Are We Jsut A Bunch Of Theives?

[TheFilePirater]

my post?

[Mobas]

As I once said before. Music can be recorded off radio receivers, tape decks, and even off of music cable channels. Getting it off the internet is just more convenient. Same goes for movies. Before I was able to get movies off the internet I never went to the theatre. We have 20+ premium channels, so we just waited til the movies came out on cable to watch them. Using the internet just allows me to get it a little sooner. I don't see it as stealing. What video stores do with renting movies... is more like stealing.

[ZeV]

I am incredebly cheap, so i don't buy almost any music. So if the music industry isn't making money off of me, so if they arn't making money from me anyway, why shouldn't i be intitled to listen to music for free?
Sure its stealling, but i wouldn't pay for it anyway.

[doctah]

Are we "jsut" a bunch of "theives"?

Yep.

...but I don't think this is as much as a money issue as most people think. This is a convenience issue. I listen to rap/rb music. Every now and then I may listen to some other genre. A couple of months ago I heard a song by some guy name Sublime. I didn't have the slightest clue who the guy was - but I found out I liked his style. I bought a CD - ripped it - and gave it away. Why did I buy it? Because it was used - it was cheap - I just happened to be in the mall when I thought about it.

...but even if CD's were all sub $5, I would still download music. The convenience is more important. I wouldn't download movies unless I could get them in DVD quality (picture and sound) and I could download it quickly. Mp3's are close enough to CD's and the size is tiny. Not to mention I can play them in my car, my portable mp3 player, and my computer is hooked up to my home theater surround system. Sure, I could do that w/ a CD - but it's not as convenient. My old 30gb harddrive can hold many mp3's. Even if I had a huge 300 disc CD changer, how long would it take to go from song 1 to song 400? Why would I go out and buy a CD for a few songs I like when I'm just going to rip them anyway?

I would love a subscription service...flat rate - unlimited downloads of standard mp3's (...and give use 4 different bitrates to choose from - 64 to 320) - any RIAA affiliated artist. I find it funny when people complain "the artist's are getting screwed". They're big boys and girls. They don't need you to fight their fights.

[RealitY]

Solutions

[MaceWindy]

Are we theives? Did we steal anything? Should we go to jail?

No.

The music industry has prevailed... I'm afraid it's hard to deny, but they have indeed trapped the common consumer.

We have stolen nothing. Yes, people break the law when downloading copyrighted files, but the law itself is a trap. We don't steal from anyone. It's logically impossible to "steal" something that the artists never had. What are we doing? Stealing products? Nope... the producers still have a copy, and are making money, so I don't think we stole that... Are we stealing their money? Nope... last time I checked it was technically possible to steal something, unless someone actually had it at somepoint.

Where I'm going with this is that the artists need to face it, they're not "losing money" (or should I say, not gaining what they feel is enough) because of piracy. It's because of the fact that the content that they're releasing simply won't sell. They rely far too much on their albums/movies/games to sell and make money, but when they don't, they're quick to blame piracy, and its effects... Do the industries really gain satisfaction by suing people individually one by one? Of course not.

As a p2p advocate, I still do go to movie theaters to see films I'm eager to see. I do buy DVDs that I want to watch. And I even occassionally buy albums that I want to listen to. Everything I've downloaded, I didn't want to buy, because I felt that the money involved in paying for it wasn't worth it.

Which way can you go? Either you get ripped off by wasting your money, and paying for their products, or you download it online, and get sued for all your money. It's all a corporate scheme that will change little by little over time.

That's why now there are the new online groups working at cheaper distribution of music... and many people are buying into it. It's a better method than actually buying albums, I'll admit, but once you really get deep enough in the rabbit hole, you'll see that p2p is unrivaled.

Mace

[Switeck]

Btw, Apple's Itunes gives music artists even LESS percent-wise (and absolute-wise) of a royalty cut. They screw the artists EVEN HARDER than the sale of overpriced CDs are!

[RoMoFo]

Are you buying a CD because you want to support a band or because you enjoy the music? If it's because you enjoy the music, then why not get it for free???

The RIAA has been a monopoly the entire 20th century, and now that they see their power slipping...they want you to feel GUILTY.

Nevermind years of overpriced CD's at fixed prices...

Nevermind flash in the pan "artists" who get promoted the same way as a new soft drink...

Nevermind that the RIAA rapes musicians for marketing and distribution per CD (when the same CD is easily distributed for FREE on the internet)

But you should be ashamed of yourself for downloading that song you heard on the radio. And you are a criminal for sharing files which costs nothing to create and distribute. And you are no different than a shoplifter. And you will face severe penalties.

Delete all your files. Stop sharing with each other. Buy every CD on the Billboard top 20. Its the only way you'll ever be a decent human being.

[FreakBoy]

this doesnt make any sense

The music industry charges us for a cd that costs maybe 50cents to buy and burn, with (im guessing) 5 bucks per cd going to the artist. The store buys it at wholesale price of (guessin again) 17 bucks. The store sells it again for the suggested retail price of of 23-28 bucks to the consumer.

That comes to about 30-39% profit for the stores and 200% profit for the record companies.

And thy call us thieves. those prices are damn near highway robbery.

In economics there is a "point of diminishing returns" when it comes to the prices of products. You can charge as much as you want for a product, but at a certain point profits will drop because no one will spend that much money on the product. In the old days this was high for music as people really want to listen to music, and to own the albums but didnt have a alternative except to listen to the radio and hope their favorite song came on. What the record companys failed to realize is that when Mp3s came along the point of diminishing returns dropped alot. Because anyone could now just download whatever they wanted the only thing that kept them going to the store is a) ignorance b ) morals c) a bad connection (or no internet at all) or d) (most recently) fear of being sued.

I dont like stealing, but thats not going to keep me from saving 30 bucks. Now if theey charge 10 bucks for a cd, I will most definetly buy it because its a good deal. 30 bucks is not a good deal. B)

[Kazzee]

I see alot of people saying F!!! RIAA or MPAA, but what I don't see is anyone here actualy up and protesting out on the street. Get real people from the RIAA or MPAA point of view, all you are doing is barking but no bitting. In my opinon. So far all the people that have gotton sued, was sued and no one els came to there rescue.