Only 10 days into the New Year and the two groups are at it again. On behalf of the major record companies, the Recording Industry Association of America has sent yet another (the twelfth) wave of 407 pre-litigation settlement letters to 18 universities nationwide. Each pre-litigation settlement letter informs the school of a forthcoming copyright infringement suit against one of its students or personnel and requests that university administrators forward the letter to allow the individuals the opportunity to promptly resolve the matter and avoid a lawsuit. Meanwhile, as part of the Motion Picture Association’s anti-piracy initiative Operation Blackout, which runs through the holiday season till the end of January 2008, a team of 22 officers from ECOTEC and MPA representatives raided two distribution centers and 11 retail outlets located in the notorious Banmor area in Bangkok. During the raid, over 25,000 optical discs were seized and five individuals were arrested.
Of the former, 6,000 were infringed MPA member company titles including “Alien vs. Predator 2”, “American Gangster” and “I am Legend”. “The police have no day off when it comes to pirates selling their products. We will continue to do everything within our powers to stop these criminals,” said General Visuth, who led the officers, after the raid.
As usual, the RIAA is backing up its methods with statistics:
- a survey by Student Monitor from 2006: more than half of college students download music and movies illegally
- Market research firm NPD: college students alone accounted for more than 1.3 billion illegal music downloads in 2006
- Institute for Policy Innovation: global theft of sound recordings cost the U.S. economy $12.5 billion in lost revenue and more than 71,000 jobs and $2 billion in wages to U.S. workers per year
“Bringing lawsuits has never been our first choice. But for those who continually ignore enticing legal alternatives and plentiful warnings, it’s a necessary part of the equation,” said Jonathan Lamy, Senior Vice President, Communications, RIAA.
The MPA also cites losses – MPA studios have reportedly lost US$6.1 billion to worldwide piracy in 2005. About US$2.4 billion was lost to bootlegging, US$1.4 billion to illegal copying and US$2.3 billion to Internet piracy. Of the US$6.1 billion in lost revenue to the studios, approximate $1.2 billion came from piracy across the Asia-Pacific region, while piracy in the U.S. accounted for $1.3 billion.
edit, direct link: http://digg.com/tech_news/MPA_RIAA_continue_Wrath_into_2008
Last edited by Slimy on 11 Jan 2008 - 04:05
EXACTLY...!!!...
and exactly where are the 71,000 jobs. Some of these cd's aren't made in America. As I've said I don't listen to that much music anymore. I certainly don't discover music on a radio. And MTV/VH1 sucks. So where do they think I'll discover new music? Can't view it at a theater.... Yeah. makes lots of sense to me. o_O
(btw I own the real cd for Depeche Mode Playing the Angel and play it quite often.)
Last edited by PatrynXX on 11 Jan 2008 - 12:33
Thank goodness, now the world is a safer place without these dangerous criminals selling movies.
All else equal, I'd rather they sell pirated movies/software/handbags. It's a purely economic crime-- one person's wealth is denied in favour of another.
If bootlegging becomes a compelling enough source of revenue, it can displace far more socially hazardous crimes (the street-drug business, the protection racket)
that is really who the REAL pirates are. Thats how it was for years before downloading. There's no grey area here. However I always read it was the pirates who would be in trouble not the person buying the bootleg/counterfeit. As in those days, the RIAA considered that customer the victim. Not anymore.
Assuming that if there was no way to download the stuff, they would automatically buy that album and/or movie.
I really doubt that 71,000 jobs were lost because of piracy. I mean, we all know they lose money off of it (you can't deny that), but it's not NEARLY what these people think. I mean hey, it gives jobs to people in the RIAA and MPA.
5 people for 25,000 discs!? Wow!! That's like, 5,000 per person
Last edited by Tha Bloo Monkee on 11 Jan 2008 - 03:53
5 people for 25,000 discs!? Wow!! That's like, 5,000 per person
that's litterally nothing. not even the smallest of small scratches to the pirating buisness
such a giant waste of time
(PS: I bet someone will say "Yes." )
However, busting people for profiting from piracy is a worthwhile activity and something I totally support.
Assuming that if there was no way to download the stuff, they would automatically buy that album and/or movie.
I really doubt that 71,000 jobs were lost because of piracy. I mean, we all know they lose money off of it (you can't deny that), but it's not NEARLY what these people think. I mean hey, it gives jobs to people in the RIAA and MPA.
These people and their claims are full of so much bull**** it's not even funny anymore. The figures of "lost" revenue are all pie in the sky assumptions that everyone and their grandmothers would go buy every single album or track that the RIAA's constituants release if it were not for peer sharing. They know this would not be the case but they do so anyways to get the sympathy vote.
As far as jobs lost, I wouldn't shed one tear (except in laughter) if all the RIAA employees lost their jobs and were homeless on the streets.
Last edited by ANova on 11 Jan 2008 - 04:37
Hmm... 12.5 billion dollars.
I wonder what the demand for extra storage, computer gear, and bandwidth created by music bootlegging equates to in dollars.
Last edited by Hak Foo on 11 Jan 2008 - 04:42
Hmm... 12.5 billion dollars.
I wonder what the demand for extra storage, computer gear, and bandwidth created by music bootlegging equates to in dollars.
