More info on: http://www.netlabelism.net

Cheers,
Michel Berghs

a. my creative labs zen jukebox is just that. completely simple. a portable (small, silver and pretty “just like the ipod”) 30GB hard drive… creative labs didn’t force me to use their itunes store or sign up for an account, or force me to download itunes just because I wanted to install quicktime…, or bundle their player with some absurd mp3 buying software.
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Correction: Apple never forces you to use the Music Store. The Store (AAC, not mp3) is fully optional. You can use AAC (withOUT FairPlay), ALE, MP3, and with plugins, FLAC and OGG all with iTunes never once using their store. What you cannot do is use iTunes to fill up a music player other than iPods.

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drbitbucket Says:
December 10th, 2005 at 3:29 pm

Ok, I feel a little stupid. I did notice the iTunes—> Preference setting that defaulted to MP3 CD rather than Audio CD. My original rant still applies, though. If I wanted it on an MP3 CD, I should be able to do so without the copy “protection” that I ran into.

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I sympathize. The error message iS VERY bad. It should say you cannot burn that music as MP3 disc (or whatever). The whole point of the DRM is to prevent you from removing the DRM by way of burning directly to MP3 (which doesn’t support DRM in true form). This is the crux of the article that spawned this monster thread.

Now, iTunes should change their menu layout to show “burning” as a primary menu option, rather than a secondary menu button (which is a different layout type) off of the General menu. I’ve been using computers for 23 years and I missed it.

No problem, I’ll buy it online for the cheaper price (because I’m saving them a ton of money in distribution and media costs by doing a download). I’m thinking I’ll just burn it to CD so she can listen to it on her way to work (we don’t own an iPod or a car adapted mp3 player and she’s certainly not going to lug our laptop around in the car).

After checking the audio after I downloaded the album, I select the tracks, insert a blank CD and click burn. Then it starts to go downhill. What the fuck is this error message?! I takes me a few minutes of disbelief that I cannot simply put the album that I just laid down 10 smakers for on a medium other than my computer. No fucking way. I’m going to refuse the charges on my credit card (first try the nice way of canceling the order) and think about what I want to do next. What the hell do the companies that are doing this “protection” shit think we’re going to do with the music album that we download? Keep it _just_ on the computer? Do I intend on setting up a pirate company to hock CDs to the neighborhood kids? An internet pirate site? Heh, being in computer security, I know that there’s no better logged medium.

I had to tell my wife about since I’ve been typing with an irritated look on my face on the computer. She can’t believe it either. “But you BOUGHT the album. What do you mean you can’t put it on a CD? Do they want people do go out and piriate the music?!?”

Now I understand what people are bitching about. Given that, I agree with the original blogger on this topic and won’t support companies that want to fuck around with paying customers. Well fuck you very much, but I’ll take my business elsewhere, IF I give more business. Maybe I’ll just stay out of the music world altogether…

a. my creative labs zen jukebox is just that. completely simple. a portable (small, silver and pretty “just like the ipod”) 30GB hard drive… creative labs didn’t force me to use their itunes store or sign up for an account, or force me to download itunes just because I wanted to install quicktime…, or bundle their player with some absurd mp3 buying software.

b. It came in a plastic container and a manuel, and a power charger. I was able to plug it in, copy files over to it, and be on my merry way. what’s so hard about that?

2. itunes and ipods… a pop-culture fad. that will fade.

3. I am a composer with full support of the independent music scene… I was even interviewed in a Billboard Press book called ‘I Don’t Need A Record Deal!’ (which is a good read for artists that want to find other ways to succeed without relying on bigwigs!)

a. I have given away all my music, free, since 2000. and I have a LOT of fans now. no record label could have given that to me. It would have cost me a lot to sign a label deall, which i’ve turned down on a few occasions.

b. mp3.com was the most revolutionary movement in the history of the music industry. the labels saw that, and stole that model and deviated it into the mess you see today. Mp3.com once had the largest volume of unsigned artists, bands and composers, giving away millions of mp3’s, free. gaining fans, whom also bought their CD’s based on the free mp3s. Michael Robertson, the CEO who founded mp3.com (before cnet bought it and turned it into pop-culture telethon), is a revolutionary. I think perhaps, myspace.com is sort of the new mp3.com… ? what do you think?

