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sago5

join:2001-12-19

CD surcharge

I have been thinking about this.

The result, right now, of the actions of the various entertainment industry organizations, is this: Take money from the resources the taxpayers support (Judge's salaries, public defender's salaries) while giving money to the legal profession (legal departments, lawyers).

And of course cases like this are partially responsible for all those price hikes that broadband customers see. Nowhere in this current equation has any artist (so far) gotten any significant compensation.

And if you think about it, the precedents that these legal actions would create, were these upcoming legal battles to be successfully won by the industry giants, would also do very little to offer the artists any type of compensation. They would only use up more taxpayer-supported resources to put more people in jail which would use up even more taxpayer-supported resources. But I don't see how the artist gets any money out of it.

So, if the idea is to get money to the musician, why are the entertainment industry organizations taking money from the taxpayer while giving millions of dollars the legal profession with the intention of making it easier for them to take more money from taxpayer? Putting people in jail does not get artists more money! Were the laws and precedents set the way these industry organizations want, the taxpayers would give millions of dollars to the prison and legal systems, not the artists! Maybe the entertainment industry would like to pay for the incarceration of the hundreds of thousands, if not millions of newly-created criminals?

And this is on a national level. There are international levels to be concerned about too. At best, what may happen here is that anyone who lives in America won't be able to share (host) files on a p2p network. There are millions of p2p users in countries other than the US, and they are not afraid to open up their hard drives. Why should Americans do time for the misdeeds of citizens of other countries?

How can these organizations talk about morality and justice and how it relates to people using the internet to deprive artists of the money that is rightfully owed them, while using millions of dollars of taxpayer resources in the name of compensating artists; without having any workable strategy of how (and with what) the artists are going to be compensated? Suing non-millionares is not a very good way to mitigate your damages.

One way, probably a very good way, to get money to the artists is to put a surcharge on CD-R (not just CD-R DA) media. This would give artists financial relief right away.

Also, the more legal action these organizations take, the higher everyone's taxes and broadband rates are going to be. And none of the extra money that the taxpayer and the broadband consumer is going to have to pay out will make it to the pockets of any artists, just lawyers, and, if the plaintiffs have their way, construction companies who build prisons.

The entertainment industry is welcome to protect their copyrights, but it is deplorable that they are placing any additional burden on the taxpayers at a time when the economy is struggling, and many states are having some very very serious financial problems.

A great way to increase sales of entertainment media is to boost the economy. A great way to boost the economy is to reduce the burden on the taxpayer and the utility customer.

A great way to get compensation for artists is to put a surcharge on CD-R media.

[text was edited by author 2003-04-25 18:57:22]

permalink · 2003-04-25 18:50:40 · Print ·

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