South African Recording Industry Association Kicks Off 'Shoot The Pirate' Campaign; Amazed That Real Violence Ensues
from the a-little-perspective,-people dept
Apparently, the Recording Industry of South Africa (RISA -- the local equivalent of the RIAA) decided to run an "anti-piracy" campaign in that country with the rather astoundingly hyperbolic theme of "Shoot the Pirate." And now, it appears, they're absolutely stunned that this campaign has resulted in actual violence. As part of the campaign, a bunch of artists supporting RISA took to the streets to confront vendors of counterfeit CDs, and some brawls ensued -- leading to the arrest of a singer who physically attacked a vendor. And now some are claiming that death threats are being issued to those who put forth the campaign. Perhaps the choice of "shoot the pirate" wasn't exactly the best rhetorical choice for encouraging a reasoned response to some business model problems.
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Filed Under: copyright, piracy, south africa, violence
Companies: risa
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"A brawl ensued which at its height involved artists, vendors and police, who reportedly beat up the artists’ supporters. The protesters then moved on and had another brawl with more pirates at another location."
It's right out of a Mel Brooks movie...
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It's never too late to get some sort of broad intellectual monopoly here in the United States.
Ask a former SUN engineer, no one competent actually reviews these things, just keep submitting requests making completely inconsequential changes if rejected until someone decides "fuck it good enough." Congrats, you now have your own little monopoly and America's competitive edge dies a little more.
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However, how much (superficial) change is required before it's a new invention and not a modified version of an old one.
Once that standard is set, that will be exactly how much the patent application changes to avoid the higher fees.
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Since we're wishing, my wish would be that the requirement be based on the content industry's interpretation of Remix's. If you cannot build it from scratch in a vacuum, and there is anything that looks remotely like someone else's work, then it should be rejected. That way those who are truly inventive will be rewarded.
The bad news is we've basically invalidated every patent since the invention of the wheel...but I'm good with that. Have to draw the line somewhere.
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There is this group of people that create imaginary boundaries and are unable to understand that inside society there are real boundaries that should never be crossed, you expect that those people would understand that more than others that those lines are there since they depend on them, but no, idiots believe boundaries are only for others and not themselves and when they get beaten in public for crossing those lines they get shocked.
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What kind of value could they add to the real releases to attract more customers?
Are the artists upset because they have bad contracts for tours? Getting more people interested in your work means more people will try to attend your shows and look for other things that you do. Or are they just being told we can't pay you what we promised because pirates stole all the money, when it is just the labels lining their pockets first?
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$15.00++ for the 'boy-band' stuff, more for jazz etc.
If one considers that the people involved in the dispute probably earn less than $700 per month take-home (i.e. after taxes) you soon realise why the pirates are successful.
On the lighter side: on one occasion the police proudly announced that they had tracked & closed down a seller of counterfeit DVDs. Given that the counterfeiter had a shop in one of the better shopping malls ... 8)
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$15.00++ for the 'boy-band' stuff, more for jazz etc.
If one considers that the people involved in the dispute probably earn less than $700 per month take-home (i.e. after taxes) you soon realise why the pirates are successful.
On the lighter side: on one occasion the police proudly announced that they had tracked & closed down a seller of counterfeit DVDs. Given that the counterfeiter had a shop in one of the better shopping malls ... 8)
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How could they know?
I don't think it's best choice of slogan, but I also don't think you could say they should have been able to predict this.
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/sarc
Has the world learned nothing from the US and its turning the dial to 11 on "issues"? When you go out of your way to go well over the top, you tend to bring out the worst in people.
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Can't talk out of both sides of your mouth at the same time, despite how tempting it may be to do so.
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Infringement!
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With that said piracy vendors would not do so well if the people themselves did not support them. RISA's idiot refusal to observe reality is their funeral.
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For those that are curious, look up "Kill the Boer"...
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Mmmmmm. I can smell the lynch mobs from here.
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Mmmmmm. I can smell the lynch mobs from here.
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(It's what I get for reading Techdirt at work.)
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