[Nightfly]

Originally Posted by WEBSHERIFF

Hi AOM3 Members & Van Fans,

On behalf of Lost Highway Records, many thanks for plugging Van Morrison's new album and, if you want good quality, non-pirated, preview tracks, full versions of "That's Entrainment" and "Behind The Ritual" (along with album track samplers) are available for you to listen to (and link to) on Lost Highway's web-site at Lost Highway Records

Up-to-the-minute info on Keep It Simple and Van’s 2008 shows is, of course, also available on Welcome to the Official Van Morrison Website and MySpace.com - Van Morrison - c/o Nashville, US - Folk / Blues / Soul - www.myspace.com/vanmorrison and, for a limited period, you can hear Van's exclusive BBC sessions and interview at BBC - Radio 2 - Music Club - Van Morrison and BBC iPlayer - Radio - Radio 2 .

Thanks again for your support.

Regards to All,

WEB SHERIFF

Web Sheriff,

Welcome...First we do not do Pirated music here or P2P..
I personally have some Van boots...Maybe if you released some quality live
material of his tours..I would prefer to buy yours.
And I personally own 17(Big Label) Van CDs and supported Van by buying concert tickets as well...So there are no pirates to be found here.

Though your post was very nice...I can read between the lines,
that's what I do.So don't think your message was lost between your
diplomacy.But just by spreading the word about Van's new album, at least
people now know he even has one.We the fans play a important role.
Therefore I'm glad you appreciated that much.

And solaris is right if those downloads are DRM infected we have no use for them.

Thanks for your input,

[gluteus maximus]

Originally Posted by solaris

Hi and welcome to the forum

Since you use the term "good quality" about the above two downloadable tracks, it must also mean that they come without DRM - because if they're not, I'm going to remove your post entirely for being deluding

Even if iTunes (or any other DRM'ed store) GAVE ME £0.89 for every track I downloaded for the rest of my life, I wouldn't even go near such a store

Hi solaris

Since you've removed the link to WebSheriff, I'll just mention that they are a company which polices the web, asking sites to take down unauthorised links to copyright material. They seem to have a reputation for politeness.

The question of offsite links came up in another thread recently, but one point wasn't mentioned. Some people may not be aware that when you click on a link, the site you're going to logs the name of the site you're coming from. In some situations, this may be seen as a privacy issue. Although some browsers allow you to "Block Referrer", the simplest way to avoid this is to paste or type the link into your browser's address bar, rather than clicking the link in the page.

gm

[Nightfly]

Originally Posted by gluteus maximus

Hi solaris

Since you've removed the link to WebSheriff, I'll just mention that they are a company which polices the web, asking sites to take down unauthorised links to copyright material. They seem to have a reputation for politeness.

The question of offsite links came up in another thread recently, but one point wasn't mentioned. Some people may not be aware that when you click on a link, the site you're going to logs the name of the site you're coming from. In some situations, this may be seen as a privacy issue. Although some browsers allow you to "Block Referrer", the simplest way to avoid this is to paste or type the link into your browser's address bar, rather than clicking the link in the page.

gm

gm

Good to see you....

We didn't have any Van Morrison links..so what's up with this guy?

[gluteus maximus]

Originally Posted by Nightfly

gm

Good to see you....

We didn't have any Van Morrison links..so what's up with this guy?

Hi Nightfly

I guess he was just floating around looking for posts about the new album, and stopped by to say hello. He was thanking us for plugging the album - and introducing himself

Personally, I have no problem with artists being rewarded for their work; it's just the big record companies that get up my nose. I thought we welcomed everyone here, as long as they abide by the forum rules

gm

[solaris]

Originally Posted by gluteus maximus

Hi solaris

Since you've removed the link to WebSheriff, I'll just mention that they are a company which polices the web, asking sites to take down unauthorised links to copyright material. They seem to have a reputation for politeness.

The question of offsite links came up in another thread recently, but one point wasn't mentioned. Some people may not be aware that when you click on a link, the site you're going to logs the name of the site you're coming from. In some situations, this may be seen as a privacy issue. Although some browsers allow you to "Block Referrer", the simplest way to avoid this is to paste or type the link into your browser's address bar, rather than clicking the link in the page.

gm

Hi gm.

I didn't notice that there even was a link in the corporate-like intro to his message (amongst all those phone numbers etc.).

I just didn't think it should be allowed to remain there, since it felt more like a threat than a thank you

[Nightfly]

Originally Posted by solaris

Hi gm.

I didn't notice that there even was a link in the corporate-like intro to his message (amongst all those phone numbers etc.).

I just didn't think it should be allowed to remain there, since it felt more like a threat than a thank you

I saw that he said "on behalf of",maybe all should see what these guys are up to,I went to the site Web Sheriff ..it gave me the creeps.

I don't think these guys are interested in exchanging thoughts and idea's
in a open forum,like we provide here...

Edit: Yes gm all are welcome here, with good honest intent.

[gluteus maximus]

Originally Posted by Nightfly

I saw that he said "on behalf of",maybe all should see what these guys are up to,I went to the site Web Sheriff ..it gave me the creeps.

