Re: MP3 muzak and stuff.

["Ian Lowe" <ian@xxxxxxx>]

> but that's the letter of the law in the UK at present

Nigel,

The letter of the law is that no-one should drive at 71mph on a motorway,
that everyone should pay all of the taxes they owe. If you want to be truly
ridiculous, it's the letter of the law that anyone less than ten doesn't
step outside their door in Hamilton after 6pm, or that a citizen of York
can
commit murder as long as the victim is scottish and within an arrowfall of
the walls after dark.

The point? We all decide which laws don't fit with our own personal
morality.

> It's a shame to see when folk openly pirate music, with all the
> excuses that are trotted out.

I have a zillion reasons why I think that I would be perfectly happy with
copying a CD to MP3 and sharing it amongst friends, but wouldn't consider
selling a truckload of the things for a single black bean. just my level, I
suppose.

> Especially when it's folk who produce
> intellectual property as part of their jobs or hobbies (software,
> hardware, whatever), and would probably be rightly annoyed if someone
> decided it was 'too expensive' (or some other righteous sounding
> excuse) and copied it without paying for it.

And the vast majority would realise that the real prblem comes, not from
the
"bloke with a CD Burner" but from commercial scale duplication
and black
market sales. No-one at Gucci loses sleep over a single skilled person with
a sewing machine making replicas for themselves and friends, but they all
brick it over a sweatshop full of industrial equipment and a stall in the
Glasgow Barra's

> The issue of MP3s for your own use is difficult, as most music isn't
> available in that format, but the letter of copyright law is
"don't do
> it"

In fact, it's nowhere near so clear. Did you buy the CD or did you purchase
a licence? without a shrink-wrap "break the seal to agree"
licence, you
bought a product, no strings attached. You can do whatever the hell you
like
with it, from microwaving the damn thing to copying it out onto paper in 0s
and 1s. the only time the law even cares is when you give it to someone
else, and even then, it's only when money changes hands that the police
care.

Ever seen a 16 year old prosecuted for giving a mate a copy of an album on
tape?

> Like Tim, I'm surprised and disappointed at the lack of support for
> his views on this, from folk who I thought would know better.

tsk, tsk. moral high ground is a shaky, shaky place.

> But, as usual, I suppose we should get back to HA...

The discussion was dead and gone, but without any "getting the moral
boot
in" sessions. Again  don't consider this a personal slight, just an
expression of opinion.

Can we consider the MP3 thread dead in UK_HA?

Ian.



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