I have well over 5,000 mp3's on my computer and I'm not really worried to be honest. It would cost far too much money for these companies to even attempt to do such a thing. We are talking research, actual court costs and etc.

What can you do if you are worried?

Simple, Take your shared folder out, or when you download your music just move it to another folder such as "my music" in another directory. They won't be able to scan how many fiiles you'll have because they won't be shared for others to download.

Yeah but you guys are missing the point- you're fixating only on the recording artist. As I said before, the people that draw the album art get paid. The engineers and producers (who are not typically rich and are hurting b/c of the industry right now) get royalties. So do backup singers. It affects more than the millionaire who looks good and spends a couple weeks recording. The people who really put the cd together are the ones whose work is getting ripped off.

Did I not say that like 5 posts earlier??? lol j/k....you're killing me, B...

AGAIN - they brought this on themselves. They didn't need to mark their products up so much. When any company screws up, the people at the bottom get hurt. Eventually, they get pissed off enough that the top execs either make a change or get out.

Ah, my fault, I was too lazy to read all the posts....

Engineers and producers have no control over prices. I agree CD prices are insane. But singers, producers, artists....prices aren't up to them....I know you said the ppl at the bottom get hurt but that's the whole point....you're all like, f*** the grateful dead and whoever else....but whether you steal their music or not isn't going to hurt them, only the people at the bottom...so you're kinda defeating the purpose.

Wow!!!
 

Great responses! I wasn't expecting such a huge response number in a day! I guess this is something that affects all of us.

I have a question. What if most of the music we have on our systems are from our own personal collections to make mix cd's and whatnot? I also have things that I have found on the internet that have been out of print for years. Are people going to get sued for those also?

Keep the debate going!

Re: Wow!!!
 

IF and I say IF something like this even happens, they would have to prove that you downloaded something illegally, that would be too damn expensive and time consuming IMO.

Wouldn't that be exhaling?

Exactly. No matter how you cut it your stealing from someone. Copyright laws protect the common folk, too, not just the millionaires.

I only collect live shows. I don't buy brand new albums anymore cause it's too expensive. Plus, most of the albums only have 1 or 2 good songs, the rest craps.

Like Rudey said, I love ebay, buy those cds for $5.

On a site note, I herd DVD sales are actually making huge profits despite the same problem that they are facing with CDs. Is it because they offer better quality and product and a reasonable price?

Maybe the record comapnies should lower their cost to about $11.00.

If the artists/music industry wants to sue people for downloading music, can we counter sue the artists/record companies for making crappy records??

I'll start buying CD's when artists start making music that's good! I'm not going to drop $20 - $25 on CD when I only like one song, and most of the time I don't really like the song, but it might have a catchy beat or I heard it in a club and it's fun to dance to.
So until someone makes better music I'll keep my money thanks.

I want to be like the Oreo cookie lawyer, and start suing artists because they make bad music, then maybe I'll move to the TV networks who put crappy shows on the air? What do you think?:D

I think this idea is dumb for the simple fact that ON AVERAGE, people (like ME) download music because they can't afford CD's. So what the hayle do they think they will be suing me for? If I don't have money for the CD, what am I supposed to pay them with?? Idiots.

Lady Pi Phi at least you and I don't have to worry about the lawsuit thing :)

Canadian privacy and copyright laws are a little different up here; it is perfectly okay for you to share copyrighted material with firends for personal use. If you charge money or mass distribute it then you are in trouble.... so Kazaa is still okay because you can choose who is able to download of you, and you can boot them if you don't care for them; that one feature is just close enough to fall within the grey area of the law :)

I am not scared at all... plz. Who do they think they are, the Romanian Securitatai?

1) The'd never find me. I make sure of that.

2) I have nothing for them to take in a lawsuit shoudl they win.

3) Garnishment wouldnt be an effective tool. I plan on working for non-profits anyway. Those peeps make 0 cashola.

4) The RIAA HAS GOT TO UNDERSTAND that the way we enjoy music has changed forever. MUSIC is now esentially free. They need to make their cash from concerts and t-shirts, hats, etc.

The record industry isnt going to fold over this and I understand their wanting to protect their intrests, but its OVA. Game up. Ya gotta adapt. Just like AT&T or Sprint saw the long distance market drying up becasue of the cell phone boom, and got into that business. Adapt or die.

If I like an artist, you bet I'll buy the album, and support them at shows.

I also had a point about the non-musicians, engineers, etc. but I forgot it. lol.