[Hudlug] Elvis Costello! I spit on the floor!

[Les Burns]

On Wed, 2002-09-25 at 13:53, Chris Wood wrote:
> On Wednesday 25 September 2002 13:02 pm, you wrote:
> > There's two points here:
> > 1. They can't give it away, absolutely not and shouldn't have to.
> > Capitalism, used responsibly, is a force for good. However, its been
> > demonstrated a million times that the 5 (yes only 5) record companies
> > charge over the odds for their product- irresponsible capitalism (v v
> > bad). Further to that, the monopoly (oligopoly) created by the big 5
> > forces new and genuinely original talent to the wall. Through the
> > Digital Millennium Copyright Act and DRM they are shutting down your
> > rights to choose and your last chance to deny them their stranglehold o=
n
> > the market. My experience of the music industry is that its a corrupt
> > business filled with people standing on each others heads, trying to
> > grab the next crumb. The precedence for this behavior was laid down by
> > the people that run it.
> >
>=20
> I'm surprised it's as many as five!
> Sony, Bertlesmann (sp?), EMI (maybe?) - I've run out already!
> I don't understand why DRM shuts down freedom of choice as you suggest.
> To me it just seems like a method by which owners of recordings can ensur=
e=20
> that access to their material happens in a controlled (paid for) way.
> The small independants can still choose to give their music freely away i=
f=20
> they want, however I suspect that they too will want to charge for items=20
> over the internet.

The "big" 5:

Universal Music Group
Sony Music Entertainment
EMI Group
Warner Brothers Music
BMG Entertainment

I don't feel comfortable with monopolies such as M$ and the 5 above
deciding what I can or can't play on MY hardware- which is what DRM
amounts to. If an mp3 is not encoded using the "correct" algorithm, it
won't play on my "creative puke-box"/ "Media Player"/ "Jukebox Jury
Box".
Who decides on the DRM standards? Will they be proprietary? You can bet
your life they will and uncle bill will be laughing all the way to the
bank (I imagine money no longer holds any thrill to a man with a
personal fortune big enough to buy entire countries). I have major
misgivings about the reinforcement of existing monopolies and lending to
the them of the DRM stick.
Monopolies reduce choice. This is established, and this is why a lot of
people don't use M$. Monopolies become monopolies by forcing out
competition. Without competition, you have no choice. If you have no
choice, the supplier can feed you any old shit, charge what he wants and
not fear you moving to another supplier.
This is what the big 5 do so very very well. Its unnecessary to give
them another tool, such as DRM, to enforce their position- they do well
enough already. It is however, probably too late to introduce
competition to this arena. Reform is whats needed and the internet
provided the means. DRM DMCA Palladium(soon enough) are all attempts by
the established 5 to maintain the current business model. They wouldn't
even need to enforce it if they were more responsible with their price
per unit to the end user. I could easily consume 5 albums a week. But I
and many others can't justify the =A375/week.
M$=3D bad
big5=3D bad
DRM=3D bad
=A315 for a CD=3D "Is it made of solid silver?"
>=20
> > 2. The quality of home recordings is only limited by the acoustic
> > quality of the recording environment. Technology has gifted us with
> > cheap and accessible means to produce exceptionally high quality
> > recordings. You just don't need SSL, NEVE, and Neumann anymore.
> >
>=20
> I bow to your knowledge on this one. However I would have thought that th=
e=20
> average artist or band recording in someone's bedroom would not be able t=
o=20
> produce something that sounded much better than a good demo tape.
>=20
> > The music industry thrives on independent artists and record companies
> > taking things into their own hands. Technology and the Internet is the
> > means to achieve this. Anything that stands in the way of this is
> > detrimental, and I believe DRM is.
> >
>=20
> I still don't see how you reach the conclusion that DRM gets in the way..=
.
>=20
> C.
>=20
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