Surely there is not one person that is out there that hasn't been in the know about the Piracy issue with Music. It was brought to the forefront when a little college grad created a Unix-based file transfer program called Napster. Fanning, then 22, started sahring his music with his friends over the internet, and a revolution was born.
Before the introduction of MP3 (M-PEG Audio, Layer 3), music was pretty safe. You could get it onto the computer, but .WAV files are big. After the introduction of the MP3 format, which became a standard in 1992, became a popular way of compacting a music library into something a lot smaller. Soon, FTP sites would offer MP3's of the owners music, and sharing and trading became a standard.
I personally remembered going through ridiculous steps every day to get music from FTP sites. The ones that always had good stuff would require you to go to websites, click banners, decode messages, type in random phrases from other websites, and all in the pursuit of free music. Back then, it was challenging.
History of the MP3 (Brief)
Fraunhofer Gesellshaft was a German company that successfully recieved a patent for MP3 in Germany in 1989 and still holds certain patents. It started as a project in Audio by a professor named Dieter Seitzer to create the algorithum. Patents in he US followed, and it soon became one of the widest reaching format.
So, now we are in a technology world. The introduction of Napster, and a flood of other programs that offered P2P (Peer-to-peer) networking were established. Just to name a few: Limewire, Gnutella, EDonkey, Morpheus, WinMX, Overnet, Soulseek, Kazza, Kazza Lite. From a centralized server, people could browse the interface to find music that they wanted.
Eventually, Napster met with a big lawsuit from the RIAA. ( Recording Industry Association of America). The music world itself was divided. Some people that joined the frey against programs like Napster: Madonna, Metallica, Britney Spears. Some of them that jumped on the Napster Bandwagon: Barenaked Ladies, Alanis Morrisette, Bryan Adams, Biff Naked, Sarah McLaughlin, and Christina Aguileria.
The RIAA introduced the Digital Performance Rights in Sound Recording Act in 1995 :
"This bill allows copyright owners of sound recordings the right to authorize certain digital transmissions of their works, including interactive digital audio transmissions, and to be compensated for others. This right covers, for example, interactive services, digital cable audio services, satellite music services, commercial online music providers and future forms of electronic delivery. Most non-interactive transmissions are subject to statutory licensing at rates to be negotiated or if necessary, arbitrated. "
Also, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act: This newly enacted law implements two global treaties designed to protect creative works in the digital era. It prohibits the manufacture and distribution of devices the primary purpose of which is to "pick" the electronic "locks" protecting copyrighted material online. This prohibition enables effective enforcement against those seeking to pirate copyrighted music online. The greatest gains from passage of this legislation will be realized internationally. This bill will serve as a model for ratification and implementation of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties in other countries, where protection of sound recordings online is not sufficient. Formal U.S. ratification of the treaty package helps move the worldwide ratification effort closer to the 30 countries that must ratify the treaties for them to take legal effect. The law also includes important provisions that clarify the rights of copyright owners and the responsibilities of online service providers to guard against piracy online. In addition, the DMCA also contains critical provisions relating to the licensing of music on the Internet and amending the Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings Act of 1995"
Seems good for the copywrite holder, right?
But, who is the copywrite holder? Mostly what happens when a artist signs up on a label, the labe itself holds the copywrite to it for some many years, so they can re-release it, and continue to make copies. Artists are usually signed to deals that offer sums up front and offer royalties on albums bought after the album itself sells enough to cover the promotion and studio costs that are incurred by the label.
So, the only ones that are getting burned here is the copanies, right?
Yes and no.
Many artists are furious that their music is being pirated. The idea of stolen Intellectual property aside, they are losing royalties from the song. After all, they want you to buy their album with one single and never listen to the rest. The Music Industry phased out CD and tape singles for that reason during the late 90s. The Single is making a comeback, but there are no where near the amount of singles out there for general distribution. There is also that fact that if the artist sales aren't at a solid number by the next time another album comes around, or they are negociating another contract, it hurts them.
