News

Here We Go Again: Canadian Recording Industry Calls on Government To Regulate the Internet

Graham Henderson, the head of the Music Canada (formerly the Canadian Recording Industry Association) wrote a blog post late last year lamenting musicians’ earnings, a situation he blames on the Internet allowing a few to “amass staggering, unprecedented wealth” while musicians toil for tiny incomes. Leaving aside the facts that the Canadian music industry experienced increased digital sales last year (while sales declined in the U.S.) and that the Ontario government is handing out tens of millions of tax dollars to the industry, Henderson now says the government needs to step in and regulate the Internet. According to Music Canada, government support must be complimented by:

judicious and reasonable regulation of the internet. The actions taken by courts in other jurisdictions have very reasonably required ISPs to block websites that are almost entirely dedicated to the theft of intellectual property.

In fact, Internet regulation and blocking websites are not the only music industry target. Last week, Music Canada appeared before the Ontario Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, where it cited Google as a problem:

the federal government has done a lot to help us in our battle against illegal sources, but they could certainly do more. One of the biggest problems we have is that consumers cannot find legal services on Google. Type in: “Carly Rae Jepsen”; pick your song; press “search.” You would have to look to page 7 of the results to find iTunes. Before you get there, you have six and a half pages littered with illegal sites which are constantly being taken down and constantly being put back. With government support, maybe we can urge intermediaries to actually do something to help consumers find legitimate sources, because I think they’d like to.

I tried replicating Henderson’s claims regarding Google and arrived at much different results. Searching for Carly Rae Jepsen and the song Call Me Maybe, the very first result was a music video posted by Jepsen’s label which receives royalties and has a link to the iTunes version for purchase. Other top results include Jepsen’s own website (with links to iTunes sales of her songs) and licensed streaming versions of the song, which all appear before “infringing sites.”

With digital sales on the rise in Canada and copyright reform now complete, regulating the Internet, blocking websites, and manipulating search results is the last thing government’s should be mandating. Yet it seems that is precisely what the music industry once again has on its mind.

61 Comments

  1. Rob from New Brunswick says:

    It’s just greed plain and simple.

  2. Jean Chicoine says:

    Writer
    Regulate the Internet? No way. I’m for a completely free and open Internet. Business enterprises have to find creative ways to strive on the Internet without panhandling to the government or die, it’s as simple as that. And the only role I see for governments interfering with the Internet is to make sure all players abide by the rules of (already written) laws.

  3. Kevin Creechan says:

    President, RawInfoSec
    I hope the government realize that they are being asked to engage in a never ending cat-and-mouse game against the Internet. It can be regulated, but new sources will forever replace those being blocked. Who is going to pay for that?

    The solution to this problem has always been easy, and the same as any other business model. You have to evolve your business as technology grows. Music Canada seem to believe that they are entitled to some kind of immunity from modern technology innovations. What about the rest of us? Should I be looking for Government help to combat the sheer amount of DIY and community forums for network security to ensure these people come to me? Should Canadian Tire stop selling tools to the general public to ensure people don’t fix their own cars to protect local auto-shops?

    Totally absurd. What makes Music Canada the exception? They need to stop being lazy and either evolve, or go do something else like most other businesses have done over the years of technology growth.

  4. Tactics
    Sounds like th usual MAFIAA tactic if getting bad laws passed in countries outside the US, then immediately demand that the US adopt the same bad laws because of “international obligations” and “harmonizing” laws.

  5. Eric James Soltys says:

    Personalized results
    The Music Canada representative might have been viewing personalized results in Google. The illegal sites they saw were ranking higher because of their own past visits.

  6. Anthony Reimer says:

    Thanks for the appropriate linking in your post. I went back and read Henderson’s post, and your initial sentence misrepresents his views quite substantially. (I’m not saying I agree with Henderson’s actual views.) The only things that I think are accurate are that he says musicians are poor (using two studies to back his point up) and that regulations of Internet-based services are advisable (and will not “break” the Internet). You also misrepresented the fact that music recording sales are down substantially overall; it is only the balance between digital and physical media that has changed in digital’s favour (no surprise).

