bitbol

Another day, another list; a shorty:

• Dick Cheney was in the bunker before the attacks, and had "orders."
• Internet radio was silent for the day to protest the outrageous fees from the royalty board.
• A must watch episode of the Daily Show on Cheney's fourth branch.
• The BBC reports that the "law-abiding majority" is a myth, but I don't think that there is any way to say that. The governments just have so many stupid laws that everyone is a criminal for living. Under the table pay: who wants to see a third of their money go towards a bridge to nowhere?

If things pan out tomorrow, I may hit the Apple Store, tonight didn't work.

Labels: America, Collections, Internet, Music, News, Politics

One former music store owner has written a piece in the NYTimes about how the record industry killed itself, not the downloads. The underlying problem is the fact that the big labels are more interested in what their pocketbook is like now, and pay no attention to the future. Their decisions are in no way based on consumers. From the article:

In the late '90s, our business, and the music retail business in general, was booming. Enter Napster, the granddaddy of illegal download sites. How did the major record labels react? By continuing their campaign to eliminate the comparatively unprofitable CD single, raising list prices on album-length CDs to $18 or $19 and promoting artists like the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears — whose strength was single songs, not albums. The result was a lot of unhappy customers, who blamed retailers like us for the dearth of singles and the high prices.

What the record labels did was increase prices to compensate for the dip in profits, but in the long run, they made more of an incentive to download. With such high prices, it practically encourages people to download. Even with online sales legal, music companies are focusing on albums, which has been proven to be wrong. The only way they can continue to exist is to create high-quality songs, not albums.

Labels: America, Internet, Music, News

The day has finally come when record labels are dropping DRM for the first time. Now on iTunes, you can buy DRM-free music for $1.29, which is a twenty cent increase over the DRM-laden version. Either way, it is a great step forward for the music industry. Now all we have to do is convince all the other labels to do the same.

Labels: Apple, DRM, Music

One lawyer has the idea. This lawyer was able to fend off the RIAA with a wordy, yet convincing, letter. The letter, basically, says that the RIAA has no evidence other than the IP address. Sample of the letter:

In an age of Wintel-virus created bot-farms, spoofs, and easily cracked WEP encrypted wireless home networks (among other easy hacks), the only tech-savvy response to such a request is, "You've got to be kidding." The extensive press that has been generated over computer security (and the insecurity of Windows XP and its predecessors) underscores the complete absence of facts on which probable cause to sue my clients could be established and your clients' willingness (even insistence) that others be implicated in Big Music's speculative, "driftnet" litigation tactics.

I like how they incorporate the fact that all the RIAA has ever had is the IP address, and they live on the fact that many people think that that is essentially your name, which it is not. The letter also incorporates the insecurity of Windows and a hijacked machine as the possible cause. This is the lawyer you want if you get sued.

Labels: America, Legal, Music, People, Technology

Ars Technica reports that they music industry is not failing because of increases in piracy, but rather the fact that people can now buy songs one at a time. This is an interesting conclusion that I never even thought of. It makes perfect sense.

Back in the days of the CD, people bought songs in groups of ten or fifteen. Recently, with the rise of music sales online, people can buy individual songs. There is no longer a need to buy the full album of crap for the one good song that you want. Too bad the recording industry will never come to this conclusion.

Labels: America, Music, News

The MPAA has taken the last tolerable step for some people. At a screening of a recently released movie, one man recounts the hell involved just to get in the theater. There were security guards intended to stop people from recording the movie. This particular man did the respectable thing to do: kept walking. It is ridiculous to have to subject yourself to the security worse than that of an airline, just to watch a movie. Also, as he points out, the guards walked the aisles, getting in the way of the screen.

The NPR has started a noble war against the RIAA. The NPR is fighting the royalty increase that the RIAA is pushing for. Not only is the RIAA pushing for this increase, but making online radio companies pay for all of their use in the past. It's almost as if the RIAA wants to put all the radio stations out of business so nobody ever hears of a new song they want to download.

