930 Forums
=> GENERAL DISCUSSION => Topic started by: vansmack on December 19, 2008, 01:29:35 pm
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We are months away from coming full circle to Shawn Fanning presenting the RIAA with a fat check to license Napster trading. Thanks for all the wasted time and money RIAA....
Music Industry to Abandon Mass Suits (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122966038836021137.html?mod=rss_whats_news_technology)
By SARAH MCBRIDE and ETHAN SMITH
After years of suing thousands of people for allegedly stealing music via the Internet, the recording industry is set to drop its legal assault as it searches for more effective ways to combat online music piracy.
The decision represents an abrupt shift of strategy for the industry, which has opened legal proceedings against about 35,000 people since 2003. Critics say the legal offensive ultimately did little to stem the tide of illegally downloaded music. And it created a public-relations disaster for the industry, whose lawsuits targeted, among others, several single mothers, a dead person and a 13-year-old girl.
Instead, the Recording Industry Association of America said it plans to try an approach that relies on the cooperation of Internet-service providers. The trade group said it has hashed out preliminary agreements with major ISPs under which it will send an email to the provider when it finds a provider's customers making music available online for others to take.
As always, there's more... (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122966038836021137.html?mod=rss_whats_news_technology)
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We are months away from coming full circle to Shawn Fanning presenting the RIAA with a fat check to license Napster trading. Thanks for all the wasted time and money RIAA....
now now. . .all of that publicity got hilary rosen a pundit spot on cnn and on huffington post . .so it wasn't all for nothing. . .at least for her career
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It's about time they woke up.
I don't think anything can save them at this point, though.
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In the back of my mind, I thought they may be kidding.
Turns out they may be serious this time:
RIAA dumps evidence gathering firm (http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10130785-93.html?tag=nl.e703)
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In the back of my mind, I thought they may be kidding.
Turns out they may be serious this time:
RIAA dumps evidence gathering firm (http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10130785-93.html?tag=nl.e703)
from that article: "The RIAA said it would replace MusicSentry with DtecNet Software ApS--a Copenhagen-based company the trade group has worked with before, according to the newspaper."
the war isn't over...
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True, except that as I understand it, DtecNet monitors traffic without invading servers (unlike MediaSentry) meaning that they are now trying to point out to ISP's to block certain servers rather than go after individual file traders.
Or so that's how DtecNet was explained to me from members of the MPAA as to how it's monitoring differed from the RIAA.
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This is a clever move....
Defendants in Music-Industry Lawsuit Ask for Trial to Be Broadcast Online (http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=3537&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en)
A Harvard Law professor representing some students sued by the recording industry for illegally downloading music has filed a motion to broadcast online the proceedings of two cases being heard by the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. The professor, Charles R. Nesson, argues in the motion that to stream the court proceedings over the Internet -- or as the students put it in their request, "admit the Internet into the courtroom" -- would help the public understand the legal issues at play in the industry's lawsuits against thousands of computer users, many of whom are college students. The plaintiff, the Recording Industry Association of America, which announced last month that it would stop bringing new cases against students in favor of working with Internet Service Providers to take action against repeat offenders, has described its lawsuits as an educational effort focused on illuminating the consequences of illegally sharing music -- something Mr. Nesson takes a jab at in the motion. "Surely education is the purpose of the Digital Deterrence Act of 1999, the constitutionality of which we are challenging," the motion reads. "How can RIAA object? Yet they do, fear of sunlight shone upon them." Mr. Nesson said in an interview Monday that no action has been taken on the motion, though he said that lawyers for the recording industry have indicated that they will oppose it. Cara Duckworth, a spokeswoman for the RIAA, declined to comment. --David Shieh
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Good! Maybe next the government will stop prosecuting individual murderers and only prosecute gun companies. Or stop ticketing individual speeders and only fine car companies.
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This is a terribly flawed model. They have the technology to bust every file trader out there, but they know it's a losing battle, will cost more than they will gain, and would be a PR nightmare. It's wrong for the industry to pick and choose which individuals they sue, especially when the point is to make an example of them (totally contrary to the Rule of Law).
They asked individual Universities to adopt Firewall's that specifically monitored certain types of files and traffic that would either report violations or block the files all together. We said no problem, just send us the check for the hardware and implementation (around $100K). Multiply that by the number of Universities in America and you can see why they didn't follow through on that idea. Why should their problems be on our dimes?
