Canadian Music Industry Calls For Internet Regulation, Website Blocking 198
An anonymous reader writes "Canadian law professor Michael Geist reports
that the Canadian arm of the RIAA is calling for new Internet
regulation, including website blocking and search result manipulation. While the Canadian music industry experienced increased digital sales last year (sales declined in the U.S.) and the Ontario government is handing out tens of millions of tax dollars to the industry, the industry now wants the government to step in with website blocking and ordering search companies to change their results to focus on iTunes and other sales sites."
Drowns CRIA in poutine. (Score:5, Insightful)
So, basically a gun to people's heads while the other hand rifles through their pockets.
Greed. The one thing that's in truly infinite supply.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Fortunately there are a few independent ISP's out there that possess their own howitzers. We were approached by certain law enforcement agencies first to invite us to participate, then stupidly they tried threatening us. Fortunately for us, we are the ONLY internet connection for most of our customers, we specialize in under served and unserved communities (~15k households). Our response to this threat was to send a letter to our customers that unless the government backs off, we will have no choice but to
Re: (Score:1)
Please. There is no such thing as a legal free market in any of the industrialized nations.
Re: (Score:2)
Please. There is no such thing as a legal free market.
Fixed that for you.
Re: (Score:2)
Then again, who needs intelligence or knowledge when you can write (scribble?) "BARF CHUNDER PUKE FART, HAND ME a shotgun and that big fat reefer, I think I need a toak of some good stuff man."
Hmm (Score:2)
Google: buy back to black
Seems that search engines somehow work without out already... who woulda thunk it.
I call for (Score:2)
a magic pony that lays gold eggs.
Re: (Score:1)
Then I will lobby to make it illegal to not provide me with a magic golden-egg-laying pony each time I wake.
Good luck with that (Score:5, Insightful)
They get a tax subsidy in Canada, new copyright legislation protecting broken-in-principle DRM and now they want search engines -- which make more money than them -- to be subservient to their industry. Wonderful.
Re:Good luck with that (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Don't they get money for MP3 player and memory card sales? It strikes me that nothing will make people think piracy is okay, like being billed for the music in advance through a tax on the device they buy.
Re: (Score:2)
According to the CBSA: Yes, there is a tax on iPods. Or a tariff, more precisely.
Re: (Score:2)
Don't they get money for MP3 player and memory card sales? It strikes me that nothing will make people think piracy is okay, like being billed for the music in advance through a tax on the device they buy.
The point is, if you're paying the tariff in advance and it's legal to copy, it's not piracy; it's legal copying of music available under copyright law to citizens of the country (and is already paid for through kickbacks to ASCAP et al). The people who lose out are the indy artists who aren't signed up to get a cut of the tariff -- because their material IS being pirated, but nobody realizes it. Of course, these are the groups who usually give away their music for free and make money in other ways.
Re: (Score:2)
The people who lose out are the indy artists who aren't signed up to get a cut of the tariff
At last count, all of the artists. I mean, they can sign up. They just have to go down to the basement in one of the store-rooms in the back of a locked filing cabinet in a locked lavatory with the "Beware of the Leopard" sign... and fill out the appropriate form (Sorry Douglas...)
Re: (Score:2)
No one is buying blank cassette tapes or CD-ROM/DVD's anymore. Waaaaa we need more money!
If no one is buying those forms of media anymore how is the collection arm still raking in money hand-over-fist? They've got one hell of a pile just sitting there from the last year.
Re:Good luck with that (Score:5, Funny)
Don't you see? Any money you don't spend on new music from them is a lost sale. Those lost sales mean you must be pirating music instead because you wouldn't be using the money for food or something nonessential when you could use it to buy more music. Lost sales like that will cause the record executives to starve to death (after they go through their caviar stockpile). How dare you not open your wallets and empty the contents into the recording industry's bank accounts!
