"six strikes" takes effect July 1st

[Mr Furious]

The big picture and how to protect IP without turning this country into “a China” regarding restricting content to users is really the crux. This is such a difficult subject to tackle from both sides. I don’t have an answer. Many great points brought up by all here.

I do think it’s 2012 and the recording industry refuses to accept they’re a dying model and one that needs to evolve. Having full time staff monitoring and filing official DMCA notices of infringement to the sites doesn’t work. Going after the individual user through legal means has proven to have an overall adverse effect and will never work as the information age expands. So now the “attack the network” strategy takes this “six strikes” approach. Will this work in truly protecting IP? Is that the real intent? I have the same concerns as others have stated. What alarms me is now these organizations are banding together (we won’t call it a joint venture yet…) to drive revenue streams while forcing the user to prove their innocence…to them.

All behaviors, lifestyle and traits aside, keep in mind that Kim Schmitz (no doubt a crook) was moving toward a newer “Mega” model built on the foundation of putting a greater share of advertising revenue into the hands of the artists. He was about to release that platform when the take down on his organization happened. He scared the hell out of the MPAA/RIAA and became their public enemy number one. I don’t know the details of the business operations and licensing of that platform, but it was certainly enough of a scare for the industry to go full-on in their efforts against him. I think his take down and assets frozen right before going live on that platform was no coincidence, and so do others: http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidthi...was-shut-down/

This industry wants so badly to hold onto the old business model, it truly needs to evolve and it needs to include the artists and their fans. Like DJ U stated in some of earlier posts, a good friend once made me a mix tape of the Pogues. It was that tape that introduced me to the band and from there I went on to purchase their music and see them live. It’s the same thing as we go forward through the years, but it takes different formats. I can’t count how many mix CD’s were burnt for me by others on deployments, and that led to me buying music. Wonder if UCMJ will be influenced by the RIAA too regarding purchases at haji shops for a bootleg movies, or the cd shops in the Balkans, and let’s not forget the GB’s of files that have been placed on the servers downrange. Please. It is 2012, and there is no going back to the old. So what’s the answer? I sure don't see it as six strikes.

[Mr Furious]

iTunes and Pandora, etc put a fraction of pennies into the artists hands, it’s a joke. The large firms in industry only bet on sure things with a rapid ROI so instead of being treated to hidden gems or something groundbreaking we get manufactured mainstream garbage that will ensure a return for industry. Case and point - Berry Gordy’s offspring LMFAO, a sure thing. Indie artists are getting their music out there by social media, otherwise we would never hear of them at all. You want music videos anymore, go to web because you are certainly not going to see them on MTV. Some artists such as Dave Grohl look at file sharing as a means to get their music out there. He wants to see the fans pack the stadiums; he gets it.

http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/24/was...kebox-service/

“TorrentFreak first reported about the service in early December 2011. Megabox was just in beta at that time with listed partners of 7digital, Gracenote, Rovi, and Amazon. Megaupload was in a heated marketing battle with the RIAA and MPAA who featured Kim Dotcom in an anti-piracy movie (5:10 mark). The site had just sued Universal Music Group for wrongly blocking Megaupload’s recent star-studded YouTube campaign. Things were getting vicious in December but the quiet launch of Megabox might have been the straw that broke the millionaire’s back.

Dotcom described Megabox as Megaupload’s iTunes competitor, which would even eventually offer free premium movies via Megamovie, a site set to launch in 2012. This service would take Megaupload from being just a digital locker site to a full-fledged player in the digital content game.

The kicker was Megabox would cater to unsigned artists and allow anyone to sell their creations while allowing the artist to retain 90% of the earnings. Or, artists could even giveaway their songs and would be paid through a service called Megakey. “Yes that’s right, we will pay artists even for free downloads. The Megakey business model has been tested with over a million users and it works,” Kim Dotcom told TorrentFreak in December. Megabox was planning on bypassing the labels, RIAA, and the entire music establishment.

Megaupload was likely large enough to actually find success. Other services have tried what Megabox was set to do, but Megaupload was massive. Prior to its closure last week, the site was estimated to be the 13th most visited site on the Internet, accounting for 4% of all worldwide Internet traffic. It boasted 180 million registered users with over 50 million visiting the site daily. Megaupload was already a seemingly trusted service for artists to distribute their work. Megabox would have a monetized that popularity by passing on the bulk of the earnings back to the artists.”

http://torrentfreak.com/riaa-label-a...w-song-111209/

“We want content creators to get paid!” Easier said than done perhaps, but Kim says he has it all worked out. He told TorrentFreak the solution comes with Megakey, a product which provides Mega users with free premium services now, and free premium licensed music and movies in the future. All this will be financed through advertising and as usual, Kim has big, innovative and probably controversial plans in mind.

When Megakey is installed the software asks permission to modify where 10 to 15% of the user’s online advertising experience is sourced from.
“It works like an ad blocker but instead of blocking ads we show ads coming from Megaclick, our ad network,” says Kim. “This way we will generate enough ad revenue to provide free premium services and licensed content so that our users can have it for free.”

I stated earlier Kim was a crook and his character is extremely flawed. My opinion doesn’t change on that. I am also of the opinion that he was certainly on to something that was going to be disruptive to an entire industry. To reiterate, “Megabox was planning on bypassing the labels, RIAA, and the entire music establishment” and in a blink, it went from 13th most visited site on the planet to being shut down all together.

[BOfH]

Originally Posted by Mr Furious

Like DJ U stated in some of earlier posts, a good friend once made me a mix tape of the Pogues. It was that tape that introduced me to the band and from there I went on to purchase their music and see them live.

There are rumors that this is the reason why Microsoft doesn't go after the little guys, I guess like "bad publicity is better than no publicity", the same could be said about software. Not that it justifies stealing, but there is something to be said about the "mix tape" exposure.

My .002

[kgoerz]

Then the movie industry needs to keep up with technology and protect their shit. Any way you look at these SOPA....etc laws. It's giving someone the power to control the flow of information.

[Mr Furious]

David Lowery is the founder/singer/songwriter of Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker. He is also a lecturer at GA. What he writes about makes a lot of sense. He often backs his views with proof and factual sources. I appreciate him for being down to Earth and often engaging his fanbase on issues. Here's a link to his post and analysis of the new music industry in the digital age. I found this to be a very insightful read and it brought to light many things I was not aware of.

http://thetrichordist.wordpress.com/...oss-full-post/

[dr. mabuse]

Originally Posted by Kyobanim

I get a check from BMI every 6 months, based on song performance and plays by different venues like bars, hotels, whatever. If someone downloads a song from the internet and plays it for themselves I really don't give a shit.

And the name of that tune? Just curious.

Occasionally used to get residuals on jingles and such recorded in the old daze at ZZ Top's old studio in East Texas.