by Devon Neal

Few things go hand-in-hand like music and technology. Most of the space these two share is fraught with negativity in relation to P2P software, the outbreak of viruses and spyware, and the RIAA’s fight to limit illegal downloading of copyrighted tracks. The debate on this is heated and endless, but all for one very important reason: music is something everyone can be completely passionate about. Whether you’re looking for a comforting voice on a sad day or looking to liven up your morning with something energetic, music is one of those rare forms of media that we all can make incredibly personal.

With the risks that can be had in downloading music these days, some may find it fairly difficult to broaden their musical horizons. However, the technology world provides plenty of completely legal ways to discover your next favorite band.

Apple’s iPhone just recently announced the integration of a new application in conjunction with a company known as Kyte. This company has struck an agreement with Interscope Geffen A&M to allow any artists or bands signed to this label to develop their own personalized applications. What this means is that the bands themselves can actually provide video content and allow fans to chat and comment on concerts. So far, the label has provided artist-specific applications for the All-American Rejects, Keri Hilson, Lady Gaga, the Pussycat Dolls, and Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em. In doing this, Kyte is looking to develop its own network of artist-produced applications allowing bands to interact one-on-one with all their fans, all through their iPhones.

Don’t have an iPhone? Luckily, there are plenty of other ways to interact with and discover new talent. The new Sirius/XM merger has allowed a broadening of satellite radio larger now than ever before. And, for cheaper, you can log on to any online radio station. One of these, Pandora, allows you to create your own stations by entering the names of your favorite bands and artists, and then plays any related artists, including many obscure ones that you possibly haven’t heard before. You can “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” certain songs as they play, allowing further customization. You can even get applications to allow Pandora to play on your Blackberry, iPhone, or with Windows Mobile.

Despite the hubbub that music and technology are stirring up, there are still plenty of ways for you to artfully and legally assemble the soundtrack for your life.

I suppose I'm showing my age but when i was young (in the late 70s and early 80s) we had these devices called a cassette tape. Know what was terrific about a blank one...recording music from LPs, other cassettes, 8-tracks or the radio. We played those until either the tape was "eaten" in the tape player or the tape wore out. Did those ever stop people from buying music from music companies? Sure they did...did people pirate "legal" copies with them? Sure they did. Did people still buy music legally and go to concerts? Yes, of course.

Why am I telling you all this? Well, this was a day before anti-piracy lawyers worked for each music corporation in droves and before such organizations as the RIAA. It was before someone would show up at your front door with a multi-thousand dollar fine and jail time for you to serve in their hands. It was a day before music companies complained about lagging sales of CDs and concert attendance.

Today we have CDs, all types of radio options (Internet, satellite, AM/FM), iPods, the Internet, and concerts, for example. For some odd reason when someone swipes music today you hear complaints about lagging sales and millionaire musicians who can't get anyone to attend their concerts....Music companies are forming bread lines because of the lost revenues but they can afford to throw money hand over fist into lawyer and court fees to stop you from getting a CDs worth of music ($18 CD that costs them, say, $9 to make and is costing them $3,000+ in fees to get it back from you). Does it make sense? What's new now that wasn't new back then? Do their tactics really stop anyone?

No. Greed. And no.

Some people say the quality today is different but I say hogwash because in "my day" the quality of our cassettes was fine because LPs and 8-tracks weren't CD quality either so our tapes sounded fine.

Some people say that it's because the Internet makes sharing so much easier. That may be "true" but it's also an opportunity to re-market--getting music to the people (iTunes) creatively and stopping the greed. Or maybe we should get music companies a full-time accountant who can do the math.

The latest news from Capital Records, et. al. v. Jammie Thomas, a P2P lawsuit happening at this moment--according to a Sony BMG anti-piracy lawyer we're now suppose to buy each copy of a song we possess. If you want a song from a CD you own legally on your iPod you should buy the song twice. Also want it on your PC--three times. And you can forget making a backup of the CD--stealing! So, once it gets ware and scratches and won't work anymore...you're out of luck. Buy it all again. Remember...they're all starving now. $15 billion+ buys nothing these days!!

Am I advocating stealing? NO WAY! Am I saying copyright violations are right? NO! I don't think people should "steal" music or "steal" copyright. All I am saying is what is so different today than what's always happened? How is all this madness cost effective? And, does the silliness of buying 5 copies of a legal CD make sense to the consumer and what are the repercussions of that? Does it make people want to "share" more or less? I think the music industry would better spend their money ($15+ BILLION in revenues between the top 4) researching what drives all this and how to fix it in a way the consumer will agree with, instead of making lawyers and the RIAA rich/er.

RIAA http://www.riaa.com/
THE BIG 4:
EMI Group http://www.shareholder.com/visitors/dyn ... anyid=EMIL
Sony BMG http://www.sonymusic.com/about/corpcomm.html
Universal Music http://www.vivendi.com/corp/en/subsidia ... _music.php
Warner Music Group http://investors.wmg.com/phoenix.zhtml? ... ortsannual

Boycott RIAA http://www.boycott-riaa.com/
RIAA Radar http://www.riaaradar.com/
How to Not Get Sued for File Sharing http://www.eff.org/IP/P2P/howto-notgetsued.php
Recording Industry vs The People http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/
Internet "Trial of the Century" Produces "Playlist of the Century" http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/riaa_trial/index.html

by Adam Conner

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file sharing has become a great tool for people to communicate between each other and share music, video, audio images, etc. Programs such as Limewire and Kazaa allow a person to download music and video to a certain location to their computer and share this information with the people who have the same software, but there are risks.

Risk #1: As with anything you download from the internet, there is always the risk of being infected with a virus, spyware, or other malicious programs such as rogue programs, programs that take up space on your computer and are really nothing more than a nuisance. Malware is the other name used for these type of programs. The best defense is to have antivirus software and spyware software, like Spybot, to scan these items to see if they are legitimate or possible infections on your computer.

Risk #2: Be careful not to download copyrighted materials. Overall, file sharing is legal to use but when in doubt, do not download the software, image, song, or video.
Here are some other tips to think about when it comes to using this feature:

*Monitor family peer-to-peer sharing. Do not assume that internet filters can block most P2P files that you receive. Guidelines should be set between family members so that no one downloads a virus or spyware. Be careful who you share these programs with because it may contain either one of these. Also, be careful not to download any copyrighted material.

*Treat all downloaded files with suspicion. Scan each new file with an industry- standard antivirus software before you download it. Set your antivirus to scan your hard-drive on a regular basis or perform these scans yourself.

*Delete any pirated material you find on a family computer, digital audio players, CD-R discs, and other storage devices and consider disabling the P2P’s software downloading option or block outside access to the program by changing your computer’s Internet firewall settings.

*Learn all you can about P2P software and be careful what files you make available to others. Most P2P files are stored in a folder or “My Shared file” or something similar

*Do not store copies of copyrighted files that you have legally purchased, such as a CD from a retail store, into your P2P file-sharing folder.

*Back-up important files on an external device before downloading any shared files

Source:
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/yourse ... aring.mspx