
Eagles singer Don Henley: EFF, Google "aid and abet" criminals - diogenescynic
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/08/eagles-singer-don-henley-eff-google-aid-and-abet-criminals.ars
======
mahmud
"I hate the fuckin' Eagles, man" -- The Dude.

------
slowpoke

      There is no First Amendment right to infringe intellectual property rights. 
    

Neither is IP a constitutional right, only the congress' ability to create IP
laws.

I still find it fascinating how a single industry that's currently
experiencing the same 'problem' as hundreds of industries and markets before
them - namely, being made obsolete by technological advancement - is the first
that thinks it is entitled to some sort of special rights to save their
failing business model.

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Rusky
I can't believe how transparent Don Henley's arguments are. How on earth does
"everyone who runs a website" have more of a special interest agenda than "the
music industry"?

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daimyoyo
Who gives a shit what Don Henley thinks about the Protect IP act? Why not ask
Ja Rule or Kim Kardashian what their opinions are? Bad form, Ars. Bad form.

~~~
Rusky
They did include some of the EFF's response, and both parties' statements are
indicative of the situation as a whole.

Personally I thought it was slightly interesting to see an actual musician's
opinion rather than a nebulous "music industry" representative.

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yaks_hairbrush
Of course they do. I do too: If I'm on the left side of the road, and a car
wants to get by me, I'll get out of their way so they can drive past me in
excess of the speed limit. No big deal, and no one gets hurt.

~~~
seabee
The suggested law is like a police car who can't catch the speeder, so instead
takes the easy target and fines the guy who didn't actively stop the criminal.
After all, he deserved to catch the guy, so surely he deserves the fine money
too? We'll just make whoever is most to blame pay for it.

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Adam503
I wonder if Don Henley knows the record companies are now trying to define
musicians legally contract employees. All that music Don Henley recorded
wouldn't belong to musicians. Musicians would be contract labor. Those rights
would all belong to the record companies.

~~~
omouse
_All that music Don Henley recorded wouldn't belong to musicians._

That was already happening. It is (or was) rare for artists to own the rights
to their own works.

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mechanical_fish
Sadly, the following Mojo Nixon link has now become obligatory:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKWaCOQre4A>

To think that I've been reduced to such things. Say it ain't so, Don Henley!

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ecounysis
> _Critics of this pending legislation need to be honest about the company
> they keep and why they essentially aid and abet these criminal endeavors._

Music is the only business where you can get away with calling potential
buyers of your product "criminals".

~~~
tzs
How so? Aren't most people who steal physical goods, such as cars, potential
buyers of cars?

~~~
ecounysis
But the auto industry is not accusing search engines, and anyone else who
opposes the PROTECT IP Act, of aiding and abetting criminal behavior.

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paul9290
How many here who live in the states still torrent copyrighted material?

The Internet is an awesome thing but it's killed and killing a lot of
industries and jobs. Jobs as Jeff Jarvis has pointed out
(<http://bit.ly/prM2gN>) will not be replaced, rather they are gone forever.
From the newspaper industry chain, to the hundreds of thousands of jobs to be
lost in the postal service soon, the annihilated music business and soon the
cable TV and retail industries.

Millions of jobs are lost and going to be lost. Thus I wonder if you still
download torrents in the US how do you justify doing so? Also how old are you?

~~~
diogenescynic
Francis Ford Coppola:

Q: How does an aspiring artist bridge the gap between distribution and
commerce?

A: We have to be very clever about those things. You have to remember that
it's only a few hundred years, if that much, that artists are working with
money. Artists never got money. Artists had a patron, either the leader of the
state or the duke of Weimar or somewhere, or the church, the pope. Or they had
another job. I have another job. I make films. No one tells me what to do. But
I make the money in the wine industry. You work another job and get up at five
in the morning and write your script. This idea of Metallica or some rock n'
roll singer being rich, that's not necessarily going to happen anymore.
Because, as we enter into a new age, maybe art will be free. Maybe the
students are right. They should be able to download music and movies. I'm
going to be shot for saying this. But who said art has to cost money? And
therefore, who says artists have to make money?

In the old days, 200 years ago, if you were a composer, the only way you could
make money was to travel with the orchestra and be the conductor, because then
you'd be paid as a musician. There was no recording. There were no record
royalties. So I would say, "Try to disconnect the idea of cinema with the idea
of making a living and money." Because there are ways around it.

[http://the99percent.com/articles/6973/Francis-Ford-
Coppola-O...](http://the99percent.com/articles/6973/Francis-Ford-Coppola-O..).

~~~
paul9290
Who says then the operator of torrents sites have to make money? Which they
are making a nice profit running those sites. Name a torrent site that isn't
raking in the dough?

Can you answer me why these torrent sites are raking in the dough? What is
attracting their traffic and visitors?

~~~
daeken
> Who says then the operator of torrents sites have to make money?

People willing to give them money.

> Can you answer me why these torrent sites are raking in the dough? What is
> attracting their traffic and visitors?

Convenience and a catalog that beats any other out there. You'll always have
pirates, but the vast majority do it for convenience, not trying to avoid
spending a couple bucks.

