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I like the license part, bear with me. I grew up with the vynil lp, which definitely was a product. You went to the record store and bought an actual physical
by CaptainZapp 16y ago
I like the license part, bear with me.
I grew up with the vynil lp, which definitely was a product. You went to the record store and bought an actual physical product, 30 cms of diameter with a play time of usually 20 minutes per side. I could play it, lend it to a friend, gift it to somebody. The product was independent of location or device; devices playing LP's where standardized.
The RIAA was actually founded to standardize the equalization curve (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RIAA_equalization http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RIAA_equalization) for the playback of music and not as a money grubbing -, mob like -, thuggish organization suing teenagers and dead people.
Then came the CD. Still a product. With different specifications and playback devices then the LP, but still interchangeable, playable everywhere and in every country. Definitely a product, which you bought, owned, could lend, gift, use as a coaster, whatever. It was yours to own.
Then suddenly the product turned into a license. CD's where no more actual CD's, but some crippled data container, to prevent copyying, licensed to you for use. Possibly the licensed product contained some dreckware, which wrecked havoc on your computer and was stealthily installed without your knowledge or consent (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_rootkit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_rootkit).
When you download a song (legally) nowadays you only license it. Ideally the copyright owners would like to charge you on a per country basis.
Going to Amsterdam for the weekend? That's an euro, sir, since your song is only licensed for Germany.
I'm aware that we're not there, that the licenses are in fact more open now as when Apple started to offer music downloads. But I'm pretty certain that this would not be the case if the music industry had their say (see 3 Euro ringtone downloads).
Where the hypocricy comes in that a license would imply that you only pay once.You pay for the right to use a song. Reality however, and I leave that as an excercise to the reader, looks very, very different.
I close my rant with the link to this interesting essay by Steve Albini (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_albini http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_albini) :
http://www.negativland.com/albini.html http://www.negativland.com/albini.html
- Tichy 16y agoHave the licensing rules for CDs changed? If I look at the backside of a CD, there will be a lot of fine print? I tend to still buy CDs because I felt more comfortable to do with the extracted MP3s as I please. Also, CDs are often cheaper (especially second hand from Amazon Marketplace).
- CaptainZapp 16y agoI would think that two things changed: - There's potentially a lot more boilerplate warning of dire consequences on media nowadays - The attitude of an industry that completely missed the boat and tries to squeeze out every last cent. While you may argue that: "Why not, it's their product" and this is certainly true the consequences on culture are bad to dire. Sampling and re-mixing comes to mind, or, for example trying to cash in on the ringtone of a phone in a movie, which makes it extremely hard to ensure that all rights are secured. Or in the case of a student or a hobbyist making a movie (and, for example, uploading it to Youtube) makes it outright impossible to actually produce something without falling foul of the law. I am not condoning theft of music ,movies or software, but the copyright laws have shifted into a direction, which are outright unhealthy for a society.
- StavrosK 16y agoAre you German? I don't know who would say "an euro" unless you pronounce it oi-ro.
- CaptainZapp 16y agoActually, Swiss. And yes, Euro is pronounced oi-ro in the German speaking parts.
- StavrosK 16y agoAnd e-ro in French, so your "an" works both ways if you're Swiss, I guess :)
- Tichy 16y agoWhat do you say in the US/UK? (I am German) I only know the rule to say "an" if a word starts with a,e,i,o or u, so why not Euro?
- StavrosK 16y agoBecause Euro is pronounced you-ro, and the rule for using "an" is if the word starts with a vowel sound ("you" is not a vowel sound). I'm Greek, so we say Ev-ro, but we have no "an" :P
- Tichy 16y agoThanks - it's new to me that "you" is not a vowel sound. Isn't it pronounced exactly like "u", which is a vowel? So generally never use "an" if a word starts with "u"?
- ElliotH 16y agoIt's the 'y' sound that pronouncing 'u' like 'you' causes. Your rule is too general though. A uniform. An understanding. (note that the u in understanding doesn't have a y sound to start it)