AT&T Testing RIAA's Download Tracking Plan

[exfileme]

Music leechers beware: the RIAA has an antipiracy plan up its sleeve, and AT&T has signed on to test it out. Oh snap.

AT&T Testing RIAA's Download Tracking Plan : Read more

 

[Blessedman]

I am curious how they are going to know what material is being transported especially if it is encrypted. Like NiN uses torrents to transfer their (his) free albums to the net. Maybe this is the real RIAA's intent, to stop the artist from bypassing them as a means of getting their music to their fans. ISP want to join because if they can stop people from downloading (period) then they don't have to spend all those profits to update their aging equipment and actually provide the consumer with what they want (more bandwidth!). Not to mention there is a privacy issue here.

 

[mustwarnothers]

While I may or may not partake in the occasional piracy, I understand its negative impact on some areas of business.

I buy what I like; I support genuine artists, and I don't like buying garbage.

The RIAA should make a deal with consumers. If we stop the pirating, and raping of their current business model, they should stop the even more vicious rape of Artists.

The problem is that if I download some CD I'm only half interested in, I'm stealing from the record company first, and the artist second.

The reason that's a problem is because the incentive isn't just to download a free cd, it's partially to f*ck over some sleazebag corporate swine.

Give me less of a reason to want to screw you over (alter your business model) and maybe I'll buy more of your product.

 

[pirateboy]

they will FAIL

 

[MoUsE-WiZ]

What does the ISP do when you start informing them that whatever songs the RIAA is claiming you've stolen are on CDs you've purchased?

 

[blackened144]

Giganews w/ SSL is my preferred downloading method.

 

[Guest]

What happened to Illegal Search and Seisure? They need to wake up an realize they cannot strong-arm their way out of piracy. Buy a CD and get a ticket to a show or maybe get a bad ass bumper sticker, poster, hat or key chain.

If the major labels took this approach and gave people a REASON to buy an retail packaged album, they would.

They will NEVER win ... whatever they come up with, people will circumvent within weeks. It's the inherent nature of SOFTware

The blind leading the blind, honestly. Just wasting millions of dollars, year after year.

 

[rocket_sauce]

Booo! I'm moving to Japan...

 

[Floydage]

They can't be serious!? In most areas there is more then 1 choice for ISP.(assuming you pay for your internet in the first place) For example where I live I could go with Time Warner, AT&T, Verizon, ect. If I got cut off for even a second I would just steal another mac address and pirate more internet. HAHAH damn the man!!

 

[hurbt]

Long live monopolies...

 

[techtre2003]

So I wonder how much the RIAA is paying AT&T for this. My guess is the "trial" is to see if the money the RIAA is paying them will cover the potential loss of customers.

 

[tayb]

This should be good. I wonder how in the world these ISP's are going to figure out exactly what file you are downloading? If this goes mainstream don't think for a second the pirate community is going to rest on its laurels and let the RIAA "win."

I also wonder if they are paying the ISP's to be doing this. I don't know why in the world any company would do it for free but you never know.

 

[Jim0615]

ISPs are treading on thin ice here. It is likely that the current administration will push for more consumer choice in who provides our access. Which means they won't have a monopoly anymore. It's also likely they view Internet access as a necessity. It also can have the effect of making the ISP liable for what is transfered if they do not stop it, it being anything illegal.

 

[skine]

To be quite honest, I feel that the RIAA and the "big four" are all just digging themselves a nice little home six feet under. All they sell is music, and sell it at a premium.

Compare that to smaller, independent labels. For example:

1) Vinyl Collective(/Suburban Home).

I know vinyl is a small market, and most who read this aren't as avid about the medium as I am. But knowing their history is why they're about the only place I buy it from, aside from a local shop.

When internet piracy started becoming common, Suburban Home Records took a huge hit in CD sales. It got to the point that they actually had to move back into Virgil Dickerson's own home in the suburbs, with only three employees. At this point he began placing emphasis vinyl; a medium that, while not as popular, provided the user with an experience which transcends just the music. It was the mix of providing a physical experience and excellent customer service that brought the business back up to steam. Now, the company sells vinyl from dozens of labels. What's more is that about half of the albums sold on the site provide a free mp3 download of the album.

Top reasons why I love them:
a) Beer of the Week
b) Excellent selection
c) Song of the day, with free download link
c) On an invoice for a delivery to my college address: "You can get a job here with a degree from SUNY Potsdam. I did!"

2) Saddle Creek Records.

The label supports many good bands, but the one I'm infatuated with is Cursive. I'll just provide details for their most recently released album. Starting on March 1st, Saddle Creek had a deal to download the album (at 320 kbps) for the price of the day up until the album release on March 10th (ie. 3/1 = $1, 3/2 = $2, ..., 3/10 = $10). Luckily, I found this out on February 28th and got it for $1 the next day.

If the CD is purchased from their online store, you get an immediate mp3 download, a download card for bonus material, and a poster with hand-written lyrics from Tim Kasher (the lead singer/songwriter). link

The vinyl version (which I will download eventually) includes everything from the CD version (including the CD), except instead of the poster, there's a 15-page booklet, and it has a 180 gram disc (highest quality). link

Top reasons why I love them:
a) Always provide enough to make it more than "just a CD"
b) When they sell a "similar" product, it's generally higher quality (320 kbps vs 128 kbps for an mp3 download)
c) EVERY order comes with a handwritten note with your name on it. I know this is incredibly simple, but it makes a huge difference.


The basics are: If you appreciate the people and appreciate the product, then there's a greater chance of you actually caring enough to buy the product.

 

[skine]

Sorry, that was a bit longer than I intended.

 

[hustler539]

Oh no, I have AT&T. If they cut me off, I cut them off. Like someone said, there are plenty internet providers in my area. I only go with them because they provide the home phone service to me as well. But if they were to cut me off, they would lose that as well. The end result can't be good for the company

 

[outacontrolpimp]

to bad i get my free music straight off of youtube. set your recording device to the sound card, and you can record audio straight off youtube. so it may not be 100/10 quality like some people require, it sounds perfect to me, and goes great on my ipod. they cant stop me. youtube downloaders work also, i can download my videos in mp3 format so i dont have to have the video with it
at&t i hope you fail, you cant take away my rights, big rich a** bi**hes trying to hog more money from themselves. like Lil Wayne, Brittney Spears or T.I. need a extra $100m each year

 

[Guest]

Come on...AT&T and Comcast both sell media files...cutting down on piracy is just a way to line their own pockets

 

[my_name_is_earl]

Oh snap! I had AT&T for my iphone 3g and for my DSL provider. Maybe I'll switch to a different provider and if they pull something like that and make it all serious then I'm going to cancel all AT&T cr@p and hack into my neighbor ISP instead... They don't even have a password

 

[waffle911]

Artists are only being hurt because the record labels are shifting the financial pain onto them, even when the label takes most of the cut from online sales where their cost of operating is actually pretty close to nil. The problem is that the concept of a "record label" is becoming outdated. The paradigm needs to shift more to the management, press, and marketing aspects of the music industry and let the artists profit from their art. Computers and the Internet have allowed more independant artists to gain exposure than a major label ever could have brought to light, and self-producing an album is no longer a pipe dream, but a necessity to start taking the first few fledgling steps into the musical world. The big labels know this, and they don't like it one bit.