Ballmer Says iPod Users are Thieves 1108
A 'music thief' (apparently) writes "According to Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft: "The most common format of music on an iPod is 'stolen'."
He appears convinced Microsoft will lead the way in Digital Rights Management and also believes Microsoft will steal a march on Apple in making the digital home a reality because Apple "doesn't have the volumes".
"There is no way that you can get there with Apple. The critical mass has to come from the PC, or a next-generation video device," he said."
Re:Ballmer and FUD? Who would have thought?! (Score:5, Informative)
Which means that corporate America (ex. the music industry) should start helping MS gain more market share in that market.
Re:Ballmer and FUD? Who would have thought?! (Score:5, Informative)
2) Any new computer purchased from Gateway
3) Any new computer purchased from HP
4) Any new computer purchased from Compaq
5) Any new computer purchased from the company I work for
6) Any new computer purchased from GlobalComputer/TigerDirect under the "SysteMax" name
I really could go on and on. You sir, are in idot in the worst way; Or a troll. One of the two.
(Now, the above isn't to say that the users of said brand new computers won't 'borrow' some software from friends/family, but makes it a far cry less than "%100 stolded" as you had suggested. Rare indeed.)
Re:Quickie Slashdot Poll... (Score:5, Informative)
2) 0% (iTunes store only just opened in Germany)
3) 1% (The OpenBSD songs, + RMS Free Software Song)
4) 95% (most of it classic and Jazz)
5) 4% (note that this is legal in Germany, and AFAIK, Canada)
Here's Where to Get Some Legal Tunes for your iPod (Score:3, Informative)
The easiest way to do it is with iRATE radio [sourceforge.net]. It downloads tracks from music hosting services like the Internet Underground Music Archive [iuma.com], using a collaborative filtering system to select the tracks you're most likely to enjoy.
The client fetches the URLs of a few tracks from iRATE's central database server, then downloads them directly from the servers where the musicians have them hosted. When you listen to the new tracks, you rate them according to how much you like and dislike them. The next time iRATE contacts the server, it submits your ratings, which are then correllated with the ratings of other users to find the best tracks for you.
Basically, if you and I enjoy the same kind of music, iRATE will fetch for you all the same music I like. If we disagree on our taste in music, iRATE will avoid downloading for you the music I enjoy.
iRATE radio is free software, licensed under the GNU GPL. A new version, 0.4, is expected to be released within a couple weeks. You can help with testing if you try out the unstable builds [sourceforge.net] and report bugs using SourceForge's bug tracking system.
I discuss iRATE and many other ways to download music free and legally in my article Links to Tens of Thousands of Legal Music Downloads [goingware.com].
I want every p2p network user to read my article. If you also feel that more people should read it, you can help by linking to it from your website, weblog, or from message boards.
Thank you for your attention.
Re:Ballmer and FUD? Who would have thought?! (Score:5, Informative)
That certainly rings true among the people I know - at least with regards to their home computers. 100% of them run pirated copies of WinXP, pirated photoshop, pirated Office, etc...
Personally I think the likes of Abiword [abisource.com] make a perfectly acceptable replacement for Word, at least for home users - and often times businesses would do just fine with it. I think Abiword is an upgrade from MS Word - others my not agree. But it's definitely faster to load, looks just as good (better in my opinion), uses less memory, and has more than enough features to keep home users, college students, and business people happy.
I'm not a huge fan of Open Office [openoffice.org] - not because there's anything wrong with it. It's just that I don't really need an Office Suite. (I imagine most home users don't.) But for those who do "need" it, I think it's a great substitute for the $300+ MS Office Suite.
For my own spreadsheet needs, I prefer Gnumeric [gnome.org] because it feels very light weight while still having all the features I need. Plus I think it looks great and it's a heck of a lot faster to load up than OOo. The only problem with Gnumeric is that there isn't a Windows port (that I know of).
I also have several friends who pirate the "Pro" version of Trillian. I finally convinced my friend to give the Windows Port of gaim [sf.net] a try and he has been using it ever since. Bonus - download the encryption [sf.net] plugin for gaim and have secure messaging.
I don't know enough about Photoshop and image editing to know if The Gimp [gimp.org] is an acceptable replacement. I've read several posts where people say it is *not* (an acceptable replacement.) I'll have to take their word for it. My image editing needs are very basic so gThumb [sourceforge.net] is about all I really need.
