New CEA Ad Plays The Right Tune

The CEA (Consumer Electronics Association) is running an ad intended for Congresscritters, debunking the RIAA’s efforts for regulation on Satellite radio.

These qoutes from past RIAA/MPAA representatives, on previous technologies, are great for persuading anyone away from DRM (digital rights/restrictions management).

“I forsee a marked deterioration in American music…and a host of other injuries to music in its artistic manifestations, by virtue – or rather by vice – of the multiplication of the various music-reproducing machines…”
– John Philip Sousa on the Player Piano (1906)

“The public will not buy songs that it can hear almost at will by a brief manipulation of the radio dials.”
– Record Label Executive on FM Radio (1925)

“But now we are faced with a new and very troubling on our fiscal security, on our very economic life and we are facing it from a thing called the videocassette recorder…”
– MPAA on the VCR (1982)

“When the manufacturers hand the public a license to record at home…not only will the songwriter tie a noose around his neck, not only will there be no more records to tape [but] the innocent public will be made an accessory to the destruction of four industries.”
-ASCAP on the Cassette Tape (1982)

Those funny folks. And obviously the Player Piano came and went without destroying the industry, the tape came and went without destroying the industry. Satellite and digital radio are quickly replacing FM. And digital files are beginning to replace CDs. The Industry always wants to squeeze as much money from its sales, and they want full control of the all creative content. Here’s the deal. As consumers, we should be able to:

  • Buy CDs/DVDs and listen/watch them on any device, without restriction
  • Make copies to listen on our computers, watch on our portable televisions, listen to on our iPods, etc. (we paid for the material; we should not have to pay for different copies on every device we own)
  • Make backup copies (we paid for the material; we should not have to repay if it gets destroyed or lost)
  • Record live television/radio so we can watch it on our schedules. Sorry, but when microwaves are beamed into my home, I’m free to do with those microwaves whatever I want for personal use in my home.

Did you know?

  • The RIAA wants to make it illegal to record digital/analog copies of CDs, even for backup purposes?
  • The RIAA wants you to buy separate media for all your devices (car, CD player, computer, iPod)
  • The RIAA wants to make it illegal to record live radio
  • The MPAA wants to make it illegal to record live television
  • It IS illegal to make backup copies of your DVD movies
  • It IS illegal to watch DVD movies on any “unauthorized systems” (aka, my Linux computer, a Japanese-region DVD player, your home-made home theater PC).
  • It IS illegal to rip a CD to mp3 using an “unauthorized encoder” (aka, my l.a.m.e encoder on my Linux computer, and freeware/shareware mp3 encoders)
  • It IS illegal to reverse-engineer any form of digital copy protection, even for scientific research or education

By Philip Cain

Ninja Master of the Series of Tubes, musician, audio engineer and geek. More about Philip...

1 comment

  1. “Record live television/radio so we can watch it on our schedules. Sorry, but when microwaves are beamed into my home, I’m free to do with those microwaves whatever I want for personal use in my home.”

    Bahahahhahahahaha…. How exactly do you argue with this? This would generally be the part where i’d just kick you in the nuts and pretend you didn’t say that…

    -Fag Toast

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