The Irish Recorded Music Association is to start legal action against 17 Irish people whom they accuse of sharing copywrighted music. IRMA announced the decision today, claiming they 'were forced' into the move and are 'unhappy' about it. They cite figures that the 'Irish Music Industry' is 'losing' €3.8m annually because of illegal downloading. Since 2002 they have seen profits fall from €146m annually to €118m, which is a 19% drop over 3 years. The put this drop in sales down to what they call 'serial filesharers'.

IRMA is the trade organisation representing 47 members, including major and independent record companies. IRMA say that file sharing is “effectively stealing the livelihood of the creators of music”.

But who is really 'stealing the livelihoods' of musicians?

Take an average new CD that costs between €15 and €20. According to Patrick Norager, who runs an Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) net-radio station: “Artists only get 10 percent of (the money from) their sales before they pay managers and absorb breakage fees and other expenses... The fact is unless you can sell 250,000 copies on a major label you will probably get dropped. The way they do it, it’s like they’re selling toasters instead of music.”

So the artist (unless they are huge sellers like U2 or Metallica) will only get between somewhere between €1.50 to €2 or less for every CD sold, before additional expenses and record company 'recouperation'. The 'record industry' (the labels, the stores, the middlemen) and taxman get the rest.

Steve Albini, a longtime rock producer (perhaps most famous for working on Nirvana's final studio album) lays out a typical example of a new band signing to a major label, from an Indie label.

After signing for a £250,000 advance with a 13% cut of record sale profits (-10% of that 13% for 'packaging') - this band will find themselves having made a paltry $4000 each. And the really strange thing is that NONE of this comes from the record royalties - the band actually owes the record industry $14,000 for the album. The small amount of money made actually comes from touring and merchandise. As Dougie Thomspon, former Supertramp bassist, says: "make sure that you book as may shows as you can, as far in advance as possible, for as much money as you can get while the fire is hot."

It's surplus value gone mad - imagine a worker who ends up owing their boss money after they've carried out their work they were contracted to do!

Articles Of Relevance
A Day in the life, a look at the current P2P scene
Free Culture by Lawrence Lessig (How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity)
Indymedia Blog On Bill Gates recent comments about the 'dotcommunist' pheonemeon
Overview of the peer to peer networks
Cartoon On Copyright Violation
Courtney Love Does The Math

Turkish Workers’ Action Group Press Statement: Tuesday 12th April 2005

At a major protest at the Dáil at lunchtime on Tuesday 12th April, the Turkish workforce of the GAMA construction company, joined and supported by Irish construction and other workers, called upon the Government to intervene immediately to secure the necessary information for the workers in relation to the secret bank accounts that GAMA opened in their names in Finasbank, Holland. A call was made that the Government, through the Dutch Government or directly with Finansbank, ensure that by this weekend each worker has a full statement of his account since it was first opened. This means an account of each transaction and the total funds in each worker’s name.

Once they have this information, the workers are then seeking a commitment from the Government that it will oblige Finansbank, Holland to accept instructions from each worker on what they wish to do with their funds. In this way, the issue of information on the secret bank accounts could be resolved within days and the issue of workers’ access to the funds could be resolved within two weeks.

The GAMA workers are also calling for the publication of the report by the Labour Inspectorate, which Minister Michéal Martin has now received. GAMA has an injunction prohibiting the report being published and that has been continued until next Monday. This begs the question what GAMA is trying to hide by preventing the publication of the report.

GAMA workers have been subjected to a regime of massive exploitation since the firm came to Ireland in 2000. They are obliged to work for more than 80 hours per week on a basic wage rate of €2.20 an hour plus food and lodging in barrack accommodation. It is not just an issue of justice for these workers, but also a question of protecting trade union rates of pay and proper working conditions for all workers.

From: A group of concerned individuals in Mayo and Galway:

Take a stand against Shell’s destruction in North West Mayo.

The aim of the planned gathering is to show solidarity with the local people who are opposing Shell.

There has been, and is, a long saga ongoing in the courts and planning appeal process.

On Good Friday there was a 200 strong march of local residents, that day being the 10th anniversary of the first action of Ogoni Solidarity Ireland, which supports communities in Nigeria in their battle against Shell.

During the gathering there will be live music, workshops about the issues and the area, a protest rally, and ongoing discussion about what to do next.

Bring your tent, be ready to rough it, and be as self sufficient and self organized as possible. Volunteers will be needed for food preparation, clean up and such like. Volunteers will be needed beforehand too. If you can help please ontact [email protected]

We will be running buses from Castlebar to the venue site on Saturday the 4th of June. Help us plan for this by telling us in advance if you are coming, by e-mailing [email protected]

Castlebar is well served by public transport from elsewhere in the country and there will be an information stall about the issues in Castlebar throughout the weekend.

