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OK, here's one problem with the current system. Say, I own the LP. Now, as far as the recording industry is concerned, I don't own the music, I own a licence to play the music, on the medium (LP) in a private setup. Now, what happens if I go out and buy a CD copy of the same album? I already have paid for a licence to the music. Why should I have to pay full price again? Shouldn't I just have to pay for the medium costs? That is the logical and reasonable solution to consumers. Yes, you could argue that I have 2 copies, and thus could be playing both copies concurrently, and let's be realistic here, how many people are doing that?
The current system is a rip off. Music artists get less than 2% of the profits, the rest goes to the RIAA. The sooner the RIAA dies a horrible death, the better imho. They are an evil organisation.
Tell me, the US has passed legislation several years back that allows the RIAA to do whatever they want - commit DDOS (distributed denial of service) attacks on suspected pirates. This is a computer crime. This type crime can carry up to a 20 year jail time in a federal jail in the US. Why are they allowed special rights to break the laws? Sorry, but I'm a firm believer in one law for everyone.
Whilst I don't agree with piracy, there is strong proof that shows piracy actually increases sales. I know I've had a few people give me pirate copies of audio CDs and I've liked the artists and actually went out and bought the real McCoy. If I don't like the artist, I don't listen to it. It's very rare for me to like an artist but not go out and buy the real thing.
Let's consider another thing - DVD region coding. This was put in place by the DVD consortium at the request of the MPAA. It's vile. In a lot of instances, a DVD is available for Region 1, Region 2 and that's it. What about the rest of the world? I don't like being discriminated against because of where I live. Hell, some movie titles still haven't been released on DVD. What about Audio CDs that are discontinued? Try getting a new copy of Peter Wolf's most excellent debut album from 1984 titled "Lights Out". It don't exist. Discontinued from the catalogue. Even if I wanted to buy the real thing, I can't. 2nd hand costs for this CD are through the roof as it's a rarish item these days (I did luck out and get a copy at the bargain price of $12 off EBay though) - I've seen it go in the vicinity of US $100. If I can't afford this over inflated price because it's no longer available, then piracy does seem an alternative option. I can see why people do it.
The real thing is that CDs are overpriced. Always have been. Real pricing should be around $20, which 65% of that going to the artist imho.
Dave
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