Welcome to 'Transmitting to Earth'. I'm Charssun and I'll be your host. This blog and podcast is a byproduct of VoyagerRadio.com and is intended to provide the most timely information about this Internet radio station. It is also intended to be a fun and accessible electronic journal with commentary focusing on Internet radio, podcasting and webcasting issues and technologies, music, and some of my other interests. I also offer personal perspective about being an Internet radio broadcaster (and podcaster).
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To Be, or Not To Be (Dishonest When It Comes to Acquiring Music)It's amazing how easily you can get fooled (or fool yourself) into nearly engaging in what can be construed as illegal activity on the Internet. I opened up Google's new Blog Search engine and ran a quick query for my current favorite subject, Python. A fellow who sometimes blogs about Python had recently posted some commentary about a project he is working on, in which he plans to develop a Pythonized AllOfMP3.com downloader. AllOfMP3.com sounded familiar, and I searched my memory seeking to recall where I had heard of this site or service. Drawing a blank (more than usual), I decide to visit the site, figuring it would probably jog my memory. At first I didn't recognize the music downloading service - it is now much more polished and professional-looking than it had been the last time I visited the site (perhaps a year or two ago). A prominent advertisement for Depeche Mode, a band you'd find in my playlist, caught my attention at once; the ad announced that the band's latest release, Playing the Angel  , could be ordered "for $1.47 only".Had I read that right? $1.47 for the entire album? Had I just stumbled upon a music service that had finally got it right? $1.47 seemed a fair price for a digital download of a brand-new release - in fact, it seemed more than fair - yet the price seemed possible, if not probable. My mind quickly accepted the notion that the price was possible since the about-to-be-released album would sell so many copies at that price that the band (or their recording label) would recoup their costs. So I proceed to click the 'Order This Album' link to see what would happen. I was taken to a login dialog, and I clicked the 'Register' button to continue with the process. I next encountered a 'Terms & Conditions' agreement, which is not uncommon during a registration procedure. Yet something was immediately off about this particular agreement, forebodingly titled 'Liability Limitations and Rules of AllOfMP3.com Services Use': You agree with the fact that you are not able to use and even to download audio and video materials from Allofmp3.com catalogue if it is in the conflict with legislation of your country.Yikes. Liability? Conflict with legislation? I knew what those terms meant. This service was probably too good to be true - and that it was, for a cursory glance at the top of the page told me all was not right in Denmark (or Russia, in this case). At the top of the site was an alphabetized listing of recording artists, and to the far right of that listing was a solitary link: 'Russian'. The link led to a Russian translation of the site, which told me this site was probably not within the legal boundaries of the United States; it was a service based in Russia. That's when I remembered having visited the site before - back when it had been composed almost entirely in the Russian language. The legitimacy of the site had been drawn into question from its introduction, yet now it was polished enough to (nearly) fool the savviest of customers. I was amazed at how close I came to registering for a service that was now, in retrospect, clearly illegal (at least, in the U.S.) And yet, even after realizing the fact, I very nearly went through with the registration. At ten cents a song (or thereabouts), the price was difficult to beat. I use a variety of services to collect my music: iTunes, eMusic, BitTorrent...but each service has its drawbacks in either price, selection, time wasted, DRM or any number of other issues. AllOfMP3.com, though illegal, was tempting due to its response to all of the above. I wanted a music downloading service like this, desperately. Still, I resisted. I already receive a ton of great music from independent recording artists looking for exposure through my podcast, and I've yet to listen to them all. So I've really no need to spend any more money on music at this time. Yet I can see how easily a service such as AllOfMP3.com can appeal to even the most honest of consumers, and I'm hoping the "legit" download services will take note. We can only be honest for so long when we're being continuously cheated...
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