Click at your own risk

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Barry Ritholtz <ritholtz () optonline net>
Date: August 3, 2004 10:46:51 PM EDT
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
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 () maximgrp com
(212) 895-3614
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Big Picture:  A blog of capital markets, geopolitics, with a dash  
of film!
http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/

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