Quietly over the Thanksgiving weekend American authorities made moves against a number of torrent sites.
Via TorrentFreak
Following on the heels of this week’s domain seizure of a large hiphop file-sharing links forum, it’s clear today that the U.S. Government has been very busy.
Without any need for COICA, ICE has just seized the domain of a BitTorrent meta-search engine along with those belonging to other music linking sites and several others which appear to be connected to physical counterfeit goods. (More here)
In addition some of the Pirate Bay founders have been found guilty in Sweden.
The Swedish Appeal Court found Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij and Carl Lundström guilty of “contributory copyright infringement” and handed down prison sentences ranging from 4 to 10 months plus damages of more than $6.5 million in total. (More here)
All of these actions of governments are coming under the guise of copyright protection, but we can all see what this really is. A heavily lobbied government acting for the the Major Label record industry, in an attempt to strike fear into the users of the internet.
When will the majors learn that they will never be able to stop file trading? They can try forever, but for each site taken down two more spring up to take its place. Music file sharing is a given in our culture but that doesn’t mean music is devalued.
I thought we’d have had this problem solved a decade into the file sharing age. Unfortunately not. The corporations are circling weak-kneed government officials and starting to get their way. Know your rights.
Take Control of Your Music
Voyno
3 Comments
Free things have given more value to me than anything I have ever and will ever purchase. “What is free has no value, thus is worth- and meaningless.” The only thing that I can agree with this statement is the clear fact that what is free has no Monetary Value.
We are going through a paradigm shift, big labels and record companies pump out shitty music to make millions, exploiting and controlling artists in the process and flooding the world with crappy music. Universal access to music will help change this, help break true music and art from the industry machine, all about the bottom line, fear mongering, all about consumption and not about the quality, crap.
Musicians and artists are evolving into this new paradigm. If you make good music, and have fans who dig what you are doing, you don’t have to follow the traditional industry methods (selling CDs through big labels for example) to make a living.
Vega,
I think you’ve got your head wrapped around the $$$ far too much to see the big picture. The value of music is hardly based on wether or not we pay a record label 80% of an artist’s cut to hear their music (a super great deal for an artist?). People value music for its ability to connect to our experiences and then connect us to a larger community who shares similar experiences. My downloading an album for free (say Deerhunter) hasn’t made me feel anything less for the music, in fact I’m hoping to pick up any of their albums as soon as I can find them on vinyl.
Filesharing is a great resource for bands to spread their music to a larger audience. If the music is of good quality people will buy it.
I am wondering how one can say “Music file sharing is a given in our culture but that doesn’t mean music is devalued” ?
What is free has no value, thus is worth- and meaningless. Why else do free CD’s given out at concerts end up on the dirty floor? Why else do legendary music clubs in the UK & the US go out of business and yes, their owners know the reason; it is not the economy:
Small Indie labels put messages on their websites saying: We cannot afford to send our acts out on tour anymore (Lion Music).
Why else are all the big Rock stars in their 50’s and beyond? Why else do kids grow up with NO relationship and NO appreciation for the 6000 songs they might or might not have on their iPod or hard drive?
General opinion(YouTube): “Greedy motherf*****” “F*** Copyright, Sh**’s free”
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMTq_HhTK40
This seriously is what you call the people that make your music?
Tip: Try and not pay your dental bill, just because you know your dentist is driving a Porsche.
If you make something free that is -in fact- not free, you devalue it. It’s not “sticking it to the man”, it’s “sticking it to the artist” that – after all- gives you the music you want so much. Besides, without someone giving you the heads up- you wouldn’t even know WHAT to download. Try and find something in the internet without prior knowledge. Who tells you about artists? Most likely a label, right? Who made the really big bands like U2, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Motley Crue, Van Halen who they are and puts up the money so they can do a US or world tour? Most likely a label. Why do you think Linkin Park is STILL with Warner Bros. after oh only a DECADE? Because WB are mean to them?
Why do you think artists stop making albums (APC), and say they won’t put up hundreds of thousands of dollars just to make an album that then ends up online?
And for an up and coming artist it’s quite simple: you start out by recording some music, then through sales, you get attention, without sales, you don’t advance to the next level. You are not being taken seriously; by yes the INDUSTRY (booking agencies, management companies, promotion agencies, musical instrument companies, labels) Coca Cola is not going to sponsor a DIY musician, and a DIY musician ain’t going on tour without booking agency and without a budget- Game Over.
A large portion of the label’s profit was invested in new, and up and coming talent.
For consumers:
1. Sharing is fun as long as it ain’t your stuff
2. Professional musicians are different from Amateurs. Professional music is not a hobby. It’s 24/7; a life dedicated to developing a skill. The word “professional” by definition alone implies it is – in fact- a “profession” which implies compensation; do you work for free?
What is wrong with supporting the artist you like? Why so much hate? That is NOT devaluation? It sure sounds like it to me.