response 63 of 102:

Feb 15 04:57 UTC 2004

  The labels and the RIAA may, in the end, be able to stop the downloading
  services and the filesharing networks.  And maybe that will be enough,
  from their standpoint.  I doubt they'll ever be able to stop friends from
  sharing with friends, however..

response 65 of 102:

Feb 15 08:17 UTC 2004

  The digital-to-digital copying technology available to consumers
  nowadays, though, is substantially less limiting than the analog-to-
  analog copies from the cassette tape ere, as anyone who ever listened
  to a hissy nth-generation copy can tell you.

  Unfortunately for the record companies, even if they succeed in making
  the digital original uncopy-able, they'll never again be protected by
  multi-generation quality loss, since any first generation analog rip
  will be converted to digital and distributed digitally thereafter without
  further loss.

response 67 of 102:

Feb 19 15:12 UTC 2004

We never even mentioned the February round of lawsuits from the RIAA
against suspected "John Doe" defendants for sharing music files.
Another 531 lawsuits this month; a curious number, given that there
were 532 suits in January.  I'm not going to dredge around for a link;
use news.google.com and search for "RIAA" if you want a citation.

response 69 of 102:

Feb 19 20:50 UTC 2004

  I doubt the courts will agree with her reasoning but I wish her
  lots of luck..

response 71 of 102:

Feb 20 01:38 UTC 2004

This news story reports sketchy rumors and whatnot that Napster might not be 
doing so well.  Executives are jumping ship, and record company sources say 
Napster 2.0 is only selling about 1/4 as many tracks as Apple iTunes.
Staff are being laid off.
 
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/7988684.htm
"Smiles Fade At Napster"
 
The article mentions the pre-paid Napster download cards you can now buy --
perhaps for your kid who doesn't have a credit card -- and I did see those for
sale at a Kroger's grocery store in Lansing.

response 73 of 102:

Feb 21 01:27 UTC 2004

(The Feds have used RICO against anti-arbortion groups; make sense folks would
try it against RIAA.  I'd guess anti-trust action will be next.)

response 75 of 102:

Feb 21 22:48 UTC 2004

The trial court decision holds that popular DVD copying software
from 321 Studios is illegal, and must be withdrawn from market.
 
While IANAL, the decision seems to leave little room for any other
DVD copying product to legally exist, unless the movie studios
approve of it. 
 
http://news.com.com/2100-1025_3-5162749.html?tag=nefd_lede

response 77 of 102:

Feb 22 01:35 UTC 2004

  CD-burning software may not be affected, depending on which law(s)
  the courts based their decision on.  Because the content on DVDs
  is encrypted, they're afforded extra protection.

response 79 of 102:

Feb 22 18:10 UTC 2004

The fact that the software is illegal certainly doesn't mean it's going 
to disappear from p2p networks.  But you won't see it sold retail 
anymore.

response 81 of 102:

Feb 23 04:57 UTC 2004

I know someone who's been using something similar to make off-site
backups of most of Blockbuster's DVDs. ;>

response 83 of 102:

Feb 26 14:54 UTC 2004

For Ann Arbor area readers:  Jim Leonard, the former owner of the 
SKR Classical CD shop, has a long essay in the March issue of the 
Observer about the wipeout of CD retailing in Ann Arbor.
I have not had a chance to see if this is in the online edition.
 
Leonard suggests that besides the well known issues of authorized 
Internet sales and unauthorized file sharing, something may have 
shifted in the culture; he discusses a number of fanatical CD 
collectors who have drastically cut back shopping and moved on to 
other parts of their lives.
 
Leonard also writes that Steve Bergman is not getting a salary from
his Schoolkids-in-the-Basement store.

response 85 of 102:

Feb 26 20:24 UTC 2004

I buy CDs exclusively online now.  Retail stores almost never have what
I want, so it's not worth the nuisance of driving around trying to find
one that does.