    I’m no fan of Music Canada — they seem to represent the labels more than the artists — but the initial part of this article is a bit of a straw man. Your writing is usually much better than this.

    Nevertheless, Music Canada’s tack should be to do what Apple did so many years ago: provide a legal alternative of high quality and ease of use. If Music Canada doesn’t like the search results that Google provides, then build a legal music search service. In Canada, that’s mostly iTunes for digital distribution (Puretracks having gone the way of the Dodo bird), but one could also tie in physical media vendors as well to create value. I could see myself using such a service.

  7. Come on now
    You didn’t try very hard Michael…
    http://bit.ly/1cVsU7i

  8. @Tun_da
    Hahahahahahahahahahaha!

  9. David Collier-Brown says:

    We need a way of labelling fibs on the internet (;-))
    I’d love to have a way of yellow-stickying a bit of javascript on a statement like “Type in: “Carly Rae Jepsen”; pick your song; press “search.” You would have to look to page 7 of the results to find iTunes.” and have it go to a truth and reconciliation site with the results for that search and for an mp3 search.

    I’m becoming tired of the “lie direct” being used as a debating tactic (;-))

  10. “You also misrepresented the fact that music recording sales are down substantially overall; it is only the balance between digital and physical media that has changed in digital’s favour (no surprise).”
    I don’t think he did. This is one of those cases where you can pick the statistics you like to support your viewpoint. Digital sales are up, CD sales are down, concert ticket income, licensing and the like are up. Overall “music industry” income is up, overall “recording industry” income is down. Musician income seems to be all over the place – I suspect it mostly depends on whether they’re still trying to sell CDs or whether they’re looking to get more income from the things people are actually buying these days…

  11. James MacFarlane says:

    Marketing failure requires a legislative solution?
    If consumers fail to find “legitimate” sources of music, that’s a MARKETING PROBLEM. That’s like asking cities to configure all the streets to one-way so they more effectively lead to only PetroCan stations.

  12. Post musician earnings somewhere
    It would be nice to post musician and publishers earnings compared to other trades and national average, so everyone can see how this is in the real life.
    I do not believe that musicians do not earn well. If so, publishers rip them off.

  13. Devil's Advocate says:

    @Tun_da:
    “You didn’t try very hard Michael…”

    Take off the “.mp3” in your search, and you get Michael’s search. Looks like you actually tried TOO hard. 🙂

  14. Angry Canerdian says:

    Oh the irony!
    “wrote a blog post late last year lamenting musicians’ earnings, a situation he blames on the Internet allowing a few to “amass staggering, unprecedented wealth” while musicians toil for tiny incomes.”

    This, from the head of the music “industry”? One of the biggest and most predatory middleman parasites in human history?

    The hypocrisy! It burns!

  15. @Tun_da
    What’s the problem? Last I checked, iTunes doesn’t offer mp3 downloads, only m4a, m4p, etc. I wouldn’t expect iTunes to top the list. Are there even legitimate sources to buy mp3s (with the high profile and library size that iTunes has)?

    I wouldn’t know – I stopped acquiring music 10 years ago. Turns out my friends did the same. I asked why – and the consensus is that all our lives moved online but the music industry didn’t really follow us.

    Lastly, I went to the first link in your mp3 search and tried to use the download link but was greeted with a big red page direct from my GOOGLE chrome browser warning me about a serious security certificate threat.

  16. i feel an urge to kill musicians
    no really i think i’ve had it..better come arrest me caus ei really have the urge to kill musicians , conservatives and liberals that support this lazy shit mentality…

  17. Why would anyone buy music these days when there’s websites like http://www.ektoplazm.com for quite a few genres. At least from there I know the artist gets the money since I sent it to them directly.

  18. Courts
    The CRIA honcho will eventually do what the local RIAA affiliates in other countries (UK, The Netherlands, Sweden, etc.) did: go to the courts, find a court with a friendly judge (e.g. those that have organised and made money off seminars in cooperation with “rights holders” groups which at the same time designates the judge a subject expert), have the court order the ISPs to block, and give the local RIAA branch the power to arbitrarily add websites and IP addresses to this list.


