Hi. First, I'll state that people are free to do what they think is best. I'm just going to illustrate the dilemma that digital forms of media have caused.
First, a VCR isn't digital. When you dub a copy from either off the air, or from one tape to another, it's an analog copy. This means you lose a bit of quality from the source. A good example of this is when you dub cassette tapes. Cassette albums aren't the highest quality media, and if you listen to the copy, you'll notice the tape hiss on it. If you make a copy from that copy, it gets worse. Now let's look at digital media, and the problem it can cause. Let's say there are 10,000 computers. The first computer has a file on it. You copy that file to the second computer. You then copy the file from the second computer to the third, copy the third to the fourth, and so on, until you copy from computer 9,999 to 10,000. Now let's mix all the computers up, so you don't know which is which. How would you be able to tell the original copy from one of the others? The answer is you can't, because each file is an exact duplicate, or clone, of the original. Unlike analog copies, there is no degradation from copy to copy. In my view, there are two problems. First, as I've shown, you have an exact copy of what someone else has, whether you legitimately download it, or you get it by other means. The second problem relates directly to the first. Making one duplicate of the file may seem harmless, but if thousands of copies appear, and these aren't from the originator, a lot of potential money is lost. With ever increasing bandwidth, and inexpensive ways to send large files, this could be a real problem. I write the above as an explanation of why some out there seem to wield an iron clad fist. Don't get me wrong, I think the RIAA has done things stupidly, and don't get me started about the DMCA, which hurts people who want to have an internet broadcast for others to enjoy. I think that what publishers are learning is that if they provide a good product that doesn't cost too much, most people will do things legally. I know that I get my music from Amazon, and I'm willing to pay for it. If I can't find what I want on Amazon, I go to Itunes. So far, there's only one song that I can't find, and I may see if anyone knows where I can buy it. That's my thinking on things. Have a great day, and don't work too hard. Kevin Minor kmi...@windstream.net To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: pc-audio-unsubscr...@pc-audio.org
