Fresh off their quixotic effort to revolutionize the law of search engine advertising, Utah legislators are tackling another great social problem: restricting the resale of secondhand music. According to Billboard,
Laws that result in the curtailment of used CD sales likely would be considered good news to record labels and music distributor executives who have long abhorred the growing strength of the used CD market. [In the 1990s] some majors attempted to kill the [market] by initiating new policies to withhold cooperative advertising from retailers buying directly from them but selling used CDs, a move endorsed by some artists including Garth Brooks. But that effort triggered a revolt from independent stores and consumers, highlighted by barbeques of Garth Brook CDs, in some places istanbul escort called a “garth-eque.”
Florida is joining the parade, “forcing all stores buying bayan escort second-hand merchandise for resale to apply for a permit [and] . . . thumb-print CD sellers.”
Anirvan of Bookfinder notes the new legislation “make[s] a mockery of the American right of first sale, which allows consumers to freely resell copies of copyrighted materials [they bought rather than licensed].”   But don’t expect the Copyright Office to stand up for the first sale doctrine. . . .it hasn’t exactly been a friend in the past. Â
When contemplating the thumb-print and other aspects of the piracy prevention panjandrums’ privacy-eroding program, one can envision (and perhaps hope for) two musical worlds: one commodified and subject to ever more arcane rules of surveillance, and another free zone uncomplicated by DRM.Â