    Why refuse to call the CRIA ‘Music Canada’:
    1. it is confusingly similar to official federal government institutions like ‘Revenue Canada’, ‘Service Canada’, ‘Environment Canada’ etc. – a generic word followed by the word Canada. I will not add to the confusion.

    2. it is a lobby group for the *recording* industry, not musicians. Let’s keep that distinction clear.

  19. @ end user
    i havent bought a single bit a music since the 90’s …..never going to either….

    and now im pulling support for a game i played that warner and sony had going and urging everyone to dorp them too.

    time to make em feel real poor….

    i hear the cbc is heavily censoring any mention of this too….

    why? cause both liberals and conservatives are copyright lovers….both are lazy do nothing parties

  20. I get some strange results here https://www.google.ca/#q=buy+carly+rae+jepsen Now lets not be so hard on the guy after all car manufactures lose sales too https://www.google.ca/#q=how+to+get+a+car+for+free

  21. google blocks a lot already
    In response to a complaint we received under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act, we have removed 1 result(s) from this page. If you wish, you may read the DMCA complaint that caused the removal(s) at ChillingEffects.org.

    In response to a complaint we received under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act, we have removed 1 result(s) from this page. If you wish, you may read the DMCA complaint that caused the removal(s) at ChillingEffects.org.

    In response to a complaint we received under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act, we have removed 1 result(s) from this page. If you wish, you may read the DMCA complaint that caused the removal(s) at ChillingEffects.org.

    In response to a complaint we received under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act, we have removed 1 result(s) from this page. If you wish, you may read the DMCA complaint that caused the removal(s) at ChillingEffects.org.

    in response to the above person so tell me we need a law….that yanky browser is already blocking content

    DONT USE CHROME or GOOGLE…

  22. iTunes is the only available music directory for legitimate downloads of music and videos.

    I would never install that piece of crap on any of my computers. IF they want me to buy legitimate music online then, make it so I can enjoy my music with the player I choose to play them with.

    As for the rest of the article well, that just compliments what is happening in the US at this moment. No surprise here. Congress is Owned by the entertainment industry and until that changes, all of their demands will continue until they either die or somehow take control of the net. Good luck with that.

  23. Regulation
    Perhaps if we, instead, fully regulated the Media Establishment, we could silence these ridiculous demands before they could be promoted. Say, a mandated 5% ROI, excluding Hollywood Accounting manipulation? If we *must* endure a regulated market, I’d rather the supplier, than the citizen, was regulated. Such a managed market might even open up more opportunity for smaller players, especially with the prospect of controlled profit.

    How much money has been invested in the internet & its infrastructure? Now, because of the economic efficiencies wrought from the investment, we have one (massively profitable) market segment insisting we hobble it, for their gain? What an absurd demand. Ridiculous. The masters of this luxury niche can’t shut up enough for me.

  24. Could we call too?
    For those monsters to be led to the gallows where they belong?
    Bad enough our southern neighbors are losing all their rights, why do we have to copy that?

  25. Has Henderson forgot about the “Google Bubble”?
    If Henderson is complaining that doing a search at Google provides him with page after page of results to “illegal” websites, then perhaps he should re-examine what it is he’s looking at Google for.

    We all know that Google tailors their results to best match the person who is making the search, and as a result, two different people making the same search are almost *guaranteed* to get different results. Feel free to Google “google bubble” or “filter bubble” and you’ll find lots of information talking about what this is and why its a problem.

    In this particular case, its a problem because Henderson is apparently using his particular search bubble (in which Google has determined that he’s always looking *for* illegal content) to try to impose policy on everyone else. And, if those policy makers don’t understand that the “google bubble” exists, we all end up getting shafted as a result of Henderson’s apparently lack of taste in searches.

  26. amazon has it in the us; is this not a legit source in Canada? Nope
    http://www.amazon.com/Call-Me-Maybe/dp/B00961ZGQC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390424894&sr=8-1&keywords=carly+rae+jepson+call+me+maybe allows me to buy it digitally in the U.S.

