the riaa is fucked, it's inevitable.

thank god.

maybe now there won't be so much horrible bullshit fed to people in the name of pop music. you know, metallica was a lot better before they all acted like CEOs.

yes, i am aware that this is opinionated and not well argued.

i'm wondering how this will affect the p2p networks. suppose they sue 1000 individuals, thus taking their files off the network. how large do you think your shared folders would be to be amongst the 1000? i would have to guess that there is a large amount of people out there with 100 GB hard drives that are gonna be hit first. so my assumption is that people out there like me (with about 4 gigs of music on my computer) are going to be pretty safe.

so my next concern is about how this will affect my opportunities to use the networks. i think those people out there that are sharing enough space to get taken out by the RIAA are computers that are generally swamped with people downloading files. my point is, that i usually make my downloads with other peers that have small amounts of music that i really like. that way i get a fast connection and i don't have to sift through tons of r&b or teeny-bopper pop to get what i want.

essentially i think that what the RIAA is doing could cut some traffic off the networks and make it a better tool for someone like me who is not interested in stealing every song i've ever liked. i am a music buyer and i purchase most of my music. having the p2p networks there as a backup place to listen to new music or music that is unavailable to me or music i don't want to purchase a full album on is quite nice.

all that said, i think the RIAA is phucked up. what do they think they are trying to accomplish? to insert a sports analogy, the book moneyball is all about one team (the Oakland A's) realizing that the old way of looking at baseball is fundamentally flawed and taking a different track. there have to be some people in the industry that realize that their business model is fundamentally flawed in this information age and desire to take a different track. It will happen eventually, but it needs to happen sooner than later.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/0 ... index.html

The above is an article on CNN regarding the RIAA’s recent decision to target the ISP’s reported with the largest libraries of "stolen" music. The legal challenges are going to be many, and they are going to come from us.

This year, we’re going to celebrate independance day in style. We’re going to be striking a blow against a corporate hierarchy that has grown so fat on it’s own profits as to become completely out of touch with the reality of the music industry.

We have a simple premise. Musicians don’t need multi-million dollar mansions to compose. Companies don’t need multi-billion dollar profit margins to continue producing. And consumers don’t need to keep paying 20 dollars for mediocrity stored on 95 cent wafers of plastic.

Human knowledge belongs to the world.

On Thursday, July 3rd - from Midnight of the 3rd until Midnight of the 4th - we call for the concerned music consumers of the world to protest with the only voice we have left - the internet. Let’s overload the servers of every P2P service on the planet. If they are going to sue us for trading music, fine - let them sue ALL of us. They want multi-million dollar battles, they’ve got it.

This message must get out as far and as fast as possible. Feel free to copy and paste the body of this text into your email program and forward it. Feel free to post it on any message boards of relevance you may post on. In particular, we're interested in the music, hacking, and political forums.

When we see equity in production, distribution, and availability of music... when we see a sharp rise in quality, and/or a steady drop in price... when we see CEOs not raking in million dollar bonuses off outlandishly overpriced products... when we see music conglomerates earning realistic wages from realistically priced products... then we’ll talk. Until then... let this be OUR Independance Day.

For me, the bottom line is that:
1) CD's are overpriced by about 100%
2) Major labels screw their artists over.

Music fans download stuff for free because:
1) They don't feel they are getting value for their dollar to buy the CD
2) Much of the stuff they are looking for isn't readily available in their local music stores. Waiting 2-3 weeks for stuff to come in the mail just doesn't cut it.

Garth Brooks? I don't know much about him (especially his politics), so I don't really get it.... I can't really stand his music or to look at him, so I doubt I'd really want to hang out with him, but it may be interesting to talk to the guy.

In case you misunderstood, I just meant that now I tend to buy music based on listening to them, that if I download something I really like, I will often buy it or go to a concert, etc. instead of just trolling the used racks (which I still do sometimes). And most of the new stuff I have bought lately has been from independent and/or smaller labels (Luka Bop, Ipecac) although I realize these are still somewhat owned and distributed by larger companies, and I do not feel any snobbery or loyalty solely to indies; if I like a band I will try to support them.

And I don't think you necessarily negated what I said in the Dennis Miller rant, but what's wrong with having heard an album for a year from crappy-sounding mp3's and buying it cause I like it? Elaborate.

Also, I like downloads because the rare and/or live stuff you can find.

Actually, I was just making the point that buying used CDs doesn't really do anything to take money away from artists or record labels, which I why I put the relevant statement in the quote.
As for Garth Brooks, a few years ago, he attempted to get his label to refuse to ship his new record to any store that sold used CDs, as he felt it was horning in on his profits. A similar situation to the whole downloading thing and also relevant to your "I used to buy used CD's, which gives absolutely nothing to the artist or their label." statement.
Needless to say, he backed down and made the statement at one point that he had "more money than his granchildren and their grandchildren could ever spend."
no hard feelings, G, I buy music based on what I like too ... weird how that works.
does anyone not buy music because of what label a band is on?