Two US States Restrict Used CD Sales 500
DrBenway sends us to Ars Technica for a report that Florida and Utah have placed draconian restrictions on the sale of used music CDs; Wisconsin and Rhode Island may soon follow suit. In Florida, stores have to hold on to CDs for 30 days before they can sell them — for store credit only, not cash. Quoting: "No, you won't spend any time in jail, but you'll certainly feel like a criminal once the local record shop makes copies of all of your identifying information and even collects your fingerprints. Such is the state of affairs in Florida, which now has the dubious distinction of being so anal about the sale of used music CDs that record shops there are starting to get out of the business of dealing with used content because they don't want to pay a $10,000 bond for the 'right' to treat their customers like criminals."
wow (Score:5, Interesting)
Florida + Utah? No surprise... (Score:3, Interesting)
Florida, well... I don't even need to describe the dumb things that go on down there.
Utah? They're best known for things like the "Clean Port 80" act (all internet porn should go on one port!), crazy anti-tech laws, "Yarro's Law" apparently passed at SCO's behest, and SCO, where we have Brent Hatch behind some of the crazy laws, not to mention their senator Orin Hatch and his crazy ideas.
Now, there are lots of nice folks in both states, of course, but any state that allows SCO folk to help write laws, well, I have to think they're positively Utarded.
rubbish (Score:5, Interesting)
This is clearly irrelevant, since they should then apply this to the sale of _any_ second-hand goods - any of which _might_ be stolen or counterfeit.
Even if they did that, what is the point of "in-store credit"? Will they then stipulate that said credit can _only_ be used for the purchase of _new_ media, rather than other second-hand media?
Gosh, I'm glad I only live in a US colony (Australia) instead of mainland US! It seems the RIAA-pists won't be happy until there's an income tax component for "expected music/media consumption."
That so few people are commenting on this... (Score:3, Interesting)
Is this the RIAA trying to curb rights? Is this Garth's revenge? Or is it something less? And, anybody know where in Florida the police were investigating? Is there any way to have this looked at by the media? I think most people would care if the local news did a nice little piece about how their hard-earned tax dollars were being spent making sure Johnny couldn't buy a used CD, rather than #insert EVERYBODYPANIC.h
Ars, thanks for bringing this up.
(and hey, someone else comment - I can't believe that so few people care)
Ugh.. (Score:3, Interesting)
TLF
P.S. Yes it's overdone but... fuck, I have nothing else to say to this than Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?
Re:wow (Score:5, Interesting)
Want to know how shit like this is passed? Read this [tampabays10.com]. I realize it is written horribly, but the video speaks for itself: the Florida legislature votes largely by proxy. Most legislators do not attend the full sessions, when they attend at all.
What do you expect from a state that fields Rhonda Storms [google.com]? (For a kick, read the first result description.)
I wonder if... (Score:5, Interesting)
I worked in retail management with a focus on loss prevention. The connection between hard-core drug addicts and reselling stolen multimedia was insane.
90% of the chronic offenders we prosecuted cited drug money as their motivation and the resellers in New England, my market, were often little more than enablers. One employee of a major reseller in the area told me 'off the record' that a guy we had busted recently came in several times a day for several MONTHS with DVD box-sets still shrink wrapped and stickered from one of our stores. When I asked why they didn't call us he just shrugged.
These new regulations are short-sighted and egregious, but it is possible the RIAA is not solely to blame. The war on drugs is still going on and from what I saw, shoplifting multimedia is a habit of choice for drug offenders.
Some numbers:
It was not unusual to see multimedia loss numbers from a single location at my former company top $100k for a single year. New box set titles @ the time I was doing this resold between 40-60 cents on the dollar within the first two weeks of release. So a single box-store multimedia outlet could have been subsidizing local criminals with an average of +/- $50k/year.
I don't like the new laws, but the RIAA is most likely not solely to blame.
this does NOT suck (Score:5, Interesting)
In fact, this could be exactly what we need. This is clearly such a ludicrous measure that if it goes into law everywhere, the apathy-riddled consumer might actually sit up and notice. When average Jimbo down the street gets hit with fees and taxes and fingerprints and anal probes while trying to sell his old stash of CDs, there should at least be a little more awareness about what the RIAA f**kheads are trying to do. Hopefully, that will lead to consumer action and eventually enough agitation to overturn this measure and also place some iron clamps on what the RIAA can and cannot do.
In other words, the more ludicrous the little battles are, the better chance we have of winning the war. Now the lawyers here can strike me down.
Re:rubbish (Score:4, Interesting)
I do not blame a lack of law or holding period for my cds being stolen or resold. It happens. This law does not directly help the people that have merchandise stolen, it MAY attempt to make it not worthwhile for someone to target CDs but I agree that the main goal seems to be to please the RIAA. Maybe not directly related to theft but people that copy and then sell the originals.
well fine then (Score:4, Interesting)
k?
Re:What a bunch of fucking idiots. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Buying Used records is STEALING (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Perhaps you can stop the crooks from stealing (Score:3, Interesting)
That's why pawn shops take your name and your address (and your prints in some places) and have a list of serial numbers for when the cops come by - for that exact reason.
I'm not advocating the Florida law here, I think it's retarded, but I'm pointing out that there are already many restrictions on the sale of easily ripped-off used goods.
Re:wow (Score:5, Interesting)
But, still better than 6 in Schnectady / Albany, whom I had to call to inform that "The reports of my death were greatly exagerated".
