Karaoke Forums

When the general public was becoming aware that people could burn their own cd's and actually download from the internet they became curious and asked us computer operators and especially us hosts that were using computers questions. We gave them honest accounts and encouraged discussions about downloading and how it affected us. The affect on us was trivial at the time and we had no idea that it would evolve into this mania.

Then when RIAA got carried away interest peaked even with those that didnt have a clue what the internet really was. We continued having open discussions and promoted our integrity so9 to speak.Bar regulars gradually became aware who was wholesale downloading mp3's for private parties.

When it started affecting karaoke it was natural for John Q to wonder which KJ'S were operating with illegal music.. This was especially true with out of towners and multi-riggers. We cultivated our followers with honest truthful reps.

The tool we desparately needed then was venues with WIFI and legal downloads to supply our customers with their selections NOW!!. If we had that tool then piracy would not exist now to the exent that it does. Today it is still the biggest advantage we have over preloaded hard drives and multi-riggers. We didnt then nor do we get now any help from the manus.

However when the big hard drives did hit this area they had no distinct advantage and those that got them found out they were more of a headache rhan useful and did nothing for their reputation or business. People seem to think they operate in secret and nobody knows them. NOT IN THIS AREA!!! This is how you fight pirates.. You expose them to those who count on a local level not somebody that wan6s money.

They have no economic advantage or advantage of any kind. That is why I say when downloads are available on a legal and equitable basis piracy or big hard drives will be a thing of the past. People say they went after the home market. Guess what the home market as you call them come to our venues and we pay and download or let them pay and download using my spare laptop. If SC and others had a download site GUESS WHAT???? Here you want a sound Choice? They are $2-3 a pop Download them here.....I made the statement one time I would like tohave the profits for the first weekend.

We are not doing this because of politics or regulations or mania or whatever. That is why when somebody blames pirates for the situation now I get irate.I could sell their songs on a nightly basis and put them back in the black but due to their mistrust and paranoia everybody suffers including the singers.IT IS NOT OUR FAULT!!!! Give us people that promote their music a break and an advantage over the racketeers Maybe it is true racketeers that dont want this They want the whole enchilada. To Hell With The Bottom Feeders Give Us A Flippin Break For Gawds Sake!!!!

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Karyoker, you make a good point. If we could legally download on the spot then having the songs a singer wanted when they wanted them would make number of songs in the library a non issue. It would give us new people trying to start out a toehold. But we've got a guy in the area doing that right now already from an illegal file sharing site. So those would probably have to be shut down.

The FBI, CIA & Interpol can't stop illegal national and foreign internet scams. They can't keep up with the sites changing domains daily.

Illegal download sites could do the same thing.

If they would work with us instead of harrassing and suing we would promote them to keep a source for music wouldnt we? I think with a choice people would prefer to be legal and pay an equitable fee for songs as they needed them.

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heres what there doing in my neck of the woods/beach...there are 1 are 2 people around here collecting legal cdg's/original copy's...there selling illegal copys telling them that if they ever get caught to give them a call and they the seller will offer there legal cdg's as proof that he infact owns the original copy's...how do you go against that? he the seller just bought 1000 cdg's from a guy all legal for 400 bucks....some k j died and his widow was selling them....

Well I doubt the FBI or Interpol have karaoke in their sights at the moment. They are more likely dealing with copyright infringemnts dealing with the large labels and Hollywood studios. The CIA doesn''t have a mandate in this area as it is a police issue.

I don't see Felix Leiter bursting into a counterfeit CDG operation with James Bond and shutting down "The Silver Platter". So ok I'm not good at coming up with cool bad guy names.

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One trick here is they have an internal hard drive with legal music. There illegal stuff is on an external HD At the first sign of trouble the external is unmounted and disappears real fast It would take fed agents with preliminary investigations to bust them and make it stick. They are bthe only ones with the full authority to investigate and seize.

We are here in the real world and talk to pirates on a daily basis. They are not in our class and they and everybody else knows it. That is why I say I can get interviews with pirates. Some dont even consider it illegal.

If you want to fight piracy and want to take advantage of many years experience of dealing with garage repairmen and shade tree mechanics come to Greeley. You dont rely on government other than certs or other means to solve the problem . pros unite and promote honest legal businesses and the public knows who we are. It is simple as that.

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i agree with you karyoker but what i'm saying is....lets say i sell you a harddrive full of illegal tracks the whoever they are show up to bust you, odds are they won't do it on the spot yet will tell you to show legal proof of each track you have on your hard drive...now all you have to do is call me and get the original copys.... but yes i agree if you won't it stopped you will have to do it yourself.....

if you could prove that the k j's had and used illegal tracks maybe a video of them talking to you about it...i would go around collecting videos of each one that was illegal and run an ad with names and wait for the clubs to fire them and then guess what, a tuesday night gig just opened up....

HINT!!! don't use your real name when running your ad...
just thinking out loud...

no i'm not a k j, i just like to start trouble its to quite around here....

Why not just start a local association of legal owners and operators and promote them and ask other to join as long as they are operating under the associations standards.

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CHECK YOUR ATTITUDE AT THE DOOR, STICK AROUND YOU JUST MIGHT HAVE SOME FUN

If you really want to get high tech have the assoc. hire a PI and ask for POOP to help pay for or subsidise it.

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CHECK YOUR ATTITUDE AT THE DOOR, STICK AROUND YOU JUST MIGHT HAVE SOME FUN

I'll want my fee upfront, thank you.

