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How to become a pirate archivist (2022)

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Re: How to become a pirate archivist (2022)

#41

Post by carlosjobim »

CatchSwitch wrote: post #36
austin-cheney wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have my own written SOPs for how I make personal back ups of commercial media I own (purchased licensed instance because you never really own it even after paying for access). In this case I enjoy maintaining a media archive but my choice of words provides a fully legal context. What I find interesting is the wildly differing approach to piracy between the RIAA and the MPAA. The music industry’s current approach is…

Is this true? From what I've read musicians are hardly making anything off of streaming whereas they used to make much more prior to the popularization of Spotify. And AFAIK Spotify has never had a profitable quarter.

I've heard this a thousand times, but it begs the question: Why do they then put their music on Spotify?

Re: How to become a pirate archivist (2022)

#42

Post by dns_snek »

madduci wrote: post #33
austin-cheney wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have my own written SOPs for how I make personal back ups of commercial media I own (purchased licensed instance because you never really own it even after paying for access). In this case I enjoy maintaining a media archive but my choice of words provides a fully legal context. What I find interesting is the wildly differing approach to piracy between the RIAA and the MPAA. The music industry’s current approach is…

> As a result piracy is rarer than it used to be and they are making more money than they used to. The movie industry still acts the way the music industry did in the 90s. Exactly this. And not only they do more money with digital content, see how concerts are always full and prices skyrocketed due to the demand! The movie industry has surely more costs that music one, _but_ they act like children who lost their toys…

> what happens if the license server disappears one day

Minor nitpick, "when" the license server disappears one day. They have no reason to do right by their customers when they go out of business, break old infrastructure that "only a small percentage of users were using", or just feel like they can get away with it and sell you the same product again on their new platform.

It has happened before and it will happen again, modern video games are notorious for this, while you can still play multiplayer games from the early 00s.

And let's not get started with content being outright ripped from our digital products, such as soundtracks being removed from video games after their opaque licensing deals expire, even though you supposedly "own" them in your digital library. Or old movies & TV episodes being removed because they're politically incorrect in the current age.

Re: How to become a pirate archivist (2022)

#43

Post by carlosjobim »

vintagedave wrote: post #5
crtasm wrote: post #4

While I know they need to fund servers somehow, the approach and wording of their download page doesn't sit right with me: >Fast downloads - Become a member to support the long-term preservation of books, papers, and more. To show our gratitude for your support, you get fast downloads. >[3 "Fast Partner Server" links] >Refer a friend, and both you and your friend get 50% bonus fast downloads! >[3 "Slow Partner Server…

Why doesn't it sit right? Providing a higher level of service reward for those who support provides an incentive, yet those who do not support are no worse off than they already were. What surprises me is the need for fast downloads. Books are small. 20 fast small downloads doesn't seem much of a reward.

There's an enormous difference between spreading stolen information for free or selling stolen information for profit. If you don't understand this, you have to investigate your moral compass a bit. There's a reason why purchasing stolen goods is a crime in most of the world.

Re: How to become a pirate archivist (2022)

#44

Post by ghaff »

carlosjobim wrote: post #41
CatchSwitch wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this true? From what I've read musicians are hardly making anything off of streaming whereas they used to make much more prior to the popularization of Spotify. And AFAIK Spotify has never had a profitable quarter.

I've heard this a thousand times, but it begs the question: Why do they then put their music on Spotify?

Because streaming in pretty much the distribution channel today. Even if they sell a few CDs at live shows, increasingly younger people don't even have a CD player. And very few people buy MP3s.

Re: How to become a pirate archivist (2022)

#45

Post by carlosjobim »

ghaff wrote: post #44
carlosjobim wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard this a thousand times, but it begs the question: Why do they then put their music on Spotify?

Because streaming in pretty much the distribution channel today. Even if they sell a few CDs at live shows, increasingly younger people don't even have a CD player. And very few people buy MP3s.

When the artists only get a couple hundred dollars per year from their streams, why even bother putting the music on Spotify? If your listeners don't want to buy your mp3s or CDs when that's the only option, then what's the point?

Compare it to any other profession. Let's say a bricklayer decides to go work for a company. He works the entire year and builds houses for many people. Then he's paid a hundred dollars. He'd be an idiot to keep doing it. And he says that if he started his own brick laying business he wouldn't get even a single client. Okay, but why keep doing this?