Putting the power to block file traders in the hands of the ISP's is the last alternative to the industry finding a model of music distribution that works with today's technology - something that was proposed to them from the first time they talked of suing.
Forgive me if I find little sympathy for an industry that had a very viable alternative from the beginning. TV is free, but I pay $70 a month for an enhanced version. I have proven to be more than willing to pay $15 a month for access to an entire catalog of 10 Million songs - they could have done this from the very beginning and made a mint - but they balked at the new technology and took this route instead. There is no doubt in my mind that the ISP blocks will fail unless then come up with a new DRM-free distribution model based on a license fee. Combine that with the ISP blocks and most people will find the $15 charge worth it.
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This is a terribly flawed model. They have the technology to bust every file trader out there, but they know it's a losing battle, will cost more than they will gain, and would be a PR nightmare. It's wrong for the industry to pick and choose which individuals they sue, especially when the point is to make an example of them (totally contrary to the Rule of Law).
A police officer cannot ticket every speeder who flies down the road. If someone breaks the law, which downloading mp3s illegally is no matter how unhipster it is to admit it, they get zero sympathy when they're punished for it, even if 1000 other people did it and got away scot free. I cannot believe the intellectual disconnect and divorce from logic that every 20-and-30-something seems to have on this.
If you know so much about the best way to run a music company, go start one. I'm all with you on the "they can't force university's to do yadda yadda yadda" part of this, but to act like because you think it's smarter for them to accept an alternative way of selling music they therefore must or people have carte blanche to break the law is ridiculous. I think it's stupid hot dogs come in 6 packs and hot dog buns come in 8 packs, but that doesn't give me the right to remove 2 hot dog buns from the pack and insist the grocery store charge me 75% of the stated price. Come on.
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Good! Maybe next the government will stop prosecuting individual murderers and only prosecute gun companies. Or stop ticketing individual speeders and only fine car companies.
i hear the government is too busy botching the trials of luxury umbrella destroyers. there really is no justice in this world.
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i hear the government is too busy botching the trials of luxury umbrella destroyers. there really is no justice in this world.
That still makes my feel sick to my stomach.
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A police officer cannot ticket every speeder who flies down the road. If someone breaks the law, which downloading mp3s illegally is no matter how unhipster it is to admit it, they get zero sympathy when they're punished for it, even if 1000 other people did it and got away scot free. I cannot believe the intellectual disconnect and divorce from logic that every 20-and-30-something seems to have on this.
Are you telling me that the technology to put Radar on every highway overpass and mail a check to the offender does not exist? Or on every stop light for red light runners? Please.....
There's a reason why we haven't done that. Why don't you, Mr. 20-something, spend some time to figure out why, and you'll understand the crux of the argument.
This isn't about defending my own downloading habit (or the 18 year old kid in our dorms) - I DL substantaily less than you think - I've had a Napster Pass for quite a while and now switched to a Zune pass. I have access to 10 Million songs for $15 a month - why do I need to DL? Sure occassionally I get excited about a bands new album leaked before it's released and DL it, but I pay my $15 so I get a legit copy when it's finally released.
This about an industry going after it's bread and butter, the consumer, when all it needs to do is take a long look in the mirror and realize the real problem was them and their draconian business strategy from day one. The times have changed, why haven't they?
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Good! Maybe next the government will stop prosecuting individual murderers and only prosecute gun companies. Or stop ticketing individual speeders and only fine car companies.
that comparison is invalid. the RIAA is NOT the government.
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This about an industry going after it's bread and butter, the consumer, when all it needs to do is take a long look in the mirror and realize the real problem was them and their draconian business strategy from day one. The times have changed, why haven't they?
Prada shoes cost $500. I can argue that Prada shoes only cost about $30 to make, so they'd probably sell way, way more if they priced them at $200 and make a bigger profit. Their business model is out-of-date, even. Still, if I go into Nordstrom's and steal a pair because their business model is out-of-date, no one should feel bad when they turn on their consumer and charge me with larceny.
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If you know so much about the best way to run a music company, go start one....but to act like because you think it's smarter for them to accept an alternative way of selling music they therefore must or people have carte blanche to break the law is ridiculous.