4. I’m not rich. but i’m doing alright. and no label owns my recordings, masters, releases or music. I do. I sleep well.

Mike H. Says:
Something that hasn’t been covered in this conversation yet: I can well understand (not buy into, mind you – but understand) iTunes DRM – you pay for each song for each device you want to listen to it on, just like…software.

Fair use tells me that once I buy the song, its mine to play anytime, anywhere on anything I want. I’m looking for the counter-argument, however. If I can “own” a song or at least own the right to play it in the manner mentioned, why can’t I “own” my software?

Hey Mike H. Just torespond to some of your points. Typically, its not copyright that prohibits the installation of software on more than one computer but the EULA (end users license agreement). Also, while its true that software companies are moving to users’ leasing software. Under many software agreements the agreement is a combination lease/ownership agreement. Not one that benefits the user, but one that is liveable. For example, many EULA do permit instalation on more than one computer, but typically they limit to home and work, or desktop/laptop or situations where both installs are unlikely to be used at the same time.

Oddly, the leased software becomes more like ownership the older the software becomes. For example, when the software is “worthless” to the vendor, i.e. you’ve upgraded, purchased something different, or stopped using it; then you have the ownership benefits of selling or otherwise exiting your EULA. But while the software is in use, the agreement errs on being an application “lease”.

That said, “fair use” doesn’t explicitly, give you the rights to play anytime/anywhere the music you’ve purchased. For example, while you can through a party and play music; if you routinely threw parties, charged an entrance fee and played music, you’re skirting copyright law.

But the kicker is, and this applies for software to some extent anyway, is “personal use” and what copyright holders are willing to enforce. For example, while, owning a single license of Adobe Creative Suites for your 50 person desktop publish staff, is a massive abuse of EULA and copyright, which can be randomly enforced. Installing a single copy of Adobe CS on your five personal computers most likely won’t be enforced unless you commit some other offense first.

As more people monetize personal things, a number of items which people are use to considering “fair use” because they were personal and not for profit, become questionable, because while you can argue that they are personal, they are no longer “not-for-profit”. This of course is only compounded by digitalization, which allows us to market the personal as both professional and commercial; without consideration of the ramifications of doing so.

For example, I consider Apple’s DRM a reminder. It reminds me, that when I’m about to hand over a music file to a friend, that I’m suppose to consider if this is fair to the artist and or copyright holder. Typically, I will mentay consider the friend, and then proceed to either burn them a CD or remove the DRM and send them a file, because for most of my friends I think that my introducing them to music will eventually lead to music sales. Hopefully for my favorite artist.

But I also, get random request from strangers who want copies of music files or from acquaintances who, may or may not abuse copyright laws, etc. And having to take the extra 2-5 minutes to remove the DRM gives allows me to say, “you can get it from iTMS for 99 cents.” without guilt.

Digitaization brings into question what do we own. It’s easy to say, I own a book or a CD, they have a physicality that can be pointed to, touched, held, and transferred. But with the book we own the paper and cardboard, not the words on the page; and with a CD we own the silicon but not the sound and lyrics. Ownership of those items remain with the author/copyright holder.

This reminds me of the arguments for and against ticket scalping. Many peope argue that they bought the ticket and they own it, they have a right to resell it. But the reason with scalping is typically illegal is because people won’t to monetize their ticket ownership. So a $50 ticket, becomes a $150 ticket, in which they make $100. But realy, while you have the right to sel your ticket, you don’t have the right to make a profit off a game, concert, or another event that you don’t own. Profits from ticket sales should belong with the vendor/artist/product company, whatever. (That said, if I love the artist enough, I have purchased scaped tickets; but I try not to).

It’s all interesting, and I haven’t thought through everything. I don’t often agree with copyright laws. I just think they’re massively abused by corporations. But I also don’t agree with the “I can do anything I want” arguments of many people either.

http://www.garageband.com/artist/carbonleaf

I like these guys a lot, and their cds aren’t copy protected. Highly recommended.