Is it just me or is every one else as tired of stories about the RIAA and "big music" as I am? They've now become (and have been) completely irrelevant to me. I don't like/buy/care about their product. The threat of a lawsuit even though I don't download music has faded into the background threat matrix of my life like an unfair IRS audit or eminent domain taking my house.
IF they do succeed in this tax, its just one more tax by a quasi-government agency for stuff I don't use, for people I don't know. There's already 5 others just like it on my Sprint bill as it is now. They're gonna do what they're gonna do and I have little influence in any of it. Unjust? Probably but I have more pressing things to worry about.
I know there are likely some people in this group who care deeply about fighting the injustice behind this, but I for one would rather RIAA nonsense be left to the Diggs and Slashdots of the world and focus on startups and hacking with this group.
First off, this affects us. This proposed tax is voluntary for ISPs, not consumers. The ISPs are paying this money as protection to the RIAA, so they won't sue. This fee is then handed down to the ever growing list of fees to subscribers. This additional charge for bandwidth and the implications for music-based start-ups is very real and relevant.
Perhaps you should ask Shawn Fanning, or the inventors of ReplayTV, or the Youtube folks why someone who cares about "startups and hacking" might want to pay very, very close attention to the evolving strategic and legal positions of the music and movie industries.
Didn't the DMCA already exempt ISPs from liability?
The music tax could be a double whammy for ISPs, because not only would they have to pay the tax but their bandwidth costs would likely increase due to increased usage of P2P.
IF they do succeed in this tax, its just one more tax by a quasi-government agency for stuff I don't use, for people I don't know. There's already 5 others just like it on my Sprint bill as it is now. They're gonna do what they're gonna do and I have little influence in any of it. Unjust? Probably but I have more pressing things to worry about.
I know there are likely some people in this group who care deeply about fighting the injustice behind this, but I for one would rather RIAA nonsense be left to the Diggs and Slashdots of the world and focus on startups and hacking with this group.