Bono Calls for Tougher Download Controls

nilepez said:
Virus? How many attacks have come from an MP3?
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Ho! Ho! Ho!

I have a crapped up co-workers daughters Dell laptop that is making me a sweet $100 for an hours work. Seems it got nuked by virus and she needed her document & picture folders back.

Went in with a Linux boot disc and transfered My Documents over to a portable hard drive and what did I find?

Limewire with three music files used as containers for attacks, 2 were WMA files and the third was an MP3.
 
gdonovan said:
Ho! Ho! Ho!

I have a crapped up co-workers daughters Dell laptop that is making me a sweet $100 for an hours work. Seems it got nuked by virus and she needed her document & picture folders back.

Went in with a Linux boot disc and transfered My Documents over to a portable hard drive and what did I find?

Limewire with three music files used as containers for attacks, 2 were WMA files and the third was an MP3.
Click to expand...

What program did your daughter use to play those WMA and MP3 files?

I wonder if an audio player like Foobar 2000 could permit a virus attack from a bad WMA/MP3. :confused:
 
gdonovan said:
Co-workers daughter!

No idea and I didn't look around.

Got in, got what was needed and blew the drive away.

No more problem!

Here is some details-

http://www.microsoft.com/security/p...anClicker:ASX/Wimad.gen!K&threatid=2147630461
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I could be misreading it, but it seems like they're links to some other site (or perhaps links embedded in an actual media file) which then encourages the user to download something else.

Wouldn't fool me...but then I always say no to new codecs. My first assumption when on the web is that everyone is out to get me. I'm not paranoid.....those bastards are out to get me ;)
 
nilepez said:
Is that a joke? I've never EVER had to do anything to download music. Yes, setting the your firewall may improve results, but that it only matters if everyone is blocked. If I'm firewalled, I can't find someone who is firewalled. However, I can connect to someone that isn't firewalled. If you're downloading from a torrent with a small swarm and most/all are behind a firewall without port forwarding, it matters. But again, in practice, that's rarely an issue.

Software? Please. You download utorrent click on a link on a torrent site and download.
Virus? How many attacks have come from an MP3?
Shutting down your service isn't an option in the vast majority of countries.
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I see you're unable to see this from the perspective of people that aren't you. The fact that you know the name of a torrenting program puts you ahead of most of the public. 90% of the population is technologically retarded. The general population has difficulty sideloading music to a MP3 enabled cellphone. The general population downloads viruses to their computer because they're too lazy to keep their OS and anti-virus up-to-date.

Inferior?
How so? It's a digital copy. Sure, MP3 is inferior to CDs, but the folks that download don't buy CDs.
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"Inferior good" is an economics term. It means an item that is substantially the same as a "normal good," but has one or more traits that make it less desirable. People only buy "inferior goods" when A) they can't afford the "normal good" or B) the "normal good" is so much more expensive that they can't justify purchasing it. When the "normal good" becomes either affordable, or competitively priced with the "inferior good," people ditch the inferior for the normal.

A torrent, because it is less convenient and is inherently illegal (and a lot of people have issues with that. Hell, most people are afraid to void warranties, nevermind break laws) is an inferior good. Legit music can be purchased straight from your music player. You can't be sued for having it. It's 100% safe...as long as it wasn't recorded by Sony.

Dude, you just replied to the guy who says it's OK to steal music. Because Bono makes too much (never mind that the vast majority of musicians make significantly less and that stealing from more marginal artists has a far more negative effect than it does on a U2, Greenday or Eminem). There wasn't a hint of guilt.
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Guilt? I don't care about guilt. I don't give to ####s about eithics or emotions here. Nor do I care how rich or poor bands, artists, talent agents, or labels (major or indie) are. This is an economic thesis of the supply and (more importantly) demand of music. I, personally, don't pirate music. I don't buy music either. Most of my music collection came from when my employer was providing me with unlimited downloads from Napster for free last year. I don't value music enough to buy it at the current prices. I don't value music enough to search torrents for it either. I'm not a saint, I just don't care.

music (and movies and software) should be free.
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James Cameron doesn't work for free. Nor does Sid Meier. For better or worse, Bono doesn't either. Free media=no more new media. People won't create great work for nothing. Why should they dedicate their life to creating art and media and have nothing but thanks to show for it when they can do something else and earn a living?

Yeah, you can argue musicians can make a living doing concerts and making T-shirts. Tell me Steve Balmer or Larry Ellison can do that too.
 
STR said:
Guilt? I don't care about guilt. I don't give to ####s about eithics or emotions here. Nor do I care how rich or poor bands, artists, talent agents, or labels (major or indie) are. This is an economic thesis of the supply and (more importantly) demand of music. I, personally, don't pirate music. I don't buy music either. Most of my music collection came from when my employer was providing me with unlimited downloads from Napster for free last year. I don't value music enough to buy it at the current prices. I don't value music enough to search torrents for it either. I'm not a saint, I just don't care.
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You said that people would buy music vs stealing it, in part, because everyone feels guilty when they steal it. Clearly that ain't true.

As for downloading with a torrent:

1. Download program...even idiots know how to use google
2. Run program.
3. click on download link
4. listen to song.

Buying from a legit source requires very similar steps. Kids know how to use a torrent app.

IRSmurf said:
music (and movies and software) should be free.
Click to expand...
James Cameron doesn't work for free. Nor does Sid Meier. For better or worse, Bono doesn't either. Free media=no more new media. People won't create great work for nothing. Why should they dedicate their life to creating art and media and have nothing but thanks to show for it when they can do something else and earn a living?
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Yes, I've been saying that for about a week now. But you're not going to get a lot of top talent if their likely earnings are poverty level and they can only hope for a penny or 2/song sold (which is all they'd get if songs sell for the $0.10 you proposed).
 
beowulf7 said:
My bad ... coworker's daughter. I didn't think MP3s could spread viruses if played w/ an audio player like Foobar 2000. :eek:
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Just checked out the program because you mentioned it, nice audio converter!

She had about 8 gig's of m4a's which are now mp3's ;-)
 
nilepez said:
even idiots know how to use google.
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I would have to disagree with you on that statement. I have run into countless idiots (and reasonably well-educated, intelligent people) who have no idea how to google a program. They just act stupid and helpless until someone comes along to tell them how to solve the problem; then they flush said knowledge away.

One of my roommates is probably the biggest unofficial google PR rep in the world, but he begins to mope, cry, and feel generally helpless when I ask why he can't figure out something as simple as defrosting chicken. One might think that asking a question on the world's most famous search engine would be a good place to start...

[/FACEPALM]
 
Anyone else catch the part(maybe not in this article, but it was from the same speech) where Bono is congratulating the US on its efforts to combat the propagation of Child Pornography? By doing what, exactly? Going after the dudes downloading it instead of going after the assholes PRODUCING IT?
 
gdonovan said:
Just checked out the program because you mentioned it, nice audio converter!

She had about 8 gig's of m4a's which are now mp3's ;-)
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I use it for tagging more than anything else, it's definitely a nice one.
I also like trader's little helper, though I havne't used it in a while. As i recall, it's mostly for lossless conversions...well that's all I ever used it for.
 
gdonovan said:
Just checked out the program because you mentioned it, nice audio converter!

She had about 8 gig's of m4a's which are now mp3's ;-)
Click to expand...
Yeah, Foobar 2000 is great and free. :cool:

Good job by your coworker's daughter for getting the MP3s of those files. Now if she only stays away from mal sites. :p
 
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