    But in Canada? Nope. http://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_10?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=carly rae jepsen call me maybe&sprefix=carly+rae+,aps,256

    Now that is a marketing problem, as has been stated.

  27. Richard Smith says:

    Searching for legal content – works for me
    I just tried Michael’s search strategy in google.com : “https://www.google.com/search?&q=Carly+Rae+Jepsen+Call+Me+Maybe” and it worked as he described. ALL of the first page of links were legal sites, and many of them were returning royalties (YouTube etc). Same thing with google.ca.

    Graham, above, has a good point. If Henderson is getting all those links to illegal sites then perhaps he spends his time browsing them (and getting grumpier all the time) and so Google figures that’s what he wants.

  28. Wasn’t it an “illegal” upload to youtube by Justin Bieber “illegally” singing Carly Rae Jepsen’s song that made her career. Yet no lawsuit on Beiber nor any take down notices that followed. Funny that Mr. Henderson seems a bit hell bent on blocking that sort of “illegal” activity that benefits the artists he “claims” to represent.


  29. I find it amazing that CRIA, who’s always preaching “thou shalt pay for what you want”, is not willing to pay for “sponsored results” via google’s AdWords. So the first results in a search for the artists they pretends to represent, would all point to the sites they want. Instead, they’re trying to get this arrangement for free, at google’s expense, via some censorship law(s).

  30. Record Labels: Do Your Job!
    Graham,

    You want more Canadians to buy your members’ music? Here’s a suggestion: tell your members to sign a g-dam deal with Google, already.

    I don’t use iTunes, so a link to iTunes, however prominent it may be, will not help me buy music whatsoever. Apple’s ecosystem is a minority, and a shrinking one at that.

    I’m going nuts waiting for a killer music service like Google Play Music in Canada. Make it happen. Give me a way to buy your wares.

  31. pat donovan says:

    and so on
    at one point 80% of the windows copies out there were illegal.

    another time, 30% of the internet traffic was torrents (and movies)

    presently, 80% is spam/scams and hacking. (Read the traffic report on an unguarded address sometime. very cute)

    At the moment, wheels are in motion to prove
    1: ISPs own everything that crosses their connections
    2: content providers own everything (Big telico and CTV, etc.)
    3: governments own everything via a monopoly copyright/patent/trademark power. (from orbits on down) which they can grant.

    4:creators own everything. forever.

    it does look like the gov’t side of thngs will win.. till the corps disagree. when they run out of stuff to steal, the whole system collaspes.

    have a nice day, eh?

    pat

  32. tax evasion 101
    top 85 people 110 trillion in capital
    2012 leak on a single tax evasion bank 33.1 trillion
    while world debt was 40.1 trillion

    chinese with another 5 trillion in stolen cash…

    so not only are you being forced to giv ethem tax breaks they then steal form us then push retarded laws like this to keep the thieving going as pat said….

    ots getting close ot where there is nothing left….as i said once long ago let em have all there laws and show that none of it helps only make sit worse….

    ALL this does is get everytome to turn off the net and use sneaker net….
    OR go nuts and hoard all they can so they no longer need the net.

    THEN WHAT if tomorrow 2.4 billion people said enough and turned off there internet for 6 months , no spying….no revenue , no cdr levy , no money at all….and with the govt drop in dollar we all jsut got pounded with 11% hick in cost of living get ready folks and you actos and musicians your seeing the end soon….

    i’m on disability and i cant even find anywhere a decent 1 bedroom apartment i get 1050 dollars a month to live on….
    my net costs me 60bucks and you want me to pay more…screw it….

    put me in jail will cost a tax payer 100,000 a year….plus the 200 bucks a month in my medications…

    let me ask a tax payer what is in YOUR best itnerest now?

  33. Looks like the CRIA is getting a huge hard-on for the copyright/porn tyranny thats currently ongoing over in the UK.
    “They did it, so can we, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!”

