[woodsyi]

Bob,

I am sorry but I may have to move your post to industry ad section.  And you will also have to disclose your commercial interest on your signature like Bob the Ripper. 

[Bob in St. Louis]

"Bob the Ripper".......... I LOVE that. 

Tell you what Mr. Woods, if somebody actually takes me up on this offer, I'll donate 10% to AudioCircle, and move my post to Industry Ads.
How's that?  aa

Bob Ripmeister in St. Louis

[JEaton]

Just curious, I keep getting correspondence from Moondog Digital and he wants me to write a big article about his RIP service

I make custom audio cables on my kitchen table.  I want you to do a big article on my services.

[Dan Driscoll]

This is the remastering of "Something" from Abbey Road, so the drawback I'd be concerned about is you might be that you send a 1983 or 1987 copy to get ripped and end up with a 2000 Clipped Audio version on your drive if that's the version that got ripped by the vendor first.

I'd rather stick with doing it myself.

I discussed this with Tim on the phone, before I sent him my CDs. His system can match any version of any album he has previously ripped. If he does not have your version in his database then he manually rips it and adds it to his catalog. I when I got the HDD back I was able to confirm that what was on the HDD matched the disks I sent to him.

I can't speak to other people or companies that offer ripping services, but Tirade has a very long list of very satisfied customers.

[bprice2]

I think it's freak'n hilarious that these ripper dudes have all of their clients' CDs on hard drive.  Even more hilarious is the fact that people are paying them money so that they can add to their collection.  I wonder what RIAA will say when they come knock'n. 

[maxwalrath]

Not that they'd come to my door, but I'd tell the RIAA where they could shove it in a very public manner if they did.

[bprice2]

Not that they'd come to my door, but I'd tell the RIAA where they could shove it in a very public manner if they did.

Yeah, but I bet you don't have thousands of ripped CDs that you didn't buy on your HD.

[BradJudy]

I think it's freak'n hilarious that these ripper dudes have all of their clients' CDs on hard drive.  Even more hilarious is the fact that people are paying them money so that they can add to their collection.  I wonder what RIAA will say when they come knock'n. 

If you conduct your business in a professional manner, complying with laws and regulations, then why would the RIAA care?  There are countless services that store/handle data on behalf of customers like e-mail services, web photo albums, online data backups, etc.  Heck, companies outsource their entire HR departments sometimes.  Each usually has a customer agreement that spells out the ownership of the data and the conditions under which the service provider may access the data.  Yes, it would be really easy for someone at one of those companies to take advantage of the position and copy data, but it would also be unprofessional, likely a violation of contract, and potentially illegal.  Just as someone working for a company could take advantage of internal information for their benefit (insider trading, corporate espionage, etc).  

It seems that people are implying that the nature of this data or service makes it likely that the company/individual will take advantage of the situation to their benefit.  I would submit that you are projecting your own ethical decisions onto others.  

[nathanm]

It would be easy for me to ignore a drive full of stranger's personal data, but that sweet ripped copy of Diana Krall just SITTING there on my hard drive, how could I RESIST listening to it!?

[bprice2]

I would submit that you are projecting your own ethical decisions onto others.  

Are you serious, or do you not have the skills to handle someone disagreeing with you?  Your statement is over the top and more than a little rude.

[maxwalrath]

Not that they'd come to my door, but I'd tell the RIAA where they could shove it in a very public manner if they did.

Yeah, but I bet you don't have thousands of ripped CDs that you didn't buy on your HD.

True, but if I did, I would hope to have the guts to still be itching for a chance to sling every bit of dirt and mud towards the RIAA that I could in a very public way.  

Between payola, CD price fixing (I spent thousands on music as a teenager), not giving a shit about good music, pre-determining which acts even get a shot, etc., I wouldn't feel an ounce of guilt about never paying for music again (as long as there was a way for artists to get their share).

I know that "revenge" doesn't make much sense as a strategy, but if you ask me, I'd say screw 'em...start a legal defense fund on facebook or something, and basically do all I could to make the public's perception of them as low as mine is.  As to whether I would actually have the guts to do it, who knows...but I'd love to see it happen.  

[bprice2]

Max,

I understand.  But my point was that the gentle people over at RIAA have a way that is not so subtle in dealing with folks who they deem are stealing from them.  As a matter of fact, we have seen over the past few years that they enjoy pushing the law and our judges to the limit when seeking prosecution and civil justice.  I think it would be interesting to see what their lawyers thought of someone who could potentially have thousands or even 10's of thousands of CDs on a hard drive, but not one legally purchased CD to prove ownership.

