Karaoke Forums

Local guy on Craigslist:
Said he loads them on your external harddrive???

Updated has all the new releases, up to January 2011, Also has 20,000 , Top-40, Country, Pop, Rock, R&B, Rap, (Regular party songs.)

What do you guys think?

Pirate! Please flag his ad as prohibited!

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My statements, opinions and conclusions are based on my own personal experiences, observations, research and/or just my own $.02. I'm not a "cheerleader", but that doesn't make me a Pirate.

I think you should read up on the subject. If everyone in North America bought loaded drives from this guy, how would the manufacturers of this music make money? If they don't make money, guess what happens? They quit making the music. Google "pirate karaoke sound choice" and become educated.

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

Stay away from deals like this he is selling you stolen content. I have seen several ads on Craigslist like this he's a thief selling pirated tracks.

Illegal!!!

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Tray, this is the music industry equivalent of buying a stolen car. The punishments are just about as severe, as well.

The law calls for up to five years in prison and up to $250,000.00 PER TRACK in fines.

Now, no one has ever received this maximum punishment, but here's the recent prescident: One gal was recently found guilty in a civil suit and ordered to pay $72,000 PER TRACK for buying pirated music, just like this.

$72,000 per track times 95,000 tracks = $6,840,000,000.

So, just weigh the risk vs. reward when you decide if you are going to buy that hard drive.

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C Mc
KJ, FL

Of course, let's not forget that when it comes to karaoke discs, the manufacturer's themselves have been pirating music from publishers for years.

Chartbuster karaoke alone has had over 2.75 MILLION dollars in judgments against them from publishers along with permanent injunctions etc....

Sound Choice has been sued a number of times for willful copyright infringement (piracy) as well.

And these are the companies now issuing "certifications" for honesty?

What's wrong with this picture?

And some things get really old really quick.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

And this one time,,,, at band camp,,,,,

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

Never forget. Trust but verify.

Chip perhaps you could (with the help of the moderators) start a thread pertaining to the manufacturers' transgressions. You could gather up all of your posts that express the same point of view and showcase them. That way, you wouldn't have to type them, you could just link them and post them in every single thread on the board.

Pardon me for pointing out the obvious, but the original post in this thread was about a pirate hard drive.

Why do you insist on denigrating the manufacturers Chartbuster & Sound Choice in what seems like a knee-jerk response to the mention of the word piracy?

It truly seems to me that your posts about CB & SC's litigation are attempts at distraction. Tray's original post is an honest question, seeking an answer from a group of self-proclaimed experts. The answers he received, 100% of the relevant answers anyway, were on point about the presumed fact that "Karaoke Harddrive over 95,000 songs. - $300" is illegal and a source of damage to our industry as a whole.

Fact is both companies and thousands more have been through litigation. They've lost some and won some cases. It is apparent that you are not satisfied with the judgments/settlements in those cases. Are you aware of information or evidence that would prove that either of these firms have continued to engage in the activities that resulted in judgement being rendered against them? I don't expect you to answer that because you probably wouldn't even if you did have information. It is a fact that the cases you refer to were settled.
Isn't that the point of the whole system? You go to court, you obtain a judgement, you recover damages, you pay your penalties, you agree as to how to move forward and then... wait for it... you move forward.

Have you actually read either of the certificates issued by Sound Choice or Chartbuster? The certificate states and I quote:

"... the applicant was found to be strictly adherent to the guidelines set forth by [mfr] for the use of their intellectual content."

Now you can infer that these certificates are a proclamation of honesty or you can imply that they are worthless. Which is it? I believe it is neither. It is a document that states that I underwent an audit and was found to be in compliance with their guidelines. I believe that what that expressly implies is that myself, my business and my clients are not at risk because of my use of CB & SC product on a computer. That's all.



It's been twisted, and faded, and it's too dark and it really isn't a picture of what you want everyone to think it is. Perhaps it is the perspective?




TRAY - Don't buy an illegal hard drive. Plain and simple: Illegal hard drives are only one part of the problem. Buy your music. Don't make that part of the problem worse.

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Never the same show twice!

Because like most people who ask this question continually get the SAME response from "your side." Over and over again.... because you no doubt want to "educate" these people before they make a mistake. And then, like usual, someone has to continue on with the whole history of piracy...

And they conveniently leave out the fact that SC and CB are just as culpable and have a long "history of piracy" themselves.

For God's sake, if you're going to "educate" than don't just flag-wave at all the pretty and shiny stuff, there's plenty of the dark side that's needs to be stated as well, if you want to provide a well-rounded "education." To avoid this side of the industry is truly doing this person and any others that ask, a disservice.



Great.... let's not forget the "other half of the story." If you're going to take it upon yourself to be an educator, then tell it all because it's the only way to give this person an unbiased view of this industry.


I don't care how much they paid or didn't pay in the judgment(s) against them or whether or not it was settled. It still does NOT negate the fact that both of these companies willfully pirated, stole, infringed, packaged and resold the same stolen intellectual property. Why are you so eagerly willing to overlook that?


