And One Last Shocking News Item
 

Were you one of my law school classmates? The one's who assumed every argument I made represented my personal views on the matter?:rolleyes:

Hint: I used the third person for a reason.

House Hunting
 

I think it depends on where you are and the fabric of which the suit is made. I think a white linen suit, worn with a white shirt and no tie would be kind of cool for daytime in South Beach, Puerto Rico or Hawaii. But the suit in that picture looks way too heavy. And the shirt puts it well over the international male threshhold.

TM

And One Last Shocking News Item
 

I think that a lot of people may not realize the extent of the problem for the music labels. The radio stations are giving the music away for free, anyways, so what's the big deal? Hell, I used to (badly) record music off the radio all the time when I was a kid. No one sued me for that, even if I rerecorded the (bad quality, cut off in the front with the DJ talking over it) song and gave it to my friends. I used to tape CDs all the time and give the tapes to family members. I'd spend hours making mixed tapes and trading them with friends. What's the big deal?

I think that people think back to their own actions with music, and don't really think what they did was something that would generate a law suit. They see the trading of music on-line as the next logical step to something that's been going on for years. The fact that technology makes it that much easier to trade music with a huge number of people isn't as relevant to the general public. Especially if they're getting free stuff that the radio stations would have given away anyway.

And One Last Shocking News Item
 

So you'll forgive the non-paying client who says "well, I know I paid you $20k last month, but I don't think I've gotten that much value from the work, so keep working for free"?

Personally, I haven't paid more for a CD than I thought it was worth to me at the time. Nor have I purchased anything else that wasn't worth it to me at the time. I'm the guy all economists assume everyone is like, apparently.

House Hunting
 

I think the guy who pisses and moans about people quoting entire posts when they are responding only to portions should learn how to edit a photo out of a post.

Or get NFH's grandma to do it. She's not getting laid, so she should have the time.

House Hunting
 

Pssst... this is the url for the suit that atticus linked http://www.internationalmale.com/Han...ges/i893ux.jpg

And One Last Shocking News Item
 

One word: Government ser . . . .

OK, two words: Government Services.

I'm back and I'm Timmy
 

The adjectival form of "copyright" is not "copywritten."

tm

And One Last Shocking News Item
 

I hope every person aspires to be like Horton. 100%. And you want to get rid of that apostrophe and s in "one's", too, BTW. :D

The real issue on the RIAA thing is the statutory damages clause. Look, downloading a little music may technically be criminal, but that's not RIAA's business and the DA gets to use prosecutorial discretion to deal with it appropriately. What RIAA is doing is using the statutory damages provision designed to protect against commercial infringement against a bunch of folks who are, without making a dime, sharing music that RIAA's backers also let go out over the public airwaves, encourage us all to sing, hum or otherwise massacre, and generally try to inundate us with. And now RIAA wants them all to pay dearly.

OK, I downloaded "Billy, Don't Be a Hero". Here's the buck.

:band:

FB Music Club
 

The consensus is that "Mass Romantic" has the edge over "Electric Version." The songs "Mass Romantic" and "Letter to an Occupant" are on "Mass Romantic" and are two of the best singles of the past 5 years. I think "Electric Version" is a more cohesive album, and it has more Neko Case backing vocals in the mix.

Buy "Mass Romantic" today. Get "Electric Version" next week.

There was another record store closing up in the Bay Area when I visited my family. I'll post the details after my credit card cools down.

And One Last Shocking News Item
 

I live in DC, man, I don't get anything when I pay my taxes. That's not a purchase. And I'm definitely not a customer.

FB Music Club
 

It's just you, socky.

And One Last Shocking News Item
 

You're completely rational in every decision you make?

God that sounds boring.

And of course that's the flaw in much of economic theory. That it's based on rational decision making. The human race is FREQUENTLY irrational. I know I am at times. Especially when I'm drunk.

Are there any real world studies on the accuracy of the prisoner's dilemma?

House Hunting
 

TM, as quoted by Sidd: "Some white things are cool."

How self-hating is that? TM, babe, you need to get into therapy pronto.

Anyway, the shirt in that picture looked super-silky. It made me want to run my hands all over The International Male while we shared a Skillet Sensations (TM) dessert.

But alas, The International Male had an unfortunate incident with his Low-Fat Roma Chicken Rollup last time he was at our favorite classy restaurant. Oxygen to his brain was cut off for so long that he now has the mental capacity of a 17-month-old baby. He is with us no more.

