OT: Die music fans, die!

[Baron Munchausen]

Incredibly, this was also the position of the ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) when radio became a viable commercial medium. They tried to prevent anyone using the new technology because you could listen to their music without paying the money up front like you had to with sheet music. Horrors! Funny how the new system they worked out with broadcast fees has made so many 'artists' into muli-mega-millionares over the last several decades since the creation of radio. And this despite the corporations still skimming most of the cash for themselves. Yep, that evil new technology called 'radio' is gonna ruin the music industry. But not the thieving corporations, of course...

In practice, ASCAP is simply an earlier version of the RIAA, being much more concerned for itself than for the artists it supposedly 'protects'... so this latest stupid lawyer trick from the RIAA companies is not a new phenomenon.

http://www.woodpecker.com/writing/es...-politics.html

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

And then the media raises all hell when somebody figures out Microsoft has a rather large share of the market..... Monopoly prevention my a**, these pocket-filling bastards are more monopolistically-minded than the Mafia! It's about time somebody gathered all available info on these A-holes and e-mailed it to as many major TV and radio stations as possible, and preferably several law firms as well. It's about time the general public got to know what these guys are up to, so we can finally put an end to their practices and enter into an era of (relatively) unbridled creativity. I mean it.

[Fyron]

Well this is an interesting twist...

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20051216-5786.html

[Baron Munchausen]

And now it resumes on another front:

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20051218-5797.html

Calling the ability to convert analog video content to a digital format a "significant technical weakness in content protection," H.R. 4569 would require all consumer electronics video devices manufactured more than 12 months after the DTCSA is passed to be able to detect and obey a "rights signaling system" that would be used to limit how content is viewed and used. That rights signaling system would consist of two DRM technologies, Video Encoded Invisible Light (VEIL) and Content Generation Management System�Analog (CGMS-A), which would be embedded in broadcasts and other analog video content.

Under the legislation, all devices sold in the US would fall under the auspices of the DTCSA: it would be illegal to "manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide or otherwise traffic" in such products. It's a dream-come-true for Hollywood, and in combination with a new broadcast flag legislation (not yet introduced) would strike a near-fatal blow to the long-established right of Fair Use.


In other words, it's just unfair that we can listen to the music or watch the video with devices that might record the output and give us control of reproducing it. This bill is an attempt to force all manufacturers to build DRM into even basic devices like standard TVs and VCRs to prevent unauthorized access to the media content we have bought.

Further discussion on Slashdot:
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?s...tid=219&tid=17

[Baron Munchausen]

And here's something funny (or not?) from the Slashdot discussion:

License to sit: http://wearcam.org/seatsale/

[Baron Munchausen]

it does!

RIAA Lawyer Bullies Witness into Perjury:
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?s...id=187&tid=141

Yep, they've got witnesses standing up in court and describing how the RIAA lawyer has threatened them to make them tell the story he wants in court, even if it isn't true:

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20051230-5871.html