I found this from Music United:

Copying CDs

* It’s okay to copy music onto an analog cassette, but not for commercial purposes.
* It’s also okay to copy music onto special Audio CD-R’s, mini-discs, and digital tapes (because royalties have been paid on them) – but, again, not for commercial purposes.
* Beyond that, there’s no legal "right" to copy the copyrighted music on a CD onto a CD-R. However, burning a copy of CD onto a CD-R, or transferring a copy onto your computer hard drive or your portable music player, won’t usually raise concerns so long as:
          o The copy is made from an authorized original CD that you legitimately own
          o The copy is just for your personal use. It’s not a personal use – in fact, it’s illegal – to give
             away the copy or lend it to others for copying.
* ·The owners of copyrighted music have the right to use protection technology to allow or prevent copying.
* Remember, it’s never okay to sell or make commercial use of a copy that you make.

I realize this isn't statute, but it appears to be the rule of thumb that the recording industry goes by.  The way I read the wording above, both the ripper and the rippee would be liable, if the boys at RIAA felt like you were stealing from them.

[BradJudy]

I would submit that you are projecting your own ethical decisions onto others.  

Are you serious, or do you not have the skills to handle someone disagreeing with you?  Your statement is over the top and more than a little rude.

I guess we have different perspectives - I thought it was over the top and rude to imply that those in the ripping business are unethically using copies of the data for personal use. 

[woodsyi]

Let's stay on topic and just post what you would pay for ripping service without commenting on other folk's motives.  Copyright stuff falls in gray area but I, for one, never questioned Tirade's integrity.  With more and more ripping softwares becoming available, the market for this service may dwindle but there are still people who may find that the cost is worth the time saved.  Donnie in Toronto ripped all my CD's for free (I paid the shipping) and I never doubted his integrity.

[maxwalrath]

Understood bprice2, I'm not even saying ripping is right, I know it can be illegal in certain circumstances and I understand why.  

To my core, though, I want nothing other than revenge against an institution that systematically ripped off tens of millions of Americans, and went so far as to damage our culture by pushing and pimping acts they wanted to succeed.  I feel personally wronged by the RIAA.  

I don't feel very strongly about many issues, but I put the RIAA right up there with insurance companies that don't cover deserving people with valid claims, and people who kick little puppies.    

[BradJudy]

Let's stay on topic and just post what you would pay for ripping service...

At the moment, I wouldn't pay for such a service, but I've had the free time and the knowledge to rip my own CDs in a way that I was happy with.  But, I have met folks who would probably pay on the order of $1/CD for rips.  I can't say I've met any who I think would pay $4/CD. 

Reviewing the company mentioned in the OP, it appears their primary focus is on large volume customers like radio stations and they are equipped with larger scale automated systems to work through tens of thousands of CDs in a relatively short time.  I expect a service like that offers strong value for a particular niche of customers, and I expect they don't charge $1-4/CD for an order of 10,000+ CDs. 

[bprice2]

Reviewing the company mentioned in the OP, it appears their primary focus is on large volume customers like radio stations and they are equipped with larger scale automated systems to work through tens of thousands of CDs in a relatively short time.  I expect a service like that offers strong value for a particular niche of customers, and I expect they don't charge $1-4/CD for an order of 10,000+ CDs. 

Radio stations pay royalties to the recording industry and I doubt the folks transferring from disc to file keep the files on their own personal hard drive.  I will contend that the guy who transfers for any old Joe and keeps the files on his HD is in very gray and murky legal waters. 

Maybe some of the rippers like your buddy Tirade could address this issue for us...help us clear it up a bit.

And, BTW, no, I wouldn't pay a red cent for this service.

[satfrat]

Just curious, I keep getting correspondence from Moondog Digital and he wants me to write a big article about his RIP service, which costs anywhere from $1.50 per disc to $4.00 per disc (!) for his premium service.

Also, I kind of thought that doing all the work and customizing the album art, etc., was part of the hobby aspect of this.

I know we've written about some fairly expensive hardware in the past, but I think this is really crazy.  I just can't fathom someone with 2500 CD's paying someone 10 grand just to RIP their collection, and take the chance that they won't get their CD's back in the proper order, etc, etc.

I put about 1800 CD's on my McIntosh MS750 in pretty short order, every time I sat down to watch an episode of 24, I just grabbed a pile of discs and it was done before I knew it, just a little multitasking.

Not to mention the shipping and insurance AND trying to convince Fed EX that you want 40 thousand dollars for the boxes containing your CD's that they've lost or damaged.

Your thoughts, gang?

Just another thought Jeff but maybe you should have started a poll with this thread so you could have tracked the results of the opinions more accurately.


Cheers,
Robin

[jqp]

It would be easy for me to ignore a drive full of stranger's personal data, but that sweet ripped copy of Diana Krall just SITTING there on my hard drive, how could I RESIST listening to it!?

You are under arrest for thinking about Diana Krall sitting on your hard drive, and listening to it.

[jqp]

nathan I am counting on you to do better than this