MP3

[Phreakmeister]

It is perfectly legal to have installed any mp3 file-sharing program on your computer.

The bands and singers that will be affected by this measure, are just the ones that are in it for the money. The bands and singers that will not be affected, are those that are in it for the love of the music.
This also gives young and talented groups a perfect way to break through, without having to resort to commerce.

This way, the men will be separated from the boys. Industry will be separated from art. Business will be separated from passion.


---------------------------------------------
Now for these labels tellin´ fables,
Makin´ the messed-up deals under the tables


90% business, 10% show
Ain´t no love in this game,
´cause it´s all about the dough
---------------------------------------------

[Sjax]

Excellent idea. The musicians will still be able to make a living by playing concerts, royalties from radios etc.

I wouldnt wonder if you dutchmen woul be the first to make such a law. You seem to be one step ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to laws.

[Phreakmeister]

Well, to be honest with you, I doubt it. Yesterday, a Dutch mp3 file-sharing program, KaZaA, had to close down, after they were sued by the Dutch Recording Industry Association.
What I do know, is that it's allowed to make a back-up of the singles and albums you have.
And mostly over here, trade in "illegal" cd's is not allowed, but, ow how typically Dutch, the making of "illegal" CD's for personal use is being tolerated.

Let's just hope that soon there will be complete legalization.

[Enforcer]

KAZAA shut down?
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!
Oh well I can find my MP3's without that crap
And if I recall corectly, they were Dutch\Swedish but it might be my bad memory

------------------
Would you please step away from the vehicle?

[Phreakmeister]

That could be true too. What I do know, is that their "headquarters" are in Amsterdam.

Kazaa may have shut down... but there is still Morphus which runs off the same system as Kazaa

[Phreakmeister]

And now KaZaA is back. Thnx to a wonderful judge, who said that KaZaA did nothing wrong, that they just supplied software, which is perfectly legal. According to the judge, only the users of the software can be sued for any criminal behaviour, not the producers of the software.

And I agree with him. If someone gets shot dead, you don't sue the gun company for producing the weapon. If you get seriously injured in a car accident, you don't sue the manufacturer of your car or the one that hit you. If you drown in a river, you don't sue the states/countries through which the river flows. If you get killed by for instance a German, you don't sue Germany.

KaZaA got support from one of the most unexpected parts of the music business. Hans van Breukhoven, president of the biggest record store in the Netherlands, Free Record Shop, stood up for KaZaA, saying that what KaZaA is doing is no different from tape-recording or recording on VCR. Although it would mean that people would no longer have to buy products at his shop... I admire that attitude, I really do.

The Dutch Recording Industry Association, Buma/Stemra, now went to the Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court upholds the decision of the judge, this would mean that any p2p file-sharing program in the world would become legal. This would mean a breakthrough.

------------------
Do you believe in death after life?