[TriLUG] (Slightly OT)New Bill in Congress would make file-swapping a felony

[Michael Thompson]

BTW:  To all who gave GnuPG advice; thanks!  It 'fixed' itself
after a reboot...  don't know which process needed to be restarted
but it works now...

<snip> Ok guys, flame me or not, I'm done. </snip>

Well, I was asked a question!  ;)  This time I'm done.  Really.

On Thu, 2003-07-17 at 14:43, Tanner Lovelace wrote:
> You seem to be under the misconception that most people here
> are advocating stealing music.  

Although I use words like 'you' or 'your' it does not mean I
specifically mean you personally, which after reading the last
message it would seem that way, although that was not my intention.
Sorry.  I *do* consider this a friendly conversation among all
of us.

You 'you's know who you are though...

> For the record we're not and 
> never have been.

Not all of 'you', I know...

I notice you haven't said anything about my example of the iTunes
> music store.  Could that be because you don't have an answer to
> it and that it so perfectly illustrates what I'm talking about? :-)

Concerning iTunes' level of success, I was taking your word for it
as I don't know anyone who uses it.  How does the iTunes service 
prevent its files from ending up on a P2P network?  Does iTunes use
MP3, OGG or some other format?  (just curious)  I would agree that 
an affordable "download only what you want" service is a good idea,
but that is for the recording industry to decide, the product does
belong to them.  Apparently iTunes is the first step in that 
direction (with the permission of the copyright holders, of course).
Whether or not the RIAA will decide that its the 'right' direction I 
believe will depend on how easy it is/will be to share these legal
files on the 'illegal' networks and how often they think it will 
happen.

On Thu, 2003-07-17 at 15:02, Ken Mink wrote: 
> Civil disobedience in the face of immoral and oppressive legislation is 
> what this country was founded on. .... Should blacks in the sixties just
> found other transportation rather than ride in the front of the bus. 

You are correct, however, I feel that civil liberties and fair taxation
are a different situation.  I would not classify downloading music as 
civil disobedience.  Its a way to obtain a (luxury) product without having
to pay the owners price.  Its more like looting when the users are just 
out for themselves.  I could always be wrong, but I've never met anyone
who downloaded music to make a statement...

> Our Congress is passing laws to protect the business practices of a
> small number of companies because the consumers are no longer satisfied
> with their business practices. 

Many consumers will never be happy with anyone's business practices as 
most businesses will charge for their services.  Pirates are not fighting
a noble cause against the RIAA, those who would stop buying CD's and going
to concerts in protest are the ones who should be heard, if they exist...

> I dearly hope that people turn away from RIAA artists and discover some
> of the wonderful music on the smaller labels. 

+1

And, I believe this should be the way to fight the RIAA...  It may be more
difficult to endure the hardship of a "non-commercialized" music collection,
but nobody ever said freedom was free...

> And the masses want Britney Spears

Me too, but this Slightly OT conversation is about music...  :-)

Just curious, anyone, what *should* the punishment be for piracy, if any?

--mwt
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