Joe, the web server's back up.

Under attack? When I read the headline, I thought someone gave us a bad review. Joe, we've had less downtime and fewer problems on your server than we ever did with the nameless corporate outfit that used to host the site. Thanks for looking after us.

http://me.woot.net
Hm. I suppose that 'attack' has connotations in the computer security world that don't translate too easily for people who haven't been exposed to them. The best physical analogy I can give for this is the 'flash mobbing' which was (is?) the rage in Japan. I've had to institute very strict controls on all of our servers so that they don't cripple the machine they're running on.

The really sad thing about this is that it's most likely being perpetrated by some 15-year-old who doesn't like my views on stealing music.

I'd go along with the "stealing" rant except that anything I've ever downloaded from the 'net - including the over-hyped I-Tunes site - is at BEST perceptably inferior in sound quality to a CD (compression, anyone?) - and at worst full of dropouts, cutoffs and other artifacts.

When I was still downloading, I would do it strictly for preview purposes - if I liked what I heard, I would buy the CD (I also like to haver the artwork and liner notes). I figure during the year or so I downloaded several thousand MP3s, I purchased at a minimum 60 CDs more than I would have if I had not had the ability to hear those files. While I still have the MP3s, I never - EVER - listen to them.

And I've been known to steal the odd candy bar.

And a Pontiac is not a song.

(Ask a few non-contract Canadian blues artists how they feel about downloading; you might be surprised)

The server I host Da Box on is undergoing an attack from an unknown assailant.

The only logical response is a pre-emptive war against Iraq.

Not to turn this into an MP3 hijack... but it is NOT theft of a physical good, like your examples.

Is taping a song off the radio "stealing"? (It is totally legal)

Making personal copies of music, including MP3s, is legal in Canada: Copyright Board of Canada Fact Sheet.

"The amendment to the Act legalized private copying of sound recordings of musical works onto audio recording media - i.e., the copying of pre-recorded music for the private use of the person who makes the copy"

Try this thought experiment: imagine you could make a porsche 911, or mercedes or whatever car you want in your garage with $1000 of materials with an afternoon of your time, with instructions from a file you get on the internet. *that* is analagous to copying music. you buy the materials and spend some time, or you pay 50 - 100 times the cost at retail.

I'm not an economist, but i would think that examples of the marginal cost of the good being 2 orders of magnitude above the retail price don't last very long.

Just to nick-pick, you can't copyright the design of a Porsche, you can patent it, which means publish it for everyone to see but protect your rights to any unauthorized duplication for ten years or you can keep it in a vault, which if it escapes it is in the public domain. The main difference bewteen music and a car design is that music is an artistic expression whereas a car design is functional. The only reason the copying of music is now legal, is because it is impossible to police, so as a compromise the government legislated that everytime you buy a blank tape/cd you pay a fee, which goes directly to a group representing all registered Canadian artists.

Plus your car design example is more like buying the sheet music and instruments, going to a recording studio and recording your own version of the song. Unlike the car design though the sheet music is still protected by copyright.

The only logical response is a pre-emptive war against Iraq.

No, thanks, we've got our freedom. The Libyans, Syrians, or Iranians might be interested, though.

http://me.woot.net
Guys, cut it out. If you want to talk about stealing music, do it someplace else, because it'll just degenerate into a flame war and that's not what we need here.

Here on Da Box, the only "Stealing Music" should be Steely Dan's ode to the All-Time SB King, "Rickey, Don't Lose That Number."

A car design is functional? No, there's a large aesthetic component.

You can't copyright or patent a car's design.

Here's a quick guide:
Copyright-->protects expression
Patent----->protects invention (an invention must be useful and aesthetics is not considered useful)
Trademark-->protects reputation (the Porsche's logo would fit here)

The car's design would be protected by the Industrial Design laws which cover shapes and patterns of finished goods.

I've read Joe's webpage and he makes valid points. However, none of them end up with me getting my music for free, so I can't say I like his points. The only point I have is that if the RIAA wants to uncool filesharing they should stop calling it piracy. I mean, there's nothing cooler than pirates. How many of us here wouldn't want to be a pirate (not a Pittsburgh Pirate though)?

. I mean, there's nothing cooler than pirates. How many of us here wouldn't want to be a pirate (not a Pittsburgh Pirate though)?

Arr, he be making a point says I...