The DMCA
Is the worst sodding law ever.
Really, where the hell does this get the RIAA? Nowhere. It saves noone money and helps noone.
Grow up you greedy little children.
Pandora.com, the popular net radio station that helps users discover new music and build custom playlists, will block most people outside the US from accessing its service because of legal pressure being exerted by record labels. Launched in 2005, Pandora has always billed itself as a service for US listeners only, but until …
I've been a Pandora listener for a while now and as a result of introducing me to new groups that I had not heard before I have bought several CDs that I would not otherwise have considered. And from someone who buys only a few CDs per year, that represents a large increase in my music purchases, new money coming into the industry. Multiply that by the number who have done the same, it's an industry gain, not loss.
Typical of the unimaginative, uncreative approach beloved of a supposedly creative industry who are unable to distinguish between piracy and legitimate listening.
Or perhaps they are worried that if we listened to moreof the music instead of watching the videos and absorbing the hype we'd never buy anything?
What a dreadful shame. In the couple of months since I discovered Pandora I've only had it streaming a handful of days but I've bought over 100 quid's worth of music on the back of it that I would never have bought without hearing the stuff on Pandora. With at least one of those bands (Placebo), I think I'm likely to buy the back catalogue and I have a list still sitting here on my jotter of other artists to check out.
So it's back to sharing recommendations (and no doubt the odd MP3 or CD) with mates. RIAA, Music Industry, Pigopolists, Tossers.
Don't they realise that's what these services provide? I've bought (yes, purchased with money) countless albums by artists I wouldn't even have heard of if it wasn't for Pandora. Wake up RIAA!!!!!!
Never mind, back to borrowing mate's albums and 'home taping'
Of course, if you're in the UAE or any other country that routinely blocks content, any proxy sites are blocked. So all you get it is this:
We apologize the site you are attempting to visit has been blocked due to its content being inconsistent with the religious, cultural, political and moral values of the United Arab Emirates.
Great, eh?