  34. For those interested in protest, mail/fax/phone campaigns:

    Music Canada
    85 Mowat Avenue
    Toronto, Ontario
    M6K 3E3

    Phone: (416) 967-7272
    Fax: (416) 967-9415

  35. Good luck
    They want to do the equivalent of trying to stop the rain. Good luck with that

    What a bunch of greedy f%$/?&?

  36. Let ’em try.
    There will be an angry mob of Canadians the minute any government tries to censor our internet. No Great Firewalls of the North will be tolerated.

  37. Recording Industry what?
    It is more than a decade that music from the recording industry is all the same (same blue prints, same 4 chords).
    All the music I buy now is independent bought online directly from the artists. Plus being on the computer most of the day I listen to free internet radios or bandcamp, soundcloud and similar. I do not buy CDs anymore and my old CDs are now all ripped into my mp3/FLAC player (depending where the album is worth it or not).

  38. BuenosArios says:

    Music Industry attempt to regulate the Internet
    1st of ask this dude hey man what is your Salary?, 2: what is your bonus: 3: we need to regulate for the next 10yrs your salary must max out 1million your bonus can only ever be 250k for the next 15 yrs and everything above that goes back into the Musicians 1st the support people 2nd and the rest to charity and people support programs to re-educate and help the needy. The musicians have been screwed by people like you. The costs of CDs was to return to LP cost like 4.59 per CD not 18.99 not 24.99. Once the industry was saturated with the tech. Well it has done that for over 16yrs now and your greed is beyond control- just like the Beav, uncontrollable greed beyond greed. When is enough enough. Share and share alike – take a little and pass the tray on.

  39. @most everyone here
    shame on you.
    comments like i havent bought a single bit a music since the 90’s …..never going to either…. just floor me. Not one small piece of support for artists or creators here, just a lot of people worried about their free downloads. I really thought Canadians were smarter and more conscientious than that. Enjoy the circle jerk guys…

  40. Would this be the same Music Canada – when they were know as the CRIA – whose members were forced to cough up nearly $50 MILLION that the same member companies owed to the artists that created the music but decided it would be better off in their own pockets? For decades? Until a class action suit cut them off at the chequebook?

    That Music Canada?

    The plaintiffs – the artists who were ripped off – were asking for $6 BILLION ($20,000 per 300,000 incidents).

    So who’s the world-class pirate here? Joe down the street or Music Canada?

  41. hmmm….
    We’re missing some important information here. We definitely need to assess the size/extent of this piracy issue, so we could propose appropriate countermeasures. I wouldn’t ask some proprietary, trade secret figures, but could Mr. Henderson be so kind let us know some more straightforward and not so secret figure, such as the amount paid in taxes to CRA by Music Canada last year?

  42. Music sucks
    Who cares all music is shitty anyways these days go ahead take it away free sites I won’t miss it, besides who needs google for music when you could use Soulseek.

  43. tun_da said: @most everyone here
    shame on you.
    comments like i havent bought a single bit a music since the 90’s …..never going to either…. just floor me. Not one small piece of support for artists or creators here, just a lot of people worried about their free downloads. I really thought Canadians were smarter and more conscientious than that. Enjoy the circle jerk guys…

    Hey buddy last time I checked there’s wasn’t a business idea or product guaranteed to make money. If you can’t money from it shouldn’t have quit your 9-5 and umm not sure where you have been living but when a family of 4 has to spend 600$+ per month just on basic food no one gives a shit about supporting some artist who just singed a contract where they might make money 5 albums alter, LOL get real….

  44. @most everyone here commenter
    i havent bought anything since the 90’s cause ..i’ll give you an example

    2005: i was in a futureshop( also best buy now)
    some new no name artist on cdr was 29.95

    cost of stomping said disc 10 cents each , cost of labeling 25 cents , music industry gives if lucky 10-25 cents per item sold

    YOU THINK WE’RE ALL STUPID AND WILL JUST GIVE YOU LAZY FREELOADERS MONEY?

