ArtistBlog.ME

My soulmate wanted to rip the CD to put on his Archos Jukebox, since he is not using CD’s anymore but still buys them to be legal and to have the full version.

Since I have put in the CD I can’t run my company invoice system anymore, can’t do anything at all with that cdrom drive, can’t even play a game. Every time I put in the CD it cannot be recognized by my system.

I already tried to uninstall the software but the problem stays, which forces me to reinstall the PC completely (which I definitely don’t have the time for now at the moment and will cost me days to get my invoicing and updates done).

Is this legal ? Can this be allowed ? I am literally loosing money now just because I wanted to rip that legal and bought cd for him straight to his Archos. It’s not even music I like to listen to… (no offense intended to all fans around here) …

Apparantly it is legal folks ..
CD’s that demolish your PC ready to reinstall!…

I am really starting to get even more annoyed since I do not know which CD’s I can even TRUST anymore without the need to re-install my PC? To stay on topic ; A lot of data is on backup but also a lot of data (my vinyl and protected CD’s ripped to WAV format) will be lost after this re-install.

These copyprotections are taking more time than I have; to be even more specific, certain CD’s like Solid Sounds I need to rip manually to be able to USE this CD in my older car cd player and pro Denon DJ CD player!!! Since I am DJ and using vinyl and CD’s a lot I find this unacceptable. Put in this pro-DJ player and you got to wait up to 6 minutes before the CD *might* get read; which is too long for a clubDJ to mix to the next song; unless I have a 8-10 minute song running from vinyl…

Is this copyprotection a convenience only for the record company or should the audio CD be a convenience for the listener? Where’s the time you put in the CD in your favorite cd player you like to listen to the music you like ? The time of putting your cd in your car cdplayer, cd-rom drive or professional CD player is over and it’s only getting worse, looking to this example of the latest CD I tried to rip for my friend.

And this is not even the end, my soulmate has bought 2 other CD’s, which one of them is the new Faithless CD (the other one I can’t remember because we have a different taste (and yet the same) of music) and he can’t rip it to use on his MP3 player *and* he can’t use it on his home CD player (unreadable disks).

I used to buy 2 to 5 cd’s a month, since I am not sure anymore which cd’s work or not I started buying more vinyl again, but hell, I do not want to buy ANY releases of the same producers that cripple the audio CD’s I have bought for 20 EURO or more!

The recording industry has lost at least 600 EURO last year only because I do not want to buy or use cd’s anymore.. what’s the use to buy a cd if I can’t use it?

I have built up a nice record collection of +30000 vinyl records and +2000 cd’s. Probably the collection of my cd’s will not be updated anymore as I protest to this kind of behavior towards the consumer. I currently have about 62 cd’s of the last 2 years that I cannot use at all unless I rip it and copy it. This is about 1200 EURO/$ I have lost because I cannot use them as DJ.

This will conclude the recording industry will not get MY money of minimally 720 EURO/$ per year anymore, which I will spend on independent vinyl recording companies which are not related to the ones that cripple MY cd’s I have bought with my well-deserved money which I pay my taxes on.

For so far my rant … for the ones that care ; I started to care a lot since I have lost my cd-rom drive on a very mysterious way

Hillary Rosen, the CEO of the RIAA (Records Industry Association of America) wants ISP’s and telecommunication companies to pay a fee for giving customers access to music swapping software.

This way the RIAA wants to recoup all lost sales and money because of music piracy. Next to that Hillary mentioned on the Midem music conference that more CD’s should be protected against piracy and licensing restrictions and download services by subscription should also be taken care about; She urged this to the major record labels like BMG, Sony music, Warner music, EMI and Universal.

More information can be found in these articles:
at News.com.
at Yahoo news.

What does this mean ?

This means the RIAA, a private company is already enforcing taxes on empty CD’s, MD’s, DAT’s and tapes. They want another “Internet tax” even on the heads of people that do not even touch any bit of music or P2P software on the Internet. Next to this they want a tax on memory cards (which get mostly used in cameras but also MP3 players), MP3 players and MP3 software.

