Yes I know "stealing" music is wrong and all, but the recording industry needs to move in another direction.
How can they expect people to legally download or buy music when its either expensive or the restrictions are stupid.
When I legally purchase music from Itunes it should be able to work on whatever playing device I want. Why the hell am I paying money for a song that will only work in Itunes and on an Ipod: I dont even have a damn Ipod and I would like the music to work on my MP3 player.
Of course if I burn the music to a CD then rip it back to my computer I can do this, but I shouldnt have to.
When they wake up and stop screwing over the music listeners them maybe their will be a movement away from problems like those below.
Students pay price in probe
A North Dakota State University lawyer says students are paying a painful price for illegally downloading music, but he believes too many of them laughed off the issue in the first place.
Hundreds of people around the country using college computer systems have been threatened with lawsuits from the Recording Industry Association of America for pirating music off the Internet. Many of them have settled in the $3,200 and $4,500 range, NDSU lawyer Rick Johnson said.
“On one hand I feel bad, but I think it’s time some of the students woke up,” Johnson said. “Most of them wouldn’t ever think of stealing something from the store, but they didn’t take this issue seriously.”
Johnson knows of one NDSU student who settled for $4,200. “That is the only specific information I know of,” he said.
The RIAA sent letters in February offering settlements to 20 computer users on the system, which includes NDSU, the University of North Dakota, Mayville State, Valley City State, North Dakota State College of Science and Lake Region.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if there are individual conversations going on between the recording industry and other students,” NDSU spokesman David Wahlberg said. “I have no reason to believe it’s the end of the matter for students using the North Dakota system.”
NDSU was among the first batch of colleges targeted for copyright complaints. Six people on the system were targeted in so-called “John Doe” lawsuits filed in federal court.
“I just responded to that subpoena the other day,” Johnson said. “I think one or two of those may have settled.”
Johnson represents the school, not students.
“One thing we tell students who become part of this is that they may want to get their own representation,” Wahlberg said.
