Sound Choice said:
Darkpowerjd - so much of what you say (and you really must not have much to do if you have the time to write so much nonsense) is just totally baseless, there is no point in even trying to discuss or refute you on a comment by comment basis. But I will challenge a few of them.
So you single me out instead of anyone else who has challenged your basis? Maybe you think I'm just an easy target. I'm just a consumer who wanted to find a way to express their opinion about the product in a forum that wasn't controlled by SC. I've bought several of your products for some time, but the last CDG I got failed to meet the standards I came to expect from SC. And then I come to learn that you target pirate with tactics that is akin to the Salem Witch Hunts and say that because I write long posts I have too much time on my hands? What a HELL of a way to make people WANT to patron your business, sir. I shouldn't even entertain the rest of your post after THAT, but I will indulge because, well, I have "too much time on my hands" (and because the admins are seemly not willing to let this go on for much longer because this has gotten way ugly with even the CEO of a company insulting other people who COULD be their customers tomorrow). That, I think, is HIGHLY unprofessional. You may think that I am immature for saying such things, but I'm a consumer. A disgruntled one right now, and you are the CEO of a company, so you should be putting your best face of your company forward and acting much more professional than that, regardless of who is on the other end. If I was a shareholder of your company, I would be calling for your HEAD right now.
1) I keep reading where you are saying Sound Choice is expecting KJs to carry around all their discs and that we are in the dark ages with an outdated business model (discs, I presume?). If you had read AND understood a fraction of my previous postings, you would understand that our position and that of other manufacturers is that as long as you have your purchased copy of an original legal CDG still in your possession, we will not continue any legal action against you for the songs from that CDG that were shifted.
But how would you choose the auditors that would do that, and how would you know if THEY could judge the same thing? And the whole issue is that the sort of thing will not exactly fly in a court of law. The basis is that you need more than that to show to someone that they are il/legal. You've put on only a half of the story here.
For each and every song on your hard drive (computer or CAVS machine, for example) you need to have archived possession of the original CDG - this is the "1:1" concept. In the absence of a written agreement with us, you may NOT "automatically" format/media shift from the CDG to another format or medium. However, should you chose to do so and we observe you running our content from any format or media other than the original CDG AND we challenge you or file a lawsuit, you will be dropped from the suit if you can prove via an audit that you meet the 1:1 condition.
And again, the basis is that, and I'm not the only one who thinks this now, that you don't have too much of a basis to sue based on that in the first place.
So, those who know they can met the 1:1 requirement might chose to not contact us and request a license, but they also risk the possibility of being investigated and named in a lawsuit.
Could you provide people, then, with a way to OBTAIN such licenses, and the basis of whether or not one would GET such a thing? Like, say, the way you have conducted yourself so far in this post shows me that you wouldn't give one to me under the impression that I'm not too happy with the way you conduct business (which I don't). If these are available on your site, then I do apologize, but you should make the info easily available to be had so people can file such a request.
And the other issue is if such a way is THE way to go to curb piracy. I keep saying that people want an easier way to buy their tracks. But unfortunately, they do not have the option, and they don't want the hassle of waiting for the discs or going to the dealers (which have become few and far between anymore), and thus have found the download, piracy way the only option. Not because they don't want to pay for it, but because they want the option to be able to download directly. My opinion is that though you have said you want to offer such a model, your attempts are futile since they don't offer the type of purchasing options that people are asking for (per-disc or per-track), and it's priced for professionals who have been in the business for some time. I don't think that's a wise move on your part because I think a lot of money can be had from at least the attempt.
If you wish to avoid a potential lawsuit AND you have discs to back the 1:1 format/media shift you can contact us to voluntarily undergo an audit and get that written permission. We have been advertising this on our closing screens and in our products for a few years now.
Yes, I've seen the closing screen on a few of the tracks on the custom CDG that was botched some time ago (if you want, I can reiterate what the problems were with the CDG). My issue is if your method helps to curb piracy in the long term or whether it is a quick fix. To me, it's neither because, as with the RIAA lawsuits, it has only alienated the paying consumer (which, again, we are not aware of how any one auditor will consider the case because you cannot possibly predict human behavior), and has made people scared, regardless of what you say you're basing your findings on, that they will be found guilty when they really are innocent, and bow out of the race.
NO WHERE ARE WE DEMANDING that you carry around your discs or even run your show from discs and a CDG player - but we are requiring you to obtain written permission for the format /media shift to avoid being "investigated" or be able to prove you have the discs and meet the 1:1 standard if you are named in a lawsuit if you want to be let out of it.
And if you have the Gem series, you are already agreeing to be audited, which is the whole reason as to WHY people would buy those things: because they don't want to be lumped into that mess.
2) You love to cite Zoom's having MP3s on iTunes - big deal.