Whoa, wait, maybe he is logging in as Self-Employed Fluffy.

(Note: I really hope he didn't post while I was typing this and researching Applebees menu.)

And One Last Shocking News Item
 

You know, when Paigow talks about going "down on the farm" it's not the same as the old saying about being kept down on the farm. Just thought you should know.

I'm back and I'm Timmy
 

Don't keep us in suspense, woman! What is it? You are such a tease.

And One Last Shocking News Item
 

Burger, my man, my theory is pretty damn simple.

By stealing music off the net, we are working a sort of chemotherapy on a dying industry. Music is a bloated sow of a business, with legions of go-between men suckling at the teat of the artists, consumers and manufacturers. Too many mouths to feed create shitty product aimed at maximum quick cash.

By squeezing the industry and pushing out many of the extra mouths, you create a leaner business which better benfits the consumer. Shit, look at how the chains are already beginning to lower the prices of many new cds to compete.

The stealing is justified because the industry/consumer relationship was inequitably tilted horrendously in favor of the industry. The only way to lower the prices and remedy the inequity was something as drastic as file sharing. When Jack Valenti and the folks at the labels cry that they're being put out of business, they are incorrect. They're putting themselves out of business by fucking the consumer dry. Just because people will continually buy what you sell does not mean you can forever inflate prices while simultaneously degraded product quality. The industry is getting exactly what it deserves.

FB Music Club
 

I saw the video for "Stacy's Mom" while channel surfing this weekend. They got Rachel Hunter to play the MILF. This might be the greatest use of a hot woman in a video since Billy Idol's "Cradle of Love" video. (Whatever happened to that girl/woman?)

And One Last Shocking News Item
 

No, but I don't feel ripped off by music companies. I've not bought lots of albums because I didn't think they were worth it. Are there some I wish I didn't buy? Sure, but I don't feel ripped off; just disappointed. Like anyone, I wish music was cheaper. I wish houses and Mercedes were cheaper too.

And One Last Shocking News Item
 

Please join SD and me for a round of "We shall overcome...":guitar:

Savvy Consumer
 

How much does an iced coffee go for these days at Starbucks?

And One Last Shocking News Item
 

Sounds like you want the penalty for a transgression (any transgression, not just the music stuff) to be a market-set "price" for engaging in the prohibited behavior, so you can perform that behavior at will, like a mutually agreeable transaction. Doesn't work that way, though. There is a certain amount of punitiveness and deterence built into any penalty - i.e., it has to cost more to get caught than the missed opportunity cost of NOT engaging in the behavior - for a penalty to work. Plus, you need to factor in the extremely small chance of being caught, and the high costs involved in that catching.

Price is set by agreement, and, if you attempt to take someone else's shit without that agreement, you live with the declared price when caught.

And no one can ever rip you off with high prices if you honor the idea that, without agreement, you don't take OP'sS.

suing people
 

Did anyone else miss the "having sex with a client is a no-no" in law school?" Don't public defenders know that the mirrors are two-way?

Former King County public defender Theresa Olson has agreed to give up practicing law for a year for having sex with her client in a high-profile triple-murder case last summer in the King County Jail.
The disciplinary board of the state Bar Association voted 9-1 Friday to accept the settlement, which includes Olson seeking a psychological evaluation and completing a year of professional probation when she returns to the courtroom.

The Bar Association has sent the agreement to the state Supreme Court to approve, but it would be unusual for the court to reject such a settlement, said Judy Berrett, a spokesman for the association.

"She's an excellent lawyer and she's hoping to get this behind her and move on and get back to practicing law," said David Allen, Olson's attorney.

Olson, 44, was suspended from her job at The Defender Association, the county's largest public-defense firm, last August after jail guards reported that they saw her having sex with Sebastian Burns, 27, in an interview room at the jail. She was Burns' lead counsel in his trial in the 1994 slayings of Tariq and Sultana Rafay and their daughter, Basma, in their Bellevue home.

Olson was promptly removed from the case, and the county filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against her and The Defender Association seeking repayment for the costs of finding a new lawyer for Burns and subsequent delays in his trial.


Attorney Robert Boruchowitz, director of The Defender Association, said, Olson resigned her job at the agency a few months ago, ending her unpaid suspension. "Theresa Olson is a fine attorney, and we appreciate the 16 years of dedicated representation she gave to our office and our clients," he said.