Taxes by the corporations ?
Taxes are food for the government and not for the corporations. This is another point-of-evidence the corporations are taking over the world instead of the government.

You are a criminal ?
The last few years the RIAA, MPAA and other organisations are considering everybody to be a criminal. Even if you only use CDR’s or MD’s for your own productions or if you don’t even use these for music but only for data: you need to pay the extra amount of money that goes to the RIAA and not to the artists. This is to fill up the pockets of the executives of these cartels (or “Industry Associations” if you want to call it like that).

Because you have a PC, CD-WRITER and CD-ROM drive you are a criminal; you need to pay these extra fees (taxes) because you are automatically a music pirate according their analogy.

If I understand correctly you can be called a criminal by having:

• several knives (because you can kill people with them)
• a firearm (because you can shoot people with it)
• a car (because you can drive over people or property with it)
• a camera (because you could make illegal porn with it)
• a videorecorder (because you can record shows/movies with it)…

Where is the world going to ? These are taxes because of crimes a minority of people commit by sharing music illegaly!

Similarities ?

1. This way Microsoft should be also able to enforce taxes to the people because people pirate software.
2. Pirate cd’s get transported, the RIAA should put up road taxes because they loose revenue because CD’s get transported over the road, train, boats, …

What could really help ?
Currently a CD could cost up to 25 EUROS in Belgium.

Let’s make a quick calculation per CD …

1 EURO (box, inlay, cover)
2 EUROS (cd + pressing + marketing)
2 EUROS (goes to artist)

The rest of the 20 Euros goes to the RIAA, MPAA, SABAM, whatever cartel (or “Industry Organisation”).

If CD’s would be having a price tag of let’s say 12 EUROS more people will buy CD’s because they are cheaper. 50% of the CD’s is crap on the market anyway and you need to pay up to 25 EUROS for that piece of plastic. Sometimes there is only one or two numbers that are good on a CD and yet .. 25 EUROS !

Where goes the rest of the money to?
It goes straight to the pockets of these associations. Why? To enforce taxes, pay their lawyers, for their executives, … Worth to mention: the money does not arrive at the artist!

What can I do ?
Currently I have the feeling corporations are going to rule the world. They are imposing taxes on everything they can. The money of these taxes goes straight to these associations. Protections are being added not to protect the customer but to protect their pockets; against the customers.

CD’s getting useless …
The last 10 CD’s I have bought there are 3 CD’s useless in my car cd player, cannot play 4 of them in my computer CD-rom drive and 2 CD’s continuesly give problems in my (older) professional DENON players.

This is a problem for me, as DJ. I needed to get all these tracks from the Internet to burn to CD (from MP3) and get all the records; ADDITIONALLY next to buying the CD; to be able to use the music I have given money for !!!

I have lost 50 EUROS because I cannot play them decently in a old DENON cd player. I have lost 100 EUROS (in total) because I cannot play them in my laptop/PC CD player which is the only cd player in this room and my office !

Where does this end?

The RIAA and the MPAA (Motion Pictures Association of America or best said Hollywood) is also enforcing lots of restrains to the current PC manufacturers/owners to enforce DRM (Digital Right Management) so the PC gets theoretically their property instead of your property.

Next to that CD protections get added so you cannot play them on your PC/LAPTOP CDROM drive. Some of these protections do not allow these CD’s to be played in older CD drives like CAR CD drives because these use the same construction as a CDROM drive. The professional Denon 2500 series (worth about 2000 EUROS) cannot play some of these cd’s because the tracks skip …

If you buy a MP3 player in Canada you need to pay the MP3 player + you need to pay an extra for the internal harddrive. 21$ per gig; If you buy a Ipod MP3 player with 20 gigs you will pay 440$ on top of the price of the unit !!!

DVD writable disks you need to pay 2.27$ more per disk, what will you pay if any high resolution disk with four times more storage comes out? 9$ ???