I have another friend who pirates FTP software. With the existence of FileZilla [sf.net], I fail to see the point. What can't FileZilla do?
A lot of people pirate WinZip. I have to admit that WinZip does have a pretty interface (if you use Windows), but if you don't want to pay for it, and you don't want to take the risk of infecting your Windows computer with a virus when you download a WinZip crack of Kazaa, then I recommend 7-zip [7-zip.org] as a free alternative. Also, the last time I saw WinZip (which admittedly was years ago) there were a few archive types it didn't handle.
There are so many great Free and Open Source alternatives available, even if you use Windows.
Get FireFox now [spreadfirefox.com]
Re:ALL WHO ANSWERED THIS POLL (Score:5, Informative)
Bullshit. You don't know what you're talking about. Do you know why there are so many one hit wonders? So many excellent bands that never take off?
Because the record companies screw them over, and only the ones that manage to sell millions of one CD actually manage to go on. Most record contracts require you to sell a given number of CDs (depends on the size of your contract) just to break even with them, and most bands don't make this. With any of the big record companies, if a CD costs $10, the artist can consider himself fortunate if he gets 50c per CD. And then he gets taxed for that too.
It's people like you who cause the RIAA and MPAA to sue ordinary citizens. Freeloaders who show no appreciation or respect for musicians hard work (excpet maybe if you listen to Britney Spears - the sooner she goes out of business, the better).
Most - as in 99.999% of musicians are overworked and underpaid. Most can't afford the instruments they play on. It's only the handful at the top who gets pushed by the record companies, and all the sex_sells/idol/whatever other commercial crap, who make it really big financially, and that's only because they sell millions of copies.
Every One is Legal (Score:3, Informative)
Fuck you, Ballmer.
Re:Quickie Slashdot Poll... (Score:3, Informative)
Of course, ripping your own CDs is technically illegal in the UK, I believe.
Re:Every One is Legal (Score:3, Informative)
Fuck you, Ballmer.
(Note to moderators: you may choose to moderate this as redundant, but I'd like to see all iPod-owning Slashdotters post their own statistics just to prove the point. Oh, and once more, Fuck you, Ballmer.
Re:Microsoft's player is dead in the water! (Score:3, Informative)
(*) In practice, they would send you a nasty letter if you downloaded over 2000 tracks a month.
Re:He's got the wrong business sense (Score:3, Informative)
XBox is a success in terms of what it gained them in the market place though:
1.) Sizeable install base
2.) Best graphics in the industry. Though I'll grant you its only because they were last to market and thus took advantage of latest hardware.
3.)Arguably the best online story of the 3 major consoles.
4.) They are #2 game publisher in the industry [gameinfowire.com] according to Game Developers Magazine. That's up from #9 last year and god knows what in pre-Xbox times.
5.) Valuable lessons for development of XBox 2 (remains to be seen if they actually take heed)
6.) As a byproduct, XBox experience gave us the nForce chipsets from nVidia, which are arguably the best chipset family for AMD platform.
So while monetarily XBox is a loss for them, it is not a failure.
Re:Ballmer and FUD? Who would have thought?! (Score:3, Informative)
Actually I would just recommend you just use Abiword or OOo and then select "save as" MS Office Document. I can't imagine that wouldn't work unless you are doing some extremely funky formatting with your documents.
Re:Quickie Slashdot Poll... (Score:5, Informative)
To clarify things in Canada's case, here's section 80 from the Copyright Act [justice.gc.ca]:
Emphasis mine. What qualifies as an audio recording medium is specified in the Private Copying Certified Tariff [cb-cda.gc.ca]:
Standard PC hard drives do not qualify, so just ripping your friends' CDs to your own hard drive is not legal. Burning CD copies of them is.
Me, I paid the levy on my iPod, and put all of the music on it myself. Therefore it's all legal.
One more note: The revisions to the levy made last December were accompanied by an opinion handed down by the Copyright Board regarding the legality of P2P downloading. The decision [cb-cda.gc.ca] was that the Copyright Act does not address the legality of the source:
Of course, the conditions of Section 80 must still be met.
