Wierd

[andrewducker]

There's recently been a little fanfare about PlayLouder, an ISP which allows you to legally share music, then sees how much music is shared and pays some of your monthly subscription to the rights owners.

It seems to work by redirecting P2P stuff so that it only works internally, and then scanning the packets to learn what you're sharing.

So far as I can make out, the functionality is the same as a regular ADSL connection + Napster's subscription model.  Except that they aren't actually making the music available themselves, just allowing you to share your own, which means you'll be really stuck to actually find anything even slightly obscure.  They haven't made it clear whether there's any DRM on the music either, which would just make it a lose, lose situation all round.

I can't see any positive side to this _at all_.  Anyone care to illuminate me?

Comments

[drplokta]

But according to the link you provide, it is illegal in the US to make a mix CD for a friend, except if you take special measures to ensure that you're covered by a collective license. Look at Tip 2 in the article.

Fair use generally covers certain copies made for your own use, not for other people.

[bibliofile.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, in the US it IS illegal to make copies--of individual songs or whole albums--for anyone else. Not that that stops people from doing it!

My reading of US copyright law ...

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

... is that it is illegal to make copies for friends.

You are allowed to make copies *for yourself* including mix tapes for purposes such as listening in the car etc. but you are not allowed to make copies/MP3s etc. to give to other people.

[surliminal.livejournal.com]

Unless you're in La belle France where the latest P2P decision has actually said that the continental right to copy non commercially covers making copies for a number of friends (tho no one knows how many..)
But that definitely isn't the law in UK or US.