In the states of both Utah and Florida used CD sales have been placed under hefty restrictions. In Florida, a retailer cannot give cash for a used CD, but is limited to store credit. Even after issuing store credit, the store cannot sell the CD for 30 days as that is the deemed waiting period. Wisconsin and Rhode Island are considering similar laws. Why this law? Well, the record companies have apparently made a concerted push to pressure the lawmakers to inact legislation that will make it difficult to sell second-hand music via CD. Why? They have made the claim (I have yet to see the figures) that this will reduce pirating and help to cut back on burned counterfeits as the seller of the music will have to give personal identifying information as well as fingerprints to trade the cds for store credit and the retailer will have to store this information and put a hold on selling the CD until a credential check has went through. They also have to pay a $10,000 bond to the Dept. of Agriculture for the right to treat their customers as if they are criminals. You can read more on it here and here.
Some questions:
-Should the government be able to dictate whether used goods can be resold?
-Should the record companies be able to lobby state legislatures?
-Does this affect how you purchase music?
-What other implications could trickle down from this legislature? Think yard sales, pawn shops, used cars, etc.
-How do we keep legislation like this from passing in our state?
3 comments:
Interesting. The record companies are reeling and desperate.
To answer your first question -- No, the government shouldn't be able to dictate whether used goods can be resold. It's none of their business.
If I sell a cd that I bought at Wal-Mart (or whatever) the record company has received its full price (plus some) for it. So what difference does it make to them if I sell it on ebay for a fraction of the price? I guess they think the person buying from me is ripping them off...I don't know.
Jer, what about selling used computer software? How is that any different?
Jer, what about selling used computer software? How is that any different?
Software is different in that they have user agreements that you must abide by to use the software (the long list with the check box you have to check to proceed to use the software). Some user agreements allow for the resale of the product, such as Sony Vegas. You can transfer the license over to another person and they recieve the full benefits of the program with the exception of future upgrade pricing. Also, with Sony Vegas you can have it installed on multiple machines but you cannot use them at the same time per the license agreement.
Some software cannot be transferred per the licensing agreement. Some can, some allows full distribution for free of however many copies you want to make (read open source here).
Software is its own beast. As for the music issue, understand that Tennessee has not passed this particular law so you do not have to worry about it as of yet. It will be interesting to see how the citizens of those two states deal with this new law. I will be watching.
j razz
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