For more information see: SHELL TO SEA (which is a work in progress and which will be updated shortly with PDFs of leaflets and a map of the area)

PREVIOUS INDYMEDIA IRELAND FEATURES:
" . . Ridden Roughshod Over By The Might Of Shell, The Irish State . . "
Shell Versus Mayo Farmers
Shell: The New Aristocracy in Mayo

Follow The 'Feature Continued' Link Below For International Links On Shell And For A Background Summary Of The Issues In Mayo

From The Newswire: I arrived on Sunday evening to the wonderful aroma of some great cooking from the Bitchen Kitchen crew. And the meeting has gotten even better since then! EYFA organises gatherings, supports groups across Europe and also fundraises for activists. The Wintermeeting is their strategy meeting for the year, while Ecotopia is their summer gathering – this brilliant environmental festival took place in Ireland in 2002. People from all across the continent have been involved, including Carbusters, Social and Art Collectives, Squatting groups from the Netherlands and many more – except 9 Eastern European people who were invited, but were refused entry by the Irish state despite the fact that all requirements were fulfilled.

We have been meeting at the Boghill Centre around the question of ‘What is Eyfa’s role in the European environmental and social movement?’. This has led to discussions on issues as from online tools to burn-out, alternative economic systems to more positive activism, and much more besides. Tomorrow is the action planning, where all the positive energy will be solidified into concrete strategies for the year ahead.

We also had a brilliantly entertaining and informative ‘pub quiz’ from the TRAPESE (Take Radical Action, for Popular Education and Sustainable Everything), which is a member of the Dissent Network which is organising around the upcoming G8 Summit in Scotland – a very cool initiative that’s interesting in terms of changing the focus of campaigning by bringing in new methods like this, and a new ethos of creative, different opposition and alternatives, by going on the road in a really fun manner. And we’re all going to go, including our kitchen!

Another fascinating aspect of the stay here is the fact that we’ve been using the Open Space Method of organising the meeting, and it has contributed no end to the informal atmosphere, but also, crucially, to some of the most productive meetings I’ve been to in a long time. The Method really decentralises the power of agenda-setting and challenges many of the assumptions which make meetings boring and disempowering – and it seems to have enhanced this meeting no end.

Starting on Thursday, the Gluaiseacht Anti-War (see elsewhere in this piece) meeting will function as a continuation of all of this, with the contral areas for discussion being focussed around Ireland’s complicity in the war in Iraq, and what we can do about it. It promises to be a very interesting week to come – more updates to follow soon >>>

Full Timetable Of EYFA/Gluaiseacht Event
Not Just A Hippy Paradise: Ecotopia 2002

FROM: Padhraig Campbell, Campaign for Protection of Resources, Freeport, Barna, Co Galway / Majella McCarron, Ogoni Solidarity Ireland

TO: His Excellency the Norwegian Ambassador, Mr Truls Hanevold, Norwegian Embassy, Dublin 2

Monday, 4th April, 2005

Your Excellency,

We are writing to you in support of the landowners and stake-holders affected by the operational activities of the Corrib North Consortium of Shell, Statoil and Marathon.

As the Norwegian government currently owns 70% of Statoil, we call on your government to instruct the board of Statoil to stop the coercive intrusion on the lands of families who are being hauled before the High Court in Dublin by Shell on behalf of the consortium of which Statoil is a member.

The genuine fears and concerns of the residents are being ridden roughshod over by the might of Shell, the Irish state, local authorities, semi-state bodies and the judicial process. Apart from the unprecedented use of an upstream pipeline so far inshore to a seriously unsafe proposed refinery, untreated raw gas at maximum pressure puts the lives and livelihoods of those families in serious danger.

Allied to this is the fact that this high-pressure line passes under the highly-unstable landslide zone of Dooncarton Mountain, where landslides occured on the night of 19th September, 2003.

This pipeline would not be allowed in Norway. We insist that the same standards that apply in Norway apply in Rossport, Co Mayo and in Ireland generally. Statoil and the Norwegian people will be the beneficiaries of the most generous tax deal in the world. However, serious questions are being asked as to how the oil companies have come to benefit from such an extent and as to the role that Ireland's former Energy Minister, the now disgraced Ray Burke, had in forming the oil tax deal that now pertains.

Respectfully,

Padhraig Campbell
Majella McCarron

BACKGROUND / RELATED LINKS
Shell Granted Restraining Order Against Mayo Residents By High Court
Comprehensive High Court Report
Mid-West Radio Audio Report On Residents Confronting Shell: March 1st 2005
Shell In Mayo: Summary Of Issues
Detailed Indymedia Feature: Shell: The New Aristocracy In Mayo