Getting sued for downloading songs and movies

[ditchdj]

If you can get sued by this and it's right then shouldnt people that give rides to other people get used by the taxicab companies for "stealing customers" from them???? Or the libraries get sued for "stealing" movies, books, CD's, DVD's and newspapers??? Hey I just left a copy of Reader's Digest at the Plasma Center. Should I get sued for "potentially giving away and therefore stealing customers" from Reader's Digest since the hundreds of people that go through the Plasma Center's doors each day should have just bought a copy of Reader's Digest instead of getting it for free???

[AFPheonix]

One: car rides are not intellectual property, and the taxi cabs do not get royalty checks every time you get a ride with them.

Two: Libraries pay for their copies of material, they did not "steal" it.

Three: The Reader's Digest argument is flawed for the same reason as the library one.

While I can see why the music companies are crapping themselves over downloads, I don't think suing people is the right way to go. Their industry HAS to change with the times, and although they don't want to accept that, they are just going to have to figure out how to compete with cheap or free downloadable songs. Paying $15.00 or more for a cd just isn't going to hack it anymore.

[ArenaBoy]

I do agree that the music industry needs to get with the times, it pains me that I have to pay $18 just for one CD. What they can do to reduce downloads is at least make CDs $10 (and I say this because I am a music geek. ) Apple has that problem figured out with iTunes. An album costs $9.99 on there and one song costs .99 which is fine with me.

[ditchdj]

Nobody's gonna stop paying for CD's and DVD's if you can get the movies on the internet for free, plain and simple. Wanna know why???? Because Americans want to save money, but only to a certain extent. The magical word here is "convenience". Why are people still not changing their driving habits when gas was 3-4 dollars a gallon??? Because they dont want to sacrifice convenience (aka driving in a car instead of waiting for a cab or bus). Getting a "pirated" movie on DVD is NOT convinient. You have to figure out what encoders/decoders you need and the right kind of equipment (software AND hardware) to buy. Same with downloading and burning songs on CD. Probably about 85 of the general population's just gonna say after five minutes of dealing with it all, "Aw screw it! It's only 20 bucks to get it at FYE. No big deal". And that "C word" is what is still allowing some famous people to buy entire islands in the Caribbean! Oh by the way: How many more dollars can the MPAA con out of you per movie ticket since they're still "broke" (what American corporation today isn't)?

[AFPheonix]

It's hard to get a decent movie bootleg anyways. Hubby's downloaded a few, and the sound and picture quality always suck compared to the official versions.


Not to mention if they were filming it in a theater, there's always someone in the front that stands up and gets in the shot.

[protege]

That's why you wait until the movie is around $5.50 at Target

[AFPheonix]

Or I just wait til' Hubby brings it home from work


*looks over at movie case* Jeebus, we have a lot of anime....

[rdp78]

Well, you can always find a store that sells DVDs and CDs used. I know major chain and a local store in my area does that. I mean most of it is less then ten dollars and not mention pretty good quality. I've brought a lot of CDs used and even few DVDs used as well. Anyway I find it kind of funny that the entertainment industry is sueing people who download stuff but they never made a fuss over people selling/buying used DVD/CDs. Then again someone already paid them for the used stuff and if you download something for free then they have already lost some money. I do think the entertainment industry should be more up with the times and work with these websites that have free downloads not against them.

[MadMike]

Anyway I find it kind of funny that the entertainment industry is sueing people who download stuff but they never made a fuss over people selling/buying used DVD/CDs.

Actually, they are. Just a few years ago, they even tried to get legislation passed to allow them to collect royalties on used CDs. Thankfully, it did not pass.

Greedy bastards.

[ArenaBoy]

http://slashdot.org/articles/07/02/13/1332214.shtml

This will provide some info, I've been under that belief anyways.

[protege]

BTW, where was the RIAA 20 years ago when people were recording songs off the radio and making copies of tapes? I don't recall such a fury over those actions. Was it because of today's increased sharing, and the fact that the RIAA is seeing dollar signs now?

[Rapscallion]

Well, IP addies can be traced far easier, and besides the RIAA managed to get an extra tax put on blank cassettes to make up for lost revenue, if memory serves.

Rapscallion

[squall]

How in the hell does the RIAA find people and bust them for downloading anyway? Do they monitor IP addresses and see what comes in and out? Do they pick them at random? And I wonder how well that evidence holds up in a court anyway....as far as I know, nobody's being arrested for this stuff...just sued big time.

[Rapscallion]

When you use a peer-to-peer program, it has to tell the sender where to send the packet of information - the IP address. It's quite easy for someone to track where something it going from their syste, The logs for this server tell me the connecting IP of everyone, though at 500Mb a week, I'm damned well not sifting through them for anything unless it's really necessary, and in a year it's not been necessary.

They just go along and bully the ISP through legal means into telling them who was using that IP on that date and then take it from there.

Rapscallion

[powerboy]

I do not see what is wrong with downloading songs. I do it when I want to add a song onto my MP3 player. How do they know that, when someone is downloading something, that they are doing it for themselves or to sell to anyone else. I see it as, them wanting to make some more money.