Sony Exec: RIAA Lawsuits Cost Us Millions

[CrossLOPER]

Attention: Sony hates you. Sony hates you more if you buy something from them. If businesses had no oversight they would all be like Sony. That's the way the system works.

[Don Corleone]

Attention: Sony hates you. Sony hates you more if you buy something from them. If businesses had no oversight they would all be like Sony. That's the way the system works.

You'll never get anywhere name-calling against a corporation. They'll just forward your name, email address and any other personal information you give them to their lawyers and they'll 'create' a history of illegal downloading activity and sue you over it.

The trick is to hit them where it hurts. Don't buy Playstations. Don't buy games for Playstations. Don't buy Sony portable DVD players. Don't listen to Sony artists on the radio. Seriously. Shut the radio off when Madonna comes on. Don't listen to anything by any of these guys. I was sad to see the Allman Brothers band on their website. I'm going to pack up all my old vinyls and CDs and send them, along with a big "F-U" letter, to Gregg himself, down in Macon, Georgia. Maybe when artists realize how much people despise them for the practices done in their name, they'll apply some pressure on the rats in the legal department to stop what they're doing.

[lars573]

Actually Don as an avid console gamer I can tell you that the best way to put the screws to Sony would be to target their one profitable divison. The games division. All the others, music, movies, home electronics. Not doing so well.

[TB666]

So in other words, Sony is wasting millions for no good reason at all.
They are saying their are losing money thanks to downloading and now they are saying that they have no idea if it does or not ??
Is Sony being run by monkeys or something ??
Wait, scratch that. Monkeys probably would have changed tactic when realising that one type method isn't working.
Sooner these guys and other companies like it get's knocked out the better.

[Ironside]

So in other words, Sony is wasting millions for no good reason at all.
They are saying their are losing money thanks to downloading and now they are saying that they have no idea if it does or not ??
Is Sony being run by monkeys or something ??
Wait, scratch that. Monkeys probably would have changed tactic when realising that one type method isn't working.
Sooner these guys and other companies like it get's knocked out the better.

Unfortunatly they still got enough money to affect policies... Upphovsrättsförslag möter hård kritik
Wouldn't surprice me if Sony is another member of the American trading chambers.

And for those who cannot red Swedish, its criticism against a law suggestion that would force the internet companies to give up your personal information for suspected copywright crimes. And that's by the company run antipirate bureaus and not by the police. All in the same sueing style that goes on in the US.

[TB666]

Unfortunatly they still got enough money to affect policies... Upphovsrättsförslag möter hård kritik
Wouldn't surprice me if Sony is another member of the American trading chambers.

Yeah I read about that.
I sure as hell hope it gets shoot down.
They got very little public support for the copyright law that got into place when the Social democrats got into power and I can't imagine that this has even less.
Would be political suicide but with the current goverment I wouldn't be suprised.
Doesn't matter if you download or not, companies shouldn't be allowed to get personal information on you unless you give it to them yourself.

[Whacker]

Don, glad you had a change of heart. Reasonable measures to protect one's intellectual property is one thing, gestapo-like militant extortionate legal tactics is another.

Fighting these tactics in general is relatively easy to do. Just don't buy music. Don't buy new CDs, tapes, etc... I'm not saying go do something illegal, but don't feed the beast. If you can't kill it with fire, then starve it to death. I believe what we are seeing now is the RIAA thrashing it's first of a long series of death throes.

Also regarding Sony, I'd like to remind folks of their less than glorious past. Sony as a company has been arrogant beyond reason in the past, both in regards to their customers and the marketplace. They've repeatedly tried to push proprietary formats on customers in an effort to get a stranglehold on the market and userbase, and have most of the time failed miserably. Look at Betamax, look at those Minidiscs. The problem with those wasn't quality, indeed they were in many ways superior to the comptetition, the problem was how much they charged for them, and the fact that they locked out other vendors and manufacturers, or made it so costly to produce it wasn't worth it. They've done this repeatedly, more than just those two examples, and almost always fail miserably, yet they keep at it.

OK Whacker, how the does this relate to the topic you ask?

