Do you think we should ban mp3 downloads in the Downloads & Links forum also?

[spax]

Well, Jay mp3 downloads has been banned to prevent piracy. But aren't we doing the same in the Dowloads & Links forum?

I gave this issue some thought and I feel that we should ban mp3 downloads in the Downloads & Links forum too. Since we support Jay by buying his original albums, why not we support other artists by buying their original albums as well? If we continue to download mp3s, it will not be fair to the artists who have worked very hard to produce their albums. This will still promote piracy throughout the forums.

I hope that JCNET will become a forum which supports anti-piracy one day. Hope you guys can vote wisely.

[sean-eka]

Well, i don't think so. Hmm.. jcnet is the only place i keep up with the music industry..

I don't really download lots, but, how about this, we ban for putting the WHOLE ALBUM, but allow like 4-6 songs per album for upload. That'll be better. If we ban the whole album, quite a number of people, from those countries who don't know the latest chinese music, would be lagging. Yeapps, that's what i think..

[ankh]

Oops. I didn't know you set up this poll here before I posted in the annoucements section.

Anyways YES I advocate this suggestion.
Obviously we are all Jay fans and we feel very sore at his album leakage, and hence the catalyst for the piracy issues being brought up.
But piracy is not only limited to Jay.
If we take away MP3 downloading for Jay songs but still persist for other artistes, we are still pirates. So to totally free this site from the piracy issue, ALL MP3/unauthorized media should be banned.
This will not give no chance for people to accuse us anymore.

I know for people who live in countries where chinese music is not easily available, such downloads become quite essential.
But I still think that we cannot compromise just for convenience. Possibly previews should be allowed but MP3s must be disallowed.

[charmian]

i dont like albums should be allowed

but rather, individual mp3s?

[Saharial]

i agree.. piracy is an issue that affects all artists and i think to just be selective about Jay only is not right.
there are some good sample sites out there that can be used.

record companies WILL come down hard on any site that supports downloading of music.. even one song represents hours and maybe weeks of work for the artist, producer, lyricist, engineers, publicists... its not just the artist it affects.

i say - NO mp3's should be downloaded.. its theft.

i know alot of people maybe wouldnt be able to keep up with music.. i am willing to help put in the time to run a JCNET radio station - once i figure out shoutcast ;)

[petricia]

Hmmm... I voted that mp3 [albums] downloads should not be allowed in Jcnet...
I've been thinking about this since the leak and it is really tough to make a choice...

I just have too many bad experiences when it comes to CD buying... there are times where only one track is 'listen-able' on the whole album... Nowadays, I download before I buy. And I must admit that it is easy to get the downloads and very often the notion of 'I'll buy it later' just never get put into action. But after this incident, I am against it. I agree that Jcnet should be an anti-piracy site.. though it is only one site, we are making an effort..

Maybe we can post yousendit links for some songs that we find nice... But not the whole album. As for new albums, maybe each member can contribute by uploading a song or two that's not the zhu2 da2 (i just can't find the word... what i mean is the songs that are kind of nelgected or not publicise by the company) so that we can gauge if it is worth buying...

BTW, (this kind of belongs to other thread but... heck) I really dun think that the 'we are students hence we are poor. therefore we can't afford the CD hence we download' mentality is justified. Yes, there are always so little money and so many things that we want. However that does not give us a right to steal stuff (yes.. according to law, we are stealing!) Just imagine an essay that you sent a lot of time researching for is being taken by another person to pass off as his own effort; imagine the piece of drawing that you used so much time and effort to draw and conceptualised is being used by others for their work; imagine the experiment you've designed after going through so much discussion and debating is being used by others without crediting your effort at all... I guess that's every much how the artists feel when we download... :-x If you can't afford it, maybe listen to the radio stations. The way we used to do it before mp3 downloads are readily available.

Piracy, Internet downloading, is rampant. We can't stop it... But we can do our part, by not doing it... [I sound like some spoke-woman for anti-piracy... :oops: ]

[Irina]

plz dont band mp3 DL,because I cant keep with chinese,korean and japanese music,there are not stores of that kind of music in my country!!!

[sleepin'tom]

I voted yes. I think album downloads are ridiculous, however, i don't mind on individual mp3 downloads to a certain extent. Uploading songs for the sake of reputation points to have a 'good' member image is ludicrous.