I would love to see who started this bill. We have Nelson as a senator, who is the deepest in the pocket of the RIAA of ANY Senator. And to those who care, he is a Democrat.
Re:Holy SHIT that sucks. (Score:5, Interesting)
But no matter. Many years ago my album and cassette collection was stolen. I tracked down the pawn shop they were sold to. Pawn Shops were I lived were required to hold items for 30 days before selling them - and to take ID. This led to the person who stole them being convicted.
I never got my albums or cassettes back though. The pawn shop claimed that I had no evidence that the ones they bought were mine and I, of course, not having individually labeled each item had no proof they were.
CD's are dead completely in 5 years anyway (Score:3, Interesting)
Could somebody please enlighten me? (Score:5, Interesting)
My first question, anyway, is this: What is the difference between secondhand CD's and secondhand books? Should we be looking forward to having our reading controlled in the same way they want to control our music selections? Is it time to spend a paycheck at Thriftbooks just in case?
My second question is more technical: What does one need to know to intelligently purchase an "analog" tunes system these days? (I assume that would be turntable and some associated accoutrements. In the dark ages it would've involved pre-amps, amplifiers, speakers, etc.) If you have one, are there suggestions or references for ripping tracks off that treasured old vinyl to be played on something more portable like an ipod?
Taking the long view, this is just a symptom of how desperate the music mafia has become. It's another nail in their coffin. I'm not surprised that Utah is one of the states. You can apparently gull their legislature into enacting just about anything by playing on their paranoia.
Re:this does NOT suck (Score:2, Interesting)
Mostly Correct (Score:2, Interesting)
We didn't give cash because of the extra hoops we would have to jump through. It was only if we gave cash that we would be required to go through some of the more painful steps, such as holding the items for 30 days. Giving store credit, we only had to record the name, address, and driver's license number... no fingerprints (I don't recall a fingerprint requirement at all... maybe the author was conflating the two states' laws).
And it was definitely a problem. We had guys who would come in with books of game DVDs from Blockbuster within a couple of days of their release. We couldn't do anything about it, though, because Blockbuster does sell games and we had no basis for accusing them beyond intuition. I'm not sure if it warrants that degree of meddling by the government, but they weren't inventing the problem.
Re:This law would have mattered... (Score:2, Interesting)
Florida media (Score:3, Interesting)
As someone who worked in Florida local media (WTSP-TV in St. Pete), I can tell you that Florida media completely ignores stories of magnitude and focuses on the retarded, weird shit.
Have you heard about how Fox News WTVT (Ch 13) [foxbghsuit.com] tried to squash news about the health risks Monsanto's BGH, bovine growth hormone, has? A husband and wife team of reporters spent months talking to ranchers, healthcare workers, and scientists about BGH. They were about to air the report when Monsanto called Fox and wanted to review and approve the story first. Seeing as how Monsanto's a big advertizer they got their way. But the reporters refused to let the company edit it so they were fired. Taking the firing to court they sued Fox and eventually won.
FalconRe:Buying Used records is STEALING (Score:3, Interesting)
Some of the bands I've been exposed to via mp3s don't exactly tour on this side of the pond, but for cases where it's feasible just handing over cash to an artist, and saying thanks works. You know they got all $X.00 dollars of it, and they also get some positive feedback.
Well (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Holy SHIT that sucks. (Score:2, Interesting)
CD Rental is dead too (Score:2, Interesting)
The store was owned, operated by and catered to a particular "ethnic" group. Nobody else ever shopped there. Ever. CD rental is totally common and legal back in the home country, which is where all the CDs and videos originated (and the books too but they didn't rent those). The record industry back home supported rentals and had no problems with it. It was a common way of doing business. While this store was in the US, it didn't sell or rent _anything_ made by US companies. Nothing from RIAA or MPAA. Hell, nothing in the store was even in the English language. Very very ethnic.
Renting CDs may sound nuts but this was back in the days before ripping tools, before MP3, before there were CD burners, so you couldn't exactly DO anything but listen to a CD or make a tape out of it. Lord knows I tried but there were no options.
Someone reported them -suspicion is a Muzak rep doing one of their "store inspections" was behind it -and the CD rentals went away. Apparently CD rental is illegal in the US? Not sure. If that is the case, then how are video games (a CD format) and DVD rentals legal?
So who was hurt when they stopped renting CDs? Only the customers because they lost access to the music from back home. The RIAA gained nothing because it wasn't their music anyway. These people don't understand or care about English-language music. They just wanted the music from home.
Eventually the store dried up and blew away. Rather sad really.
Re:wow (Score:4, Interesting)
Quite the opposite in Montana... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Well (Score:5, Interesting)
Basically, you run into the average house, what's the most valuable stuff you can steal in a few seconds? If you think "The TV!"
If they've got time, they'll clean you out entirely, but for quick petty theft, they go for the easy score. And, given college students pawning their CDs all the time anyway, it's not too unusal to see it happen.
So, MAFIAA influence and some crime numbers made this happen. I think it's stupid, but used-CD stores were becoming fences, and that's not good for anyone.
Re:this does NOT suck (Score:3, Interesting)
Three hundred million people in the US, it's pretty hard to get any kind of momentum building in a population that large. We're the frog in the pot, and the temperature is slowly rising... but collectively, we'll sit there until we're cooked.