Did you received any letter from Virgin Media or other ISPs?

[Dragon]

I pay for a shed, I pay for a really big shed that I can put loads of stuff in every month.

I have a lawnmower in my shed, I'm not sure if I bought it originally or borrowed it a while ago. It's currently one of my favourite lawnmowers.

While it's in the shed several other people I've never met borrow it and then offer it around for other people they've never met to use. If lots of people like the lawnmower then pretty much everytime I look in the shed someone is borrowing it.

The people who sell lawnmowers say that this is unfair because when I bought the lawnmower (if I actually did) there was someting in the handbook that said I couldn't let someone else use it. In fact they now sell lawnmowers that are chained up so they can't be put into anyone else's shed.

The lawnmower sellers want the people I rent the shed from to tell them who is renting the shed because they've seen lots of people borrowing the mower, in fact someone who works for the lawnmower people just pretended they liked my mower and borrowed it for a while just to see whose shed it was in. That's how they found out who was renting the shed.

The lawnmower people have also tried putting lots of fake lawnmowers in their own sheds to see if anyone will borrow them.

They say that they really are doing this because the people who make the lawnmowers are starving because no one is buying their lawnmowers anymore but it turns out that the lawnmower sellers are taking most of the money people are paying for mowers these days. And even some of the more famous of the lawnmower makers are letting people borrow their mowers without paying now.

It turns out that lots of people actually buy a new lawnmower after trying one out first.

I think the lawnmower sellers are just scared that people will find out what's going on.

?????????

Don't know what you are trying to say other than try to create your own law. Someone buy a CD, borrow it, is OK but duplicate it is not OK.

Someone borrow a lawnmower is OK, but duplicate it by copying is illegal.

Similarly if you bought an Vista and copy it is illegal. If you install it in more than one PCs, the VAT man will want the VAT for the subsequent copies.

 

[tyke]

music

what about all the kids who download a tune from their pc from a disc that they have bought, send it to their phone via bluetooth, then bluetooth it on to their mates at school, surely its the same thing !!!! take the 10 year olds through court, or sue the phone manufacturer or service provider ......

 

[Dragon]

what about all the kids who download a tune from their pc from a disc that they have bought, send it to their phone via bluetooth, then bluetooth it on to their mates at school, surely its the same thing !!!! take the 10 year olds through court, or sue the phone manufacturer or service provider ......

The parents are liable because they are the guardians.

 

[Spinal]

what about all the kids who download a tune from their pc from a disc that they have bought, send it to their phone via bluetooth, then bluetooth it on to their mates at school, surely its the same thing !!!! take the 10 year olds through court, or sue the phone manufacturer or service provider ......

Although I don't totally disagree with the concept of copyright; the way it is being enforced nowadays it OTT...

If you buy a CD and rip it using iTunes so you can play it on your iPod; you are liable to be prosecuted for copyright infringement.

If you buy a CD or audio track online, and play it too loud; you are liable for copyright infringement (something about playing it loud enough that others can hear means you need a public broadcasting licence)

If you buy a tune online, most of the time it will be of degraded quality. Any audiophile will be able to tell you immediately if you are listening to an mp3 or a lossless encoding.

In some countries, the audio-formats we are getting used to pay for (e.g. mp3) are legally downloadable/shareable for free. Why? Because these formats are considered of degraded quality and as such, exchange of these items does not present a legal problem.

Although I like the lawnmower example, it's not totally accurate. If thousands of people borrow your lawnmower, you wont be able to use it. If thousands of people download your music, you can still "use" it.

Think of it from a radio's perspective. No matter how many "extra" people listen to that song on the radio, no-one loses out.

Michele

Downloading is not a crime.

 

[masqueraid]

>>Think of it from a radio's perspective. No matter how many "extra" people listen to that song on the radio, no-one loses out.

Actually they do - check the Performing Rights Society site

(No the lawnmower analogy doesn't work completely but it was fun trying to make it fit )

 

[Spinal]

>>Think of it from a radio's perspective. No matter how many "extra" people listen to that song on the radio, no-one loses out.

Actually they do - check the Performing Rights Society site

(No the lawnmower analogy doesn't work completely but it was fun trying to make it fit )

It seems like for radio's it's based on net broadcasting revenue... reminds me alot of the "insurance" offers...

 

[Dragon]

>>Think of it from a radio's perspective. No matter how many "extra" people listen to that song on the radio, no-one loses out.

Actually they do - check the Performing Rights Society site

(No the lawnmower analogy doesn't work completely but it was fun trying to make it fit )

We listen to the radios is legal because we paid our licences unless otherwise. Commercial radios are funded by advertisings.

Artists are not losing because radio stations paid them 10p a time everytime a track is being played.

 

[masqueraid]

Yes artists are losing revenue because if a radio is played in a commercial environment PRS revenue is due. Their income is based not on 10p a track but on a proportion of the total income from PRS licencing so if everyone had the correct licence it would maximise their income from radio play.

I'm just citing it as an example of another area of music "sharing" that is considered by most to be free but actually isn't. The music industry is simply highlighting the illegal activity of file sharing more than the lack of PRS revenue because it is politically easier to gain public support.

If you have a radio on at work and several people listen to it at the same time without a PRS licence then you're breaking the law just as much as if you are file sharing.

 

[Dragon]

Downloading illegally? Look out, they’re watching you


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4387307.ece

 

[nigel cross]

What about recording from the radio?
Is that illegal?

 

[Dragon]

What about recording from the radio?
Is that illegal?

Theoretical yes, you are allowed to listen but not record.

£30 annual 'tax' for unlimited music downloads in biggest attack yet on internet pirates

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...ownloads-biggest-attack-internet-pirates.html

More licence.

Fair? No

 

[Mr E]

Lots of artists are coming to grips with the fact that the old financial models have reached the end of their life. The model now is moving towards commercial sponsorship of live performance.

The quality issue also comes into play - there is a view that the physical media price (a CD) will increase as your paying a premium for a higher quality experience. I've put together models for bands that work on sponsored performance and endorsement, free downloads from band website (with sponsor advertising) and premium-price physical media - the numbers stack up better for an emerging band than the traditional one. Advances for studio time, promotion, etc, come out of the band's profit (bit like VC funding - did anyone see Dragon's Den?).

The downside to this is that sponsors are invariably looking for image that matches their brand message. The flipside is that a band that has been able to build a good core following will be attractive to a wider range of potential sponsors.

However, anything that moves away from the archaic models that still currently exist in the industry are has to be a good thing.