IRMA trying to close down cd wow

IRMA are going to court today to get a date for a hearing to close down cd wow dot ie.

Their spokesperson was on morning Ireland on RTÉ radio one this morning claiming that cd wow's "illegal" activities was costing Irish record stores their business.

The cd wow spokesman pointed out that all they were doing was giving value to Iris consumers in that you can buy a cd for €13.95 from them or go to a record store here and get the same thing for €20.

What are peoples views on this here??


The interview can be heard on the RTÉ site.

mm

Kali

Have you a link for that interview? can't find it on rte.ie at all..
Bloody ridiculous proceedings though, what happens after cdwow? the hundreds of other internet cd/dvd shopping sites going to be next? I can't see how its going to stand up in court at all without setting such a precedent

yellum

Levis tried this before with a retailer in the UK (was it tesco ? ) who were importing cheaper Levis from the states or asia. I believe Levis lost.

Seems like a good campaign for RipOffIreland.org to run with.

ixoy

Oh how wonderful. We're told - in a bloody condescending advertising campaign - to be aware of prices and how it's "up to us". How is it up to us if the ba5tards are preventing us from being price aware and getting the cheap option?

Attention should be drawn to IRMA's policies of limiting our choices and, if anything happens to cdwow, I urge action to be taken to boycott them and their tactics.

Kali

Originally posted by ixoy
Attention should be drawn to IRMA's policies of limiting our choices and, if anything happens to cdwow, I urge action to be taken to boycott them and their tactics.

IRMA aren't exactly the most "boycottable" of organizations.. what do you plan to do? not go into any shop that plays music and has paid IRMA rights to do so? not listen to the radio? not watch any irish tv programmes that include music?

I doubt its IRMA alone who have made this decision.. more likely they have been pressured into it by large retailers (*cough* HMV).

Sleipnir

Tell the IRMA what you think about this here

echomadman

Their spokesperson was on morning Ireland on RTÉ radio one this morning claiming that cd wow's "illegal" activities was costing Irish record stores their business.

So are they going to sue apple next May when i-tunes europe is launched?

whosurpaddy

no they wont.
From my understanding of this, the root of IRMA's case has to do with the fact that cdwow are based in hong kong, and its unlawful to ship copyrighted material into the EU without the permission of the copyright owner.

complete cnuts they are

ixoy

Originally posted by whosurpaddy
no they wont.
From my understanding of this, the root of IRMA's case has to do with the fact that cdwow are based in hong kong, and its unlawful to ship copyrighted material into the EU without the permission of the copyright owner.

complete cnuts they are

What's the legal precedent for this? I mean if say Westsh1te have an album in Hong Kong surely they're getting royalties anyway? What difference does it make to them where their albums go, as long as they get their money per album? Why is it unlawful from a copyright perspective?

seamus

Originally posted by ixoy
What's the legal precedent for this? I mean if say Westsh1te have an album in Hong Kong surely they're getting royalties anyway? What difference does it make to them where their albums go, as long as they get their money per album? Why is it unlawful from a copyright perspective?

Because they can tailor the price to the market. Artists can choose how much they wish to charge for a copy of their works in any country. Since they charge retailers in Hong Kong less than Ireland, then cdwow are bypassing their money making schemes.
If they are successful, basically what they are saying is, "because you live in Ireland, you must pay the higher price for our recordings, that we have set".

It's greediness, pure and simple.

FWIW, I think IRMA will lose. Cd-wow aren't shipping goods into Europe for sale, they're selling them in Hong Kong, before posting them to Ireland. That's if the server that the transaction takes place on is in Hong Kong. Which I suspect it is.

Similar to me actually flying to Hong Kong, buying the CD and mailing it back to myself (but without the cost of a flight to Hong Kong).
About all that could happen is that cdwow will be asked to place customs & excise (ie VAT) on all products sent into Ireland. Which, as someone said, is no problem, it'll still work out miles cheaper for us.

whosurpaddy

cant remember for the moment where i read that, but i read it this morning somewhere, one of the news sites i think. if i can find the article again ill put it up

Kali

realplayer interview from this morning...

http://www.rte.ie/news/2003/1127/morningireland/morningireland7a.smil

Doctor J

IRMA can stick it up their ass. I saw a Ween cd, manufactured in the USA, on sale in HMV for €44.99 last night.

CD Universe - €14.99
HMV.co.uk - £17.99
Tower.co.uk - £9.41

Are IRMA seriously suggesting it is in the interests of the Irish consumer to be ripped off by almost €30???

Do your own research and send it to IRMA. Find CD's cheaper elsewhere and demand they fight on our side, not the corporation's!

Shred

Man this is really after pissing me off, the f*cking c*nts:mad:

This country just gets better and better

Beruthiel

god damn them to hell!
I just discovered cdwow a few months back and now they want to take it away from me!!
I'm off to give IRMA a roasting

seamus

/me senses that there will be a large protest outside IRMA headquarters quite soon.

The Irish are surprisingly militant when it comes to f*cking with their music. Even if IRMA win, I'd say it'll do far more damage than they'd like.

yellum

Originally posted by ixoy
What's the legal precedent for this? I mean if say Westsh1te have an album in Hong Kong surely they're getting royalties anyway? What difference does it make to them where their albums go, as long as they get their money per album? Why is it unlawful from a copyright perspective?

Its probably to do with self-preservation too, I think I remember U2 having war with IRMA or one of their ilk about live performances. U2 had to pay IRMA to perform their own songs in Ireland where 4 months later they'd get their money back minus an administration fee.

