Sony Music at it again: Acquires injunction against DNS

[WolframaticAlpha]

I do not support piracy in any way. But sony music is just annoying.

Summary

ISPs often block certain websites for pirated content, on the behest of copyright holders such as Sony Music, which today obtained an injunction against swiss DNS Quad9. Piracy websites often use DNS tricks to evade these ISP bans. Sony today won a landmark case against Quad9 in a German court, which would lead to sites being thrown off DNS's on certain requests. Quad9 is planning to appeal.

 

Quotes

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One of the arguments that Sony brought up in court was that Quad9 already blocks various problematic sites voluntarily. In fact, the DNS-resolver promotes threat blocking as a feature.

Quote

The district court in Hamburg found that Quad9 was not covered by the usual liability privileges for mere intermediaries like an Internet service provider or even domain registrar.

Quote

The Internet providers use relatively simple DNS blockades which can be circumvented by switching to third-party DNS resolvers such as Google, Cloudflare or Quad9, which are all free to use. However, that loophole may not last forever.

My thoughts

I hate sony music. They are some of the greediest corporations out there. I get that your copyright is important, but taking actions against individual users is very annoying(ISP blocking). Taking down piracy sites is fine in my book though. And Sony does have a point here. But this not only has huge implications for piracy and other malicious web sites, but also against the web as a whole, as most websites use DNS's like Cloudflare and Google and they will have to comply with takedown requests, and we may see something similar to Youtube's takedowns of even innocuous videos being applied to blogs and articles.

 

Sources

Sony Wins Pirate Site Blocking Order Against DNS-Resolver Quad9 (Updated) * TorrentFreak

Copyright Infringement: Sony Obtains Injunction Against DNS Resolvers - Market Research Telecast

[Spotty]

People still pirate music? Just get Spotify, Youtube Music, iTunes, Amazon Music...

[jaslion]

35 minutes ago, Spotty said:

People still pirate music? Just get Spotify, Youtube Music, iTunes, Amazon Music...

Granted it is a lot less common now but the people that would pirate are the ones that wouldn't pay anyway still (so the usualy) or have the same issue where they have a couple artists on platform y but are subbed to platform x and they don't want to pay for all of that.

 

Of course there is also the thing that music is often relistened which also brings down piracy a lot as people then often can see the extra investment as worthwhile endeavour.

 

It still comes down to convenience and if pirating is more convenient for someone I totally get why they would do it.

 

I mean there is a reason why piracy is massive where I live for series and movies as we basically get shafted with a b list selection of stuff or have to wait forever. That and people just do not want to pay for 10 streaming services.

[Beerzerker]

It's the same arrogant shiite from Sony in play.
Remember a certain anime called "SAO" and it was a literal crock?

Well a certain studio (Something Witty Entertainment) took it upon themselves to have a little fun with it (Parody) and Sony got it's panties in a wad and started trying to get them banned from YouTube.

With each and every episode they did it was challenged with the same exact outcome for the same exact reasons too but they still kept on and even today, after about 5 years of this they STILL do it to the same guys for the same reasons..... As if anything has or ever would change because it's been proven repeatedly what they have been doing is NOT illegal.
But they keep on anyway.

Funniest thing about it is the parody actually brought attention to the series FOR Sony. Obviously it didn't do anything to "Fix" it because they can't but the parody is better than the original by a factor of.......
Whatever factor you want to name because it works.

Only logical reason I can think of to repeatedly do this over and over again is it's culturally based and they must do so to "Save Face" with their own.

[Stahlmann]

23 minutes ago, jaslion said:

I mean there is a reason why piracy is massive where I live for series and movies as we basically get shafted with a b list selection of stuff or have to wait forever. That and people just do not want to pay for 10 streaming services.

I agree with that when it comes to movies and series. Because each streaming service has it's own exclusives.

 

But for music? You can get one service and have all your music there. And imo if you listen to a lot of music and then don't want to pay that small amount of money each month then you're just cheap. Just do with 1 less visit to McDonalds each month, then you can afford a music streaming service.

 

Yes, i agree that Sony can be very annoying. But come on, pirating music is just plain unnecessary.

[jaslion]

4 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

I agree with that when it comes to movies and series. Because each streaming service has it's own exclusives.

 

But for music? You can one service and have all your music there. And imo if you listen to a lot of music and then don't want to pay that small amount of money each month then you're just cheap. Just do with 1 less visit to McDonalds each month, then you can afford a music streaming service.

 

Yes, i agree that Sony can be very annoying. But come on, pirating music is just plain unnecessary.

I have yt music for most but also have soundcloud for some more out there stuff that isn't on anything else. It works pretty well.

 

I'm also in the fortunate position that I can support creators by purchasing music on physical collectors media when I feel it is worth it. Not everyone has this luxury but it is nice that I can do that. Also cool stuff to decorate with :p.

[Freakwise]

1 hour ago, Spotty said:

People still pirate music? Just get Spotify, Youtube Music, iTunes, Amazon Music...

