go GeekyPenguin!!!!

oh man...i hope they don't come after my mixed metallica tapes from the early 90s.



http://www.smilies-world.de/Smilies/...1/smily045.gif

Exacly! :D

then everyone will catch on, and there will be no more music to download! :o :p ;)

Watch the geeks turn around and start their little revenge on the music industry by repeated denial of service attacks on their servers. Or come up with here-you-see-it-now-you-don't accounts that eliminate all traces of you once you've done your deed of dowloading music. Two can play at that game... watch it get uglier and nastier.

Burning the CD with copyrighted music for your own use is permissible, even if you pay a small royalty for its use. But making it publicly available for downloading (without payment of royalties or licensing in kind) is the big thing that has the RIAA's panties in a wad.

This is such sh*t. Even if the RIAA is sucessful in shutting down file sharing programs, it's just not practical to bring thousands or millions of people into court. It's a bully tactic to scare people. Sue them into submission.

Personally, if filesharing is shut down, I will find other ways to get free music.

Ooooooh, guess I'd better download like crazy in the next few weeks, huh? ;)

Before you guys get all hysterical, listen to the few of us who are telling you you're NOT going to jail.

Think about it- the avg. kid in college has about 200-250 files on their computer....it would be physically and financially impossible to go after every person w/that amount of music on their pc.

There are, however, people who are paid to have libraries of thousands of files on their computer. They make cds by order, thus profiting off of free music. Some college kids have exhorbitant amts. of files- they'll probably get in trouble too.

Just be smart. If you have more than like 100, delete the ones you've already burned. Don't turn on Kazaa unless you want to download something. Move your downloaded files into another folder not connected to Kazaa. Even though you opted out of sharing files, they are still on your computer and you could share them if you wanted.

/advice

On another note, I can kind of see where they're coming from. Obviously I don't think Madonna and Blink 182 need another cent to be happy, but it's the RIAA's property. Everyone in the industry works hard to put out cds that you enjoy- whether you buy it or not, you're listening to a track someone spent days, if not months, putting together. From the artwork in the cd to the bass to the gospel choir doing backup that you can barely hear, all of those people deserve royalties for their work. Do I think anyone should go to jail over sharing 200 files??? Of course not. But until people are prosectued no one's going to stop.

I'm not going to lie, I do download music when its live or techno tracks- only tracks which can't be gotten off a cd. I don't want the rich to get richer, but what's fair is fair.

Dunno about being sued, but it is awfully funny that my computer has been acting strange since I started DLing music. It could be something like too much bandwith. But either way-DLing music=baaaaaad. :(

I downloaded, but I did not inhale...I mean, share.

I haven't bought a cd in over a year, primarily because all the music sounds the same these days anyway. It's hard to find more than 2 or 3 songs on one cd that don't suck. And I agree that these people don't need more money. Unless they're performing heart surgery or brain transplants, they don't need a single penny from me. Besides, how hard is it to sample every 80s or early 90s song ever made, make up a couple of lines that rhyme, throw your name on it, and call it music??? Gimme a break....:rolleyes:

The one thing I've seen every news report omitt is the fact that if you move your music to a new folder they can only tell the date it was downloaded/modified. They can't tell whether it's been shared, if you downloaded it or ripped it from a CD. I've ripped plenty of CD's the record industry couldn't tell what I had ripped and what I haven't. Just cause I don't have the whole CD on my computer doesn't mean I didn't rip just one song off of it. Like has been said before, they're just trying to scare people into not downloading. Think about how many bands have music on their websites for download, I can't remember what band did it, but someone put out their whole CD on the net before it was released in stores cause the label was being unreasonable with them.

Also you have bands out there such as O.A.R.(Of.A.Revolution) who have openly said they've become big and sold CDs because of file sharing. If it wasn't for people hearing one song from a friend and downloading it and 3 or 4 other songs they wouldn't be making their big break-out on to the scene. It's amazing how the music industry can blow this out of proportion. I heard Elton John once comparing modern file sharing to making mixed tapes of the 80's. It helps more than it hurts.

AMEN!

So true - stars can become bigger much quicker due to file-sharing. Oh please, punish me for helping you.