[JianDan[Ai]]

As a mod, I said No. Do I like leeches? No. Do I want people to go buy the CDs and support the artist? Yes. What are we trying to protect? The artist or ourselves? Some people are scared that the record labels will come down on us hard if we continue to share music. Truth is, there are 1000s of forums and websites out there, many far worse than us and easier to catch. Even so, I am 100% sure they will be unable to catch and prosecute us, thats like trying to hunt down all the people who make and sell fake cds in china. Simply impossible. Secondly people say that we are trying to protect the artist because we want people to buy the CD instead of downloading it. I think that while those intentions are good, you also hafta be realistic. Should a person really be set on saving a few dollars and not buy the cd, well there is nothing we can do to stop them. Those members here who truly support the artists they like, they will go buy the cds. Its that simple, by stopping the downloads, we wont change anyone's mind.

On the other hand there are lots of reasons to allow downloads. I for example and one who likes to listen before I buy, or sometimes just want a single song. I have quite a few cds in my collection, well over 100 I would guess, because I do actually go buy the cds that I enjoy and want to support the artist. There are also people who live in areas where buying a foreign cd is not easily found, or people who are not old enough or scared to buy online. (I personally don't think we should push people out of their comfort level to buy things online...Yes i think buying things online is a great resource, but I don't believe it should be forced onto people, this is another matter anyways)

So no, I don't think downloads should be banned.

[pamujung]

I voted for NO - bacuase ban or don't ban is the same for me, I still can get it from other sites actually.
It's different from banning Jay album because we are Jay forums, we should protect our idol.

[Ch3l3nk]

It's a fact, u can't stop mp3 sharing.. it's a useless effort.. We are sharing in the right way (most of the time) so what are u worrying about? At least we are not sharing Jay's songs online.. so we are not disadvantaging Jay in any way..

We shouldn't think about it too much.. accept it.. there will be no way of stopping it.. might as well just accept the reality

[JianDan[Ai]]

It's a fact, u can't stop mp3 sharing.. it's a useless effort.. We are sharing in the right way (most of the time) so what are u worrying about? At least we are not sharing Jay's songs online.. so we are not disadvantaging Jay in any way..

We shouldn't think about it too much.. accept it.. there will be no way of stopping it.. might as well just accept the reality

Ok to clarify on what I said before, in case some people took it the wrong way. I did not mean "oh we since people download anyways, thats how things are so oh well"

What I meant to put more emphasis on was the reasons why we should share, the ones I mentioned, but also because we are spreading the the artist's music and creating new fans who will support the artist. I have learned about many artists from this forum and others, many of whom I really do like and support now. We should do that for others as well. Its not quite the same as "hey this artist is good, go blow 20 bucks on his cd and tell me what u think"

So if we continue to share, I hope it won't be for such a "oh whatever" answer.

[zacx]

i voted no too
actually it not disrespecting your idol....
sharing of song and keeping a forum going is just 2 different issue..
damn, wat am i talking...

anyway i come across this forum where everyone share the songs of their idol..... after the admin came out the idea of stopping ppl from sharing, everyone just left the forum.

It just an interest of eveyone enjoying a forum and songs and everything in a forum...
a simple rule to keep the forum going might just lead a forum die..

a sudden change of policy will make the regular just turn away, will just de-moral them from going further....
(damn, wat am i talking again)

anyway, mp3 & piracy is 2 different thing, there is big population out there sharing like mad, Piracy & sharing is just a thin line across, if you brought it, share it. But pls dont burn and sell it !

[ankh]

The ban does not have to be a total ban.
Possibly members can still upload a few songs (the main hit ones) for previewing purposes, but full album uploads should be disallowed.

]
by stopping the downloads, we wont change anyone's mind.
Yes we can't change their minds but I don't see the ban as trying to change people's minds about downloading and buying the albums instead. It is with regards to the whole issue against piracy.


The reason why JCN is deciding to do this is because we need to state clearly our stand against piracy and illegal downloading.
Given the reason stated, isn't it only fair to extend the ban to all?
It's either ban all or ban nothing.

Whatever the outcome of this decision, it would not affect participation in this forum however. This is just how I feel.

