[martin_fierro]

	iPod
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[Hodar]

This is another example of biting the hand that feeds you. MP3's were being freely distributed; people making CD's of songs they wanted; and the Record and Tape Industry screamed (and rightfully so) about their material being mass distributed without royalties.

So, Apple creates (operative word here, creates) a website that sells 'virtual' data; and the Record Industry begins to gather money with NO EFFORT on their part whatsoever. No tracking, no advertizing, no inventory, no distribution, no promotions. Heck, Apple even managed the site for them.

But, this still isn't good enough. No, now they want MORE money per song; and Apple and other sites hold the companies to their contracts.

Now, these record companies want to 'tax' the very group that provided them with Billions of unclaimed dollars. It appears the very basic ideas of creativity, (why didn't the record companies start an internet music store?), commercialism (with the exception of Sony, no record company has YET to market their own MP3 player), and free enterprize (charge too much, people will simply share the music freely amongst themselves).

There are so many lessons that COULD have been learned; yet have not apparently been grasped yet. Beta tapes of movies used to run $60-100/movie. The price dropped, and instead of dubbing a copy, people PURCHASED the movie. Now with $20 I can either buy a New movie release; but I still can't buy the Beatles White Album. Why not? Haven't the Record companies recouped their money from the Beatles? If CD's weren't price fixed (which is illegal, and the record companies have already lost at least one class action suit on this one), if the prices weren't artifically high; and if the songs today had 1% of the talent exhibited 30 years ago; things may be different today.

[weegee]

The industry has asked the Japanese government to charge a royalty, to be added to the retail price of portable digital music players like Apple's iPod, which has been explosively popular here. Money earned from the fee, which will be probably be 2 percent to 5 percent of the retail price, would go to recording companies, songwriters and artists as compensation for revenue lost from home copying.

Of course some represented artists would never see a dime of this money. What a corporate ripoff. These collection agencies DO know how to take in the money though.

[dhs12345]

Maybe there's a little resentment from the Japanese and Sony for missing the boat on MP3 players?

While Sony and others were playing CYA, Apple provided a solution -- the iPod.