Hi Nightfly

The thing that gave me the creeps about their site was clicking for a sample and getting a blood-red screen with the lo-fi sound of Go West by their new clients Village People

gm

[solaris]

Originally Posted by gluteus maximus

Hi Nightfly

The thing that gave me the creeps about their site was clicking for a sample and getting a blood-red screen with the lo-fi sound of Go West by their new clients Village People

gm

Then I guess that's why they're not too fond of the fact that we Go East to buy our music

[squash54]

All my early Van Morrison albums are vinyl. Even though they were looked after, professionally cleaned and only played using a good quality stylus, tone arm and turntable, by the time I got to ripping them to digital the sound quality was significantly diminished.

However, lets assume a friend has most of these as CD's and he lends them to me to copy, are either of us engaging in piratical activity? Legally, probably we would be. But morally?

I have already paid handsomely once for the record. Implictely that authorises me to listen to that 'recording' as much as I like. Where is the harm if I obtain a replacement copy of this worn out original. What harm is my hypothetical friend doing by lending me his CD to rip, knowing I am replacing something I have paid for?

Or, let's assume I have these as CD's and they are destroyed in a fire and not covered by insurance. Am I entitled to obtain replacement copies from my friend's collection? Again, legally, probably not. But morally?

Or I buy a CD using money jointly owned by my partner and I. Of course, we both copy it onto our iPods as we own it jointly, like a lot of other stuff. But is it OK for our two children to copy it on to their iPods (I know, fat chance, but we are talking hyperthetically here)). Legally, probably not. But morally?

Or, me and my extended family totalling 20 people open a joint bank account into which we all deposit money. We then use this account to buy CD's that are then jointly owned by us all. In common law countries like Australia, the USA and England, jointly owned property means that each of the owners owns the whole thing and it eventually falls in to the hands of a single owner through survivorship. You cannot Will your interest in 'jointly' owned property. On your death your interest in such property ceases so there is nothing to 'Will'. Does this mean we are all entitled to take a copy of the CD and load it on to each of our iPods? Legally, probably it does. But morally?

Perhaps not all pirates are created equal

[gluteus maximus]

Originally Posted by squash54

All my early Van Morrison albums are vinyl. Even though they were looked after, professionally cleaned and only played using a good quality stylus, tone arm and turntable, by the time I got to ripping them to digital the sound quality was significantly diminished.

However, lets assume a friend has most of these as CD's and he lends them to me to copy, are either of us engaging in piratical activity? Legally, probably we would be. But morally?

I have already paid handsomely once for the record. Implictely that authorises me to listen to that 'recording' as much as I like. Where is the harm if I obtain a replacement copy of this worn out original. What harm is my hypothetical friend doing by lending me his CD to rip, knowing I am replacing something I have paid for?

Or, let's assume I have these as CD's and they are destroyed in a fire and not covered by insurance. Am I entitled to obtain replacement copies from my friend's collection? Again, legally, probably not. But morally?

Or I buy a CD using money jointly owned by my partner and I. Of course, we both copy it onto our iPods as we own it jointly, like a lot of other stuff. But is it OK for our two children to copy it on to their iPods (I know, fat chance, but we are talking hyperthetically here)). Legally, probably not. But morally?

Or, me and my extended family totalling 20 people open a joint bank account into which we all deposit money. We then use this account to buy CD's that are then jointly owned by us all. In common law countries like Australia, the USA and England, jointly owned property means that each of the owners owns the whole thing and it eventually falls in to the hands of a single owner through survivorship. You cannot Will your interest in 'jointly' owned property. On your death your interest in such property ceases so there is nothing to 'Will'. Does this mean we are all entitled to take a copy of the CD and load it on to each of our iPods? Legally, probably it does. But morally?

Perhaps not all pirates are created equal

Hi squash54

You raise some interesting points, as usual. The situation is further complicated by the fact that laws vary from country to country. I wonder if morality does too?

In the UK, it was unlawful to tape an album for in-car listening, but everyone did it. It's still unlawful to rip vinyl to mp3, although a major national newspaper has been offering its readers a special deal on USB turntables for a long time. It's unlawful to copy mp3s onto a music player or burn them to CD, although a BPI representative has said in public that they will take no action against people doing this. In the days of Allofmp3, a BPI spokesman claimed it was unlawful to buy music from them, but again, they would take no action against users of the service. And if it's OK to rip your own vinyl, as you say, is that so different from borrowing the CD from a friend? Or even downloading a free copy from the internet? And then there's the question of how many angels can dance on the head of a pin...

As our lives are increasingly subject to attempts at regulation by both states and powerful private interests, it's almost impossible to live without breaking some rules sometimes. I think the moral issues outweigh the legal ones, and we have to make our own decisions about them. I'm sure everyone using this forum knows just how easy it is to find free music on the internet. So why are we here? For me, it's a question of supporting a business model which recognises that music is simply not worth as much in cash terms as it once was, but allows for higher sales volumes to compensate for this, and permits the artists (at least in theory) to receive some reward for their work. I've pretty much given up waiting for the question of the legality of buying music from Russia to get beyond name-calling and finger-wagging, but morally, I'm comfortable with finding my music this way.

Users of this forum are among the minority who are still prepared to pay for music, and the record industry would have to be insane to target us. I know Big Music is an object of hatred in some quarters, and has made some seriously bad moves in its response to new technologies, but I think it's silly to portray it as a bunch of guys who can't tie their own shoelaces. My conscience is clear, and if we get more polite visits from the Net Cops, as we did earlier in this thread, I for one will be saying "Good afternoon, officer" and not "**** off, pig".

gm