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RIAA claims you do not own your iTunes music purchases

extremetech.com

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Re: RIAA claims you do not own your iTunes music purchases

#61
Can I burn an HD copy of a movie off my DVR via the analog hole and then sell it to someone?

Which part is illegal? Recording it? No. Burning it to a DVD? No. Owning it? No. But can I sell it? No. I think this paradox of ownership without being able to sell it will cause ReDigi to lose their case. Horrible situation for setting a bad legal precedent.

Let's not forget that the MPAA is a criminal organization whose members commit fraud every single day. I suspect the RIAA is the same. "Hollywood accounting" is a nice euphemism for a felony crime. I have no sympathy for unethical criminals who as standard business practice screw over producers, musicians, writers and actors. Piracy is justified.

Re: RIAA claims you do not own your iTunes music purchases

#62

No, I (obviously) can't download a car. Apparently, I can't send a file to someone else and remove it from my iPod, Galaxy S, Blackberry, office and home pc either.

Sometimes the word "can't" is used as shorthand for "with a probability approaching zero".

Re: RIAA claims you do not own your iTunes music purchases

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good faith effort. It doesn't have to do it flawlessly. Same thing applies to physical media. How can you guarantee that I don't have access to the music after I've sold a CD. And while you might argue that their is a difference between CD's and digital music, the RIAA doesn't see it the same way. FTA: "the RIAA and MPAA have argued that purchasing a physical CD or DVD simply grants one a license to use the product r…

The physical medium is the key. The CD serves to identify the correct/original/authorized/licensed/whatever copy. If you can't identify the original, then actually you can't sell it (in the sense of it's not possible).

Can possession of the CD really be taken to identify the owner of clear title to the license? What about when someone breaks into my house and steals my CD collection - they can steal the physical media, but the license is intangible - they can't steal that, so I should still own it.

Re: RIAA claims you do not own your iTunes music purchases

#64

"If ReDigi’s service can accurately prevent users from accessing songs they’ve sold to the service, then the RIAA’s rights have been legally preserved." Big if. How is ReDigi going to prevent users from downloading song backups from dropbox?

Good faith effort. It doesn't have to do it flawlessly. Same thing applies to physical media. How can you guarantee that I don't have access to the music after I've sold a CD. And while you might argue that their is a difference between CD's and digital music, the RIAA doesn't see it the same way. FTA: "the RIAA and MPAA have argued that purchasing a physical CD or DVD simply grants one a license to use the product r…

Yea, the fundamental flaws of artificial scarcity.

Re: RIAA claims you do not own your iTunes music purchases

#65

1. This service is ridiculous and I'm embarrassed that they raised nearly as much funding as we did for it. Who on earth didn't see this coming? 2. Deleting "the original" when it's so easy to have your own other copy somewhere doesn't do anything. How do they even begin to answer this concern? 3. How can the RIAA argue in one breath that you don't own their product, that it's just a license, and argue in court in an…

Perhaps they enforce the deletion by preventing you from restoring a copy of the song from a backup to iTunes. Though doesn't stop you playing the song on another device that is entirely independent of iTunes.

Re: RIAA claims you do not own your iTunes music purchases

#66

This just in, RIAA claims you do not own the food on your table, you only license it for consumption. (But really, would you be surprised? God help us if RIAA gets their hands on a patent for a wheat genome. It sounds ridiculous and sensationalist, but this is the RIAA.)

Seed companies do exactly this. You buy their seed to grow wheat, you have a license to grow the wheat but you can't keep any of it to plant next year. You have a license to use their wheat seeds but not use the copies the plant is making.

This would be genetically engineered wheat?

Re: RIAA claims you do not own your iTunes music purchases

#67
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

not sure what America's excuse is! Say what?

Since they presumably had access to Pasteur's book (even if it was in French) and so knew how to grow the correct yeast for beer - how did they manage to produce Budweiser and Miller ?

Even if you disliked the original comment, this one is trying to clarify a joke. Now a serious question - is humor discouraged on HN? Because it's not the first time I run into something like this.

Re: RIAA claims you do not own your iTunes music purchases

#68
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since they presumably had access to Pasteur's book (even if it was in French) and so knew how to grow the correct yeast for beer - how did they manage to produce Budweiser and Miller ?

Even if you disliked the original comment, this one is trying to clarify a joke. Now a serious question - is humor discouraged on HN? Because it's not the first time I run into something like this.

Insightful Humor? No. Humor just for it's own sake? Often. Shallow, 'meme' or mock-wit humor? Pretty much every time.

The rule of thumb is: If it doesn't add to the discussion, better hold on to it.

Re: RIAA claims you do not own your iTunes music purchases

#69
post #3

It seems to me that deleting the original file is hardly good enough. I think that a secondary market for digital works is something that will just never work like it does for physical media, and that's something we just have to accept and move on with. My biggest worry is that ReDigi is going to end up losing a lawsuit that sets a bad precedent and makes future better technologies impossible. That said, the RIAA's o…

> and that's something we just have to accept and move on with.

You haven't said why.

Re: RIAA claims you do not own your iTunes music purchases

#70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that in 100 years, we'll all look back at this time period of intellectual property hoarding as something akin to the dark ages.

This is why I wished EFF or an organization like that would participate in those hearings. They seem to take "piracy" for granted, and if you pirate/copy files without authorization, you're clearly a criminal. I think there needs to be a more in-depth debate about that, because I'm not so sure piracy should be a criminal act. Just think about it. Why is piracy so hard to eliminate, if not impossible. Why does it grow…

There has been a lot of research on pirate markets, from illegal downloads to counterfeit designer clothes, and it's pretty well understood.

Pirate markets appear when the cost of a good in a market is way above the perceived value, and a pirated version can be produced for a fraction of the cost. Legit goods cost only money, but pirate goods instead cost time or uneasiness of breaking the law. Consumers then make cost-benefit analyses as to which version they want, and as long as enough consumers choose the pirated version, the pirate market is sustained.

The way to beat a pirate market is to simply treat it as a legit competitor and out-market it. iTunes music store is so incredibly successful, because it is out-marketing illegaly downloaded music. Netflix is so incredibly successful, because it is out-marketing illegaly downloaded movies. They simply provide cheaper and better service than the previous legal alternatives.

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