Hello? McFly? Anyone home? If you run your business HONESTLY, you wouldn't have any of this would you? Are you saying then that it's perfectly fine to willfully steal as much as you can and if you can steal more than the settlement at the end, then it's all good and you're as clean as a virgin again? Sorry, but I've always subscribed to the theory that it's best to run my business honestly from the start. SC is not honest (IMHO) and CB has been nothing but evasive.



My opinion of these certificates is that they are nothing more than a pacifier for anyone grasping for some kind of credibility. Everyone loves a title and if calling yourself "certified" for nothing more than a sales receipt makes you feel more important, then it's all about you.

I am not overlooking the fact that CB & SC have had judgments against them.
I believe that they settled their cases and made compensation. I don't believe they are still engaged in those activities. I am not aware of any lawsuits against these companies on similar grounds since the time 4-6 years ago that these cases were adjudicated.

I don't believe that anything has been NEGATED. I believe that if the courts and the plaintiffs are satisfied with the judgement and the settlement terms, then once the debt is paid, the debt is paid.

For you to keep bringing up this old news, specifically when someone mentions piracy, seems to me to express an inclination to allow hard drive piracy to continue to do damage while you continually point fingers in another direction.

There are still hundreds of illegal hard drives being sold. Do you seriously believe that because at least two have been successfully sued and settled that they should have no protection from theft? What about the other 50+ manufacturers, past & present, whose material is also counterfeited?

Regardless of your stance on the past transgressions, they are not relevant here.

Pirate hard drives are illegal. People who trade/sell them should be put behind bars. It's not just karaoke, it is all music and movies and other copyrighted media.

No one deserves to be damaged by thieves.

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Never the same show twice!

Sandman I don't think anyone could have said it better.

And certainly a lot nicer than I could or would have.

I believe they ARE relevant here. Your precious manufacturers are doing NOTHING to stem the flow of these hard drive sellers - which is the root of this entire piracy issue. Do you seriously think that all newbies download files individually? If you believe their story that they are somehow hampered in going after these sellers, you are far more gullible than I've ever given you credit for. They are not hampered in the least and over the last 2 YEARS they've done what? Sued ONE that was using 3 names? In the meantime, they sued how many KJ's AND clubs? 140? 150? 200?

Why do you suppose they'd be so much more interested in the KJ's than the source of the illegal tracks?

A. Prosecuting a hard drive seller is more expensive with no real (or easy) return on their investment. Hard drive sellers will NEVER "become a customer" in their book so it is not worth the effort.

B. It's much easier to intimidate and extort a settlement from a KJ using their clubs as a weapon against them whether or not you have any proof of any wrongdoing.

If, as you say, "no one deserves to be damaged by thieves" then they are making a pretty poor showing of protecting themselves against these hard drive sellers. It's not like they are hard to find, your group keeps on "spreadin' the word" about them everyday. If your car is repeatedly stolen, do you want the police to track down the theft ring or are you satisfied with only prosecuting the receiver of the stolen goods?


Wow, that's a perfect description of what the manufacturer's are doing isn't it? Leaving the HD sellers alone and pointing fingers at the KJ's and clubs.

It's simply "Jamaican Law" in all it's glory here: don't prosecute the drug seller (or HD seller in this case) and purposely let them walk away because it is the buyer that has the real money you're after. And if you're not sure who those buyers are then by all means, sue them all - customers included.

The truly sad part about this is that you actually believe they are out to help you.

the difference here is, the op asked if he should buy that drive, he was advised he should not and reasons why that advice was given. you gave the answer to a question that was not asked, nor adds anything to the answers already given. we all know they did some bad things, we all know they got caught, we all know they paid out the whazoo for it. paid the penance, those wronged by them were compensated to their satisfaction and have moved on with life, including doing business with them again. everyone else can let them move forward, isn't it time you should as well?

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

Well if one stopped doing business with any company that has been successfully sued for doing something illegal, willingly or not, none of us would be driving cars, eating in restaurants, shopping at major department stores, etc, etc, etc. Especially when those things are ancient history. How many people out there own a copy of "My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison? If you do you better get rid of it as it is a plagiarism (ie Copyright infringement) of "He's So Fine" by The Chiffons. Oops, the case was settled in court (the judge awarded damages) and the recording continues to sell. This is just one of many cases where wrong was done, ruled on, on the product continues to sell.

Some people just have to get over it.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

So you're saying that EVERY auto maker, restaurant or department store on the planet has an illegal past? Maybe in Nova Scotia, but I certainly wouldn't paint the world with that broad of a brush.


Perhaps, however Harrison's assertion is that it was not "willful copyright infringement." so there is a difference.

Take listen to the opening few measures of "Ice, Ice, Baby" by Vanilla Ice and "Under Pressure" by David Bowie.

Just as close has Harrison's was to the Chiffons, but Bowie LOST his suit. And "OOPS, the case was settled in court." This was a case where a "wrong was done, ruled on and the product continues to sell" as well. It simply was ruled in the opposite direction.

So the wheels of justice do in fact, turn in BOTH directions. No one should know that better than you.

Actually Vanilla Ice did end up paying Bowie & Mercury the royalties.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!