Indeed .. where does it end?

I know MP3’s, am I a criminal ?
I buy my CD’s legally. I buy my VINYL legally. Why? Because I play it in public and I have the best quality. When downloading MP3’s the quality is mostly too bad to use in a discotheque.

I download MP3’s because I need to pre-listen. If I need to buy every CD I would now be bankrupt and be living on the streets. Thanks to MP3’s I can first listen to certain songs and if I like these I start to search around for a CD compilation or VINYL records. This way I minimize my expenses and get a maximum of quality music I can play.

Is this illegal? *NO* because I pay for the music by buying the CD’s and VINYL. Do I use these MP3’s ? *NO* because they are mostly crap anyway to use/handle decently; next to this VINYL is a lot easier to handle than mp3’s or their burned equivalent (with distortion or bad recordings).

I am not a criminal by prelistening my tracks!

DVD’s and CD’s …
You can get a full DVD with movie, commentary, special features and extras for about 20 EUROS.

You can get a soundtrack of a movie for 25 EUROS without any extras.

Where is the f*ck*ng difference? You pay 5 EUROS *MORE* for a piece of plastic that is worth LESS! The prices of CD’s are outragious higher than of a DVD while a DVD costs more to make!

Endnote …
I am worried to grow up in a world where citizens do not run the government anymore but corporations have all ropes in their hands … corporations run the government and the people.

I am worried as a citizen, I am worried about my government,

I am worried about my voice and rights because if I look to the USA ..

the rights of their citizens are almost all taken away …
Why ? For the sake of terrorism (the newest buzzword), piracy (the second newest buzzword) and extortion …

I hope more people will understand their rights are subconsiously taken away and I hope more people will fight for their rights and their privacy …

What will you do if Microsoft, the RIAA, MPIAA and other major corporations run YOUR house, property and laws?

Other links available:

• BMG decides to make copyprotected CD’s only!
• RIAA allowed to hack?
• Napster down, others to follow!
• Leave your comments down here!
  

This small article contains a few topics at once …

Driving problems in 2001, Computer Security and Microsoft is a bad cocktail, terrorists and Outlook problems, war, snooping, sms (cellphone hacking) and much more!

First things first …
I have lately been having moral problems being on the road.

When driving around in Holland, especially where I stay a lot, in Emmen, it has been on my mind that people cannot drive anymore!

The people do not drive the car but the car drives the people! These days it looks like we are driving in London. All people are driving LEFT, trucks are driving RIGHT!

These times you can drive +/- 90Km/h instead of 120Km/h on the highways! The time they see a curve they hit the breaking pedal. The time they see a warning sign of ANY kind they start breaking and creating traffic jams from here to the North Sea! (as a figure of speaking!)

Microsoft, the famous softwarecompany that is present high-numbered has still no clue about computer security! (every word contains a link!); Then Microsoft’s chief security advisor will be leaving MS to work in the Whitehouse as security advisor; hope he gives better advice to them than to his previous employer! (This same guy told in a 1998 interview he denied that viruses in mail attachments are no problems!

The latest worm (new news!) is Goner what can spread through Outlook and ICQ!

Then, there is WAR. War against who? Against terrorists? or against the civilians? These days the government can sniff your Internet connection at their own will! Some references are Magic Lantern (not to be detected by MacAfee and Symantec; how long does it take to be standard in XP service pack 2 to be used as counter-intelligence tool or to wiretap people/companies unrelated to any crime (investigation)?), Carnivore (1 | 2 | 3), Echelon (1 | 2 | 3 | target=”new”>4>), …

Not even better news is that the famous MP3 P2P network is needing to shut down or face a penalty of 100 guilders (40US$/45Euro) per day to Buma/Stemra (the US RIAA equivalent in Holland).