They need to keep teens apart too (Score:5, Interesting)
If they are really worried about piracy, they need to keep teens apart -- one of my teenaged relatives has a half dozen or so usb drives laying around with songs he's traded with various friends -- She's got a music library of over 10,000 songs (though oddly, she only seems to listen to 10 of those, over and over again). They trade entire music libraries at school, thousands of songs at a time. So no matter how tightly they lock down the internet, music will continue to be traded.
I'm a lost cause, the mainstream industry isn't likely to get much of my money no matter what they do. I'm well out of my teen years, and about the only albums I buy are for small regional artists, and I usually get them at concerts or direct from the artists. I already own several hundred CD's from the groups I listened to in my teens and 20's, and rarely hear a mainstream group I want to buy a CD from today -- Pandora and Spotify are good enough.
Re: (Score:2)
Just make music trading paraphernalia illegal (Score:5, Funny)
Just make music trading paraphernalia illegal
This is the TRUE solution. CD/DVDs, USB sticks and drives, computers.
All of if has to go. Shutdown the libraries. Burn the contents.
We MUST go back to the 50s where all music came from the good old music labels. They know good music and how to make it.
The church of Profits commands you! /S
It for the good of unborn artists in the future.
Re: (Score:1)
And if she is Canadian, sharing that music would be perfectly legal in accordance with the Copyright Act, so long as you are not providing for "distribution". They charge a fee on media to compensate.
Re: (Score:1)
I've said this years ago. As hard disk space increases sneakernet will eventually outpace the Internet once again. It's amazing how we went from
Sneakernet because Internet connections were too slow
to
Internet because Internet connections became faster
back to
Sneakernet because disk space is dirt cheap now and trying to search for your songs one by one is inconvenient vs just copying thousands of songs from your friends and having them copy all your songs onto a portable USB flash drive you take around with yo
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
What if the police start launching sting operations against sneakernet pirates? The problem with the sneakernet is that there's no anonymity.
What are they going to do shake me down on the street and demand the password to my external harddrive so they can check that there is no contraband... Oh wait they already do that at the boarder.
And since the TSA can violate you... I mean the TSA can violate your constitutionally protected right up what was it 100 miles from the boarder (http://rt.com/usa/court-upholds-laptop-border-searches-041/) and oceans and airports count as boarders so where isn't within the 100 miles of a boarder ocean or airport, t
Re: (Score:3)
If they are really worried about piracy, they need to keep teens apart
This idea has promise. After all, keeping teens apart has long been used to stifle a more primal kind of information transfer. Indeed, hasn't some part of the human genome been patented yet? Why haven't the fundies tried to crack down on fornication using copyright law? A limited-license agreement could be written into marriage contracts.
Those canucks are really pissing me off now (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Those canucks are really pissing me off now (Score:5, Insightful)
Now you know how U.S. Americans feel when everyone lumps us all together, as if we're all cool with the corporatist pricks who get elected these days.
Re: (Score:3)
It's slightly easier to bag on you because of the differences in our electoral systems. ~65-70% of the people that voted didn't vote for the current Conservative government. The Parliamentary system coupled with first-past-the-post voting means that highly contested ridings can go to someone that only got 30-40% of the vote.
But being lumped together isn't any fun, I'll grant you. Good luck.
Approval; gerrymandering (Score:2)
The Parliamentary system coupled with first-past-the-post voting means that highly contested ridings can go to someone that only got 30-40% of the vote.
First-past-the-post can be made harder to game by simply allowing voters to vote for multiple candidates [wikipedia.org]. Or would you prefer that districts/ridings be constructed such that they're not really contested, as became common with the recent Redistricting Majority Project round of gerrymandering in the United States?
Re: (Score:2)
I'm not saying there aren't solutions, but the simplistic method that we use is obviously critically flawed. :)
Re: (Score:1)
It's slightly easier to bag on you because of the differences in our electoral systems. ~65-70% of the people that voted didn't vote for the current Conservative government. The Parliamentary system coupled with first-past-the-post voting means that highly contested ridings can go to someone that only got 30-40% of the vote.
