Do you use CD-R or CD-RW media?

Do you use it solely for data archival?

Did you know the RIAA gets a 8.3 cents royalty (as of May 2003) per individual disc, keeping in mind a blank CD-R disc costs about 26 cents to the consumer? That's a pretty big royalty, 36%...

"The RIAA gets that much in royalty payments," you say? Huh? How? Why? Did they invent the format that everybody is using? Tell me more!

Nope. They had nothing to do with the creation of the CD-R format. Nothing whatsoever.

"So why do they get that much then?"

The RIAA ran after the CD-R industry, blaming the use of blank recordable discs as part of the "piracy" problem (uh, it's the bad economy stupids... people cannot afford $18 for one CD... And you can annihilate piracy, but people might not shell out to you regardless.)

Gee, who are the thieves? Not the downloaders as far as I'm concerned. Not in the slightest. Not anymore.

I have the capability of both built into my latest Notebook but I haven't seen the need so far. Music is crap anymore and anytime I buy a used CD to fill in a gap in my Frank Zappa or Jethro Tull collection, I will not give the RIAA the rights to tell me what to do nor when to do it.

The situation has gotten to the point where you can't play a CD on line over your computer without paying a royalty.

Sorry about your luck Clear Channel, but I now have a Shortwave Radio in my car tuned to the BBC for "fair and balanced" news 24 hours a day.

...and by the way---screw Rush.....

even though you use the CD to archive your own self generated data files.

This is a tax by a private corporation, just in case you might load music on the CD.

my CD-Rs cost me a nickel each. Somebody's losing money...

That was the first one they added taxes to, way back in the 70s.

I truly cannot believe the government lets them do that.