Why doesn't the RIAA just put on the shrink wrap and the CD itself that it owns any device that this disc has ever been placed and and threfore you have to pay them royalties every time you use that device.
Heck, they already tried passing a law that would have created 'single device' discs. Oh, did you miss that one? Yes. What they almost succeeded in doing was to obsolete EVERY DISC PLAYER ON THE PLANET by making it so that the drive would somehow pee on a cd or dvd when it played it. Yep. 'Mark' the disc so that if it was played oin any other device, that device would see that it was marked (peed on) and would then refuse to play it.
How cool would that be boys and girls? Get that new Backstreet Boys disc and play it on the player in your car (which would mark it) and then give it to your grandmother who now can't play it because you already did (BUSTED!!!
What makes my head ache is that the RIAA can get away with this bullshit! Anyone remember that all woman group with the HUGE number one hit disc a few years ago that went bankrupt because of the pennies they were getting dribbled from the music company. They charged for the paper cups at their cd launch!
New RIAA Argument: Throwing A Promo CD In The Garbage = Unauthorized Distribution
from the next-up:-picking-your-nose=distribution dept
Last summer, the EFF sued Universal Music Group, after UMG had eBay takedown the sales of certain CDs. The CDs were promotional CDs, purchased legitimately by a guy going to LA record stores. However, UMG claimed that the CDs, as promotional items, were still the property of Universal Music Group. The EFF charged that UMG was abusing the law, specifically by ignoring the right of first sale, which is enshrined in copyright law allowing you to resell CDs or other works that contain copyrighted material. In response, UMG has now filed a brief that says that throwing out a promotional CD is unauthorized distribution.
Effectively, UMG is saying that merely by putting some fine print on a CD, it can effectively "own" that CD forever. If the court agrees, this would have some rather stunning ramifications, effectively wiping out the first sale doctrine. Record labels could then include similar language on all CDs, not just promo CDs, and then basically create its own copyright rules, preventing any use other than what the record label decided to allow. That would seem to go against much of historical precedent (and basic common sense) surrounding copyright. Courts in the past have noted time and time again that just because you say something is true, it doesn't mean it necessarily is true. Hopefully the court will make that point once again.
I use itunes and Amazon MP3 downloads.
An aside: Stevie Wonder CD. You know the one. BestBuy price: 37 bucks!!! itunes price: 19 bucks!! Amazon download price: 9 bucks! It's a double disc at the store...
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