But being lumped together isn't any fun, I'll grant you. Good luck.
Plus, in the US, taking up arms in revolution against corrupt government is enshrined in the constitution -- in Canada, we have to ask the Queen of England to intervene.
Re: (Score:2)
please quote the part of the constitution that makes overthrowing the government (revolution) legal.
Re: (Score:2)
Might be hard to overthrow and not "levying War against"
Re: (Score:2)
in Canada, we have to ask the Queen of England to intervene.
No. This is a common fallacy. We have to ask the Queen of Canada to intervene. The fact that she is the same person as the Queen of England is irrelevant.
Re: (Score:2)
Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom, Canada and Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, par la grâce de Dieu Reine du Royaume-Uni, du Canada et de ses autres royaumes et territoires, Chef du Commonwealth, Défenseur de la Foi
Elizabeth II of Canada Queen
Elizabeth II Reine du Canada
The title in English is a bit "Yoda-esque" in its phrasing and is lacking proper punctuation, but like I said: She's Queen of Canada.
Re: (Score:2)
Remember Canada was formed in response to the American Civil war. The Fathers of Confederation well saw the problems with arms being taken up in a democracy.
The Queen of the UK who I think you meant can't intervene after we repatriated our Constitution back in '82. We're left with the Queen of Canada who is currently the same person but doesn't have to be. Legally if George has a girl then a boy we'll have a King while the UK will have a Queen, unless the Constitution is amended.
Re: (Score:2)
I mentioned the possibility of them refusing to fire on citizens but you know that failure to obey a lawful order carries a VERY harsh penalty in the military right?
Obviously IANAL but there are two interesting thoughts here:
If the people taking up arms are associated with the military they face a serious conflict of interest. Swarn to follow military orders, and trying to defeat the US gvt at the same time?
While the US has the right to bear arms it also has a treason law
Re: (Score:2)
So I'm not following you, are you saying that FPP is bad because the conservatives got elected, or are you saying that FPP is bad in general? If you look back in political history the political party with the greatest control of canadian politics has been the Liberal party. And let's be realistic, there's plenty of flaws including the day that Trudeau effectively broke the government in the 70's, by calling a parliamentary vote after everyone went home--breaking the notification rules because he wanted t
Re: (Score:2)
> U.S. Americans
I hadn't really thought of it before, I'm so used to just Americans as the inhabitants of the USA, but you are right - there are also Canadian Americans, Mexican Americans, Costa Rican Americans, Panamanian Americans, Bolivian Americans etc as well all living in their respective countries.
Re: (Score:2)
So even if you didn't elect one bunch of corporatist pricks, chances are you wanted to elect the other bunch.
Most people (that I know) don't particularly want to elect either. We choose the lesser of two evils because that's what we get stuck with. The Primaries are bought by the corporations (who can flood the airwaves with ads) and dominated by the crazies. And the rest of us get stuck with whatever two pieces of shit come out the other end.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
At least have the decency to mention the important thing the Harper government got RIGHT: Limiting the scope of how hard the CRIA can screw the individual downloader. We see HUGE penalties in the USA for poor people getting nailed for "copyright infringement" but at least in Canada Harper has limited that to $5,000CDN for "all infringements involved" so no-one has to lose their house over downloading a few songs to listen to at home. That is a HUGE benefit and protection to the average person here in Canada
Re: (Score:2)
It's true, the recent changes were not completely bad, although they removed some fair use and made digital lock circumvention illegal.
Re: (Score:3)
You know, we're not exactly happy about it either.
It's the Canadian copyright lobby, which is an arm of the US copyright lobby, petitioning government for a pony.
Once in Canada they get their pony, they can then go back to the US or to other countries and demand the same kind of pony.
Since US foreign policy and trade policy largely lets industry writes the briefings and the legislation (often quite literally), this is essentially US industries writing laws for their own benefit.
So, from our perspective, the
Re: (Score:2)
Then do your duty to humanity and don't give them a pony.
> US copyright lobby is really pissing us off
Us too.
