One other thing: in a free market economy, a competitor who comes up with a better business model wins. Putting aside its potential illegality for a moment, allofmp3.com seems to have a better business model. Even Apple with 128 kbps DRM stuff seems to have a better business model. Certainly both are becoming more popular with consumers while the old record company business model is becoming less popular.
The record companies, though, have an artificial stranglehold on the market. They control the most popular artists, so they can get things done on their terms. They dictate prices and DRM to Apple and they are trying to shut allofmp3.com down (again, no comment on whether the service isn't illegal to begin with). Independent labels are gaining power and popularity but until the RIAA is dead and buried this stranglehold will stifle new business practices and new content delivery ideas. Look what they're trying to do to Internet radio. Imagine this in another sector of the economy: car manufacturing. What if there were a governing body that determined who could build the cars, how they would be priced, and how the various companies could sell them? They would be tossed in prison (one would hope). So other people are coming up with the proverbial better mousetraps, and the RIAA is keeping them down. But again, it can't continue forever. Legal or illegal, the consumer will get his music his way. The RIAA have a tendency to shoot themselves in the foot - give them time, they're working on it! :-) One day they will truly p*ss the majority of consumers off and instead of shooting themselves in the foot again, they'll end up shooting themselves in the head. HDCP is also potentially a time bomb, but again, if it's implemented in a way that the majority of consumers won't encounter an issue, it'll still be allowed to exist. When Little Johnny can't play his Spider-Man 3 Blu-Ray disc on his 2-year-old TV though, watch out! You'll have a consumer revolt on your hands. -- Mark Lanctot ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mark Lanctot's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2071 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34928 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
