Dust off the CD collection...

The much anticipated CD trading site LaLa was finally launched to the public last Thursday. LaLa was under heated debate over copyright and infringement possibilities, but the lawyers say it is as legal as a used CD-shop. LaLa is a used CD trading website, sending CD's by mail with LaLa's prepaid postage envelopes (similar to peerflix and netflix). It is free to sign up, and each trade costs $1.00/cd and $.49 for postage...Out of the total $1.49 for the transaction, LaLa puts $.20 in an account to pay musicians and other musical foundations if the artist is dead (anything to appease the mighty record industry). After getting an account, members create a wish-list of CD's they want. Then, you must create a Have-list of CD's you will trade of your own collection. It's a one-to-one situation, for every CD you get, you must give one up. LaLa handles the transactions by sending emailed instructions on where to mail a certain CD. Apparently the CD's arrive very quickly. All tradings are added up at the end of the month, and your credit card will be billed $1.49 for each trade. Coming soon, LaLa is getting used record stores in on the action, where they can list all of their used CD's, and users in the same zip code will be informed that it is available at a local shop (for a higher price). While I may be too unmotivated to join in, it is getting pretty good reviews; especially since most people already have their entire music collection on their hard drive. I know my CD's have been in boxes since the Ipod took over my life. For $1.49, it is a pretty good way to get a whole new music library. Any predictions on when the first lawsuit arises?
If you have motivation, click on any of the above links, or go to www.lala.com.

(Source of information: WiredNews)