Yeah, I would say "big deal" to my competition if I was trying to dismiss them, too.
Sound Choice was the first company to have karaoke MP3s on iTunes. But they are not MP3+G (emphasis on the GRAPHICS portion of the format). No karaoke files presently on iTunes are "karaoke with video/graphics" at this time.
But your argument isn't if the karaoke music has graphics or not. It's the whole 1:1 debate. I'm not sure where the graphics thing came into play, but I can see why you would bring it up.
And anyone who knows even the tiniest bit about the history of karaoke licensing in the US knows that the "G" portion of the Karaoke SIGNIFICANTLY changed the market for the entire industry. As a manufacturer, I hate it, but I have to live with it. So you are not even making a close comparison of the content.
Any new invention significantly changes the market in which it was invented for. VHS changed things. Blu-Ray changed things, and so has the CD, iTunes, and whatever else has came into play. The industries in question, though, have learned to use these new mediums to their advantage. VHS became THE standard until DVDs came along, and then Blu-Ray changed the way we view high-def movies. iTunes (which is being cited here now) changed everything in terms of music because we can now download anything we want, 99 cents a song, and have it to listen to in a matter of minutes. Facebook changed how we communicate with others. Hell, the internet in of itself has been a staple of how much has changed.
And then, you have the music gaming genre. Games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero have changed nearly everything. These games are part of the reason who karaoke has died down (why go somewhere to do something you can do in the privacy of your own home?).
What I'm getting at here is that each industry has learned to adapt to the technology that faces them. At the moment, the external hard drive is the new tech that faces you, and so far, not many people have taken that you have handled what to do with it effectively, in a way that's fair to the consumer and performer. And, when you were called out, instead of acting professional, you insult me publicly.
3) You have completely overlooked the COMMERCIAL versus CONSUMER or home use of the music content.
Actually, I thought that's what we were talking about all along.
Just like someone can have a dozen buddies to his house and serve beer and wings and watch the SuperBowl on a big screen tv and be totally legal, that same activity (drinking beer and eating wings with your best buddies while watching the Superbowl) CANNOT be done without a license and payment by the owner to the broadcaster and the NFL in a commercial establishment.
And this is where the whole issue of the music licenses come into play. We've went over this. This is the whole basis as to why I'm saying you would be better off trying to find a way to make everyone happy by providing a service that is fair to both the home consumer and the KJ host so the KJ host doesn't HAVE to worry about being 1:1 while making it so people who deal with giving out the licenses will be left happy. This is something that, if you visit Chartbusters' site on the FAQ page, you will see that they seem to have found a way to keep everyone happy, because their main exception to being 1:1 is if you bought the tracks through their DD service. I know you may not care about how they do their business, but I belabor that to emphasize that it indeed IS possible to offer such a service for KJ hosts that keeps everyone satisfied, keeps things reasonably priced, and keeps the industry thriving.
If this comparison escapes your comprehension, then you are simply refusing to accept the facts and (IMHO) are simply arguing because you don't like the way things are. Write your congressman!
You know, though that doesn't sound like a bad idea at all (and I DO implore those that are unhappy with the current laws to do so, as well), I do not see why you have not done this yourself. As the CEO of probably the largest and most well known manufacturer, you could, instead of being our enemy, be our mouthpiece. You could be the one to go to Capitol Hill and call for the changes to the laws, or to make something happen to where people can stay legal by going to the legal DD sites. Hell, I was shocked when Steve Jobs called on the music industry to abolish DRM from iTunes, and that led to a DRM-free option to most of the tracks on the service. I'm sure the issue could be a BIT harder because of the graphics, but it can't be that much harder since some people have got it to work for all people involved. You can do that same thing. But you first have to take the stand and call for an end to the way things are now, and make a sacrifice (even if that means the 1:1 model).
You post many other arguments that are based on complete falsehoods that anyone who is not "in the dark" about the subjects would recognize as being senseless. Therefore to "debate" you is to simply waste valuable time on basic education that you do not appear to be interested in absorbing based on your responses to other posters trying to educate you.
The fact that I debated jclayton's point with praise that he debated me maturely and with actual points rather than just spouting the "nonsense" you accuse me of doing disproves that I'm not willing to listen to the viewpoints of others. And I apologize to jc if I got his name wrong. Even though I disagree with how we should combat piracy, I do not do that without respect for others opinions. I only ask for people to have an opened mind when reading my own, which I do not feel as though I have gotten so far by some people.
And again, shame on you for insulting me when you are a CEO of a company that would be wanting my money. That attitude is what makes people want to pirate your products. Sometimes people pirate out of spite because the company treats them like second-rate citizens. I hope you see why I think you just proved my original point about why your company hasn't seen the glory days it used to have.
