talk of zapping/destroying peoples computers etc. the record industry has to realize that it is inevitable that files will be shared. we used to tape each other's albums- the record industry survived. the people file sharing aren't costing them sales, to the contrary (point made previously- this is already too long). but independant bands you shouldn't cheat- don't burn an Avoid One Thing CD- buy it, okay?
*BofL trivia in early eighties I wrote Dave Letterman a viewer mail letter saying Ivideotaped him each night and watched the next day and fast forwarded throught the commercials and the commercials became subliminal advertising and I was walking around with a Big Mac jones all day. He didn't read it, but it sounds like I was cheating the networks.

poker sites
 

Tried out True Poker tonight. Was fun. But we need e/o in for any FB tournament, so tomorrow I will be trying out yahoo. Missed SATC. If we have a FB game, my SO will join from another computer (have I mentioned we are hooked?).

another IP issue-calling mr penske
 

from the other board, Penske I know this isn't what you meant by metrosexual
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstrac...AF0894DB404482

there is a potential Trademark/dillution claim here. you need to act quickly or your description wil be coopted NTTAWWT.

Well, if you beleive that all property is theft, then I'll agree; otherwise...
 

Jamie Kellner's handlers should keep him away from the press, because if he thinks that either (a) he's right as a matter of copyright law or (b) this argument will resonate with anyone other than his mom, his assistant, and flaks within the industry, then he's a drooling idiot.

On the merits, though, e/o's articulation of copyright (muddled as copyright is these days) does not make her an RIAA apologist. Copyright is struggling to keep up with technological advances, and the technology is enabling consumers to gleefully stick it to an industry that deserves to get shafted for decades of doing it to artists and consumers. Watching it get sorted out in the coming years will be fun, so long as we're not among the individuals that RIAA chooses to sue for being prolific downloaders from Kazaa, Firewire, etc.

But in the meantime, we shouldn't assume that downloading and watching a free copy of The Hulk is permissible under copyright law simply because we can do so.

for love or money II
 

reality blurred -

A week after the conclusion of the first For Love or Money season on July 7, NBC will debut a second season, this time featuring a woman being courted by a group of men. The format for the already-taped show will be the same. However, NBC says there will be "yet another twist[:] the lovely lady that they are all vying for now has her own motivation to earn the gentleman’s admiration -- prompting viewers to question the intentions of everyone involved."

reality show quiz
 

Also road rules. I guess bc I said I like road trips?

Well, if you beleive that all property is theft, then I'll agree; otherwise...
 

So, all these years I've been waiting until the commercials to go to the bathroom, I've been stealing? I'd better move to England, where I'm only in for 35 years and £5000.

Well, if you beleive that all property is theft, then I'll agree; otherwise...
 

I have never understood the "I'm not stealing, I'm sampling" argument. I have a gigantic MP3 collection (and will probably be on the prolific downloaders list the RIAA goes after), and I freely admit that it is stealing. I don't sample a song, realize I like it and then run off to my local music store to purchase the CD. I download the song, purchase a new MP3 jukebox (see prior post on Nomad Zen v. iPod), load the music into the sucker and workout harder at the gym.

I guess the main question is whether I would have bought the CD if the free MP3 were not available. I think 95% of the time, the answer is no. CDs are too expensive when all I really want is the one or two songs on the album that are actually good. But that 5% of the time is definitely what is eating into music sales. And, I don't see how people deny that. (To me, it's like denying that abortion isn't killing a child--I am pro-choice, BTW.) I honestly don't think I have bought a single CD since I became a serious music thief.

Now that the risk of getting caught is higher and the cost of downloading legally is lower (thanks Apple), I will honestly consider paying what I think is probably a reasonable price to stay out of trouble. But, the Napsters of the world (and freeloaders like me) are what are forcing this paradigm shift, so we should all be thankful for that.

Zak (pro-stealing, pro-infanticide, happy I could do my patriotic duty)

Edited to add missing word...

reality show quiz
 

I said I hated road trips, and I too will be on the road rules bus with you and NCS.