Re: How to become a pirate archivist (2022)

#46

Post by bloak »

carlosjobim wrote: post #45
ghaff wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because streaming in pretty much the distribution channel today. Even if they sell a few CDs at live shows, increasingly younger people don't even have a CD player. And very few people buy MP3s.

When the artists only get a couple hundred dollars per year from their streams, why even bother putting the music on Spotify? If your listeners don't want to buy your mp3s or CDs when that's the only option, then what's the point? Compare it to any other profession. Let's say a bricklayer decides to go work for a company. He works the entire year and builds houses for many people. Then he's paid a hundred dollars. He…

Perhaps some musicians are using Spotify as a way of advertising themselves for live gigs.

Re: How to become a pirate archivist (2022)

#47

Post by beeboobaa »

vouaobrasil wrote: post #37

A lot of people will argue about the morality and legality of this sort of thing within the system, but I think this sort of thing is truly the result of rising pressures on society to be as efficient as possible in the domain of capitalistic activities. Of course, as a content creator myself, I do believe that there should be some sort of reward and protection for creating content. However, I also know that we have…

The thing is that countless of lives have been ruined by bigcorps for doing "piracy".

But now the bigcorps see it as a way to gain more money and control over other's lifes, so suddenly doing piracy is totally fine and for the greater good!

The worst part is that these individuals whose lives have been ruined weren't even harming anyone. Their operations were on such a small scale that it barely had any impact.

But these bigcorps are looking to reshape society, destroy many jobs and industries, rewrite social contracts, and it's all just hunky dory.

Re: How to become a pirate archivist (2022)

#48

Post by vouaobrasil »

beeboobaa wrote: post #47
vouaobrasil wrote: post #37

A lot of people will argue about the morality and legality of this sort of thing within the system, but I think this sort of thing is truly the result of rising pressures on society to be as efficient as possible in the domain of capitalistic activities. Of course, as a content creator myself, I do believe that there should be some sort of reward and protection for creating content. However, I also know that we have…

The thing is that countless of lives have been ruined by bigcorps for doing "piracy". But now the bigcorps see it as a way to gain more money and control over other's lifes, so suddenly doing piracy is totally fine and for the greater good! The worst part is that these individuals whose lives have been ruined weren't even harming anyone. Their operations were on such a small scale that it barely had any impact. But t…

That is right. The near sole determiner of whether an idea flourishes these days is whether it greases the wheels of capitalism. Sometimes, those ideas are in line with our morality and greater good, but most of the time they are not.

Re: How to become a pirate archivist (2022)

#49

Post by ghaff »

carlosjobim wrote: post #45
ghaff wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because streaming in pretty much the distribution channel today. Even if they sell a few CDs at live shows, increasingly younger people don't even have a CD player. And very few people buy MP3s.

When the artists only get a couple hundred dollars per year from their streams, why even bother putting the music on Spotify? If your listeners don't want to buy your mp3s or CDs when that's the only option, then what's the point? Compare it to any other profession. Let's say a bricklayer decides to go work for a company. He works the entire year and builds houses for many people. Then he's paid a hundred dollars. He…

Discovery is one important reason. Not that that's guaranteed to work. You probably need to do your own marketing--including playing at local bars etc. for pennies and tips. Of course, the same things is mostly true these days for writers with a publishing contract.

People pursue creative pursuits for a lot of different reasons, including personal fulfillment. But you pretty much have to win the lottery to make a decent full-time living off of it. People may somewhat enjoy laying bricks--but it's a job they expect to make a living at. If they can't, they'll try to do something else.

Re: How to become a pirate archivist (2022)

#50

Post by thaumasiotes »

austin-cheney wrote: post #29
mistyq wrote: post #3

Doing something highly illegal and finding a "community" and sharing it with a "friend" would be a stupid move. Don't ever disclose your name if you do something like this, unless you are in a safe country.

I have my own written SOPs for how I make personal back ups of commercial media I own (purchased licensed instance because you never really own it even after paying for access). In this case I enjoy maintaining a media archive but my choice of words provides a fully legal context. What I find interesting is the wildly differing approach to piracy between the RIAA and the MPAA. The music industry’s current approach is…

> The music industry’s current approach is to make their product as available everywhere as much as possible so that it requires far greater effort to pirate the media than to otherwise consume it.

You consume it by going to youtube and playing the video.

You "pirate" it by saving the youtube video.

Passing the -x flag to youtube-dl will ignore the video and save just the audio.

It's very little additional effort.

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