IJ Reilly said:
You are defending an argument that hasn't been made. The argument was that CDs wouldn't exist in the first place if the RIAA had its way. This is obviously not true, and I have to note that no effort has been made to defend this point.
And you are attacking an argument which hasn´t been made. Ive never said the CD wouldnt´t exist in the first place if the RIAA had its way. In fact, I never said anything remotely related to the above, so stop being a moron trying to change the premesis of the discussion.
The fact is when the CD standard was developed by Phillips, the recording labels finally had a delivery means which was "impossible" to reproduce by consumers, and able to deliver music in a wast superior quality over tape recorders and vinyl. And because the audio was superior, people also bought the original CDs and few copied, because the copy would be inferiour. (There were other factors like song-skip which also helped the CD become very popular, but you get the idea) During this time, "everyone" bought CDs. The industry grew enormously and basically laid the foundation for the very existence of powerful and greedy "artist-representing" organizations like the RIAA we know today:
RIAA said:
Able to store at least 74 minutes of uninterrupted high-fidelity sound, andfree of the surface noise which can mar LP playback, the CD also offers random access to conveniently take listeners directly to any track. The format first caught the attention of classical music lovers, then grew rapidly to become the dominant release format within its first decade on the market. Source:
RIAA
It was many years later the consumer CD-recorders hit an acceptable price point, and the problem revealed itself to the recording labels:
RIAA said:
Spurred by the public's enthusiasm for CDs and cassettes, consumer electronics manufacturers began looking for ways to combine the fidelity of the former with the recordability of the latter.
But cassettes had already enabled both widespread home taping and wholesale copying by organized pirates, which were depriving artists, songwriters, publishers and labels of the revenues they depend on for their livelihood.
The RIAA, as well as other organizations representing the interests of those who create and distribute prerecorded music, was
especially concerned by digital recording because there is no generation loss in digital transfers - a copy sounds the same as the original. Without limits on unauthorized copying, a digital audio recording format could easily encourage the pirating of master-quality recordings.
As a consortium of hardware manufacturers developed the R-DAT (rotary head digital audio tape) format, the RIAA and similar international groups
tried to encourage the adoption of copying safeguards. Unable to reach agreement with the manufacturers, most labels did not release any prerecorded software in support of the format when it was introduced to consumers in 1987. Source:
RIAA
As you can see, they tried everything they could to prevent the birth of equipment able to perform
1:1 digital copies. They wanted control, and when they couldnt gain it - they refused to play along. This exact same story unfolded when the double deck tape recorders and VHS/BetaMAX hit consumer level prices also.
The same story, of course, also repeated itself when the first MP3 players hit the market:
RIAA said:
With the passage of the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992, inclusion of serial copying technology became law in the United States. But subsequent developments both technical and legal have demonstrated the limited benefits of this legislation. The Act applies only to devices designed or marketed for the "primary purpose" of making digital audio recordings, thus excluding general-purpose computer devices. Based on this exclusion, the
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected RIAAs effort to require new MP3 players like the Diamond Rio to comply with the requirements of the Audio Home Recording Act. Source:
RIAA
They wanted control. Again. And when they couldnt gain it - they refused to play along. Again. There was no DRM on the iPod when it was released. And there was no iTunes Music Store. Because the RIAA
wouldnt play along. And the RIAA loathed the iPod just as they loathed every other MP3-playing device out there they could not control.
In fact it wasnt until the DMCA was passed along in the US, basically giving the RIAA the tool it needed to take control, they took action. All of the sudden everyone was forced to play along on their premesis, and anyone who didnt like this either got sued or threatened using the DMCA as a crowbar. You can read the testamony of this turn of events by
Hillary Rosen yourself on RIAAs webpage.
So Apple had to get into bed with RIAA and implement a technical solution which RIAA found acceptable. Hello iTunes Music Store and hello iPod DRM. It seems most people find the DRM acceptable, because the ITMS is a huge success. Fine, Ive got no problem with this. But we all know the DRM in iTunes and the iPod is flaved. Apple knows it. DVD-Jon knows it. RIAA knows it. We know it.
They are constantly trying to improve the control they have over your digital media. RIAA is pushing for more and better DRM. And they will likely not back of, until they have full control. Everything in their past points in this direction. And the TCPA is their next big trump card.
Apple and RIAA has a GREAT relationship. But dont be so naive to think RIAA isnt colaborating with MS and other big players also. Everyone are in on this, because it wont work untill every major company in the industry plays along.
Of course Apple wants to do the same to movies, as they have for music. We all know the video ipod is coming. It has been rumored for years. And we all know MPAA wants control, just like RIAA wants control. And TCPA is whats going to give them control. Ultimate control. No more software hacks. No more loop-holes. Just plain and ultimate control and supervision of every user playing digital media on any electronics device anywhere in the world. Either you play along on their premisis - using the media WHEN and WHERE as THEY see fit on THEIR approved equipment, or you cant play at all. This is the reality, ladies and gentlemen. Fair use becomes extinct. Privacy becomes extinct. Rights you regard as basic and fundamental today becomes extinct. In return you are given equipment which will phone home about your actions and habits. If you think its simply a matter of preventing it from phoning home, the equipment will simply refuse to function. This is not sci-fi, this is the reality today. And all this because consumers like yourself does not take a stand and say no.
The quotes above comes from RIAAs homepage. You dont get any more biased information than that. Its coming from Satans mouth itself. And last, but not least, a very big **** you to IJ Reilley for making me waste 1 hour of my evening proving something we all knew from the start.