Stratovarius Community

http://prisonplanet.com/articles/novemb ... utdown.htm

I don't place much stock in this source-its like sort of a conspiracy theory webpage. But, since it is about File-sharing&downloading music, I thought it was interesting.
And you can leave your opinion if you want. I didn't, but anyone can if they want.

RIAA shut down the net? Hell, no. But, I'd think long&hard before I download anything from questionable sources!

Just be thankful that the Internet isn't how senator Ted Stevens explains it. Because all they would have to do is turn off the tubes, and we would be in some deep shit.

I'd love to see Jens or TT give their opinion on that site---that would knock those Gloom&Doom conspiracy buffs on their ass! I mean, things are pretty rough in the world, but CTs exaggerate it to the max!

I'm not a big fan of Hilary Rosen (although she is no longer with the RIAA.) I certainly don't advocate ripping off bands or musicians by downloading unauthorized copies of their music.

It seems like I remember a thread here in the stratoforum where some idiot complained about getting a nasty virus when he downloaded some illegal Strato MP3's (ain't that a bitch, for him at least?).

If the cheap bastard had bought the CD at the retail level (rather than downloading it from the Wild, Wild West (www)), he probably would not have gotten his system trashed. Not having good security in place on his PC probably compounded the problem, but that's his problem.

However, I think that that the RIAA's actual attitude is that while it's not okay for individuals to rip off musicians, as long as the record label gets paid, then it is perfectly acceptable for the label itself to rip off the artists. Cynical? Yes, but that game has gone on for a long time.

It certainly would not break my heart to see the RIAA get hit with additional DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service), as they did a few years ago, or those currently trendy (and pesky) pharming attacks. Poisoning the cache of their nameservers would also be amusing, but probably not for them.

Besides, the RIAA has a new "enforcement partner" in the form of our friends in Redmond at Microsoft. Their DRM (Digital Rights Management) tentacles are slowing enveloping the globe- via its implementation in their server based products.

On a semi-related note, I have no problem with someone protecting their intellectual property, but I am also no fan of the WGA ("Windows Genuine Advantage") spyware, either. Fortunately, most of my customers are using MS Open Business/Open License or MS Select, agreements, which do not require WGA or product activation.

Ok, well yeah, downloading music sucks, and i'm not going into that again. but honestly, wouldn't energies be of better use trying to stop other things on the internet, like child porn or something? i know there are people trying to stop that already, but... hm. i'm not awake enough to express my sentiments clearly, and i have no idea as to the validity of the article, but.... *clare can't finish her point and falls asleep*

There's no amout of filesharing that can hurt the artists as much as the recording label does ... TT wrote a few years ago, when Elements pt.1 leaked to the net and huge argument about filesharing started, that out of 20$ that we pay for CD the band gets maybe 10% or so.

iron_thunder wrote:Ok, well yeah, downloading music sucks, and i'm not going into that again. but honestly, wouldn't energies be of better use trying to stop other things on the internet, like child porn or something?

[/quote]

Yes, I would have to agree that child porn is about the worst thing possible as far as Internet content goes, and it is a really sickening problem. It is a great example of the depravity of this age.

iron_thunder wrote:i know there are people trying to stop that already, but... hm. i'm not awake enough to express my sentiments clearly, and i have no idea as to the validity of the article, but.... *clare can't finish her point and falls asleep*

I'm not sure if you saw this recent story, but there was a Toronto metro police detective (can't recall his name) that actually caught a guy that was abusing his young daughter (four or five years old, no less) for paying customers on his web site.

The policeman said that what he saw made him physically sick, and that it was the worst case of abuse he'd seen in his entire career, but at the very least, the detective's hard work led to the arrest and prosecution of the sick son-of-a-bitch.

My hat is off to this policeman, and hope that he keeps up the good work, and I'm very proud of him. It has to be a very difficult job.

There have been many sting operations in USA for pedophiles. In forums&chatrooms an agent of the FBI will pretend, in a laid back way, to be a teenage girl&then befriend various people(males). They will then arrange a meeting. Imagine the look on the guys face when instead of a cute, blonde 15-year-old hottie, he is greeted by an obese, burly&bearded 50 year old FBI agent!
And these guys don't dare yell entrapment because right there, what they did, gives away their obsession&sickness. They know they are guilty. Case closed!

On a CBS news program(48 Hours, I think)they showed this program in action&it was funny and disgusting at the same time to see these, most often 40+ in age, guys, going to the meeting place hoping to get a piece of underage you know what.
It can frighten a normal decent person... it really can.