Zen-like Todd Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 Interesting take. http://www.blogmaverick.com/entry/1234000270043583/ Yahoo forces RIAA staff cutbacks… Ok, not yet. But they are coming. I promise. Not that i ever want to see anyone lose their jobs, but it will be nice for music label employees to have all the subsidies they are paying the RIAA go to their artists. (Yes you were supposed to laugh at that one ) As Barry Ritholz smartly pointed out in his blog, the introduction of Yahoo’s Music Unlimited Service sets the new marketvalue for all the music you can download in a month…5 bucks. The RIAA can no longer claim that students who are downloading music are costing them thousands of dollars each. They cant claim much of anything actually. In essence, Yahoo just turned possession of a controlled music substance into a misdemeanor. Payable by a $5 per month fine. Of course, RIAA staffers wont go quietly into the night. They will continue to scream loud and hard about evils of illegal downloading. The question is, will they move the money they are currently spending on court cases and filing suit, towards promoting the new subscription services that are available. Particularly Yahoo’s dirt cheap service. Will they have the sense to say…”Ok kid, you are about to get sued, which will mean we both spend money on lawyers, and then we kick your butt in court and you pay a multi=thousand dollar settlement, OR, you can sign up for any of the all you can eat music subscriptions, Rhapsody, Napster or Yahoo Music. Your choice. 5 bucks a month. Or thousands of bucks. Will the RIAA mitigate circumstances and turn their efforts toward promoting legal downloads, or will they still get their jollies from suing their customers ? And what about our favorite back pocket politician, Orrin “but Im a songwriter too” Hatch. What will he get on his knees for in order to get money from the music industry? Could he possibly still get worked up and spend our hard earned taxpayer money for crimes whose total economic value is 5 bucks per month. (yes, you were supposed to laugh again). Will he try to induce people to spend the 5 bucks, or will he still think its necessary to destory users PCs.? How about this Orrin, why dont you introduce a Utah Loves Music bill, that requires every citizen of the lovely state of Utah (dont laugh here, it really is pretty), to pay a $5 per month music tax ? You could negotiate a statewide discounted deal with Yahoo Music Unlimited, grab a few bucks off the top for yourself and the state, and you would have completely rid the entire state of Utah of illegal downloading ! By offering music so economically, Yahoo has changed how the RIAA should and can spread Piraphobia around the country. It should also change the perspective our politicians have about the subject as well. How can the Attorney General divert resources to save the music biz 5 bucks a pop ? How can bills be proposed that try to save the music industry 5 bucks a month ? Of course it wont happen in a straight line. THere are RIAA jobs and political contributions to protect. And although the Yahoo and other sub services are not perfect, they will get continuously better and support more and more devices and have increasing flexibility. This is the low point for subscription services. Which is a good thing. Its going to get better and better every year. Anyone want to show RIAA lawyers how to use Craigslist ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXREDSKINS44 Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 I had a buddy in college get caught downloading music about a month ago. His internet provider sent him a letter stating that the RIAA asked for his mailing address. A couple of days later he received a letter from the RIAA stating that they were suing him for $4,100. He hired a lawyer and they settled outside of court for $3,100. (Oh by the way he was using Kazza) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portisizzle Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 Originally posted by TXREDSKINS44 I had a buddy in college get caught downloading music about a month ago. His internet provider sent him a letter stating that the RIAA asked for his mailing address. A couple of days later he received a letter from the RIAA stating that they were suing him for $4,100. He hired a lawyer and they settled outside of court for $3,100. (Oh by the way he was using Kazza) Wow. Hard up bunch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Washington Posted May 18, 2005 Share Posted May 18, 2005 wow what a "settlement". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChocolateCitySkin Posted May 18, 2005 Share Posted May 18, 2005 That was mighty quick... 1 month and a settlement. Can you get whatever you wanton yahoo music? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancalagon the Black Posted May 18, 2005 Share Posted May 18, 2005 Yahoo music, as far as I know, doesn't let you get files in a format you can burn to CD (except if you pay an additional fifty cents per song or something). That said, Cuban's point is still good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TC4 Posted May 18, 2005 Share Posted May 18, 2005 They always say that people get caught "downloading" music, but that term is misleading No one ever gets caught downloading music, what they get busted for is letting others upload it from their computers. They see that you have a ton of files shared and then they go after you And there ARE ways to not get caught......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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