Other than the astronomical price to radio stations, the DRM mandated by the RIAA is a considerable cost to customer service departments. Ars Technica reports that 75% of customer service calls are related to DRM issues. It is obviously not saving anyone any money. Why can't the people at the top realize that? [all stories via digg]

Labels: America, DRM, Movie, Music

The RIAA lost, and now they say that they want their money back. The RIAA had to pay out attorney's fees after they wrongfully accused, and lost to a defendant. They say:

Instead, the plaintiffs argue that if the defendant has "a reason to know" of the infringing activity, she should be held liable. The RIAA also points to Foster's subscriber agreement with Cox Communications, her ISP, which the RIAA says "expressly required" her to keep others using her account from infringing copyrights.

This is where it becomes pathetic. The RIAA already lost the case and paid out fees, but they are still trying to take down someone who has done no wrong. Shouldn't the first verdict be enough to say that they are innocent?

In related news, Cory Doctorow shows some absurdity at Michigan State University where they are forcing people to watch propaganda videos. At MSU, they are cracking down on illegal downloading activity by forcing those caught multiple times to watch a video on the "illegalness" of downloading music. I would say that is enough to discourage me from attending that college.

Labels: America, Music, News

In Steve Jobs' open letter, he made the point that he is very much against DRM because it does nothing to protect music, and sales would be the same if there were no DRM. He claims that DRM is too retrictive, and that Apple choose to lock down their music only when record labels demanded it. The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) mistook Jobs' letter as offering FairPlay (DRM) for sale:

Apple's offer to license Fairplay to other technology companies is a welcome breakthrough and would be a real victory for fans, artists and labels. There have been many services seeking a license to the Apple DRM. This would enable the interoperability that we have been urging for a very long time.

Let's break this statement from the RIAA down. First, they say that it would be a "victory" for fans, but how is a third party restricting your use of rightfully purchased music a victory? In reality the only victory would for record labels further restricting use of files. The RIAA claims that the interoperability is something that they want, but all they want is profit and interoperability would help get that profit by allowing easier purchasing. The RIAA is a load of BS.

Labels: Apple, Music, Technology

Ars technica says the RIAA has admitted that 70 cents is in the range of how much they make per song. Meanwhile, they are going after allofmp3 with full vengeance. Allofmp3 is being sued for $150,000 per song, totaling $1.65 trillion.

If the RIAA were to get that (ignoring legal fees), that would be a profit of $149999.30 per song. By millions of songs that is feeding that company too much. I want to see the RIAA strictly limited to what they lose (under a dollar).

Labels: Legal, Music, News

Apparently not even those on the inside are immune to the desire to download. Engadget reports that the CEO of Warner Music admits that his own kids pirate music. They also go on to mock him for what he says. How can you criminalize so many people for such an act, but act as though it doesn't happen when it is your own family.

Labels: Engadget, Legal, Music, Oddities, People

My parents and I did some shopping yesterday after dinner. First we went to Sam's Club to get some smoothie mix, but of course nothing is anywhere near where it was a few weeks ago. It's so annoying how they reorganise everything every couple of days. Anyhow, we didn't ever find it, but we got some new cell phones while we were there, from one of those kiosks they set up. Our contract is near up, so we renewed and got RAZRs seeing as how they are pratically free with the rebate.

Then we went over to Best Buy. My mom offered to buy me an iPod since they were cheap, and available. If you were to wait for the holidays, they'll all be gone. I saw my old soccer coach (the one I liked) and we talked a little bit, discussed the iPod, and then he sold us a nano. The night went well. It did come back to bite me, shuffle wasn't enough.

Labels: Apple, iPod, Music, Phone

'nuff said

Labels: Kids, Music, Video, YouTube

Over at Engadget they just post the new iPod shuffle. It is so small and sexy. This is something that I want, and I'm putting it on my Christmas list for this year.

I think that my music collection has the potential to be scaled down enough to fit on a 1GB mp3. My dad said that he would take my old mini if I got the shuffle, which is fine with me as it is ever losing battery life, and for all the more I use it, I could easily pass it off.

This will probably come back and bite me in the ass, but I think that the new shuffle will meet my needs for at least the next two years, and then I can get a new mp3 when I head off to college. Update: It did.

Labels: Apple, Engadget, iPod, Music, Technology