[[u]izu^]

Geez I dunno. Its because of the download forum that I'm actually supporting some of the artists I'm supporting now. But yah leachers are bad. We just need to find a way to get rid of them that's all.

Maybe make the download forum available only if the user has been browsing and posting for a certian amount of time, like 2 or 3 months? Just a suggestion.

[nashonjerrome]

i think we should ban downloading links in the forum.
starting with any jay chou songs.
vids are okay. songs are easily obtainable at any online/offline stores.
u got legs go buy.
if you can't buy EVERY artiste out there. it's something this generation hasn't learnt
it's called to scrimp and be happy with what little money you have.
not every artiste out there is worth is weight and the good money you put into paying for his plastic rubbish.
so that's where the whole sampling thing comes in
how many of you actually after listening go and actually buy. only honest ones will come out and say because of the morally feel good factor.
but we all know it's a tip of the iceberg.
and if you've already downloaded 5 songs of the album...
that's as good as ripping it all off.

with reference to jay-chou.net
ban jay chou music downloads here...except rare vids n rare footages. stuff not available on the consumer market.
the rest of the other artistes...can fight their own fire elsewhere.

[eimiie]

I agree with Ankh. Full album downloads should not be allowed. A lot of people come here to download full albums and just ignore other stuff of the forum. Maybe for like JCNet regulars, full albums should be allowed. But full mp3s should not be banned. I also use this site to catch up with the music industry in Asia.

[princessKitty]

I would've thought a lot of people would say yes. Is it maybe because it will benefit you in a way that you will be able to have all of Jay's products and not having to spend money on the origianals?
I have said before in a few posts of mine that i don't download stuff so i chose yes, they should ban.

[PinkTsuki-chan]

I agree with ankh and eimiie. I think it'd be ok if there are still MP3s to download. I just don't think there should be anymore full album downloads. The MP3s on this forum have also helped me catch up with the music in Asia. :happy:

[reminiscentxgirl]

hmm i think banning mp3 downloads altogether is going a bit extreme..

i guess this question arose after the leakage of jay's album? dont get me wrong, i do support jay and the other artists, but sometimes it's nice to just be able to test out the cd before purchasing it. obviously for jay, i'll just buy his albums because i'm confident in him and his music. however, some people are new to jay, and would like to listen to a sample of his album before making a purchase.

in addition, new bands actually like it when people download their music because that's how they get known. the downloads also help us get connected with bands from around the world, which is one of the best things about the it.

but then of course, there are the leechers who just come here to download songs and such, overriding my previous arguments. however, i dont think it's fair for the people who actually buy CDs [which is probably the majority of the people here at j-c.net] to be punished for other people's wrongdoings.

[cool181]

As you all know, we still can download at other website if jcnet ban the downloads & links. Then, why we should ban it? If you really support the particular singer then you'll sure buy the album right?

Mp3 download is illegal but many artists nowadays become spokesperson for mp3 player with *xxGB* size :?

[dangerously_powerful]

no, i don't think we should ban mp3 downloads in the Downloads and Links forums because of the following reasons [in my opinion]..

some people might not live in Asia, and cannot BUY their music and albums.
Some parents won't allow their kids to buy CD's.
Some don't have enough money

but i do agree that we should support our idols and buy their music also.

and another point i want to point out is that, if you do ban downloads and links, this forum won't be as active. Because i reckon 1/4 of the members here only come to jc.net for the downloads and links... which isn't a good thing, but you have to admit, there are leechers out there.

[cutee_angel]

This topic has been brought up in quite a few forums that i visit. In my opinion i say no that downloads should not be banned. My reasons for this is because even if we do ban it here what makes you think that other people wont go to other forums to download, especially when there are a whole bunch of forums out there nowadays.

I for one like to sample music before i buy cos several times i find i only like a few tracks from an album. And i believe that true fans will go out to buy thier idols album even if they choose to download/sample it beforehand.

