RIAA with a GREAT new wave of COMPLETE BS!

[The Grunt]

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050922-5339.html

I've spent part of my tenure here at Ars trying to warn people about the encroaching affront to our culture being brought about at the behest of the entertainment industry. It has consistently been my position that technologies like "Digital Rights Management" are less about preventing piracy, and more about finding new ways to nickel-and-dime customers. Through DRM and "contracts" for content, fair use rights are being eroded.

Of course, the industry is trying to accomplish its objective by publicly lamenting piracy. If the public and "their" politicians believe that the entertainment industry is on the verge of collapse, they'll be much more likely to accept restrictions on use of content that they've paid for. For this reason, most industry talking heads keep their comments in check when talking about DRM schemes, but from time to time we've seen people truly speak their mind. Such is the case with Tommi Kyyrä, of IFPI Finland. Mr. Kyyrä told Tietokone (Finnish) that the ability to play CDs on computers is a "privilege," and that people who have problems with CDs laden with DRM should just buy new CD players.

"Now, we need to understand that listening to music on your computer is an extra privilege. Normally people listen to music on their car or through their home stereos," said Kyyrä. "If you are a Linux or Mac user, you should consider purchasing a regular CD player." (Translation via tigert.com)

The comments come in the context of a debate over copy-protected CDs. As we have previously reported, CDs with copy protection do not play on all CD players, although this is certainly not just limited to computer CD players. Some older players also won't play the discs, either.

Curiously, Mr. Kyyrä's inflammatory remarks have since been removed from the story (comparative screenshots).

More recently we've learned that the entertainment industry is embracing a content protection scheme that will effectively give them control over whether or not you can play high-definition optical discs on your computer. I recently covered Microsoft's position in all of this mess; if Microsoft wouldn't support HDCP, high-definition optical discs would be entirely off-limits on Windows computers. Supporting HDCP isn't a panacea, however. Computers without secure video pathways will either degrade the quality of video displayed, or refuse to play them at all. The situation is rather complex, and I suggest checking out my coverage.

hmm. I wonder when they will learn that pissing off consumers will fail eventually, and will certainly not BOOST sales. Most people who download music anymore wouldn't buy it anyway.

[nihil]

that the ability to play CDs on computers is a "privilege," and that people who have problems with CDs laden with DRM should just buy new CD players.

The "man" is obviously a brain dead moron (apologies to any morons who may be offended by that remark)

If one looks at the history of multi media PCs it should be obvious that their raison d'etre is to provide a "one stop shop" for home entertainment. This would save space, wires etc., and possibly a certain amount of money. There is absolutely no "privilege" involved...................or have the RIAA been isolated in a nuclear bunker for the past ten years?

All I see this neanderthal attitude doing is making true piracy more prevalent by making it more profitable. It will have a knock on effect in that I am sure that people who would otherwise be disinclined to breach copyright will now be less adverse to doing so.

This will also have a serious impact on the retail sector, as vendors will have to make it very clear what the specifications for using the media are. Otherwise the goods can be legally returned for a full refund, and the vendors would face a very hefty fine for each and every item they tried to sell as anything other than second user.

It is a bit like the computer hardware market, it has lost touch with the reality that software will not be available to take advantage of the latest technology for some time, by which time the hardware will be obsolete. In this case it is virtually the other way round

If DRM media will not work, people will not buy it, at least not in the same volumes, and that is a sure fire way to hit the bottom lines of the industry dinosaurs.

As already suggested, if people are going to indulge in file sharing and piracy, they will; and they are not the ones who would buy a legitimate copy anyway. Why drive away your honest customers as well?

Just my £0.02

[Tedob1]

no offense taken nihil.

Your right this boob is really living large in RIAA fantasy land.

Computers without secure video pathways will either degrade the quality of video displayed, or refuse to play them at all.

that is until some kid in grade school finds away around it.

[!mitationRust]

They're in Never....... I mean............neva, neva land.

RIAA....bitch please.......Like I can't record a clean signal from my alpine in my car. And like that track can't make it to a shared file. Not that I share anything..... I never shared even back in the 90's.

I love this "If the public and "their" politicians"

[rcgreen]

Boycott entertainment. Who says that the court jester is entitled to
insult the King he's entertaining? Off with their heads! I'm gonna
buy myself a croquet set and me and my friends will entertain ourselves!
Who needs these spoiled overpaid entertainers anyway. It is a privelige
to be a rich rock star or actor. They should get real jobs and STFU.

[MoonWolf]

simple rule.

If I can SEE or HEAR media (hey they do want us to actually look at them movies and listen to that music right? RIGHT ?)

Then I can rerecord it to any non drm fileor format I like.

[RoadClosed]

Sirius and XM radio services, which are subscrition based and the RIAA or the music industry gets a cut btw are now being threatened with a law suit. Their crime, introducing the ability to record a few hours of a music stream. I love the idea so I can catch shows, TiVo style, that are on when I am either listening to another stream or while I am in bed etc. As I have stated many times. **** the RIAA. Two words *******s... "Audio Out"