The @home Bankrupcy story…
@Home is dead in the United States; Excite@home and Comcast/AT&T has reached a agreement through a $160 million deal [cnet news] to get 70% of the large population of rough 45% of Internet Users in the US (back) working! Hope it has nothing to do with the latest Orange in the UK, the very populair social; first text message community called Locust Cellular needs to be closed. There is even a saveLocust.org for the supporting people of Locust. SMS is getting too commercial these days .. you even hear the famous “beep-beep, …, beep-beep” on the radio to attract Nokia owners! The same is happening with MTN SMS and Proximus in Belgium, MTNSMS cannot send SMS’s to Proximus phones anymore!

Then yet again, Nokia phones are not really crash-free! You can crash a (and the very popular 6110,6150, 6210,6250,7110,3310 and 3330) Nokia phone over SMS!

I have seen a movie called “Silverlake Life” from Discovery Channel about a gay couple that has been seperated by AIDS. A very shocking and good visual document what makes you think twice! I have written an article about the upcoming risks of HIV! (this article is currently in re-edit!)

According this article the RIAA (record industry) tried to have a hacking-authorization against all music swappers. They want to “get the law back” by breaking the law?

This is a follow up to this article (Napster down, others to follow!).

It seems nothing is too weird anymore on this world. Go imagine yourself files being deleted from your PC without your knowledge!

According to this story the RIAA is going to sue the dutch company Kazaa together with Morpheus and Grokster. This internal memo show the record label’s findings and strategy to battle P2P networks. There is also a letter from the RIAA president to the industry leaders about this matter.

This is not the only problem, the problem extends to even copyrighted CD’s, lawsuits and the lack of ability to spread your own productions on the public media because of the stress made on these companies.

Music for the rich?

It seems you need to be rich to have the freedom to listen the music you want these days. Not only rich though …

What’s my deal in this?

I am diskjockey myself and buy regularly CD’s and vinyl. As a DJ I need new music. I am very selective about my music I play. This is not only because I want the best-of-the-best but also because I do not have the cash to buy every new CD that comes on the market. I would need to be millionaire to afford one year of buying all new techno-cd’s that are new on the market!

P2P or MP3’s usefull?

Here is where these P2P (mp3) networks come in handy. I can relax in my own officechair on my own volume and hear whatever is (un)usable and (no)good. If I like a certain song, I will search it on CD or search a CD set with such numbers on them. Finally I always end up buying the CD.

It has happened too many times to me that I bougth a unusable record or CD (set) in a hurry because I liked one or two good numbers on the SET (which seemed to be on another CD I bought a short time later). That is for about 25 euro thrown away AND a unusable CD!

Not only are networks like Napster, Kazaa and others useful for this, but they are also useful to spread your own artistic productions! Whenever I make music I want people to be able to use and listen to my music. My world is partially based on music; Mr. RIAA and others cannot take that musical freedom and expression away!

Copyprotection on CD’s

It does not stay with this though. The RIAA is also protecting cd’s so they are unable to be played in a PC and DVD players! Hello?? Some people do USE their PC to play CD’s!

Whenever I am in my office I want to be able to listen to my own-bought CD’s ya know? Not only I want to listen to them but I also want to be able to backup the CD’s I like (and use, professionally and in my car!). These protections have been bypassed almost faster than they come out.

Next to that it would be easy for the mainstream “kiddies” to copy a CD to mp3 files by just running a cable from the CD to the (digital) input of their soundcard and put it online on the major P2P networks.

Fair use

What did happen to “fair use” of these media, so you can make (backup) copies for your own usage?

In the USA they also have the DMCA what makes it theoretically illegal to copy such CD, even for own use, because you are circumventing the copy protection and therefor breaking the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

If I would not make backup cd’s then I would end up every year with atleast 5-10 CD’s with minimally two tracks failing because of scratches and (carefull) handling!

Final note

All these “protections” are to protect the record-industries more than to protect the authors of the music. It is still very expensive to buy a CD in Europe which makes it hard to “just buy what you see” unless you have hard cash.

There are also people listening (and using) music they buy! I buy all the music I like on vinyl and CD, though I do not want to buy music I dislike!