Comments on: The Used-MP3 Marketplace: It’s Not A Joke Anymore

By: Halfwit

Halfwit — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:15:40 +0000

@Captain Wrong: @Audif Jackson Winters III: I think that the bigger issue here is that you are, inherently, selling off copies of the original product. While you have the legal right to transfer chattel, inherent in that is that you're actually TRANSFERRING the chattel. There's a net-zero ownership regime.

If you're trying to profit off of that resale of products that you don't actually lose the right to, I imagine that even the staunchest copyfighters would have difficulty in submitting the amicus brief.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 07:14:38 +0000

Who funded this ridiculous idea, and where can I meet them? I could use some extra cash….

By: Captain Wrong

Captain Wrong — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:13:54 +0000

Mark my words: the big content providers will claim you’re not actually buying anything except a non-transferable license when you pay for an mp3. This is the kind of thinking software companies have tried to prevent used sales of old PC games and whatnot.

By: Ned Raggett

Ned Raggett — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 09:15:47 +0000

Oh my god, and I had thought I was joking about the idea.

Well, this'll be interesting.

By: Audif Jackson Winters III

Audif Jackson Winters III — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 09:00:08 +0000

It’s actually a really interesting legal question. What constitutes a chattel? The owner of a chattel — such as a CD — generally has a legal right to transfer the chattel by selling it to a third party. The only thing copyright holders can really do to subvert that process is some kind of Garth Brooks in the mid 90s-style secondary boycott.

But in the case of an item that only exists digitally, what, if anything, constitutes a chattel? All the copies have the same digital information. How can you prove that the reseller is transferring the same digital copy, if that’s even possible?

By: westartedthis

westartedthis — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 08:54:54 +0000

i didn’t see an advertisement for “Vice President of Being the Stooge Who Takes the Hardest Fall When the RIAA Shuts This Place Down and Sues the Hell Out of Us All”, but i’m gonna go ahead and send my resume/cover letter anyway.

By: 10:02am

10:02am — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 08:42:28 +0000

At first glance, I thought this was another post about Bonnaroo. We need a logo revolution here, stuff is starting to look the saaaaaaaaame. And the name itself… if you want people to use your service, you should probably pick a name that people are willing to say out loud.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 08:38:39 +0000

Gayest name ever.