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Then you are back to collecting money to advertise and promote your group. Just like "PooP" is doing and you want to string them up. Make up your mind. You can't have all the good and no bad.

OK I just had a long conversation with Frank (Roxbox) on the phone. We bounced some ideas back and forth and these are just thoughts. He writes encryption into his software and provides downloads that can only be played by one computer. Ok the manus start selling downloads and have legal songs out that cant be copied. Ok now.. Frank has all these cd's that he cant play from SC that are legal. One idea is to send SC the cd's back and these songs are added to his legal list which is certified.

The legal hosts will have certifications and play legal music which they are adding to as songs are needed. he is going to approach SC CB & Stellar Pop Hits.

As far as security frank has the option to encrypt your library. He flat tells you to have a backup because there aint no way in hell anybody is going to uncrypt them if you lose the key for that computer.

The goal is gradually give everybody a way to gradually get legal. Certified hosts will support SC CB & Pop Hits so we will have keep them in business and have a source If we dont karaoke will die.Frank is pro KIAA but he says they need teeth.

Like I say we were just brain storming but he says SC has been working on ways toprovide downloads (he has worked with them in the past) and is going to approach them again.

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What happens if you have to switch computers or hard drives mid show? I have more than one back up and more than one computer in my house that i use to edit and make corrections. I can't be paying for multi encryptions to access my stuff.

That would be something that would have to be worked out. Currently with our software we can install it it on 3 computers.

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Being able to download any song a singer wanted would be very cool, but I can also picture you'd end up paying for a lot of obscure stuff that only one person sings only one time. On the other hand it would still probably be cheaper than buying a whole disc and never having the singer show back up at your next show to actually sing it after you went out and paid for it.

Talked to the guys at K___ re: downloads

I contacted the guys at K___ via email regarding the K___'s approach to downloads... no response. I called their phone number and got an answering machine prompting me to leave a polite, but firm message re: their responsiveness and suggesting that they should acknowledge calls if they wanted KJ cooperation and at least answer questions they don't have time to answer personally in their FAQ.

After I left for my day job, the wife got a call from Tony at Stellar Records and he left a phone number (which I need to call back) -- a good step in the right direction. The wife didn't seem too sure on all he said, but it does seem that the KIAA is mainly manned a volunteer basis at the present time.

The business end of karaoke makes my lovely wife's eyes glaze over, but I also got the impression from her that the KIAA hasn't quite finished establishing it's policies on downloads just yet. I'll post what I find out after I get a chance to talk with him. At least he called me back and that's a good start.

Once again if you want to mention the dirty four letter word for a national karaoke association please refer to it as "POOP" I think I mentioned this before but the threads got pulled because "POOP" was mentioned to many times. So now I don't know if you are tying to puposly get this thead pulled by stating "POOP" so many times or just don't understantd the forum rules or maybe these rules are just for some posters but not all posters on this forum.

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CHECK YOUR ATTITUDE AT THE DOOR, STICK AROUND YOU JUST MIGHT HAVE SOME FUN

I'm guessing this leaves people that bring their own CD's out in the cold as they would not be listed and would not play through Roxbox.

This will still not keep pirates from doing what they do it just keeps them from using Roxbox or any other hosting program that goes along with the idea, thus putting them in a bind because no one wants to use their product.

Would this list have to be updated every time you bought a new CD?

I am all for doing away with the pirates but I also think that it will NEVER be done by anybody, no matter how many we report or "POOP" investigates I don't think it can be done.

They slapped KAZZA for file sharing but they were only the tip of the iceberg there are so many file sharing sites out there it's scary. They just slapped Piratebay and the guys at PB said bring it on we don't have any money and are still in operation.

Pirates have been around for hundreds of years in one form or another and will be for hundreds more.

No one organization, person, country, or planet will stop illegal activities until money, wealth and personal possessions are not what the human race seeks to achieve.

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A stranger is a friend you haven't met yet

DJ This thread isnt pro poop or con. I made the comment that Frank had no negative comments but showed a willingness to work with them. my feeling is there has to be a balance or give and take between all sides.

Also this isnt about Roxbox. S&D was mentioned and Frank does not show animosity towards other software,\. He used S&D as an example and said it has to be written so it plays with other software. This is not about money or somebody bargaining for an advantage. He is a KJ in the DFW area and shows the same concern we do.

His comment was we need to get downloads going in a way that the manus will profit or karaoke will die.

Im just throwing out some ideas and welcome all comments pro or con. In reference to the comment about buying a song that will never be used again. It wont wind up on a preloaded hard drive on Ebay.

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In this country we can't stop people from walking across the border or stop illegal drugs from being shipped in. Fraud, theft and prostituition is all over CL everyday and corporate greed and wall street CROOKS have almost bankrupted our way of living ...and we are still worried about ILLEGAL HARDRIVES?

heres the SCOOP ---you will never ever stop it
As long as there is a LOCK someone will develop a KEY

If you feel you've lost a gig due to PIRATES ...inform the management and then report them. ( YOU STILL WON'T GET YOU JOB BACK)

heres a hint :
If you make something READILY AVAILABLE AND AFFORDABLE
no one wants to steal it ...GET IT !!!!!!!

hey MANUS .....let me dowload songs for $1.99 or $2.99 and then the pirates illegal drive just lost 80% of their value and once that happens it won't be worth the effort to try and sell them