If you download or share music online, STOP!!!!!!
 

I heard on the news this morning that in approximately 8-10 weeks, the recording industry is planning to start filing lawsuits against individual computer users that download and share substantial music collections online. They are going to the file-sharing companies (Kazaa, IMesh, etc..) and by law, the companies are supposed to give over the names of people who are doing the most sharing.

Here's the link to the article on cnn.com-

Recording Industry Suing Individual File-Sharers

Oh yeah...I forgot. There is no specific number of files that constitute substantial sharing....

I just don't buy it. They'd be suing half the planet.

I'm sure if you have 100-200 files on your computer that you won't show up on their "radar screen". I think they're going after those people who sit there and download music all day and have over 1000 files on their computer.

what if you just download music, but don't share with other people? :)

Question: what's the difference between having the files on your computer and having them on an iPod?

Also, how are they going to find these files? I for one keep my file-sharing program disconnected. Are they going to hack into every single person's computer? :rolleyes:

I don't know how they plan on doing this..

.. you know some super smart computer-programming guy or gal out there is just going to find another way around it! :D

I heard this story on the news last night was like: :eek: :confused:

Some people said the music industry is "waging war on its consumers" which I think is sooo true. Not everyone downloads music.. they are still making loads of cash on CD's (the Britney Spears empire.. Clay's CD *single*) and their profit margin on CDs is pretty big. Like someone mentioned in another thread, it probably only takes less than 10 cents to make a copy of a full CD with the little CD insert & everything. Greedy people I tell you! :p ;)

I never share. It slows down my download time.

And if they do this they would be suing half the planet. I don't see how this is going to fly.

Didn't Metallica try to sue people who were downloading there songs when Napster was around? That didn't happen. They were just blocked from downloading on that site, but you could even get around that. I did.

I think it was JAM who used the phrase "Jackpot Justice"!!!!

Seriously! These music people seem so greedy! Like they're not making a bazillion dollars a year already anyway!:p

This isn't new...they've been saying this for quite some time. This is, however, the first time they've set a time limit.

......
 

Ok, granted a lot of us download music that we may not buy the original cd. But I download music just to make a mix cd, a workout or party cd. I have bought the actual cd, but I just downloaded maybe one song off of it instead of burning the whole cd.

So thats another issue. People are making loads of money, and while yes I think its not right for you to download an entire cd if you aren't going to buy it, its going to happen. There's no way around that.

So are they going to do this by IP address? or are they going to send datamining cookies to everyone's computer?

There's lots of people downloading/sharing music online.. so something tells me this will back up all the courts and "real" cases won't be heard! :o

What I heard on NPR yesterday is that they can somehow check with ISP's to find out who is using sharing software. Some government official (Senator, I think) has suggested using software that will disable a users computer if he/she uses "illegal" sharing software.

Shouldn't they really be suing the companies that make CD burners?

In reality, downloading just to have the songs available on your computer is no different than listening to them on the radio. It's really the burning of CDs that makes it "stealing."

actually, I believe the music companies/artists get paid when their song is on the radio.... I used to work for a college radio station, and we had to keep track of who was played when and how many times.. I'm not sure how "real" radio stations do it though :)

All they will be able to check is what you are sharing.

They can't get into your folders if you are disconnected. I personally don't keep much music in my shared folder.

One senator did suggest giving you a program that would crash your hard drive if they "caught you" downloading. That would never work, because it would get bogged down in court right away. Think of it this way: If I rob the USBank down the street, that doesn't give them the right to come into my home and destroy my gun. They'd get countersued for this really quickly - one crime does not justify committing another.

I'm going to share more now that they've done this. I have bought 4 CDs in the last year - only for my very favorite bands or if it's an new CD at a reasonable (under $10) price. I have about 400 CDs that I paid for. I refuse to pay such obscene amonts for music anymore, and I don't think they are losing money to the point that it causes them hardship.

When Eminem and Madonna move back to Detroit and stop spending more on one car then I will on my whole education, I'll think about not sharing. blink-182 came out with this big no-sharing poster and at that point, I vowed to not buy another one of their CDs. They have sold out - I bought their first CD for $9.99. I'm not going to pay $20 for a shorter one that's what the record label told you kids wanted to hear.

</rant>

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.

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.