Toms View of the World

It seems that the authorities have now decided that the webiste known as allofmp3 (no link!) and thoroughly written up by James is not legal for UK music downloaders to use.

the site’s ROMS license is the key here, as even if it were legal in Russia, it wouldn’t be legal here - the site would have to be licensed to sell music downloads in each locality (eg the US, the UK etc)

So, it seems us users are now expected to not only take a site’s word for it’s licenses, but somehow we should be checking that the site is actually licensed. How do we do that I wonder?

The age-old mantra “if it looks too good to be true, it probably is” certainly seems to hold weight here. However we should look at the source to - the BPI - that’s right, the trade association for the British music industry, who, you have to admit, probably have a vested interest in disuading people from buying their music cheaply, and going to licensed, expensive, retailers with proper copy protection to stop you listening to the music you’ve bought where you want to. They conveniently have a list of legal download sites on their website.

Of course, most online downloads are far more restrictive in what you can do with your music, paid for with your hard-earned money than if you’d actually gone and bought the CD… and generally cost about the same as the CD…

Thanks to this article on the BBC

Finally it seems the authorities are taking note of the cost of parking in Cardiff… however not the result I’d hope for…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/5049286.stm

“Because of the cost of parking in the city centre, people are taking the risk of parking in inappropriate locations.”

Here’s a hint for you - the solution is to make the cost of parking in the city centre more acceptable to the average visitor to the city - then maybe people wouldn’t park illegally and obstruct bus routes… the Government and local authorities are still treating the motorist as an unlimited source of income - be it through the frankly obscene taxes on fuel, or the excessive charges for parking when you get where you’re going.