Re: (Score:2)
the US copyright lobby is really pissing us off
Oddly it's not just them, there's also the environmental groups doing the same thing. There's a massive crackdown going on by the CRA against all foreign interest via lobbying and donations of money.
Re: (Score:2)
Be nice to stop the Chinese from interfering in the Provincial and Federal elections but I doubt that it'll happen.
What's wrong with the Canadian music industry? (Score:3, Funny)
One word: Bieber
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
You’re being unreasonably kind to Celine Dion and Bryan Adams.
Re: (Score:2)
in the US where he currently resides
Not for long if he's found guilty of felony vandalism.
Cute to see the CLUELESS trying to hijack laws ... (Score:4, Insightful)
From the Fine Article ...
Music is becoming a hobby, not a career.
Translation: "We can no longer buy popularity with pop music and no longer manufacture the latest fad of boy-bands or girl-bands. These indie bands can do it cheaper, and that cuts us, the middle man, out of the picture! We don't get our fair share from YouTube, etc."
"Oh Noes! People are using this internet to freely share things and we aren't getting our cut ! Must maintain artificial scarcity of the source else we can't over-charge for numbers! Suckers! Er, mean, 'customers'."
Never mind the fact that the easier it is for people to find music, video, that is akin to free advertising.
Nah, let's shit on our potential customers and treat them like pseudo-thieves because "How dare they share something they value with someone else!"
Only cowards use censorship
Re: (Score:1)
Music has always been more of a hobby than a career. Most musicians are either amateurs who play or sing for fun (or in some cases academic credit), or semi-pros who get paid to perform or teach but can't afford to quit their day job. And most professional musicians' primary source of income is teaching amateur musicians.
A 3-4 person bar band that is getting at least $2000 a week (and not spending it on booze or drugs or hookers) is more-or-less staying afloat. Everyone else is either broke or has another s
Re: (Score:2)
local music scenes are never about albums or cds, they are about the shows. they are hardly being hurt by copying. Hell it may help them when they go on tour.
Re: (Score:2)
Bootlegging is killing the music industry and making it much more difficult for musicians to make money
Bootlegging has very little effect on the demand for live performances. It's not like a bar can't play recorded music easily enough, and the reason they get live bands in is because a lot of people like listening to live music more than recorded music and are willing to pay a cover charge for the privilege.
In fact, arguably, bootlegging increases demand for live performances. It certainly didn't hurt the Grateful Dead.
Kiddie porn to porn to IP (Score:2, Insightful)
It was the plan all along. First you establish the ability to block and censor. Then you find an excuse no one can NOT support (stopping kiddie porn). Then you move on to the obvious next level (we must protect our children from porn in general!), then intellectual property (it's illegal!!).
Next up, blocking whistleblower sites and newspapers that publish whistleblower revelations.
Soon enough, all political speech that challenges or threatens the government status quo.
Not a Canadian... (Score:5, Interesting)
...but I thought that the Canadian RIAA had a tax tacked onto blank storage media that was supposed to help pay for the pirated tracks. Did that disappear?
Re: (Score:2, Troll)
Of course not. They want their cake, and to be able to eat it to.
Actually, they want our cake, and they want the government to entrench their business mode, and generally spoil the internet to benefit them.
This is buggy-whip makers trying to get laws passed which says the roads need to be taxed and regulated to support their business model.
And, history tells me, it's US lobbying companies footing some of the bill for this, and 'helpfully' writing the wish-list of things they'd like to see. And, then once
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Not a Canadian... $800 ipod nano (Score:2)
Progresion (Score:2, Troll)
They charged a tax on all storage media regardless of if any music bytes were ever spilled on it. However, I would imagine that the sales of CD/DVD media is quickly drying up, they they are not making their pound of flesh. They still get it from devices, but they don't provide the numbers. It was easy to see 5 years ago that everything would be moving to online content both music and movies, and that physical media is pretty provincial. So now comes the next big fight, trying to force legislate profits from
RIAA = pig stuck in mud, dying (Score:4, Insightful)
The recording industry, the biggest bunch of middleman thieves ever, is finally losing its free ride. You don't NEED a record company anymore, you can be your own! If they didn't think they were dying they wouldn't be violently throwing tantrums everywhere - lobbying for really radical unilateral changes to the law, suing regular everyday people for "piracy" to the point of bankruptcy, hassling bars/restaurants (usually mom and pop operations, barely making it as it is) into paying commercial licensing fees for music, etc.
