[sdiy] *DMCA* The R in RSA on the SSSCA aka CBDTPA (fwd)

[KA4HJH]

>Maybe its time for the industry to price products more in line with what
>their costs are...  Most people will PAY for a legitimate copy if the price
>is not VIOLENT RAPE...

In case any of you weren't aware last year was the worst year the music
industry has had in a decade, profit-wise. What was the excuse last time
this happened? Was it "home taping?" or something like "disco sucks?"
Whatever the case the difference this time around is that they actually
have something to blame besides fickle audiences and their own stupidity.
Want to curb piracy? Drop the retail prices--drastically. Get the price of
Twitch & The Widgets down to $9.99--or less.

How many industries can you think of that derive their income from the sale
of a product whose price is not tied to the value of some raw material in
limited supply (like gold, tantalum or cocaine) and who RAISE retail prices
when they have a bad year? I can't except for one, and that's exactly what
the music industry has done! Common wisdom in retail is that when sales are
bad you have a SALE. In the music industry "sale" is a four letter word so
they've done exactly the opposite! The only time the price of a CD ever
drops is when it gets moved to the "golden oldies" list.

Meanwhile, I'm waiting to see is how they're going to break the $20 price
barrier for a CD in the US. DVD's of much-more-expensive-to-produce films
are going for $25-30 with the retail price of most new CD's now up to
$19.99. Jack Valenti is happy to report (after repeatedly complaining about
the specter of film piracy) that the film industry had a blockbuster take
last year--is that why DVD's are so cheap compared to audio CD's and vice
versa??

Remember a few years back when they discovered that there was a thriving
market for used CD's and someone seriously suggested that we should all
have to pay royalties on USED CD'S?? At least that idea didn't get
anywhere...


>The big record companies are going broke because they can no longer tell
>everyone what they WANT to hear...

It's almost as if there are some stone tablets somewhere written in the
hand of the Almighty Himself that say "thou shalt realize a profit of at
least <X> billion dollars a year in music sales or Congress must act", and
they're keeping the faith most religiously. That and the fact that they're
clinging to the long-dead "sell them expensive albums" marketing strategy
when what most people really want is the hit single without all the filler.

>(I'm getting the best stuff from listmembers anyway... )

I'm sure nobody here is putting out hit singles padded with filler...

---

Terry Bowman, KA4HJH
"The Mac Doctor"

"You'd PAY to know what you REALLY think"--Dobbs