What a nightmare of a trip THAT would be I don't mind saying. Where's your purse? You don't have a purse? What's wrong with you? How about a burrito?

for love or money II
 

Yeah...cause we don't do that already.

reality show quiz
 

ThrashersFan, you're destined for American Idol

Stars aren't born they're created — just ask the Monkees. All you need is the big break and American Idol is it. Whether it was an impromptu serenade in the school cafeteria or the business presentation-turned-standup routine, you've always been a performer at heart.


Fuck them, that is so not me. I am a brainiac who would rather be shot in the head than speak in front of people. American Idol? sheesh.

Edited to say that I think I now understand this a bit more. Everyone else got chosen for Road Rules and I got AI because I don't play well with others. If that is why the quizmaster chose AI for me I will have to retract my statement above (not apologize though, still holding onto that in case there is a God) and say that this is right the fuck on target.

reality show quiz
 

At least we know it is possible for someone to get something other than Road Rules. I was beginning to feel like a schill for Mtv.

reality show quiz
 

You still are--I got Road Rules too, which is total crap, as I am quite risk-averse when it comes to death-defying stunts and the idea of doing one of those idiotic bungee-jumping events to win a lousy couple hundred bucks would never even occur to me.

reality show quiz
 

I liked road trips, but I'll be on the other team in Road Rules vs. Real World. Apparently I don't like eating a plate of mealy worms enough to go outside.

reality show quiz
 

It's not my bag either. I have plenty of other ways to waste my money. Poker with friends is another matter, but I've never been in a casino where I haven't wanted to leave in 5 minutes (or less).

Metrosexual
 

Chicago Tribune metrosexual article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...,4182794.story

Registration required (free)

another IP issue-calling mr penske
 

In a case of coincidental irony, only 3 days before that article came out I was lounging at the day spa getting a paraffin wax pedicure. I'm wearing Urban DEcay Bruise these days.

Life imitating art imitating life. imitating art. and so on. and so on.

Penske

Well, if you beleive that all property is theft, then I'll agree; otherwise...
 

Jamie Kellner is an idiot. I dealt with him once back when he was the president of the WB, and he was making stupid comments right and left back then too. How he got to be the president of anything is a mystery to me.

reality show quiz
 

See, this is the weird thing. I hate gambling with money. When I was last in a casino (in the Bahamas), we played with exactly five dollars until we lost it. It took about 45 minutes, then we were back in our place watching the ugly storm off the coast.

But, there is something about this Hold 'Em game on which I have gotten hooked, thanks to the travel channel and NCS.

Well, if you beleive that all property is theft, then I'll agree; otherwise...
 

The proper inquiry is, who did he have to blow, and how often, to become president of a Net?

reality show quiz
 

I was fascinated by the final of the world poker tour, which was replayed this weekend (remarkable final hand). But it's like reality shows -- it's a lot more fun watching other people screw up.

Query about the WPT: How boring is it for the studio audience? On TV, we get to see the hole cards, but surely the audience can't see those, lest they gasp when a pair of aces comes out (or whatever). Seeing only the flop (if they can see that), surely doesn't make for compelling viewing.

reality show quiz
 

Apparently the quiz does take into account other reality shows, though I am at a complete loss to explain this result:

spookyfish, you're destined for Fear Factor

"What a wuss, I could totally do that." Of course you could, that's why your reality show is Fear Factor.

You're the fearless type — always the one jumping off the highest rock, riding the biggest wave, taking the biggest dare. You are fiercely competitive, most likely to turn a nice dinner into an eating contest. Sure it scares your friends when you play chicken on a two-lane highway, but it's good training for your reality show debut.

The scoring was obviously designed by contrarians. Either that, or I'm just in complete denial.

sf

reality show quiz
 

That final hand was remarkable. I also couldn't believe the risk-taking by the Russian guy. That couldn't have been by the book...

And, btw, books have been ordered... Soon I'll be able to quit my day job and head out on the World Poker Tour. Guess I'll need some help with a nickname.