how much do you 'owe' the RIAA?

[Cretaceous Bob]

Originally Posted by ThisIsMyUserName

I don't want to. How old are you anyway?

20. It's not just for the old folks.

Originally Posted by ThisIsMyUserName

I don't even own a CD player, besides the drive in my computer.

That's all you need. Rip it to your computer and you have DRM free copies. Which, as I have stated before, is somewhere that I disagree with current copyright law, and find to be ethically sound.

Originally Posted by ThisIsMyUserName

The few times I've bought an actual CD was because the music was not for sale digitally, was not on any P2P service, and there was a cheap promo CD available. I have no idea where those disks even are. I open them, burn them, toss them aside.

They will give me music, movies, games, books, the way I want them or I will take them however I can get them. If I could PayPal 5$ to some band and have them send me a clean copy of their CD in an email, I'd do that instead of 20$ for a disc I don't need, where the artist gets none of that money.

No, they do see part of that.

Originally Posted by ThisIsMyUserName

Ya know when I stopped "stealing" PC games? When Steam came out. They had what I wanted, instantly, my way.

And I've still...heard about people downloading games that the publishers refuse to put up on a digital service. The option is there, they need to adapt if they want our money.

That makes more sense than flat out saying stealing is okay. If you're willing to pay for the content in some manner, that doesn't make stealing it right (it's still shitty), but at least the content provider can do something to secure your purchase.

[ThisIsMyUserName]

Originally Posted by Cretaceous Bob

That's all you need. Rip it to your computer and you have DRM free copies. Which, as I have stated before, is somewhere that I disagree with current copyright law, and find to be ethically sound.

No, they do see part of that.

But my point is that I don't think CD's are worth the price. As a kid I made tapes of everything on the radio, when we could download stuff I moved to that. CD's have always been a last desperate resort and usually only when they're heavily discounted or something. I actually can't think of a CD I've ever paid full price for.

Also, the labels tried to go to court to prevent the promo CD's from being sold because they didn't see a cut. They lost.

New RIAA Argument: Throwing A Promo CD In The Garbage = Unauthorized Distribution | Techdirt

"UMG claimed that the CDs, as promotional items, were still the property of Universal Music Group."
"UMG has now filed a brief that says that throwing out a promotional CD is unauthorized distribution. "
"Effectively, UMG is saying that merely by putting some fine print on a CD, it can effectively "own" that CD forever."

[Cretaceous Bob]

Originally Posted by ThisIsMyUserName

But my point is that I don't think CD's are worth the price. As a kid I made tapes of everything on the radio, when we could download stuff I moved to that. CD's have always been a last desperate resort and usually only when they're heavily discounted or something. I actually can't think of a CD I've ever paid full price for.

CD prices are pretty close to digital copies of the same quality.

Sure, it might be cheaper to get 192kbps copies, but a CD gives you the real shit and a physical backup.

But regardless, if CDs aren't worth the price and you can't find a distribution method that suits you, that doesn't give you the right to take it. You just can't have it.

[dzagama]

Fuck.

Actually reedin' Bob's new posts in this thread makes me feel a bit silly.

The point of contention appears to be: should artists be able to charge money for something that can be reproduced infinitely at zero-cost.

Bob and I seem to think so.

j2x, and possibly yoav, appear to think not.

Lots of things in the real-world have prices that don't reflect the actual cost of manufacture.

CDs, DVDs, printed artwork, architectural blueprints (maybe?), etc.

Things are priced above the cost of manufacture because of some innate value we give art and innovation, which extends beyond the media.

Why is any duplicated idea, realized in a physical form, priced above the cost of manufacture?

Why should things be different in the digital world?