Australia's music body to ban users from accessing the web

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 14 Apr 2007, 18:59

It's only a proposal but a scary on:

PEOPLE who illegally download music would have their telephone and internet services cut off under a radical new plan proposed by the music industry.

Read on: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21555941-2,00.html

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 14 Apr 2007, 22:56

My downloading of songs is what makes me BUY the stupid CDs. I am not buying a CD based on 'legal' 30 second samples, thank you very much. Stupid.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 14 Apr 2007, 23:10

This is ironic in a time when other parts of the world are contemplating doing away with DRM.

Speaking of DRM can you believe Microsoft has deliberately removed the ability to backup your DRM licenses in WMP11, in previous versions you could do this.

My brother buys all his music online (he only downloads singles I believe) and recently I had to wipe his PC to re-install Windows. I managed to work out where the DRM licences were, backed them up but alas restoring the files doesn't mean the music plays. He now has to go back to each store he bought them from, login and restore his licences.

I've never done it so I've no idea how hard this is. I think he's used 2-3 stores in the past. What a faf just to play music. I did say to him I can't say for sure I can restore your licenses as I've never done it before, he won't like having to mess around restoring his licences. Oh well he'll have to.

I guess in hindsight I could've tried rolling back to WMP10 then backing up the licences but what a faf and I really shouldn't have to. The help file even says you can no longer backup licences and explains you need to go back to the store. They've done this to tie you into the store even more. Wankers!

I couldn't believe how awkward things have become. How can we have got into this state?

I can't believe the music companies just to stop bootleggers copying music they've gone to this extreme. The absurd thing is it doesn't work in the slightest. DRM is great at preventing people who legally buy music but stopping bootleggers not a hope in hell.

DRM really is a waste of time.

And what if the store goes bust? All that music you've legally bought will no longer play (if you need to re-install Windows) :shock: .

I'm staying well clear and will stick with CDs, they're lossless too.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 15 Apr 2007, 03:04

Your brother is ignorant for purchasing from online music stores in the first place. I hope that he learnt his lesson.

If you have to purchase singles, get the el cheapo CD, or wait for the album to end up in the bargain bin, in which all pop artist of the week records do in no time. Eg Remember Sandi Thom? I saw her CD going for $5 in the shop the other day.

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 15 Apr 2007, 11:26

CDs aren't lossless.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 15 Apr 2007, 11:51

EvaUnit02 wrote:Your brother is ignorant for purchasing from online music stores in the first place. I hope that he learnt his lesson.

That was a little strong. It's not as if they make it obvious on these sites, the details of DRM are deliberately hidden away in the FAQ. It does imply it's easy to restore your licenses so fingers crossed it is. He'll be finding out soon enough.

EvaUnit02 wrote:If you have to purchase singles, get the el cheapo CD, or wait for the album to end up in the bargain bin, in which all pop artist of the week records do in no time. Eg Remember Sandi Thom? I saw her CD going for $5 in the shop the other day.

Like I said he doesn't want albums but singles. He's of that generation. Single prices are a rip off, they range from £1 to a whopping £4 for a single. They used to anyway I've not looked for years.

Illegally downloading isn't all it's cracked up to be, ironically it's less hassle than legally buying but then you have the issue of:

* The wrong song
* Crap quality - Finding the good quality one
* Slow downloads
* Messing around getting the whole album

They're both pretty shit really. I just stick to CDs.

Like DVDs I've no problem paying a reasonable price. CD WOW, Play and the like allow this. £7 a CD is fine for me and I just buy them, much less hassle. The whole album pops through my door ready to rip non-DRMed.

I do mostly now a days just use the MP3 but do also listen to the CD too. In my bedroom I don't have access to my MP3s and putting a CD in is fine so I can't be arsed to work out a way to give it access to MP3s. My car hard disk based MP3 player is great though.

gasteropod wrote:CDs aren't lossless.

Based on the scale we're discussing they are. I was thinking while typing that should I be more clear as there is bound to be someone who picks at what I meant. Obviously technically they're not but that's not what I meant.

To say CDs aren't lossless would also mean FLAC isn't lossless as it's using the same audio source but that isn't what people mean when they say CD quality losless.

From an audio perspective AFAIK only SACD and DVD-A are lossless, and even those probably aren't compared to the studio master.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 15 Apr 2007, 12:33

bradavon wrote:That was a little strong.

Don't cry baby bunting, Dada's gonna hunting.

You should educate the dude, being the most tech-saavy in the household it is your responsibility.

Illegally downloading isn't all it's cracked up to be, ironically it's less hassle than legally buying but then you have the issue of:

* The wrong song
* Crap quality - Finding the good quality one
* Slow downloads
* Messing around getting the whole album

Those are only issues if you're ignorant. I've been meaning to write a guide on how to configure P2P properly in XP, I dunno if I'd be allowed to though.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 15 Apr 2007, 12:53

Well I did tell him about the problems of DRM but by then he was already downloading music and to him it was just easier. He's not interested in paying £6-7 for a CD when he just wants the single.

Anyway fingers crossed it's easy to restore your licenses.

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 15 Apr 2007, 13:37

bradavon wrote:To say CDs aren't lossless would also mean FLAC isn't lossless as it's using the same audio source but that isn't what people mean when they say CD quality losless.

From an audio perspective AFAIK only SACD and DVD-A are lossless, and even those probably aren't compared to the studio master.

FLAC is a lossless way of ripping audio from the CD, it doesn't mean the audio is actually lossless itself.

I don't think SACD or DVD-A are lossless, either. Especially when they are mastered with the volume too high just like a lot of CDs are, resulting in audio clipping, etc.

Oh, and I wasn't trying to be pedantic when I said that about CDs not being lossless, I just thought you weren't aware

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 15 Apr 2007, 19:18

Fair enough. I am

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 15 Apr 2007, 22:20

I just download my music illegally. All my music. And the examples given above proof that that is indeed the smartest thing to do.
I'm not giving any musiccompanies ANY of my money. I'd be ok with giving the artists I listen to some money, but since that option hardly exists, I wont.