In the settlement, Olson agreed that she had "sexual contact" with Burns, but not sexual intercourse, her attorney said. But she agreed with the rest of the professional-ethics allegations.

In deciding whether a suspension was appropriate, instead of disbarrment, the association said that Olson is an experienced lawyer who should have known better than selfishly take advantage of a vulnerable person - since Burns was locked up and had no choice of lawyers.

On the other hand, the board said, Olson had not been disciplined before and has been cooperative and remorseful.

The board also pointed out that a similar recent case resulted in the same punishment: Three years ago, the state Supreme Court suspended attorney Lowell Halverson, a former Bar Associatoin president, for a year for having a sexual relationship with a client he represented in a divorce case.

For the past year, Olson has been working on civil-law cases, but wants to return to criminal-defense work after her suspension is over, Allen said. It hasn't been decided what firm she might work for. Allen didn't say what Olson would do for the year she cannot practice law.

sex with client is bad

And One Last Shocking News Item
 

You clearly haven't seen Karl Hungus. ;)

Domestic nihilists pale in comparison to their european counterparts.

Donny: Are these the Nazis, Walter?
Walter Sobchak: No, Donny, these men are nihilists. There's nothing to be afraid of.

And One Last Shocking News Item
 

Yes, and free downloading is helping them stay in business.

I'm not trying to defend the current structure of the music industry. There's lots of inefficiency, bullshit middlemen, and exploited artists. There's plenty of collusion that jacks up prices. And there's lots of shitty music.

Well there's solutions to all of those that don't involve stealing:

1) Don't buy shitty music. An efficient industry isn't necessarily going to turn out good music at a higher rate than the current one. What will turn out good music is money flowing into artists that people like to listen to. You have to give them a way to sell there music so they can eat. Even Mozart got paid.

2) Attack the anticompetitive practices, which has been done (incidentally, the FTC issued a decision on some brazen price fixing of three tenors cds today).

3) Provide a more efficient distribution mechanism. Apple's music store, and buymusic and all of the other online sellers will revolutionize the way music is created, distributed, and sold. It has the potential to eliminate all the A&R guys, all the bullshit and whatnot. Any indy artist records some tracks, gets apple to allow previews, and sell it.

Downloading illegally advances none of this.

Savvy Consumer
 

More than i'm willing to pay for it.

Just cuz I have nothing to add to the music downloading conversation
 

A chicken and an egg are lying in bed. The chicken is leaning against the headboard smoking a cigarette, with a satisfied smile on it's face.

The egg, looking a bit pissed off, grabs the sheet, rolls over, and says "Well, I guess we finally answered THAT question.

:D

The problem is that certain music companies are ripping you off and ripping off their artists, both by feeding you crappy music, and doing what Steve Albini can explain better. I could care less if Madonna loses money every day or if someone ripped a studio version of Hail To The Thief.

Just cuz I have nothing to add to the music downloading conversation
 

Then, how about this?

You can bug people with this
Edited to add that it's music. By the original Mariah Carey -- Minnie Ripperton - only it's not Minnie Ripperton (I don't think).

And One Last Shocking News Item
 

I've never chimed in on a substantive discussion before (unless you consider 'what's the best reality tv show of all time' discussion substative), so please cut me some slack. But . . .

SD, your argument appears to be that the record industry is inefficient. And yet, here's an industry in which barriers to entry are substantial, but not obviously more so than in many other consumer-based industries -- food products, for example. If there really was a way to distribute CDs better and cheaper, eliminating the middle man, someone would have started such a distributor by now, and artists would flock to that label in order to get a bigger share of the pie. The fact that nobody has done so cannot purely be explained by the "they're a greedy oligopoly" argument.

Perhaps the level of e-commerce will evolve to the point that artists can "directly" release their music to the public in a profitable way, thus cutting out all the levels of distribution. But record companies also play a huge role in funding and promoting records, and it's not clear who will fill that void under this new paradigm.

I really don't see how consumers who steal music (or movies or TV shows or books) electronically are doing anything at this point other than ensuring that 1) record distributors and sellers make less money; and 2) marginal artists' records don't get released (because for those artists, the analysis as to whether it makes economic sense for the distributor to develop and release their album tips from yay to nay).

Str8 Up Apologist for da man (NB: however, that my entertainment conglomerate employer does not (yet) have a music division)

FB Music Club
 

I will readily agree that the chick in "Cradle of Love" was very tasty indeed. However, the intervening use of Liv Tyler and Alicia Silverstone in "Crazy" would give it a run for its money.* And the coeds in their underwear in that Jimmy Eat World vid were nice, too, and almost made the song tolerable.

