[CLUE-Talk] [Peer-to-Peer@bdcimail.com: Gateway makes a stand for music copying]

[Dave Price]

Though you might enjoy this:

----- Forwarded message from NW on Peer-to-Peer <Peer-to-Peer at bdcimail.com> -----
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Today's focus: Gateway makes a stand for music copying

By Ann Harrison 

I don't watch TV. Heck, I don't even own a TV set. But there 
are rare occasions when I wish I did. One of these happened 
recently when I read about the new TV ad campaign by 
Gateway.com for its 500 X Digital Music PC. From what I read, 
the ads feature Gateway CEO Ted Waitt lip-synching with a cow 
after a man inserts a CD into his truck's stereo. The ad copy 
on the screen reads:

"Like this song? Download it from Gateway.com. Burn it to a 
CD....Or load it on an MP3 Player. Gateway supports your right 
to enjoy digital music legally." 

In addition to the one-minute ad, Gateway stores will host one-
day seminars to teach people how to download music and movies 
and burn them on to CDs.

File traders will certainly enjoy this machine. But the 
campaign has naturally ticked off the recording industry that 
opposes any technology that helps distribute digital files 
without their seal of approval. The Recording Industry 
Association of America has castigated the company for not doing 
more to prevent piracy and alleges that this product is an 
attempt to make money from unauthorized copying. 

But Gateway says it is educating consumers about copyright law. 
It is also serving as a pointed reminder of the kind of 
technology that will be outlawed if legislation proposed by 
Sen. Fritz Hollings' (D-S.C.) is passed. The legislation would 
require consumer electronics devices to limit recording or 
playback of unauthorized digital material. Gateway is pointing 
out correctly that this bill would strip away consumer's rights 
to make back-up copies of material they already purchased or 
burn public domain and personal digital files. 

As Gateway points out, consumers have their own intellectual 
property and they should be able to do what they want with it, 
dammit. Hopefully Gateway's cheeky campaign will encourage 
other consumer electronics companies to stand up against the 
Hollings bill. 

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To contact Ann Harrison:

Ann Harrison is a technology reporter in San Francisco. She can 
be reached at mailto:ah at well.com.
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..

aloha,
dave