    Like i said i am a disabled person i get 1050 a month

    I can’t evne afford a one bedroom apartment to rent , let alone the food to eat properly and you want me to buy your garbage?
    YA want me to buy bieber so he can buy more coke , and hookers do ya?

    NO and we ought to revolt on this copyright and drag your term rates down 10 years as a penalty for every time you ask.

    now that a massive 11% hit on all our goods and services is coming due ot the lowering of the dollar don’t expect sales to go up either.

    we can either sell oil OR manufacture….

    you call a file sharer a pirate again im going to call the cops on you for harassment and slander and defamation of character too….
    there are not guns involved nor a robbery, the original item is still there….

    and jsut so ya get all warm and fuzzy i have not downloaded anything new in the past 10 years….its all garbage you all suck at being artists so you became lawyers and want to sue lil kids and us disabled cause ya think we are weak and can’t defend ourselves.

    just ask bruce springstein about never being paid by music canada….no really
    my dad always buys his stuff thinking he’d be helping him out to find out form me …NOT ONE DIME….

    I’m with end user ….time for the music industry to get a recession like the rest of us

    now go look at the top 3 political parties and see how many musicians and “artists” are crawling into there parties

    if mulcair were serious he’d dump them
    they are a HUGE HUGE TINY LIL PIECE of canada

  45. adlib @ TUN DA
    oh and shame on us eh? How about shame on you for feeling self entitled lil rich prick after a post about tax evasion ….hollywood creative accounting is famous and its nothing more then a neat way to tax evade…why do you think these garbage films keep getting made for decades and they never make a dime…..

    and why should we support artists that in turn allow them to do that to us why should we support any of them period

    we’d all be far better off without any of them

  46. Richard M Stallman says:

    iTunes is unjust for several reasons: it requires users to identify
    themselves, requires them to run nonfree software (Apple has changed
    the protocols to stop people from paying and downloading using free
    software), and does not give “purchasers” the same legal rights that
    you would get with a CD. Please do not buy from iTunes or from Apple.

  47. Old Argument
    This argument may have been understandable if it was 2001. It really appears to me that Music Canada doesn’t understand the modern digital music economy. Study after study has revealed what most of us have believed to be true in the first place. Music fans will pay good money for the artists they appreciate, but it won’t be in license revenue (for copies of recordings). It’s all coming from concerts, merchandise, and the keepsake vinyl record. The music itself acts as promotion for these other products which are the true money-makers.

  48. ISP’s make millions on the backs of content providers
    Why should ISP’s be allowed to collect and make millions on the backs of artists without giving them a dime? If what they were doing was legal, that that would be fair enough, but we all know that ISP’s have enabled copyright infringement.

  49. Wow, I haven’t seen a Group Hate like this in a while. Looks like everybody commenting here hates Graham Henderson, music and musicians as much as Michael Geist.

    Michael, have you or your various research/lobbying shops ever received money from Google or Amazon? Word on the street is that you’re in their pockets.

    I don’t believe it myself, but you know what some people are like. Haters.

  50. Not just a guy says:

    Just a guy, I find your strategy interesting, merely because it seems to be an incredibly popular strategy among people. Surprisingly so, because it exposes no goal, no opinion. There is no gain for you.

    The strategy consists of using straw man arguments and judgements based on made up facts which are implicit to the message such that they cannot be defeated to discredit other people. There is a word for this strategy, conveniently, and it is “bullying”.

    The unfortunate truth about this strategy, which I feel contributes to its overall popularity, is that the human psyche is very easily convinced by straw men arguments, and very poor at fact-checking. That, and we’re all subconsciously very eager to “hate” and eager to be convinced of the fact that others should be “hated”.

    Ironically, and in turn very interesting, your straw man uses exactly this negative characteristic which you’re exploiting in others to defame both Michael and the commenters on this blog post.

    Since this strategy is particularly effective at destroying and discrediting others and their arguments without the need for a strong argument on your part, it is the preferred strategy for those who have either no real opinion themselves or have no strong arguments to back their opinions. I find it increasingly recurring with libertarians and anti-socialists, who employ it in their attempts to combat political ideals that aim to promote the general welfare.