A point similar to one I've been making to various people for a while now. Same in the UK. People are going "WOW, our internet speed has really sped up over the last 12months". Yup...but why...it's not because people want to use video conferencing in every household is it? Or that people want to be able to read there mail 2ms faster. Nope...it's good old streaming media and piracy (streaming media must include a proportion of copywright material too...look at YouTube)
exactly my point!
cause i would be willing to bet that majority that could not get it for free would not buy it if that was the only way they could obtain it.... so in other words i would "guess" a ball park figure of there "real" loses are about half ish of what they claim they are TOPS.
and about there job losses... i would be willing to bet that those are exaggerated to... cause of those stats are made from companys like RIAA or MPAA etc you cant trust them as they will make everything look as bad as possible to make themselves look as good as possible for suing people.... cause i wish a independent company would go around to see the "real" loses of jobs out there. ill bet it aint nearly as bas as they claim since the fact of there money loses are exaggerated for sure.
Quote ... "$2 billion in wages to U.S. workers per year" ... this is BS, if it's even close to true it's probably for the "higher up's" which are already sick rich anyways so it aint like it's hurting them as they probably living the good life as it is.
Last edited by ThaCrip on 11 Jan 2008 - 05:59
Last edited by Croquant on 12 Jan 2008 - 16:59
That's one hell of a solution ! I approve it !!!
Downloading music for free is like stealing satellite which is like stealing an old lady's handbag...
A crime is a crime as the commercials would like us to believe...
Last edited by Turge on 11 Jan 2008 - 13:26
A crime is a crime as the commercials would like us to believe...
Such an analogy is antithetical, anyone with reasoning skills would understand that.
What utter b***s***!!!
$2.3Billion in internet piracy. So ok...good films gross what?.....few hundred mil at Box Office? and less than that from DVD sales. So they are saying that 7 (give or take) times as many people downloaded the film(s) than went to see it at the Flicks of on DVD.
Get the f*** outta here!! I know b***s*** stats when I see them!
Glad I'm NOT part of that/this generation!!
And to think of what my parents were thinking about MY generation?!!
Last edited by cork1958 on 11 Jan 2008 - 13:07
That way, they can keep posting losses in sales and continue to sue people and settle for many times over what they'd normally get.
$12.5 billion and 71000 jobs my ass.
Horseshit, and as usual when done reading the **AA's ****, I'll toodle off and download a movie and album.
(or will I?)
The logo says MPAA
The logo says MPAA
What's your point? The MPA is part of the MPAA.
Last edited by Slimy on 12 Jan 2008 - 04:24
**** RIAA and MPAA.
That is total BS. I agree with going after the folks who are profiting from the illegal sales but they need to get their sorry act in gear or in a couple of years Apple will own the whole thing. The last time I bought a CD was 3-4 years ago. I haven't used Kazaa or Napster since its inception. Apple iTunes gift cards are it for me.....
Last edited by marinejld on 11 Jan 2008 - 22:42
My God. You truly are the generation of freeloaders.
Do you think thru history that every single album had all good songs on it? You always got some crappy songs mixed in with some good one. (There are some exceptions to this).
You're so used to not paying a single penny for anything software related whether it be in the form of music or other that you think you're entitled in some warped way to get it all for nothing and then cry foul when people start getting sued over it.
There are all sorts of legal avenues open to everyone if you want to obtain music, Singles or whole albums. Yet you don't use them. You would rather steal it and blame everyone else for the reason for stealing it instead of admiting you're too damn cheap to pay for it yourself.
My God. You truly are the generation of freeloaders.
Do you think thru history that every single album had all good songs on it? You always got some crappy songs mixed in with some good one. (There are some exceptions to this).
You're so used to not paying a single penny for anything software related whether it be in the form of music or other that you think you're entitled in some warped way to get it all for nothing and then cry foul when people start getting sued over it.
There are all sorts of legal avenues open to everyone if you want to obtain music, Singles or whole albums. Yet you don't use them. You would rather steal it and blame everyone else for the reason for stealing it instead of admiting you're too damn cheap to pay for it yourself.
As the poster above you said, we use itunes now
And no sir, just because im young doesnt mean i pirate...
Last edited by Tha Bloo Monkee on 12 Jan 2008 - 19:20
of course not everyone steals. but enough of your generation does that it has the RIAA and the MPAA going after people. It's why we have the dreaded DRM on everything to begin with. Thanks to your generation everyone else has to suffer.
Last edited by bibutteryboy on 12 Jan 2008 - 02:47
The digital age has increased it because it allows more people to share freely but it has also changed the market and distribution mechanisms, these companies are fighting back because it is a theat to them.
"Your generation" has been an acronym used by many for generations to place blaim onto others.
"Your generation" has been an acronym used by many for generations to place blaim onto others.
there fighting back because it's worse now then it has ever been in the history of music.
The market and distribution have adopted. You have itunes, Amazon and a half dozen or so other places to obtain legal software, music and movies. Yet people are still bragging about having 25,000 songs on their computers.
"Your generation" in this case, fits the bill to a "T"
Like I said, your placing blaim and nothing more; it is a rather shortsighted understanding of what is happening. Some people like to share their belongings and that concept threatens the greedy who stand to make more money by abolishing such actions. The ethical implications are similar to the story of Robin Hood.
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