CompuServe Messages

#3DO

    22-May-95 16:49:11
Sb: #3DO
Fm: Britt Barrineau 75120,1561
To: Jeremy Roberts 72630,2350
> Then why is a cassette tape about half the cost of a CD? >>Because a cassette can be made for about $.45, + packaging (which is typically MUCH less because there's less 4 color, only 1 piece of printed material, and typically about $.20-.50/unit, where CD packaging can cost $.50-$1.00 per…. Also, the norelco box is abou $.15 and a jewell box is about $.35. It all adds up.<< Yeah, but it doesn't add up to anything remotely close to the cost differential. Using your own figures, there is a max difference of $.35 to make the disc, $.80 for packaging, and $.20 for the box. There's $1.35 difference, at the high side. Now tell me again, why is that $14 CD twice that of a cassette? >>If your house burns down, I'm sorry. I hope you're insured. I also hope you don't expect every manufacturer of things you own to replace them for free. When you buy a CD, you are buying the disc itself and the right to play it back *for your own use*. Please read the US copyright laws.<< >> It's called a (P) copyright, owned by the producer and/or the manufacturer of the recording. I suggest you spend a few days reading up on US copyright law… it's all available on the net @ the library of congress.<< Well, I don't know if I'll be able to spare a couple of days or not….. My interest at this time is as a consumer not an author so I can't write it off but it does remain an area of interest. I'll give the LOC a try – do you have the net address or other details on where to look or what to look for ? I believe that you may have acknowledged in an earlier message that it is legitimate to make a cassette copy of your own CD, for your own use. This would seem to recognize consumer rights that go beyond "the right to play it back *for your own use*". No, I don't expect to have every manufacturer replace "things" that get destroyed. But I still believe that part of what I have bought with music is not just a "thing" but a license that cannot be destroyed or unjustly taken away from me. If my house *does* burn down, have I lost my car title? My drivers's license? My computer software? My proof of car insurance? These are all "things" which, if lost, do not take away the underlying license, service or privilege. They can all be replaced without having to incur the full price that was originally paid. They are only representations of an underlying agreement that does not get destroyed. Britt B.