    That said, bullying is a very destructive act, doesn’t contribute any meaningful information to an intellectual discussion, and helps nobody reach and understand the better conclusion. As a result, I hope you and anyone who reads this keep this in mind, and when in the future they find themselves writing a comment that consists of nothing more than bullying, stop themselves, delete their comment, and think of some strong arguments to voice and back their personal opinion instead.

  51. I’d rather block the CRIA from the internet.

  52. @Chronoss
    yes chronoss, stealing music is piracy, period. If you illegally download something that can be purchased legitimately elsewhere, then you are a pirate, another period. Its pretty simple..yes please call the police and report me for my defamation, id be happy to have them investigate BOTH of us and our music/movie purchasing behaviors

    and for the record, im not a musician, movie producer or an industry shill or troll or whatever names happen to be trending right now. I LOVE MUSIC, i always have. I have been buying records and cd’s since i was in diapers. When things went digital i peed my pants when i realized i could buy the same ep online, legitimately in whatever format i wanted for a FRACTION of the price of the original record. you said “Like i said i am a disabled person i get 1050 a month” i am sorry for your situation but to put things in perspective, I work and probably clear around the same amount you do every month. Go check out beatport and tell me that you cant afford 99c. (but you can afford a computer, maybe an ipad,probably a smartphone an internet connection, and a very skewed attitude towards the rest of the world who you seem to feel has done you so much wrong) I cant afford a jaguar just yet but i sure as hell cant go take one because someone left it unlocked and parked on the street.

    @justaguy, yes its pure hatred, i dont understand it either, it makes no sense and has no basis in reality. There must be another motive. or maybe this is just a vomitorium for children who think their bizarre opinions will gain some credibility because their on mr geist’s blog. Good for him for not filtering the comments, it gives a good idea of the type of following for his unique perspective on these types of issues. I come back every once in a while to remind myself why these are important discussions..just obviously not what the “regulars” want. If you disagree, brace yourself.

  53. @Chronoss
    and little man, “we’d all be far better off without any of them ” is your opinion. And its historically and factually wrong. If you dont understand the contributions that the arts have made to our society and our culture you should spend some of your time online taking a few history classes. your ignorance is shocking.

  54. @tun_da
    “will gain some credibility because their on mr geist’s blog” Huh?
    Do you honestly think anyone who works within the legal system takes Geist seriously? Gezzzz …

    as for Chronoss – a twisted little kid with nothing original to say; providing you can get past his spelling errors bad grammar and idiotic statements!

  55. @Chronoss
    “Like i said i am a disabled person i get 1050 a month”

    Ahhh, that explains your nonsensical rants on here!, you type with your forehead. Sorry mate I didn’t know – carry on. 🙂
    Everyone pleae #Bellletstalk in support of Chronoss

  56. @tun_da @nono
    Chronoss may sound angry, he may have spelling errors in his language, but he makes some very good points. It would be nice if he backed some of his statements with facts that we can check, though.

    Be careful with how you reply to his opinions. If like nono you choose insult as your method of retort, you’ll find nobody sensible will care about your opinion, while Chronoss’ remains, however bad his spelling, exceedingly interesting in comparison. If you want to matter, and since you went through the effort to write a comment, I imagine you do, I recommend you either debunk his statements with fact or admit agreement.

    That said, let me point out there is no such thing as “piracy” when referring to downloading artworks. Piracy is what happens when you board somebody else’s vessel and violently rob them of their possessions. Nothing of the sort has happened here, in fact, and Chronoss pointed this out as well, when arts are downloaded or shared over the Internet, the original work doesn’t disappear. There is no theft whatsoever. Downloading music is neither theft, nor piracy, nor is it stealing. Anyone who claims otherwise is arguing with false facts and half-truths.

    The issue at hand is copyright, which means the “right to copy”. This has nothing to do with theft or violence of any kind.

    So why do people use the words theft, piracy and stealing in relation to sharing of arts? Because the big companies (NOT the artists) that fear (incorrectly, I’m fairly sure) they will lose a lot of money when people share the arts they claim to “own”, have (correctly) assumed that the best way to further their goals is to spread misinformation to the masses. Please, don’t be a puppet. You have a brain, use it.