A band now can cut their own album and sell it on iTunes, Amazon or a host of other music sites and retain a lot more of the proceeds. Back in the day even large, famous acts were getting stiffed by the record companies! Thanks in part to the way that record companies have pushed musicians up against the wall now for many years the market is now to a point where the artists don't even make money on the albums themselves. Instead they make the money at concerts, both on tickets and on merchandise. An artist now almost has to *give away* the music (many seem to - look on Youtube for all of the "full album" videos) as the loss leader in hopes of getting people to their concert. Artists can post samples on Youtube (at no cost) to drive sales and exposure. The record company middleman has less and less importance in a marketplace like this.
I'm glad to see that more and more musicians are standing up for themselves and taking advantage of the offerings that don't involve RIAA-related entities. If the entity doesn't add value they shouldn't have a role in the marketplace anymore.
Promoting music; avoiding accidental infringement (Score:3)
You don't NEED a record company anymore, you can be your own!
If a recording artist is his own label, how would he go about getting his music onto FM or satellite radio or onto the playlists of popular Internet streaming music providers, such as Pandora, Spotify, and foreign counterparts? And how should a songwriter make sure that he didn't accidentally copy parts of a popular song when writing his own? (See, for example, the "My Sweet Lord" lawsuit.) RIAA-affiliated labels add value through promotion and through their affiliated music publishers.
Re: (Score:3)
If a recording artist is his own label, how would he go about getting his music onto FM or satellite radio or onto the playlists of popular Internet streaming music providers, such as Pandora, Spotify, and foreign counterparts?
Information for artists submitting to Pandora [pandora.com]
Information for artists submitting to Spotify [spotifyartists.com]
Getting your music on iTunes [apple.com]
In short, that depends on the service they want their music on. Different services have different procedures.
And how should a songwriter make sure that he didn't accidentally copy parts of a popular song when writing his own?
As you so helpfully pointed out, they don't/can't always. The human mind is prone to subconscious influence; there's no way around that.
RIAA-affiliated labels add value through promotion and through their affiliated music publishers.
True, although it's debatable whether the value that they add is greater than the cost that they impose. The artists that they promote are
Plan B in case infringement occurs (Score:2)
And how should a songwriter make sure that he didn't accidentally copy parts of a popular song when writing his own?
As you so helpfully pointed out, they don't/can't always. The human mind is prone to subconscious influence; there's no way around that.
I've calculated that there are about 105 million possible legally distinct melodies. (If you want, I can show my work.) So if there's no way around eventually being sued for accidental infringement, what can an indie songwriter do to make sure the inevitable lawsuit doesn't bankrupt him?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I still think there's a future for labels, but it's a much reduced one. Instead of the label being the end-all-and-be-all for the band, it will be a glorified advertising agency that a band contracts with. All copyrights will remain with the band and the band will be able to leave for another label and retain their old music. The label will make money as the band makes money. Of course, they won't make nearly as much and this means many record label executives will lose jobs. Excuse me while I mourn th
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
What about highways? (Score:3, Interesting)
If Canada feels it's important to block public access to the internet because a few commit illegal acts, then why wouldn't they block public access to the highways for the same reason?
If we start/continue to block/disallow everything that can be used for unlawful purposes, pretty soon, everything will be blocked/disallowed.
Media Tax (Score:3, Insightful)
Awesome! (Score:2)
I can finally buy some cheap CD-ROMS! Now I can really use my DISCMAN!
