[SGVLUG] semi-OT: DRM rootkits et.

[Terry Hancock]

On Wednesday 02 November 2005 08:09 pm, Dustin wrote:
> There was a time when people lived with the music they 
could make 
> or none, and I can do it again.
> 
> Depends on how much you value freedom.

It's not necessary to go quite that far. You just have to 
adjust your universe:

http://www.iuma.com/

Most of the songs are not "free licensed"*, but all are
"free for download" and most are "free to share".

There's a *lot* of music on that site, in a very wide
variety of styles.  You have to ask yourself what are 
the big label bands doing that makes them so exclusively
necessary to your cultural universe.  Maybe you *don't*
need to compromise your ideals.

Of course, there is a lot of crud, too. You have to do
your own filtering.  That's part of the price of freedom.
But IMHO, there is some stuff that is quite a bit better
than what you will find through standard RIAA-approved
distribution channels.

And of course, if you allow your tastes to be controlled
by the industry, you won't be happy with anything but
what the industry produces. But haven't you ever wondered
what exists beyond the stuff they play on the radio?  
There's a big world out there, and only a tiny fraction
of it gets published through the record label system. What
if instead of confining yourself to that universe of
music, you confined yourself to the universe of music
that plays by fair rules, instead?  Would you be any
worse off?  Maybe better.

*But some are, too.

--
Terry Hancock ( hancock at anansispaceworks.com )
Anansi Spaceworks  http://www.anansispaceworks.com