Check this out: The other day I was playing some Klaatu - The - TopicsExpress

Check this out: The other day I was playing some Klaatu - The Band albums on my computer and I decided find out what the karaoke filter on my Realtek HD Audio Manager does. Apparently, it, dynamically, adjusts EQ settings, removing most of the mid-range, which can, affectively, squeeze the main vocals out of a song. Who knew? The amazing part, beyond all that, is: This filter also seemed to be adding beats in certain parts of the songs and removing beats in other places. Plus, it was making subtle changes to the pitch, thus creating, truly, new and unique “versions” of some tracks of which I am VERY familiar. At first, I was really impressed with the technology. I was able the hear things in the music I never even knew were there. Keep in mind this is Klaatu we are talking about; music that is very dear to my heart, which I have been listening to for many and can distinguish note for note. But, this was rather like hearing a different mix-down or an entirely “new” version, derived from the same original tracks. While listening to “Endangered Species” I began to wonder if this could be a little taste of what we might expect to hear from the upcoming digitally re-mastered album which Klaatu is currently putting together. And then it hit me. The stuff I was listening to wasnt REALLY Klaatu, at all (at least, not in the STRICTEST sense). At best, it only qualified as a “hacked” version of the original masterpieces which made the purist in me begin to feel guilty for having enjoyed it so much. This got me thinking about the role ethics and Intellectual Property play in maintaining integrity over a body of work. And this is just the tip of the iceberg; where does it all end? With this level of digital reshaping so readily available to the public, we really should be asking ourselves the question, “Is it wrong to alter someone else’s work, without their permission, or has the digital revolution left nothing sacred and given the average user carte blanche “poetic license” to alter anything they find on the Internet, in an way they feel fit? I may be jumping to conclusions but, I see a real danger here. What may, now, appear to be just a simple. Harmless. little audio filter on a sound card, could one day develop into the technology that does to Artist Creation and Intellectual Property what Napster did to the record industry (which was, basically, put it OUT of business). Thoughts, anyone?