Re: [libreplanet-discuss] buying CDs VS Digital Downloads

[Fabio Pesari]

On 02/19/2016 04:11 PM, Cardoza, Michael wrote:
> So I know I am probably beating a dead horse at this point. What are
> peoples opinions on this age old topic?

For now CDs are tolerable, even though we should try to support libre
music. What happens when the last working physical copy of a rare album
stops working?

In Italy there is a law that allows making _personal_ copies of media:
that's why external drives cost more here, as we actually have to pay a
"potential pirate" tax, which is just ridiculous. I don't know if this
law applies to digital media, as they are seen as rented rather than
bought, or if it allows breaking DRM, but in any case this law was
written in 1941 by the Mussolini government.

As much as I'd like to listen to Iron Maiden, Megadeth and Black Sabbath
all the time, I realized that I don't want to be subject to whatever DRM
scheme they come up with 50 years from now and I don't want to engage in
unauthorized copying either, so I accepted that the best thing I can do
right now is enjoy whatever music I come across legally and for the
rest, listen to things that are free as in freedom.

Liking anything culturally nonfree this days is a recipe for becoming
proprietary software users in the future, and I would honestly rather
listen to some New Age crap made in LMMS than have to depend on DRM to
be able to listen to "real" music for the rest of my life.