No matter if you are for or against Allofmp3.com then this lawsuit is crazy, have a look at the numbers they are getting sued for.
http://tech.cybernetnews.com/2006/12/22/allofmp3com-sued-for-165-trillion/
Lawsuit
Will be interesting to see the results. The outcome of this case will have very far reaching effects I think in the future of the Internet.
If allofmp3 actually win, then be prepared for silly laws trying to make it illeagle to buy from it and even more pressure put on payment facilities to block payments to allofmp3.
The amount is typical legal sillyness, but there is a very serious issue behind it.
If allofmp3 actually win, then be prepared for silly laws trying to make it illeagle to buy from it and even more pressure put on payment facilities to block payments to allofmp3.
The amount is typical legal sillyness, but there is a very serious issue behind it.
Visa and Mastercard already no longer support payments to Allofmp3.Ovi wrote:Will be interesting to see the results. The outcome of this case will have very far reaching effects I think in the future of the Internet.
If allofmp3 actually win, then be prepared for silly laws trying to make it illeagle to buy from it and even more pressure put on payment facilities to block payments to allofmp3.
The amount is typical legal sillyness, but there is a very serious issue behind it.
Russian goverment has fallen to US pressure over the site, the US has told Russia unless they do something about Allofmp3 then they can't join the WTO, of course because of that the Russian goverment has agreed to shut the site down. Allofmp3 intends to fight the goverments decision in the Russian courts but when Russia is run by a goverment that is happy to pull off assassinations in other countries I'm not really sure that matters - I'd honestly say it's battle is already lost.
Still, I intend to continue pirating any media I want from companies I deem as being particularly unethical, which is the majority of the music/movie industry, Sony and EA. Pirate networks will never be shut down and content protection can never succede in the long run, so whilst the music and movie industry destroy attempts to at least recompense artists with some money they're only shooting themselves in the foot in the long run. When people are left with only a choice of paying way over the top prices for media they can only use on one system and not format-shift or just pirating said media in a far superior quality form that lets them do what they want with it I think it's obvious which is going to win. Let's face it, sites like Allofmp3 were the movie/music industries only realistic methods of still being a feasible business, 5, 10 or 15 years down the road - shutting them down is shooting themselves in the foot. It wasn't so long ago the music industry was trying to make the MP3 format and MP3 playing hardware illegal, look how dismally they failed at that - MP3 is a household term now.
The only thing I do feel is somewhat of a shame is that so many people are ignorant to goverments backing the music industry. Surely if millions (literally) of your citizens don't see a problem with sites like Allofmp3.com then it's these people you should be listening to, not an industry with a long history of price fixing. Back in 2003 around 6% of the UK downloaded and pirated movies, this figure has almost certainly grown now I'd imagine, should you really be criminalising 6%+ of your population/voterbase? It's a shame that democracy just doesn't work with things like this, because people simply don't care about it until a lawsuit surrounding piracy effects them, those few who do get sued are unfortunately being failed miserably by democracy.
OFFICER XEST - PROTECTING YOU AGAINST FORUM CRIME
Che Xefan, el presidente.
Che Xefan, el presidente.
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DVDs are another pain in the butt issue, or more specifically, this nonsense centred around making different region DVDs, which cannot be played on the wrong region DVD players. Of course, there are ways to get around the problem, by reprogramming the DVD player to play any region etc, but it's still a stupid, idiotic policy to prevent anyone in the world from watching a DVD from another DVD region. I don't know why they do it, because people get around it so easily... they might as well create multi-region DVDs from the start.
As for the future and piracy issues, I believe a time is fast approaching where people will purchase the use of MP3s, computer programs, etc. etc., directly through the set-top box. PCs as we know them today won't exist, except for "dinosaurs" that people will keep running for as long as possible or for as long as spare parts are available to repair them. I foresee the future of the PC becoming directly linked to the cable TV/satellite TV network. People will have infra-red keyboards and other human-interface devices which are used directly with the set-top box. Programs will be purchased one a one-off use basis, e.g. you pay say, 50p to use an office suite, or computer game, per day. Music files will not be available for direct download, but you will pay maybe 5p per play directly from the set-top box. You wil save any personal data (e.g. word processor files directly on the network). This way, piracy will be a thing of past, because the means to create pirated copies will have been totally removed. It will be the biggest shake-up you'll ever see. It will happen because it will offer great commercial incentives to cable/satellite companies to implement such a system. Of course, there will always be the "free-view, free-use" channels, but we've already seen the industry shape up over the years and make huge profits and where technology can be used to make even bigger profits, then these sort of things are inevitable.
As for the future and piracy issues, I believe a time is fast approaching where people will purchase the use of MP3s, computer programs, etc. etc., directly through the set-top box. PCs as we know them today won't exist, except for "dinosaurs" that people will keep running for as long as possible or for as long as spare parts are available to repair them. I foresee the future of the PC becoming directly linked to the cable TV/satellite TV network. People will have infra-red keyboards and other human-interface devices which are used directly with the set-top box. Programs will be purchased one a one-off use basis, e.g. you pay say, 50p to use an office suite, or computer game, per day. Music files will not be available for direct download, but you will pay maybe 5p per play directly from the set-top box. You wil save any personal data (e.g. word processor files directly on the network). This way, piracy will be a thing of past, because the means to create pirated copies will have been totally removed. It will be the biggest shake-up you'll ever see. It will happen because it will offer great commercial incentives to cable/satellite companies to implement such a system. Of course, there will always be the "free-view, free-use" channels, but we've already seen the industry shape up over the years and make huge profits and where technology can be used to make even bigger profits, then these sort of things are inevitable.
It wont happen for people not willing to pay extortionate prices. The fact is, something like application rental can't ever take off unless it's a service that is at a price people are willing to pay.Gandelf wrote:DVDs are another pain in the butt issue, or more specifically, this nonsense centred around making different region DVDs, which cannot be played on the wrong region DVD players. Of course, there are ways to get around the problem, by reprogramming the DVD player to play any region etc, but it's still a stupid, idiotic policy to prevent anyone in the world from watching a DVD from another DVD region. I don't know why they do it, because people get around it so easily... they might as well create multi-region DVDs from the start.
As for the future and piracy issues, I believe a time is fast approaching where people will purchase the use of MP3s, computer programs, etc. etc., directly through the set-top box. PCs as we know them today won't exist, except for "dinosaurs" that people will keep running for as long as possible or for as long as spare parts are available to repair them. I foresee the future of the PC becoming directly linked to the cable TV/satellite TV network. People will have infra-red keyboards and other human-interface devices which are used directly with the set-top box. Programs will be purchased one a one-off use basis, e.g. you pay say, 50p to use an office suite, or computer game, per day. Music files will not be available for direct download, but you will pay maybe 5p per play directly from the set-top box. You wil save any personal data (e.g. word processor files directly on the network). This way, piracy will be a thing of past, because the means to create pirated copies will have been totally removed. It will be the biggest shake-up you'll ever see. It will happen because it will offer great commercial incentives to cable/satellite companies to implement such a system. Of course, there will always be the "free-view, free-use" channels, but we've already seen the industry shape up over the years and make huge profits and where technology can be used to make even bigger profits, then these sort of things are inevitable.
OFFICER XEST - PROTECTING YOU AGAINST FORUM CRIME
Che Xefan, el presidente.
Che Xefan, el presidente.