Sound Choice" said:
ERICLATER (and others who think that Sound CHOICE is playing spoilsport to their "freedoms"), I will explain our intentions further (and again):
I'll respond because your post was lucid and "somewhat" honest, but clearly misguided.
To begin, you have no evidence to support your "accusation" that I view your efforts as playing "spoilsport" to my freedoms. I own hundreds of discs, about 60 are SC. I also own over 300 CB discs! so in the scheme of things what SC does, doesn't really effect me as it, apparently, doesn't effect Joe C either!
You will, of course, will gain "points" with those who are feeble minded by denigrating me rather than addressing my ideas!
I react to what SC does as a member of a community that is represented on this forum and for which I have reasons to believe should have more concerns about what is happening with piracy these days then it currently declares!
Sound Choice" said:
The underlying strategy to fighting PIRACY (NOT STOPPING it, as I have already admitted that that is going to be impossible) ...................
The SECOND "leg" of our strategy - enforcement - has been well discussed here. The primary goal is not to be suing pirates, but getting people to BUY our products. Eventually, as the enforcement becomes more widespread, we hope to have people buying and avoiding the hassle of getting caught and sued. I mean it's really much easier for them and us.
Well, I respect and applaud your candor so long as we all agree that the fight is for the benefit of SC. And why not? You've lost a lot and you're paying for your efforts, not me!
But... you know as I do, there were those who supported your efforts from the get-go believing that you WERE in fact fighting piracy in a way that would benefit all. And when I asked the "true believers" how they/I would benefit from your strategy in an attempt to make them see that they were betting on the wrong horse in fighting piracy, most staunchly theorized/said that your efforts would benefit all. I simply kept stressing that they would most assuredly benefit SC and that any other benefits, if they were to materialize, would be slow in coming and while the horse they are betting on is still running, the "race" is FAR from over.
And I am MOST concerned about the pirates that you consider to be legal because you let them pay you off. I still consider them to be pirates and it is unlikely that they have divested themselves of their holding of the illegal tracks of other manufacturers, so they are probably still pirates regardless of your "clearing" them! You may have made the right business decision for SC, but I am dead-sure that you have made a bad decision for the industry and have opened a Pandora's box from which the fallout hasn't really started to materialize!
Sound Choice" said:
"EDUCATION" is somewhat obvious - and a lot of my time here is spent doing that. What is legal and illegal or permitted or not. And the education is aimed at KJ hosts AND venue owners. I hope that by now, ALL KJ hosts are quite aware that making multiple copies or buying a hard drive loaded with songs for $300 isn't quite kosher, even if they don't exactly know what laws they might be breaking.
As of now, my personal experience has revealed a wealth of data that suggests your view is extremely naive as to what MOST KJ's understand. I just had a discussion with a pirate who had called for my help with importing and maintaining a database on Rox Box. I know her family for years; long before I ever thought of becoming a KJ
1. Fact: Her father owned several CAVS systems loaded with SC, DK & PHM!
2. Fact: Her father believed that the CAVS systems were legal
3. Fact: Her father bought several systems knowing that he couldn't legally multi-rig one library (yes he knew that)
4. Fact: The pirate that I am referring to in this discussion broke away from the family business, stole the library and had someone convert it for PC use.
5. Fact: The CAVS library could only be retrieved using a record number that appeared in the printed catalog that the CAVS produced ----- a burden when running a PC show.
6. Fact: She offered her library to another pirate in return for a copy of his library, the contents of which could be retrieved by PC hosting programs
7 Fact: She eventually duplicated the entire library for another job on a night where she already had a show.
She initially approached for help regarding the duplication and maintenance of her library because she didn't know how to duplicate and make the library functional!
I informed her of the legalities/illegalities of each of her actions. Here are her responses:
1. She stated that she hadn't done anything wrong in taking the first library because the money invested in the business came from a family trust and that she was screwed out of her fair share. Meanwhile, she ignored the question of the legality of the original CAVS library
2. She adamantly asserted that she wasn't doing anything wrong trading for the second library because her original library was larger that the one she traded for and that second/additional library was only intended to make her work "easier", since she couldn't access her library efficiently!
3. There wasn't anything wrong in duplicating her library for a second job; look at all the other KJ's who have done just that!
4. Then, she called me back and claimed that she just recently bought a ton of discs and that her library, therefore, was now legal. Keep in mind that this person wouldn't know the first thing about ripping a disc, or setting up the conventions on how to label a track, or how to organize the data records and how to maintain the data base, much less on how to efficiently determine the actual discs that she needed in the first place. Remember, the CAVS system didn't provided disc and track numbers either!
PS: Please don't insult my intelligence or diminish your own by telling me that your efforts are "leveling the playing field" for me. If a competitor steals 1,000,000 dollars of business from me illegally, I am not whole, nor is my playing field leveled by someone stealing 1,000,000 from my thieving competitor!!!