Of course, here's the think, for people that live in my country (by that i mean like adult)

The ability to listen to all of their favourite music without ads, or monthly subscription plus literally no data usage is pretty compelling

 

I mean $10 not sound like much, but in my country that is pretty a FULL weeks of average high school students allowance 

 

So theres that

 

[Kadzo]

36 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

But for music? You can get one service and have all your music there. And imo if you listen to a lot of music and then don't want to pay that small amount of money each month then you're just cheap. Just do with 1 less visit to McDonalds each month, then you can afford a music streaming service.

I support creators and musicians directly but not with trough big record labels and besides they usually take most of the cut ,and penny`s are left for the musicians. Second reason why somebody will pirate music is just simple quality, YT spottfy etc are compressing the shit out of the quality.

 

Please be aware that most people that pirate music are not living in Germany or any other first world country and maybe they are living in a country with much much lower economics standard so subscription is not really an option especially when you need internet or cellular data to use those services anyway.

 

[Stahlmann]

4 minutes ago, Kadzo said:

I support creators and musicians directly but not with trough big record labels and besides they usually take most of the cut ,and penny`s are left for the musicians. Second reason why somebody will pirate music is just simple quality, YT spottfy etc are compressing the shit out of the quality.

If you care about quality, get Amazon Music HD. There you have the same quality as with a physical CD.

 

4 minutes ago, Kadzo said:

Please be aware that most people that pirate music are not living in Germany or any other first world country and maybe they are living in a country with much much lower economics standard so subscription is not really an option especially when you need internet or cellular data to use those services anyway.

I am aware that most people don't live in Germany. But still, using $10 a month for music is not too much to ask imo. And don't you need internet for piracy too? With most streaming services you can also download the music so you don't need cellular data on the go.

[Stahlmann]

37 minutes ago, Freakwise said:

I mean $10 not sound like much, but in my country that is pretty a FULL weeks of average high school students allowance 

Most streaming services offer big discounts for students as long as you can prove that you are one.

[Kadzo]

4 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

If you care about quality, get Amazon Music. There you have the same quality as with a physical CD.

Still missed the point, you are giving Amazon the money not the artist, go to bandcamp and purchase directly from the artist not some big corp.

 

4 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

I am aware that most people don't live in Germany. But still, using $10 a month for music is not too much to ask imo. And don't you need internet for piracy too? With most streaming services you can also download the music so you don't need cellular data on the go.

Then you should understand that in current days in my country 10$ is almost a week of food. 

[Stahlmann]

3 minutes ago, Kadzo said:

Still missed the point, you are giving Amazon the money not the artist, go to bandcamp and purchase directly from the artist not some big corp.

Well yes and no. The artist (or label or whatever) still get's paid for each stream of their songs. Very small amounts, but with millions of streams this can quickly become a lot of money.

 

3 minutes ago, Kadzo said:

Then you should understand that in current days in my country 10$ is almost a week of food. 

Doesn't the rate get adjusted in many countries?

 

For example if i'd use spotify i'd pay 10€, which is more than $10 and is pretty much the same as if i'd go to McDonalds once.

My guess would be that poorer countries also get it cheaper.

[Kadzo]

15 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

For example if i'd use spotify i'd pay 10€, which is more than $10 and is pretty much the same as if i'd go to McDonalds once.

My guess would be that poorer countries also get it cheaper.

And what if i tell you that McDonalds prices in my country are higher then in Germany?

Well basically everything is more expensive here there even if we are in the same continent. 

 

15 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

Well yes and no. The artist (or label or whatever) still get's paid for each stream of their songs. Very small amounts, but with millions of streams this can quickly become a lot of money.

That is correct the artist gets a fraction of what you payed, and if you are willing to pay why not give the artist money why include a additional third person? 

 

I personally am a musician and know how much are you getting pissed with those "record labels", and one wise man said "getting a deal with a record label is like being a young boy in room full of priests, somebody is gonna get fucked and it aint go be them" 

[Stahlmann]

Just now, Kadzo said:

And what if i tell you that McDonalds prices in my country are higher then in Germany?

To get the same amount of customers they'd have to adjust their prices somehow. If they were twice as expensive they would have a lot let customers.

But i admit, i didn't fully account for poorer countries and their ability to pay for streaming services.

 

3 minutes ago, Kadzo said:

That is correct the artist gets a fraction of what you payed, and if you are willing to pay why not give the artist money why include a additional third person?

I agree with that but from a consumer perspective it's just much more convenient to get everything from one source.

But my point still stands that pirating is not worth it for the comparatively small price to stream music nowadays.

If i'd pay all my music licenses directly to the artists, i'd pay hundreds of € each month for music. It's just not feasable as a consumer.

 

4 minutes ago, Kadzo said:

I personally am a musician and know how much are you getting pissed with those "record labels", and one wise man said "getting a deal with a record label is like being a young boy in room full of priests, somebody is gonna get fucked and it aint go be them" 

If you're a musician yourself you should understand that getting a bit of money from streams is better than getting nothing because you stuff is pirated.