  57. @lhunath
    i agree, some research is in order:

    from: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pirate

    1pi·rate
    noun ˈpī-rət

    : someone who attacks and steals from a ship at sea

    : someone who illegally copies a product or invention without permission

    : a person or organization that illegally makes television or radio broadcasts

    ???

    “Downloading music is neither theft, nor piracy, nor is it stealing. Anyone who claims otherwise is arguing with false facts and half-truths. ”

    is plain false, i dont think i need to make a list here of the judgements by the courts around the world that find that it is exactly theft, as you said, you have a brain for a reason. Im just not sure what misinformation you are suggesting that i am trying to spread, do you mind elaborating on that a bit?

  58. @lhunath
    “Chronoss may sound angry, he may have spelling errors in his language, but he makes some very good points. It would be nice if he backed some of his statements with facts that we can check, though.”

    Spelling errors and childish obnoxious behaviors aside, his statements are not fact based but rather senseless and too often insulting rants.
    Small ex: “How about shame on you for feeling self entitled lil rich prick” (say that to someone’s face Chronoss – easy to hide behind the PC though isn’t it.)

    “Be careful with how you reply to his opinions. If like nono you choose insult as your method of retort, you’ll find nobody sensible will care about your opinion”

    Seriously? Do you honestly think anyone cares what Chronoss (internet user 300.000.000.000) thinks? I mean really!

    “If you want to matter, and since you went through the effort to write a comment, I imagine you do, I recommend you either debunk his statements with fact or admit agreement.”

    “If you want to matter” matter where exactly? In the invisible world that is the Internet? Most people live in the real world where it really matters, not behind PC screens where it just doesn’t count.

    And as a matter of fact: many many many people have debunked his statements with case laws and facts; you seem to be very misinformed yourself.

    “Nothing of the sort has happened here, in fact, and Chronoss pointed this out as well, when arts are downloaded or shared over the Internet, the original work doesn’t disappear. There is no theft whatsoever. Downloading music is neither theft, nor piracy, nor is it stealing.”

    Jesus!, how can your thought process be so immature and narrow minded?

    “That said, let me point out there is no such thing as “piracy” when referring to downloading artworks.”

    Recent case laws have determined things very very very differently. Google a few because now you’re coming across as ignorant as the person you’re desperately trying to help!

    “So why do people use the words theft, piracy and stealing in relation to sharing of arts? Because the big companies (NOT the artists) that fear (incorrectly, I’m fairly sure) they will lose a lot of money when people share the arts they claim to “own”, have (correctly) assumed that the best way to further their goals is to spread misinformation to the masses. Please, don’t be a puppet. You have a brain, use it.”

    OMG! All of what you just wrote above is 10 years old already! You need some new material – even if you steal it, get something new to say; all the above is just tired.

    Maybe it’s time that the people who steal and make Uses of someone’s IP own up to their faults instead of all the transference and silly play-on-words. #Bellletstalk

  59. JakeTheFatMAn says:

    byebye Corporations with your Greed!
    My own parents ask me to download music for them and they know where I get it from! lol @tuna & nonono You can say how unintelligent or childish I am after what I’m going to say to you but who gives a fuck…..go Screw yourselves welcome to the NEw World bitches! Long live Anon

  60. @JakeTheFatMAn
    You are exactly what one expects to find on this blog you asshole!
    Long live Anon???? Hahahahahaha You jerk! #BellLetsTalk

  61. lol: It would seem that a lot of folks just don’t bye the stealing innuendo that the corporations would like us to believe – but one notable argument seems to be missing from all the froth this subject
    encompasses – and that is the “control” factor “our
    governments” are looking for in any area of public
    domain. We must remember that it is a requirement
    of every neo-nazi regime (whether they be called a
    demockracy, communism or whatever name is used. And it might be added that Canada is well on its way to that hallowed land under our present ‘system’ of parliamentary party “government”!