Ok, I'm probably going to regret posting this thread (and you'll see why once you get a little further because it's a subject that usually ends in chaos) but I have to say it's an observation that's really hit me lately.

Anyway, my sister bought my mother an iPod Shuffle for Christmas and considering my mothers skill with a computer I get the pleasure of ripping all her (country music) CDs to put on it. Thing is, looking at 85% of these CD's when I go rip them the discs themselves and the booklets/backings there are Anti-Piracy FBI Warning plastered all over them. One even goes so far to have this big thing on it that says it hurts artist, ya da ya da in the inner tray.

I really can't think of another genre that is so adamant about this, and even though it's somewhat hypocritical with country music being as big as it I don't feel sorry for them; I'd feel sorrier for small-time, non-mainstream band trying to make a break.

Another thing is reading these warnings you're not suppose to make "illegal copies of this disc." Hmmm... ok, but have you ever had a conversation like this:

Person 1: "Hey, can you make me a dub of so-and-so's new CD?"
Person 2: "Sure, no prob... wait. It says right here I'm not supposed to make or distribute illegal copies of this disc. Sorry."
Person 3: "That's cool, I totally understand and respect your passionate stance on what is and is not moral."

or

Person 1: "Hey, can you make me a dub of so-and-so's new CD?"
Person 2: "No way! That's copyright infringement! I'm not doing time for nobody pal!
Person 3: "I completely understand. How thoughtless of me to put you in that position"

Ok, I kind of had a little too much fun with the dramatization there but the idea is does anyone ever think twice about dubbing something after seeing said warnings?

what are you saying "enough already" to?

Those large ugly warnings, I imagine. They annoy me too.

They don't bother me that much anymore. Just another useless tag just like the explicit lyrics/parental advisory stickers.

Not to derail too far, I hope, but I find DVDs getting much more obnoxious. Rented Dark Knight over the holiday and was amazed at the amount of crap you have to sit through before you can even make it to the main menu (like 12 minutes of unskippable bullshit). Also is it a sign of the apocalypse when the DVD you're trying to watch advertises for the movie pressed onto the disc you're trying to watch? O_o

Agreed.  It's become such a common part of the package, I don't even notice it anymore.

Which is why I automatically rip the movies I purchase directly to a burned disc.  You won't believe how much junk there is to shear away on some DVDs. 

And it's funny, because the Blu-ray version of The Dark Knight automatically launches into the movie proper, even bypassing the main menu selections.

maybe I'm thinking of something else, but are these the kind of thing they are required by law to have?

gotta have those FBI warnings in 50 different languages in case the pope is having pirating thoughts...

There needs to be a men's support group for dudes who have to program MP3 players for their mothers. There're just too many of us out there, and we can't survive on our own!

Ditto.

I actually avoid artists that have those "Parental Advisory" labels on their albums; it's just kind of like saying, "Only seven year-olds will think this's cool, and only because it has cursing in it." After all, that's what those labels are for: To warn the overprotective parents of their sheltered, whiny offspring who just want to "Rage against THE MAN."

...

Other than that, I think the whole piracy issue has been beaten to death on these boards the past few months, in at least two threads.

That's ridiculously unfair. Artists don't necessarily choose to have those labels added to their albums. Frank Zappa received such a label on an instrumental album!

Really?? wow, that's quite an 'achievement' for an instrumental album! 
Is there any story which details just why it got the label?

perhaps for scary mustache content...

Actually, the latest Gamma Ray album (Land of the Free 2) got a PA and there were only a few swear words in it (1-2 f bombs and a few a$$'s) which is not nearly to warrant the label in my and many other ppl's opinion. My opinion, it was put there to make the album (and cover) look a lot more edgy than it really is.

wiki time~

There have been some cases of unusual use of the label. After Frank Zappa campaigned against music censorship in 1985, the sticker was attached to his next album, Jazz from Hell, because of the title of one track, "G-Spot Tornado", although the album is entirely instrumental and contains no lyrics that could be "explicit lyrics".

Wow, that's sad a title would get you that label.

Take it easy; I was just trying to do the stand-up comedian thing again...and failed miserably.

Everyone here is so on EDGE lately. Every last one of my posts I've made recently has been interpreted so negatively...