[Eternalz]

I think sharing Jay media amongst ourselves will only make the community stronger and more tightly knit. Almost everyone on this forum that does download his mp3s and videos ends up buying his albums and VCDs anyways. I think the system that we have at this site is already efficient enough to ensure that none of the exclusive files are leaked outside the community. Of course it is a reciprocating trust system, we can't trust that everyone is going to hold secrecy to the files that are uploaded onto Jcnet, but as it is, its doing a great job of making sure that the people who are here to download for free, and have no intention of buying any of Jay's albums, won't get their hands on his mp3s, so long as they are restricted to the private forums and not the Downloads/Links subforum.

[greenie_leaf]

yes, but ONLY TO a certain extent.. i mean like little previews b4 the album is out.. those are cool.. but once its out, we should get e CD from the stores... songs that are featured on TV Programmes/radios that are not the usual stuff from CD should also be available to be dl... :)

[spax]

After reading all your posts, I think that I had been so bothered about the leakage of Jay's new songs that I seem to go against piracy recently...><

Well, like some of you here said, maybe we should upload some of the songs from new albums, not the full album, for us to preview. Now I think that mp3 downloads should not be banned totally cuz like some of you said, some would not be able to catch up with the asian music industry.

I must say that you all have been wise to discuss this issue, giving valid reasons to support your arguments. =)

[stitchphil]

This is a rather touchy issue, I have always been against piracy. Read somewhere that Jay was pretty upset that his album was already available for download days before its official release. But if here in CNET we take away totally the mp3 downloads, people in other countries who haven't heard of Jay in their lifes will not get to hear his works..

Hmm.. maybe have some sort of rotation of the tracks in the album once in a while or have only samples of the tracks instead of the whole album altogether? Especially if we're loyal fans of Jay, we should not promote piracy. This applies to all other artistes whom worked hard for their music as well.

[jazzy_kan@yahoo.com.sg]

i think this is the only website that people are happy in cos we can appreciate a larger variety of music comparing to others....

[devonn]

I am not sure what to vote. It totally depend on what we are downloading. I totally agree if downloading Jay's albums to be banned! Arent we suppose to get the original?

While for some other miscelaneous downloads like from concert, radio interview,etc ...I think its ok since its not even availabe for everyone like Malaysia,US,etc. Everyone can get the original albums. Jay's ALBUMS download should be ban!

[jaychou_21]

I am strongly against downloads for unreleased Jay stuff
but I do think that we should not ban downloads for other artists.
I am probably one of the most prolific uploader of English songs
in this site and I'm doing it to share those files to other people
to save their time looking for them so I think it would be unwise
if we ban all the downloads because as we all know,many many
people cannot afford to buy every CD they want and if they do so,
how will they be able to save their bucks for Jay? :?
I'm just being practical. We thrive in this site for sharing so
I believe that we are not in the position to ban free downloads for
other artists; and besides,JCNET is not the only site who does this.
A gazillion other sites also do the same thing. :shifty:
So I think we can ban illegal Jay downloads but NOT ALL the downloads
including those for other artists as long as people including me still
support the listen-before-you-buy strategy in purchasing music. :rolleyes:

[-zhoujielunrocks]

I voted for NO.

Maybe full album downloads should be banned like what many have stated here. However, for individual songs\mp3s (jay's and other artistes' too) should not be banned. I think it's quite essential for some of us here. If individual songs\mp3s are insisted to be banned, then I think previews of songs should stay! In fact, I come to JCN to check out what's the latest music and etc. I don't think it should be banned TOTALLY.

[hisashiluv14]

The most frequent argument cited by downloaders (thieves! thieves!) is that they don't have the money to buy the whole CD, and anyway, sometimes they only want one or two songs.

To that I ask a couple of questions:

1. Picture this scenario. You walk into a Guess store. You see a gorgeous $400 pair of jeans. You only have $200 in your bank account and $50 in cash on you. You fall in love with the jeans at first sight and DESPERATELY want it. What do you do? Do you think, "Oh I wish I were richer" and sadly walk away, or do you steal the jeans and justify that by saying, "Well I really adore this pair of jeans but I don't have the money to buy it!"?

2. No money to buy a S$20 CD? Well, single songs cost about US$1 per download. Is that too unaffordable a price? I really don't think so. CDs are already not exactly the most luxurious commodites in the first place, especially when you have Chinese imports (originals, not pirated rubbish) going for less than S$10 in some places in Singapore.

