Ridiculous!

Lawyer: Ripping MP3s Illegal, Grounds for Lawsuit

You, too, could be sued for thousands of dollars by the major record companies — even if you've never once illegally downloaded music.

That's because at least one lawyer for the Recording Industry Association of America, the Big Four record companies' lobbying arm and primary legal weapon, considers the copying of songs from your own CDs to your own computer, for your own personal use, to be just as illegal as posting them online for all to share, according to a federal lawsuit filed in Arizona.

Come on ! am I the only working stiff that has had enough of this? Now I can't copy my own CD's for MY OWN use? I realize that Roberts 53 , is the youngest member of the Supreme Court and probably has never enjoyed his tunes on a i pod while sipping VSOP.

Does this mean that those of us from the “old” days who copied from vinyl to tape or tape to tape are guilty also? Why in the world did the old cassette machines have a high speed dub for quick re-recording? Apple itself estimated earlier this year that only 4 percent of music on iPods worldwide had been purchased through iTunes, implying that most of the rest had been ripped from CDs.

What if I physically hand one of my CDs to a friend, and he ends up ripping some of the tunes for his iPod? Am I liable for that? What if all he does is listen to it once or twice and gives it back? Technically, that’s sharing. What if I loan him a book, and he reads it? Is that “stealing” from the author and publisher? What if I go to Barnes & Noble, read what I want from a book while there and end up not buying it? Isn’t that “theft”? Maybe publishers should begin suing libraries. When I borrow a library book and read it, I end up not buying the book.