Quoting:
http://msn.com.com/2100-1106-982344.html

One word: Yay! :D
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I think the lawsuit is ridiculous, but no more ridiculous than the suits being filed against all the napster-ish entities.  Personaly, I'm getting sick and tired of all these belly-aching, whining, so-called "artists" and their griping.

Myself, I'm a systems administrator.  I own a california corporation..hence my screen name...and I develop software.  So I'm not speaking from the opinion of someone who could not himself be affected by such file sharing.

But here's what I don't understand...

I go to the video store and rent a DVD.  I invited a bunch of friends over and charge them an "admission" of sorts to help pay for goodies and snacks.  Well, in effect, I'm taking in a profit resulting from the realtime sharing of the intellectual property.

Here's another scenario...

There's a radio broadcast of a concert.  Because I'm a cool dude, I record the concert, edit out the commercials, and distribute copies to my friends free of charge.

How about just listening to the radio, period?  Aren't radio stations in effect, sharing intellectual property with people who haven't paid for it?

This is one of those areas where we really have to be careful.  A favorable ruling against the likes of kazaa could well be the first step towards outlawing video and DVD rentals, and even radio.  I've seen stupider things suggested...and things even stupider still passed in Washington, D.C.

Dave

Quoting:
If they win then I hope they take all the paper work and shove it deep into Lars Ulrichs' @ss....and say..."This One's For NAPSTER...you LOSER" :D
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I second that! :D

Quoting:
How about just listening to the radio, period?  Aren't radio stations in effect, sharing intellectual property with people who haven't paid for it?

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As authorised broadcasters, radio stations are allowed to do this.

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How about just listening to the radio, period?  Aren't radio stations in effect, sharing intellectual property with people who haven't paid for it?
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The radio station has to pay royalties.  I know because I work with media (set top box type systems).  We have to record every single track played so that royalties can be paid.

Quoting:
Taoist is correct. Licensed media broadcasters have to pay royalties for the recorded material they play. I'll say this again: Artists simply MUST receive royalties for their music. Whether they be a millionaire like Lars Ulrich, or some kid hacking away at a guitar in the garage next door, if they're making music for your enjoyment, they need to get paid for it, or one day no will be able to make music because no one will be able to afford to make it. Stephen King doesn't write books for nothing. Robert DeNiro doesn't make films for nothing. It's the same principle.
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As has been said many times on this message board:
The artists are not the ones making all the fuss. The artists are not the ones charging $16 for 12 songs, three or four of which are worth listening to most of the time.
It's the record labels.
It's the RIAA.
It's true, Lars Ulrich got it started, but then the labels took over.
Your average "signed" artist fights with the freakin' record labels as much as Kazaa, or Napster or Aimster or anyone else.
Anyone is naive to think that the record labels won't screw an artist just as fast as they'll screw me or you.
Every single successful artist out there has had a lawsuit with a recording company.
"Yesterday" by the Beatles is the most played song in history. You think the people who represent The Beatles haven't been to court a multitude of times to make sure that the members of the band get their cut every single time that song is played?
Or Michael Jackson now I suppose.
If the members of a band are smart they get a good contract that states they will recieve a percentage every time a record sells with a song of theirs on it or every time a radio station or movie company or ad agency wants to use a song of theirs in their media.
Yes, the artist deserves to be paid for creating something that enriches the lives of countless others.
However, once an artist "sells out" to the RIAA, they get paid for their recorded music what the RIAA sees fit to give them.
If they want any more than that they have to hit the road and see if they can sell out concert halls.