[plug] Online music services and Linux?

[Alex Nordstrom]

Please, either fix your e-mail client so that it doesn't ignore my 
Reply-To line, or if you can't, at least manually heed my signature. 
They're both there for a reason.

On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 13:00, Mr Shayne wrote:
> I suspect if the bogus copyright regime toppled, the thinking would
> be different, as it would move "IP"

If it were to, we'd have no such notion of intellectual "property" in 
the first place.

> Either way, I have huge problems with bootlegging local band music.

(snip)

> Buying a $30 CD off Metallica doesnt mean metallica gets $30 however,

To bring this back on topic, this is why I recommended Magnatune in 
response to the original question. When you pay for music there, the 
artists get 50% of revenues under a non-exclusive contract.

> But if you are planning to set up a factory to produce metallica
> bootlegs, then yes, you probably need to go to jail or something.

And therein lies the difference in reactions to illegal filesharing and 
most publicised GPL violations.

I doubt most Free software proponents, even if they'd rightly note that 
it's not allowed, would be outraged over someone giving a copy of a 
widely distributed GPL'ed software to a friend whilst neglecting to 
also give him the source code. But the fact is that when a company uses 
Free software to create a mass-market closed-source product without 
giving credit to the original authors, what they're doing isn't 
analogous to illegal filesharing, but rather to bootleg factory 
operations.

It isn't just the public that views that more harshly. The law carries 
stiffer penalties for for-profit copyright violations than for personal 
infringements. In fact, I would argue that commercial GPL violations 
are generally more severe infractions than are commercial bootlegging 
operations, as the bootlegging industry still credits the original 
authors.

-- 
Alex Nordstrom
http://lx.n3.net/
Please do not CC me in followups; I am subscribed to plug.
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