Hell, Britney Spears and Madonna know that the real money in music is from the concerts. U2, which is a proven entity in the music world, brought in 107 Million from their last NA tour. Madonna's Drowned World Tour racked in 54 Million.
So, what does it matter that music from these people are getting pirated. Nothing in my view, but my concern are artists starting out. Because of the shake down, they themselves might not be getting what they are worth.
So, the RIAA is out to get people that are making illegal copies.
When Napster was starting to crash, they made a offer to the major 5 record labels for licensing rights for their music cateloges. They would turn Napster into a pay site and everyone would be happy. Microsoft reacted by trying out a new form of MP3. Under the MS guidelines, they would produce coding that would render a MP3 useless after a certain amount of uses. Neither of these schemes went anywhere. But that doesn't stop the wheels from turning. No doubt some of you have downloaded music that starts fine, then scrambles? or 3.5 mb files that end up playing 20 minutes of nothing? These are other tricks that companies use to protect their interest.
The issue was that no one was licensed to release MP3s. The Record Companies, urged by the RIAA, turned down Napsters deal and the lawsuit was on. Yet, not four years have passed and ITunes.com came into being. In between this and the Napster fiasco, the war raged on.
Now, online music providers such as MP3.com, Napster Pay, ITunes.com, and Connect.com are raking in the money. Was it a case that they realized that the digital revolution wasn't going to go away?
According to online sourses, 1.9 Billion dollars in illegally sold music was made last year. This was from online sites, and even Ebay. The website provided below is a government breakdown of Piracy figures:
http://www.ifpi.org/site-content/antipiracy/piracy2002.html
So, the technology industry pitched in. The IPod, which is now available when you buy a new Volkswagon * I kid you not* to Sony with it's Atrak Technology, aren't doing anything to discourage piracy. They make it easier than ever to mave the music from the computer to the rest of the world. ITunes, along with the IPod create a sanctioned use of MP3s, but we are finding out more and more that the Recording Industry might be second thinking it.
The BBC reported that the music Industry has seen a 31% decline in revenue since 1999. The figures for 2004 aren't in yet. So, maybe that was the reason for the big companies to agree to license out existant music. While ITubnes.com made record sales in it's first month, the music Industry say a small part of it.
The IPod has recently come under fire for the fact that it might actually encourage piracy of music and stored on the machines. To combat this, Apple included a sticker on each new IPod that says " Don't Steal Music."
The concern is that the IPod is big enough to care not only your tunes, but data files that might be software. A Wired News reporter claimed in a article that he saw a kid pull out a IPod, hookit up, and pirate Office XP. That can be another blow to the manufacturer.
"Ironically, Microsoft has pioneered an easy-to-use installation scheme on the Mac that makes its Mac software relatively easy to pilfer. The company is known for its sometimes heavy-handed, anti-piracy mechanisms in such products as Windows XP." writes Leander Kaheny from Wired.com " When installing Office, users simply drag and drop the Office folder to their hard drive. Everything is included, including a self-repair mechanism that replaces critical files in the system folder.
By contrast, a lot of software on the Windows platform relies on a bunch of system files that are only installed during an installation process. Simply copying an application from one machine to another will not work.
Plus, getting a copy of the software application is only half the battle: most software won't work without a registration number. Usable serial numbers, however, are readily available on Usenet, IRC, Hotline and applications like Hacks and Cracks."
Another thing under attack is the use of USB flash drives. While not exactly music related, only in the scheme of copywrite, it is jsut as easy to use the above technique for pirating as the IPod.
So, new discmans come standard pretty much with a MP3 decoder. Burn to disc, you are set! that is what I do.
With vague numbers that seem to be harder to substanciate than the Software industry, there is one key difference: The RIAA and complaining companies are now trying to pass leglislature to stop the manufacturing these kind of products. On one hand, it was okay until companies started losing money? They have a right to flip backm and forth where the profits are involved?
I, for one, will keep doing what I do, until people realize it isn't going to stop.
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