Gonna turn that BASSBOOST all the way up man! :p
In other news... (Score:3)
...Canadians are calling for the government to ban music industry associations...
So where's mine? (Score:2)
I'm David Adams. I write fiction for a living (http://www.amazon.com/David-Adams/e/B006S1GSXI/?tag=wwwlacunavers-20 is me). So where's my money?
Sure, I'm Australian and not Canadian, but where's my tax dollars handout? I could really use that. After all, I'm a publisher too and not just a writer, so I should surely qualify for some money. My books get pirated after all, they appear on heaps of pirating sites, so where's my share of the tax on blank media?
Again, let's just pretend that I'm Canadian for a sec
Discovering free to download music (Score:2)
All the music I listen to is 100% free to download.
How do people usually find out about these recording artists who offer their own professional-quality music for download at no charge? Virtually none of the music played on FCC-licensed U.S. FM stations is free as in speech or free as in beer, and I doubt CRTC-licensed Canadian FM stations differ.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
All the music I listen to is 100% free to download.
How do people usually find out about these recording artists who offer their own professional-quality music for download at no charge? Virtually none of the music played on FCC-licensed U.S. FM stations is free as in speech or free as in beer, and I doubt CRTC-licensed Canadian FM stations differ.
Well... there you have it. People who are still limiting themselves to FM transmissions are missing out.
For the rest of us, new music is promoted through social media and "if you listen to this, you might also like...." on streaming radio. Just using Google does amazingly well too.
And then, of course, there's the fact that CBC Radio 2 picks up a lot of independent music, and provides links to the band's websites on their site, along with a historical playlist so you can find the songs/artists you listened
Streaming in a vehicle (Score:2)
Well... there you have it. People who are still limiting themselves to FM transmissions are missing out.
Then how should people listen to anything other than FM in a car or bus without having to pay hundreds of dollars per year to a cellular carrier for a mobile data plan?
Re: (Score:2)
Siriusly (sic)? [siriusxm.com] And even if you don't want to pay $10-13 a month for that, is there a problem with listening to Pandora on your computer and clicking the buy link on tracks that you think you might want to listen to in the car? Or maybe you can hop on over to a mall and grab some albums out of FYE, or if you're more rural even Wal-mart has some. Of course, if you're more rural, how many FM stations do you actually get? And what kind of variety can you pull? And if you don't want to have to pay for the
Re: (Score:2)
is there a problem with listening to Pandora on your computer
Yep. Pandora doesn't work on your computer in Canada unless you're using a proxy or something else.
Re: (Score:2)
Whew...sure am glad I have Walton and Johnson [waltonandjohnson.com] here to listen too. It makes the drive in pleasurable and good for some laughs.
Re: (Score:2)
Siriusly (sic)?
There's still a monthly fee, as you pointed out, and you still have to buy the receiver and an FM transmitter to get it into your car stereo. A lot of cars that I've seen still have neither a line in jack nor a tape deck that accepts headphone-to-tape adapters. Either it's radio and CD only, or the tape deck just ejects the adapter right after it is inserted.
is there a problem with listening to Pandora on your computer and clicking the buy link on tracks that you think you might want to listen to in the car?
Yes, there is a problem with that. For one thing, people think Pandora is a jewelry store. For another, I've found that people tend not to want to sit
App for evaluating music (Score:2)
an MP3 player [...] will, however, only play tracks that you load onto it, so it's a little weak in terms of music discovery
This was sort of my point.
You can use it to evaluate artists recommended to you by your friends, by your "friends", by strangers, by "strangers"
Is there an app for that, namely for automatically downloading a playlist of music recommended through similarity or social media and storing it on the MP3 player? How are people likely to discover such an app? And I anticipate that in practice, friends are likely to recommend major-label music. So how would such an app survive a lawsuit from labels in the RIAA/CRIA?
Re: (Score:2)
Do you know of a such a service that is available in Canada?
Re: (Score:3)
All the music I listen to is 100% free to download.
You are a thief unless the artist or band released their music for free downloading / streaming.