[Freakwise]

36 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

Most streaming services offer big discounts for students as long as you can prove that you are one.

Wait, really? That's neat

 

 

 

 

[WolframaticAlpha]

3 hours ago, Spotty said:

People still pirate music? Just get Spotify, Youtube Music, iTunes, Amazon Music...

People pirated music because it is economical. In India, people used to go to the nearest mobile shop and he would put songs on their phone. If I remember correctly, it was 20 songs for 7 cents => 0.35 cents a song. Compare that to itunes, which charge 95 cents a song.

 

And spotify came in like 2017. 7 years after you guys got it. I remember when I first used spotify in 2012(in the us) and it was a revelation.

 

Many people owned phones with no wifi and data prices were high. Internet prices were really high until 2016, when they fell precipitously(a 1000% reduction iirc in 3 months).

[duncannah]

Why is a Swiss company concerned with a German court? Seems pretty dystopian if courts from other countries can do that

[Spindel]

2 hours ago, Stahlmann said:

But for music? You can get one service and have all your music there. 

No you can in fact not if you listen to anything a bit off the main stream path that is a bit older. 

 

I don't personally use streaming music services because they are a rip off. But most of my library is legal. But there are certain albums and artists that you simply can not get hold of in any other way than piracy or the odd chance you stumble upon them in a second hand shop (some times in another country).

[Arika]

Given how easy it is to pull music from youtube directly, I don't really see this "stopping" anyone.

[Spotty]

39 minutes ago, WolframaticAlpha said:

People pirated music because it is economical.

Everything is affordable when you steal it.

 

1 hour ago, WolframaticAlpha said:

In India, people used to go to the nearest mobile shop and he would put songs on their phone. If I remember correctly, it was 20 songs for 7 cents => 0.35 cents a song. Compare that to itunes, which charge 95 cents a song.

Were those stores in India paying licensing fees to the artists/record labels? I very much doubt it.

Reminds me of this youtube video of pirated games being blatantly sold in Pakistan stores. In countries with tougher copyright and anti-piracy laws stores like that would be shut down and the owners fined and sued.

[StDragon]

1 hour ago, WolframaticAlpha said:

People pirated music because it is economical. In India, people used to go to the nearest mobile shop and he would put songs on their phone.

 

Many people owned phones with no wifi and data prices were high. Internet prices were really high until 2016, when they fell precipitously(a 1000% reduction iirc in 3 months).

Ahh, the wonders of "Sneakernet"...

 

I remember when the pundits were touting XM and Sirius being the next thing to replace FM radio; and it did gain market-share from 2011 to 2019 at its zenith. It leveled off to today. 

 

Then came cheap cellular internet access like a wrecking ball! So much so that the paradigm of car audio changed. Rather than the phone being an accessory to the head-unit, the head-unit becomes a paired accessory to the phone (Apple Carplay and Android Auto).

 

Cellular internet -->Phone (Bluetooth) --> streaming app --> head-unit.

We'll see if satellite radio continues to gain market share, but I don't think so. I think it's in the waning period and will eventually go the way of the dodo due to the high cost of SATCOM operation.

 

As for Sneakernet, I'm sure all the Zoomers be like "what's a flash drive?? MP3 what?"

[Arika]

40 minutes ago, Spotty said:

Everything is affordable when you steal it.

except for prison food.

[WolframaticAlpha]

40 minutes ago, Spotty said:

Everything is affordable when you steal it.

 

Were those stores in India paying licensing fees to the artists/record labels? I very much doubt it.

Reminds me of this youtube video of pirated games being blatantly sold in Pakistan stores. In countries with tougher copyright and anti-piracy laws stores like that would be shut down and the owners fined and sued.

thats the point. piracy was cheap. Hence ppl did it.

[WolframaticAlpha]

1 hour ago, Spotty said:

Everything is affordable when you steal it.

 

Piracy isn't theft(I do not support piracy in any way)

1 hour ago, Spotty said:

Were those stores in India paying licensing fees to the artists/record labels? I

Ofc not

1 hour ago, Spotty said:

In countries with tougher copyright and anti-piracy laws stores like that would be shut down and the owners fined and sued.

When you have high poverty and somewhat high crime rate, then some people running limewire isn't your top priority. Here some people actually brag about being pirates.

 

[Spotty]

1 minute ago, WolframaticAlpha said:

Piracy isn't theft.

I guess if you've only ever pirated stuff you wouldn't have seen this playing before a movie...

 

3 minutes ago, WolframaticAlpha said:

When you have high poverty and somewhat high crime rate, then some people running limewire isn't your top priority. Here some people actually brag about being pirates.

Stop using being in an impoverished developing country as an excuse. If you're going to pirate music and movies then do it, but don't try to justify it by saying "my country is shit so it's not my fault if I do the wrong thing".