I'll have to LaunchCast "Stacy's Mom" at home.

*Defenders of ZZ Top trashy makeup girls and Adam Ant/Brian Ferry glammy makeup girls might offer their own views. De gustibus etc.

I'm back and I'm Timmy
 

Usually "copyrighted."

NB: Jack Valenti is the president of the MPAA, not the RIAA.

tm

She's Timmy as hell and she's not going to take it anymore!
 

Look sharp, fellows --- she's going for the Timmy trifecta!

And One Last Shocking News Item
 

Okay, but that'll cost ya'.

House Hunting
 

You don't get another shaved cat until you explain what happened to the last one.

CDF (poor Mr. Chuckles...I want my hibachi back, Gattigap.)

FB Music Club
 

The since takes care of ZZ Top, Adam Ant, and Brian Ferry. Rachel Hunter trumps the emo-coeds, even before you factor in that for every girl in her underwear there was a guy in his skivvies, NTTAWTT. Liv Tyler is gorgeous, but I have a problem with putting your formerly-estranged daughter in a series of videos with a faux-lesbian motif. It's just squicky.

If we're talking all-time, rock chick videos, the discussion has to begin with "Hot for Teacher' by Van Halen. After all, it was so scandalous as to arouse the ire of Tipper Gore.

Feel free to begin "Miss Chemistry" vs. "Phys. Ed." debate now.

The Music Man
 

As a person who's cd-purchasing and concert-going activities are pretty much confined to those artists who never get played on the radio (Clear Channel -- not college radio), I have to wonder what you mean by "marginal?"

I buy an average of 5 cds a month, often directly from small labels, that often are very closely associated with the artist. So, it is possible to buy music that is released without a reliance on those music companies that "play a huge role in funding and promoting records."

For instance, a couple of weeks ago I purchased the new Wrens cd -- a limited pre-release that had been silk-screened and labeled by hand by the band itself, released on Absolutely Kosher Reccords. This band is certainly not "marginal" by any measure -- or are they crappy b/c they don't get radio or MTV exposure?

Of course, that requires that people actually look for good music, instead of buying what is pushed by the Sony-Clear Channel-Tower Records-MTV -etc. conglomerate of shit. I really doubt that will happen.

The Music Man
 

See, I think that will happen more as more bands get access to websites that let them distribute to the public, in as nearly a direct way as possible. But only if people are actually willing to pay for what they play. Otherwise, why bother?

suing people
 

Well I know in NY, these kind of public defenders are paid squat.

They are often far left wing nitwits, i.e. the bottom of the barrel of legal intellects from 6th tier schools and don't speak real good english. The state bolsters its conviction record on the backs of these incompetent PDs. Not to mention that the turnover is high, because most eventually find that they can make $20-$30 more an hour at the local strip club. The only PDs who stay with it for so little pay and the chance to work with the dregs of society are the true believing socialists, the fully incompetent with no initiative or those, like the woman in the story, who have a sexual fetish for felons but don’t want to have to go to jail themselves to experience prison love.

Interestingly, this report leaves some gaping holes. Is her denial that she and the murderer had intercourse but an admission of “sexual contact” a de facto confession that oral sex occurred? Or anal? Either way, the Clinton legacy lives on in her attempts to skirt responsibility for her actions.

On the plus side, if I was an about-to-be-convicted killer, and the PD offered me her punani, I would have been most grateful and accepting, but perhaps a bit more discrete.

The Music Man
 

I'm using "marginal" in the economic sense of the word. Some bands are screwed by the margin in the sense that they just miss getting signed; if the market was bigger for their music, they'd get signed. For others, the "margin" affects how much money record companies are willing to spend to promote their album. If there was better enforcement of copyright laws, bands which get a $100,000 promotional budget for their album would instead get $125,000. The dollar not spent is a dollar at the margin. The band not signed is the artist at the margin.

Maybe the Wrens would get a distribution deal if not for online piracy. Or maybe they are not sell-able enough that the difference wouldn't vault them into that next level (it goes without saying that I am agnostic as to the quality of their, or anyone else's music, for the sake of this argument. This has nothing to do with the question of whether it's good for the sake of the art to have one's music distributed by a distributor, large or small).

That said, if there were more consumers like you, the music scene would be a lot more interesting.