The point here is that Sony is akin to Microsoft in terms of size, capability, and financial reserves. If we want to hit them where it counts, don't buy ANYTHING Sony. No TVs, stereos, walkmans, consoles/games, electronics, anything. Sony is big enough and makes enough money that this is why they often try to push these obsurd proprietary new formats and products, because they can afford to siphon money off of one part of the business and sink it into another because of the size of their income. If you want to choke that beast, then you'll have to forgo your Wegas and Playstations, and everything else. Hit em where it counts, in the pocketbook.

[Blodrast]

Whacker, you forgot to mention rootkits - repeatedly. And lying about them. And not admitting anything about them for a while. And then trying to settle, for example, with Canadians, for less damages than they were charged with in the US. 'cause, you see, Canadians are second-class customers.

Don - glad to have you on board, matey! Arr, them thugs be walkin' the plank soon, ye'll see!

Yes, I've also decided long ago not to buy anything from Sony, ever. And I haven't - and, shockingly, I survived just well. So it's perfectly doable.

And I agree with Whacker on the points he made - good points, mate. I'm glad I'm no longer the only vocal anti-corporate whack (pardon the pun ) on these boards.

And yes, the RIAA's techniques are nothing short of extortion: give us 3k, and we won't sue you. Not to mention that they don't actually have any proof, most times. But hey, they've got deep pockets, and most people are scared and intimidated, and don't wanna go through the whole court crap, so they just pay up. So their tactics work, for the most part.
But yes, they're finally starting to lose ground - about damn time, too.

[Banquo's Ghost]

The trick is to hit them where it hurts. Don't buy Playstations. Don't buy games for Playstations. Don't buy Sony portable DVD players. Don't listen to Sony artists on the radio. Seriously. Shut the radio off when Madonna comes on.

Good advice Don, but I suspect the executives' world view is so skewed by now they will conclude: "OMG, our sales are falling - must be the pirates! We're not suing enough 12 year olds, grandmothers and dead people."

[ICantSpellDawg]

Any band who makes money using a record company is a joke. Bands should make money playing shows or releasing official copies of their albums. EVeryone should be able to record noises that they hear and listen to them anytime they want. If this happened, better bands would have more money - label created pop bands would have none.

the whole lawsuit issue smacks of a McCarthy era witch hunt by cruel, detached corporations.

[Incongruous]

Any band who makes money using a record company is a joke. Bands should make money playing shows or releasing official copies of their albums. EVeryone should be able to record noises that they hear and listen to them anytime they want. If this happened, better bands would have more money - label created pop bands would have none.

the whole lawsuit issue smacks of a McCarthy era witch hunt by cruel, detached corporations.

You know anyone in a band? Bands are not there to be you're best friends or give you their art for free. They obviuosly work hard on what they give you (well mostly). If you actually listen to their music then it's because they have made something you like, if they want to make a living off what they do, what the heck is wrong with that?

[TB666]

You know anyone in a band? Bands are not there to be you're best friends or give you their art for free. They obviuosly work hard on what they give you (well mostly). If you actually listen to their music then it's because they have made something you like, if they want to make a living off what they do, what the heck is wrong with that?

Nothing wrong with that but to say that they live off record sales is wrong.
Only the very big names can survive on records sales and you have to sell alot of records as well since the label takes the vast majority of the profit and leaves the artist with bread-crumbs.
The main income however is doing live concerts where the artist can enjoy most of the profit.

I wonder if this whole download thing is because the labels know that the artist don't need them anymore and all this mass-sueing is simply a way to gather the flock back so to speak.
Mean if no one downloads then the artist have to rely on the labels again.

[Incongruous]

Nothing wrong with that but to say that they live off record sales is wrong.
Only the very big names can survive on records sales and you have to sell alot of records as well since the label takes the vast majority of the profit and leaves the artist with bread-crumbs.
The main income however is doing live concerts where the artist can enjoy most of the profit.

I wonder if this whole download thing is because the labels know that the artist don't need them anymore and all this mass-sueing is simply a way to gather the flock back so to speak.
Mean if no one downloads then the artist have to rely on the labels again.

That's not what I was talking about. I didnt say they all made their living off selling records, but they should be able to make money off them.

[CrossLOPER]

You'll never get anywhere name-calling against a corporation. They'll just forward your name, email address and any other personal information you give them to their lawyers and they'll 'create' a history of illegal downloading activity and sue you over it.

The trick is to hit them where it hurts. Don't buy Playstations.....

That's.... the point I was trying to make.