Re:ALL WHO ANSWERED THIS POLL (Score:3, Informative)
The record companies may be, but the artist aren't. I spent a good chunk of my life being a professional musician and I can tell you for sure that at least 80% of the artists out there go in DEBT to make an album. Merchandise and touring is the only way to make money.
Truth about the Music Business (Score:5, Informative)
Here's the truth about music and money. The typical contract signed by a band usually includes an advance. This isn't a signing bonus that they just get to keep. It's an advance on all future sales, minus all production and advertising costs, so in other words profit. Therefore if WB puts $2M into a project, it must gather that much in order to recover the costs. If you got $500K as an advance and only $1M was made from the effort, you are 100% responsible for paying that $500K back to WB!
Also, in 90% of the contracts signed by new bands, a three record deal is signed for the label. 100% of publishing rights from the first (usually the second as well) album goes to the label. Most bands don't survive the second album so it's usually a moot point.
So yes, $0.50 per disc means a lot to some of these bands. I personally think they should get a lot more, but the RIAA is in full support of the labels not the artist, but they still get something from our purchases.
Peace
Re:ALL WHO ANSWERED THIS POLL (Score:2, Informative)
Actually, no. Most of those $9.50 went to wholesalers, retailers and taxes. The record company itself gets about $2-$4 of it, AFAIK.
Re:in other news (Score:3, Informative)
Microsofts market cap is 307 million, apples is 15.
Microsofts gross profit for q4 2003 - 7,811 million net 2,690 million.
Apples gross profit for q4 2003 - 559 million net 61 million.
Earth to Steve B. (Score:5, Informative)
-Apple has already made a deal with HP for the HP branded iPod (now shipping) and bundling iTunes with HP windows machines.
-Apple have also integrated their device with BMW and VW Beetle cars and Alpine makes an adaptor kit for other vehicles.
-Virgin Airlines offers iPods to use in the first class lounge.
-Some cruise lines are looking at renting iPods to guests.
-Apple has Licensed playback software to Motorola for inclusion in their cell phones.
Apple already has that critical mass by having captured over 60% of the market even before HP jumped on the band wagon just through direct marketing to mac and windows users.
PS. You might also want to take note that the iPod is a status symbol today and many music stars like to brandish them in public (especially diamond encrusted ones). MSFT is not considered cool these days and your "developer, developers, developer" song combined with your monkeyboy dance are partly to blame for this.
PPS. Get some better antiperspirant when you go on stage 'cause large armpit sweat stains are uncool.
Re:Quickie Slashdot Poll... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Come on now, Steve (Score:1, Informative)
Ballmer uncomfortable with thievery!!! (Score:2, Informative)
at http://www.aaxnet.com/topics/msinc.html. Ballmer is uncomfortable with retail-level thievery but very accustomed to wholesale-level.
In 2002, Microsoft was sued by SPX over the NetMeeting whiteboard, by Burst for patent infringement, by Network Commerce, Sun, BE, and AOL.
MSN put in code that ruined Opera's display of Microsoft websites, by testing specifically for the Opera browser and shifting images sideways. Opera settled with Microsoft for this but agreed to hide the terms of the settlement.
How many other things has Steve stolen and gotten away with? Cheating, getting caught, and paying settlements is a way of life.
iPod users say Steve Ballmer is an asshole (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Every One is Legal (Score:3, Informative)
Fuck you, Ballmer.
Re:Quickie Slashdot Poll... (Score:2, Informative)
That very definition means, if many people store audio on it, it's an audio recording medium.
Also, note the use of the word 'including' before the list of recognized media; this saves having to update the law when new media are introduced. (Or new uses for old media; but I've been storing music on computer tape and disk for 25 years now... it just doesn't sound like shit anymore.)
Finally, the definition you cited is for a blank audio recording medium; that is relevant for the levies. But the legality of a personal-use copy is not predicated on payment of the levy, nor is it required that you copy onto blank media.
Re:ALL WHO ANSWERED THIS POLL (Score:2, Informative)
I hate it when people think that when someone makes a lot of money, they somehow don't deserve it. How would you like it if someone at the poverty level decided that you, as a middle class citizen, didn't deserve what you made either?
Unless of course...you promote socialism.
Re:Quickie Slashdot Poll... (Score:3, Informative)
iTMS isn't Mac-only, though.