Snapster 2.0
from the let's-try-this-again dept
So, last week Bob Cringely wrote up his idea for Snapster, a legal music downloading service - except, of course, that it wasn't anywhere close to legal. It appears that many many many people pointed this out to him - to the tune of one email per minute. So, Cringely has gone back to the drawing board and come up with an even more convoluted plan which he refers to as Snapster 2.0 which still doesn't look anywhere near legal. The idea now is to tie each songs download to a physical CD (any physical CD) and use as some sort of "trade". Thus, if you want to download a song, you have to "loan" a CD of your own into the system. He suggests that this is completely legal, because you are allowed to loan control of your CDs. Thus, the playing of any song is still tied to a single CD, and no song is being downloaded that isn't somehow tied to a CD that isn't in use somewhere else. Confusing? Sure is. It still doesn't pass the legality test in my book (though, I'm sure lawyers will have different opinions) because you're still copying multiple copies of the same song - which is infringement, and not fair use. There are also a bunch of other problems from the technical side - including how such a system scales, but it's not even worth bothering with since it doesn't appear to be legal in the first place.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Tapes
The problem is, just like with your music tapes, when do you get them back? You persistently ask for your tapes back and your friend promises to do so, until you just give up and buy the tape again.
Ah, the 80s.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Tapes
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
In line with Fair Use
This is what Fair Use *is* all about.
Thank god I live in a country that allows me to rent CDs.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
MP3.com did this a LONG time ago.
basically, the RIAA accused them of "creating an unauthorized digital music catalog of up to 45,000 CDs" *. i doubt this would result in a different outcome.
check out the article:
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-235953.html?txt
* - [ source: C|net News.com ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: MP3.com did this a LONG time ago.
There's a very big difference between MP3.com and what Bob has proposed.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: MP3.com did this a LONG time ago.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: MP3.com did this a LONG time ago.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]