On 20/02/2008, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I buy > virtually all my music as CDs, but then rip them to play them how I want to > play them.
There is a widely held belief that ripping CDs may actually be illegal in the UK. The Gower's report recommended allowing private copying by 2008[1]. However only for format shifting and only for 1 copy. Oddly in the review the example of CD to MP3 player was used. How on earth you can do that without moving it to the PC and then to the MP3 player (i.e. copying twice) is unclear. > If I can buy non-drm/tied > music/films, I will. Can't help with films, but play.com sell non-DRMed MP3 music[2] (selection isn't exactly massive, but give it time.) Oddly it's cheaper than iTunes. Who in there right mind would pay extra just to get DRM on the stuff they buy? Brian Butterworth wrote: > By 2015 the nets going to be 100s of Mb/s I wouldn't have thought it should take that long, Japan has 100,000 kbps (nearly 100Mbit) for just 36.58$US[3]. Same speed for upload. And no bandwidth cap. In contrast in the same report it listed the speed of the UK's Incumbent DSL provider as just 2200 kbps (down), 256 kbps (up) with 15GB cap priced at 45.17$US. (Note figures are based on a report written in 2005, so speeds may have increased) A more important question is will the BBC be providing it's programs on Blue-Ray or HD-DVD? Will Microsoft cut their losses and run or will they use their immense capital to push HD-DVD harder now? Personally I have no problem with using ordinary DVDs, the fact I don't have a HD TV might be a considerable factor though! DVDs won't go away soon, they still have uses, if only for backup and archive (though many people use a second drive or some kind of network storage). There is something to be said for having a physical copy as opposed to a download. If I have the physical copy I know it can not be taken from me remotely (at least not with DVD). Someone may break into my house or it might burn down but you can insure against that. How many insurance companies will insure your iTunes collection on your PC? (Serious question, how will the increased value of digital data on PCs in the home affect the insurance market? Will we start seeing insurance for data, will we see insurance companies offering discounts for secure systems like the do if your property has good quality locks and alarms?) It's easier to take stuff away from you remotely with downloads. Viruses can erase entire drives (not often done, thankfully) however DDoS attacks against big vendor do happen, so how long till someone tries to blackmail Apple (iTunes) with "pay up or we'll wipe your customers music collections and license files"*? Add to that the fact that Hard Disks do crash from time to time and filesystems do get corrupted then downloads are currently risky business. At least if we get a private copy exemption it will make backup easier but DRM screws that up. Suddenly you don't just need the audio/video file you need the license. And some licenses are tied to a physical machine so when its destroyed and you replace it the files could be useless. * Would we know if this had already happened? Andy References: [1] Gowers Review of Intellectual Property ISBN: 978-0-11-84083-9 Available from: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/independent_reviews/gowers_review_intellectual_property/gowersreview_index.cfm tinyurl: http://tinyurl.com/bvds2 [2] Play.com Music Downloads http://www.play.com/Music/MP3-Download/6-/DigitalHome.html [3] Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Multiple Play: Pricing And Policy Trends, DSTI/ICCP/TISP(2005)12/FINAL (April 2006): Available from: www.oecd.org/dataoecd/47/32/36546318.pdf -- Computers are like air conditioners. Both stop working, if you open windows. -- Adam Heath - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/
