[IP] Click at your own risk
Begin forwarded message:
From: Barry Ritholtz <ritholtz@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: August 3, 2004 10:46:51 PM EDT
To: Dave Farber <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Click at your own risk
Hey Dave,
The issue between Apple and Real only tangentially touches upon the
most significant problem of copyright law: Its a mess.
It may have originally been created to encourage the creative arts, but
its now run completely amuck. Its been taken over by large corporate
interests, applied directly inapposite to the original purpose.
And since I do not practice law any longer, I can freely say what
practicing lawyers cannot: The Supreme Court blew it. Was it through
sheer incompetence? An incorrect reading of the original intent of the
framers? Are they simply to old to understand new technology?
Regardless, they have made a hash of what should be a relatively simple
interpretation. We will be feeling the impact of their incompetance
globally for decades. Oh, and Australia was just strongarmed into
changing their copyright law to suit the U.S.
The results of this are actually laughable: Aussie iPod owners are not
legally allowed to transfer the songs from CDs they bought (legally) to
thier iPods.
Simply outrageous.
Heres an excerpt:
"Click at your own risk"
Julian Lee
The Sydney Morning Herald, August 3, 2004 (annoying registration
required)
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/08/02/1091432115074.html?
oneclick=true
Apple's iPod digital music player may be the hottest electronic toy in
the world, but it has almost no legal use in Australia, writes Julian
Lee.
The next time The Clash's I Fought the Law is blaring away on your
Apple iPod music player, savour the irony that not only are you likely
to be an outlaw - you are getting away with it with the help of one of
the world's biggest brands.
You are not alone. There are 100,000 of you across the country and the
police aren't coming after you. Yet.
Apple's iPod is the Sony Walkman of the new century. In the 1980s,
Sony's cassette player revolutionised music by making it portable.
Today Apple and others have eliminated the tape and have taken the
Walkman digital. An iPod owner can copy hundreds - even thousands - of
songs from CDs onto a box the size of a cigarette packet.
More than 100,000 Australians listen to music on such digital music
players. Retailers cannot stock them fast enough. There is just one
problem.
Most people know it is illegal to download songs from the internet
without paying. But far fewer people know it is illegal to copy music
from a CD you have legally bought.
Anyone who has copied songs from a CD onto an iPod or computer hard
drive has fallen foul of Australian copyright laws, which critics argue
are failing to keep pace with technological change. Copying music for
personal use is generally OK in the US and Europe. But not in
Australia.
"It's unlikely that the Australian Federal Police would investigate
individuals for offences such as illegally copying a CD," a police
spokeswoman said. "However all cases referred to the AFP are
categorised and investigated as necessary."
Unlike its rivals, Apple does not allow legitimate music websites such
as Telstra and Ninemsn to sell digital songs for the iPod. Because
Apple does not allow Australian customers to buy songs from its US
iTunes website - and there is no local site - there is not much you can
do legally with an Apple iPod in Australia. "You could possibly use it
to listen to music that you've recorded yourself or even to a recording
made by your friend's band," says a copyright expert, Kim Weatherall,
of Melbourne University's law school. "But that's about it."
Despite the law, a recent Apple magazine advertisement demonstrates how
to copy songs from a CD onto a computer - and then from the computer
onto an iPod. At the bottom of the ad, in small print, is the plea:
"Don't steal music."
snip.
Is it just me, or is this simply beyond absurd?
Barry L. Ritholtz
Market Strategist
Maxim Group
britholtz@xxxxxxxxxxxx
(212) 895-3614
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