I don't buy this excuse. Piracy is theft. Period. No matter how hard you try to justify your downloading activities, whenever you download a song you are stealing and that's all there is to it. If you can't afford it, you shouldn't have it. It's really no different from the Guess jeans scenario I briefly outlined.

It totally depend on what we are downloading. I totally agree if downloading Jay's albums to be banned! Arent we suppose to get the original?

So it's not okay to download Jielun because we're such huge fans of his, but it's okay to download other people we're not such huge fans of because we don't really care? Imagine if this were a Stefanie Sun forum or whatever, and the same issue cropped up, and people think it's "okay" to download Jielun's songs because he's not Stefanie Sun and they're not rabid fans so who gives a crap, right?

I'm not attacking you devonn; I only quoted from your post because it encapsulated the sentiment that seems to be shared amongst quite a few people here.

Of course, in a perfect world, people would use downloading as a sampling tool. They hear of a band that their friends have been raving about, they download a couple of the band's songs, like them, and go on to buy the CD. But this isn't a perfect world we're living in; most people download because they're not bothered to buy the original CD. They say it's stupid to pay for something that you can get for free and don't care at all that they're flouting intellectual property laws.

Well, I think these people - the shameless leechers - deserve to be fined, or thrown behind bars.

A gazillion other sites also do the same thing.

So we should all blindly follow others in their illegal acts and not take a stand against something that is obviously against the law? Sorry, but that's a pretty lame excuse. (This applies to everyone who made the same comment.) You're contributing to the proliferation of this illegality - is that something to be excused by claiming "other people do it too"?

What I think should be banned: full album downloads and single MP3 downloads. I think previews or snippets from a song are fine, if people just want to sample (you can actually sample at your local music store by asking the shop assistant to play a certain CD for you but hey) a particular band or singer.

(If I sound a bit heated up, it's mostly because I feel very strongly about intellectual property.)

[preaw]

I voted for "NO"


At this moment I am sitting in front of PC to answer the poll
And I realized that my computer operating system is not genuine !! :P
Not all of the softwares I'm using in my computer are legal !! :P
I can not swear that I don't have any illegal audio and video files in my PC or at my home
Also many E-books and many things that I downloaded from internet.
Moreover, I'm always broke the school rule and traffic rule when no police there, :).
Then I dare not vote for "YES"


One more thing I think I live in real world not ideal world. I am not believe in god but I believe that all human want to do the right thing if they can, no one want to be robber or theft. It is natural human being.

Question : Is intelletual properties in fair price?

[crazygiggles13]

i think no..but im not sure if that's the greedy part of me talking.
i suppose that it's fair that we pay for the music we listen to as it's what the artists do for a living and if people download stuff then they wont get what they really deserve.
however, i cant buy chinese/japanese/korean cds from where i live (i've looked around but i dont know where they are) and i dont have a credit card to buy online. my parents dont really like to buy stuff online either. there's always iTunes, but there isnt a large song collection there. sometimes i really want to look for a song, but i cant find it and none of my friends have it, so i request it.
i think that part of the forum is very good.
i guess many people have said that other people do it too, so what good would we be doing..i guess its all just about morals and stuff..

[Enchantress_Mi]

no , jc.net is the only place that i can acutally find up to date Mp3 of chinese music and even if MP3 were to get banned it wouldn;t stop any of us from dl Mp3 else where coz either way ppl are still gonna find a way to get the Mp3 on line no matter what

[DragonPrince]

I want to see more of Jay. I mean, who does not? I think downloads makes this site more interesting. I don't download often. But, I think its anm attraction.

[Pugwash]

I voted no... you can take people's privilages of downloading from this site but you certainly can't do it for every other site on the internet. I think that downloading music from the internet has gotten way too out of control and that it's hard to be reactive - look at how early David Tao and F.I.R's album got leaked.

There will still be the loyal fans who'll continue to buy the albums though. I love to download albums and preview new music myself, but if I feel I really like an album, I'll buy it. I just purchased the F.I.R. album because I thought it was awesome.

[swoc77]

just like what other ppl have said, banning it on one site doesnt prevent it from happening at others. plus it brings traffic to this site. if it's banned many visitors will just look elsewhere

[crescentgirl]

Well, I don't really think so. If we have good intentions for it, then why not? Though of course the best way is to just by the disc itself.