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Re: Downlaodable Who




In article <F134pjc0D543TuylJc000000661@hotmail.com>,
    "L. Bird" <pkeets@hotmail.com>  writes:

> [BTTB]
>
> Nope.  It was an official release, so copying and selling it would be 
> defined as piracy.  Bootlegging and distributing it on a large scale would 
> be questionable, too.  After all, what if Pete decides to offer it now for 
> pay download from Eelpie?  Wouldn't want to steal his money!

Might I point out that people have been trading cassette tapes and
CD-Rs of out-of-print or discontinued legit. material for years.   One
of the most successful vinyl boots was "Who's Zoo" -exactly- for that
reason: it provided collectors and freaks with the missing B-sides and
other whatnot that weren't available on any album.  The "Who's
Missing" and "Two's Missing" CDs put that boot out of the market,
pretty much.

Just look at how much trading goes on for the Brunswick (I think)
pressing of My Generation.  Talmy holds the tapes hostage for a big
payoff and in the end its the bootleggers that make the cash instead of
him.  What a smart strategy, Shel!

If The Who don't put the material on the market and it exists, then
someone else will put it on the market.  Does that mean that an
artist's catalog should never go out of print?  Why yes, it does....
but with CDs just being a pile of bits, why should it matter?  The
original idea behind being "out of print" was that it was expensive to
"tool" up an assembly plant for the pressing of vinyl records.  With
CDs, its just a bit stream.  There is the printing, cutting and
folding of any additional packaging with a commercial release, but
these things can also be done on a cost-effective basis for a single
unit because its just an ink jet printer fed from another data
stream.

All this tech. is in the hands of a sophisticated bootlegger as well,
which is why they can print silver CDs for a run of a couple hundred
and still make it work profitably for them.  Replace the silver CD with
a CD-R and the high-quality inkjet/production for a homemade
production (not necessarily any worse or better) and a home inkjet
printer and some Avery CD jewel case inserts and you're ready to go as
an individual for the purpose of sharing music and not making a buck,
beyond recovering your costs.

I predict more trading of illicit or rare material if the "owners"
don't make any attempts to place it on the market.  Plus ca change...
--
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