No he would be a infringing copyright which is not theft it is under a entirely different section of the law.
Re: (Score:3)
I've not purchased anything from a major recording label in years mostly because I can hear it on the radio or stream services {not really free you have to put up with advertising but no cash out of my pocket}
I have purchased music from indie artists or local band that I wanted to support. I also listen to them much more frequently than radio or major label bands. Most of the major label acts don't appeal to me.
Even if piracy stopped today I don't think their sales would go up, those people pirating music a
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Sorry, but your argument is wrong.
Most "Owned" Bands (i.e. on a Major Record Label) do NOT make their money on the CD Sales. They make a pittance. They make most (if not ALL their money) on tours.The reason we have things like JB, is they sell their souls to the music industry and allow them to be totally manipulated and peroform cookie cutter music that you can't tell from the other 20 performers of that style of music.
As for the "ugly" comment, You're telling me that a performer like Ted Nutgent.. I mean
Re: (Score:1)
If you want REAL musicians, Look up an Indie artist.
I was under the impression that doing so required either A. having Internet in your car ($$$ per year) or B. having the time to sit around on your computer and find indie artists that FM radio won't play.
Re: (Score:2)
Well, yes, if you don't want to be spoonfed shit from the radio
First one has to discover in the first place that there's an alternative to being "spoonfed shit from the radio".
From the other side, I'm already paying $$$/year to have the phone I like, since that phone isn't available from any carrier without a data plan.
You appear not to understand thrifty people. A thrifty person will suffer with a phone other than the phone he likes because the phone he likes has a prohibitive total cost of ownership. For example, instead of buying and carrying an Android phone, he might buy and carry a flip phone and a Nexus 7 tablet.
Re: (Score:2)
Sorry, but your argument is wrong.
Most "Owned" Bands (i.e. on a Major Record Label) do NOT make their money on the CD Sales. They make a pittance. They make most (if not ALL their money) on tours.
Isn't that what GP is saying? Since they make the majority of money on tours, studios focus on bands who "put on a good show, but do little else"
Re: (Score:3)
Err...the rock bands of yesteryear would tend to argue with you. They did albums sure, but their concerts were legendary:
Rolling Stones
The Who
Pink Floyd
Led Zeppelin
And none of those guys were all that much to look at really....
Re: (Score:2)
We get dragged down because the Conservatism pandemic jumped the border back in 2006.
Re: (Score:2)
Wait, I thought we were only allowed to shit on the US around here.
We still are shitting on the US, its the Canadian arm of the RIAA an American creation. How is this not america's fault? Canada is the victim of the US in this story.
If hobby music is good enough (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Fortunately their multiple attempts at getting a fee for MP3 players didn't go through.
Yes and no: a 5% tariff on MP3 players is currently in place, to be effective as of 2015. Luckily the exception is pretty large; if the MP3 player can be connected to a computer, they're exempt from the tariff.
Re: (Score:2)
Something to do with there being a tariff exemption for "devices that enhance the operation of a computer" or something like that. I don't remember the text of the exemption.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Why do these people think they deserve to be treated so specially? They're not the only ones who have their work "thieved" (hell, they're considered thieves by a lot of the people they're supposed to represent), and every concession we've made for them in Canada hasn't been enough. At some point you have to accept reality, and stop trying to control it.
Look at it the other way... they keep asking for another pony, and more often than not, they get it. Why would they want to stop asking?
Re: (Score:2)
I am part of the Canadian music HOBBY and I'm not in favour either. The fact that you said "favor" makes me doubt whether you're really Canadian, but I know many musicians, both inside and outside the industry, who aren't in favour. In general, the CRIA is understood to represent RIAA interests and only represent the Canadian recording industry as a hobby themselves.
Re: (Score:2)
Fun fact about Canada, if you live in Southern Ontario the chances of you using the non-OUR version is pretty high, especially if you were educated in the 80's, since the entire edumudcation system was waffling over whether or not it was okay. For those of us who went through that it's been hell ever since.