Doctor J

Make sure you use the link above to let them know what you think.

They're supposed to be there to support Irish musicians and Irish music.

As an Irish musician I think the more Irish cd's that are sold, from wherever, is a good thing. Are they purposely driving people towards Kazaa, etc?

whosurpaddy

Originally posted by Kananga
Tell the IRMA what you think about this here

i really think everyone should use this link and voice your opinion to them. a couple of thousand emails will at least let them see the weight of public opinion

Ste.phen

Yeah, I'm in agreement with Doctor J on this one,

to cite an example; I was looking to buy Eve 6s new album. It hasnt been released here as far as i know so its probably an "import" in HMV, tower, etc, costing anywhere from €22-€40?

I bought the album from Cdwow for HK$94.99 (about €10.50 i think), if the CDwow option wasnt available to me, i'd probably have downloaded it all from some P2P service.

Stephen

oh no, my fingers seem to have slipped and accidentally typed out a "fúck you in your stupid fúcking asses" type message to IRMA. Woe is me.

whosurpaddy

Originally posted by Beruthiel
I'm off to give IRMA a roasting

i hope u mean in a non newcastle united kinda way :eek:

ixoy

With regards to the site, surely it's best to use the e-mail address copyright@irma.ie rather than anything else? After all it's a copyright issue that they're suing over. I reckon rather than insulting them people point out a reasoned argument.

Their response is - I assume - along the lines of having to protect the interest of the artists they represent. The way to combat this is, I reckon, to point out that if you give a customer a cheap solution, and then take it away, you severely irritate said consumer. Said consumer is NOT going to go back to the HMV rip-off pr1cks but instead likely to try and give a big "fcuk you" to IRMA and instead turn to cheaper alternatives - such as P2P software.
So with cdwow they might get a smaller royalty for their artists but without cdwow they're likely to get none at all. That sort of logical thinking - appealing to their bulging purses of the rich fat cat scum who run the operation - should surely get them to notice more.

Doctor J

I wonder if CDwow could just open a teeeny tiny office here, register it, and still ship in from Hong Kong? Then they'd be based within the EU and IRMA can go F**K themselves.

ixoy

Originally posted by Doctor J
I wonder if CDwow could just open a teeeny tiny office here, register it, and still ship in from Hong Kong? Then they'd be based within the EU and IRMA can go F**K themselves.

Still wouldn't work I believe. The problem is the CDs come from Hong Kong and there's a copyright issue as a result. The pricier EU countries give an artist - and IRMA - a bigger take per CD than Hong Kong. So if we funnelled it through an Irish branch they'd still have the same copyright problem. They could only - maybe - get away with it by charging an additional payment then to satisfy IRMA and also including VAT.
It'd probably still be cheaper than the cnuts at HMV though.

BaZmO*

This issue really annoys me. And I mean REALLY!!!
Since I discovered CD WOW a couple of years ago I only buy new CDs from them or Play.com rather than HMV, who are rightfully getting slated for their high prices but I think Virgin have to answer to the same charge too.

The only time I actually buy CDs in shops in Ireland are when they're on sale and I have to say that HMV aren't "that" bad for bumping up your back catalogue, not great mind you, but not as bad as Virgin!! I was in both shops today at lunch time and it's the same old sh1te "2 OLD CDs for €35" like c'mon, that's not a sale!!
And as for the DVD offer "Buy one Get one Free" Yeah right!!! Let me rephrase that..

"We'll increase the cost of the DVD to a ridiculous price to make sure that we're covered for giving the second DVD away for Free!! And sure you're only a dumb customer who won't even notice this.....SALE" :rolleyes:

Somehow I don't think I could see the advertising department running with this!!

Another thing that bothers me is, and somebody might be able to help me out with this one. Is IRMA there to protect the commercial interests of Irish Artists?? Well if so, do a search on CD WOW and see how many Irish Artists you'll find!! Apart from the usual big boys like U2, Westlife, The Coors and Van Morrison you won't find too many others! You certainly won't find many if any up and coming Irish artists!! So it seems to me they're only protecting established artists and Louis Walsh!!.

The thing is though, even if you wanted to get an a CD from an established Irish artist you'd find it cheaper from play.com which is an English company so that blows the Irish record stores argument of "It's the tax that puts Irish prices up" out of the water.
At the end of the day, if IRMA want to protect Irish Artists they would make sure that Irish music was easier to purchase at reasonable prices and they'd be trying to stop Fat Cats like HMV, Virgin and major record companies from giving us the proverbial shafting!!!

VOTE WITH YOUR FEET PEOPLE!!

B.

Mossy Monk

is it only the CDWOW.ie they are after or all of CDWOW. the HK version of the site is cheaper than the .ie version but still the same company

whosurpaddy

Originally posted by Mossy Monk
is it only the CDWOW.ie they are after or all of CDWOW. the HK version of the site is cheaper than the .ie version but still the same company

surely if they shut down the .ie version of the site then its curtains for any cdwow shipping into ireland

BaZmO*

Actually, just out of interest. Can anybody get onto the CD WOW HK site??? I used to be able to, but now it just keeps re-directing me!! Hmmmm.....strange!!

B.

sunbeam

Yes, I was redirected to http://www7.cd-wow.com.hk/ which seems to be working fine.

BaZmO*

Originally posted by sunbeam
Yes, I was redirected to http://www7.cd-wow.com.hk/ which seems to be working fine.

Spank you very much!! That seems to have done the job!! I was getting re-directed to the American site!

Cheers.

B.