This isn't some brilliant idea on my part. Shawn Fanning stood at the table of the music exec's after they sent him a cease and desist letter, with a multi-million dollar check, a mulit-billion dollar business plan, and they told him to fuck off and sued him. They have never recovered since.
His plan was simple. He said look - I have investors. Here is a check for $XXX Milllions. This should cover what you've lost because of Napster in the past year if you drop your suit and we go into business together. And here's my plan - I have 26.4 Million subscribers worldwide. We'll charge them a monthly/yearly fee to have access to your entire catalog on the service and split the proceeds. I'll get rich, you'll get rich and we'll all be happy. Even with a 50% recitivism rate (13.2 Million subscribers) and a fee of $10 a month (where the industry is headed), that's $1.5 Trillion in revenue. The industry has never been close to this, before or after Napster.
They said no and have to yet succeed in finding a model that works. The industry has lost millions every year since, they've pissed off their consumers, enjoyed a PR nightmare, and where are we 9 years later? The most popular digital music library, iTunes, at the industries request, changed to a DRM-free purchase to catch up with the rest of the industry, and to balance their negotiating power with Steve Jobs, because if there's one thing industry hates more than losing money, it's someone making money while they're losing money.
Those sued by the RIAA are being unjustly punished (and rather haphazardly which raises due process/equal protection issues), the industry has gained nothing from it but a black eye, and they had all the power and chose this failed route - so no, I have zero sympathy for the industry and all the symapthy in the world for those being sued simply because it didn't have to be this way, and it won't be - it's just a matter of time.
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Prada shoes cost $500. I can argue that Prada shoes only cost about $30 to make, so they'd probably sell way, way more if they priced them at $200 and make a bigger profit. Their business model is out-of-date, even. Still, if I go into Nordstrom's and steal a pair because their business model is out-of-date, no one should feel bad when they turn on their consumer and charge me with larceny.
You're not hurting Prada in that instance - if anything you're helping them by making their shoes more popular. You're hurting Nordstrom because they already paid Prada for them.
So yes, record stores were suffering - but they were already suffering with a different new business model supplied by Amazon and other online retailers. Even with the Industry's defense of their old model - where are record stores now? They weren't savable because people were switching to digital music anyway. Tangible media is a dying breed no matter how you look at it since the birth of the internet.
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Those sued by the RIAA are being unjustly punished
What's unjust about committing a crime and then being punished for it? Answer that, and don't go off on a tangent about business models.
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What's unjust about committing a crime and then being punished for it? Answer that, and don't go off on a tangent about business models.
I should have used the word "unnecessarily", not unjust. The only way to defend "unjust" would be to write a thesis about the Rule of Law the lack of due process, and I'm just not going to do that for a message board.
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I would think its up to the entity whose had their rights infringed upon to determine necessity, not Joe Q. Public.
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I would think its up to the entity whose had their rights infringed upon to determine necessity, not Joe Q. Public.
And I would argue, as I have from the beginning, that they had all the power 9 years ago despite Joe Q Public's representative providing a viable alternative, chose this route instead, have been slowly back-tracking to the posititon that was offered to them 9 years ago and it's time they finally end this non-sense of randomly selecting a handful of infringers to make examples of. 9 years of a failed strategy where everyone is losing is long enough...
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RIAA is NOT the government.
not yet (http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/06/2342251)
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So yes, record stores were suffering - but they were already suffering with a different new business model supplied by Amazon and other online retailers. Even with the Industry's defense of their old model - where are record stores now? They weren't savable because people were switching to digital music anyway. Tangible media is a dying breed no matter how you look at it since the birth of the internet.
i just want to say that i agree with vansmack on this topic. . .i'd also add that the quality in music being sold by the large record companies has declined, which also hurts the market model the record companies have been trying to salvage. that, i would argue, has also driven people online where they are able to listen and download/purchase music that the large record companies wouldn't produce.
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i'm with julian here. clearly murder
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This is a clever move....
Defendants in Music-Industry Lawsuit Ask for Trial to Be Broadcast Online (http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=3537&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en)
And surprisingly successful. I wonder if a settlement is coming...
Court Hearing in Music-Industry Lawsuit Can Be Broadcast Online (http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=3557&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en)
A federal judge ruled today that Harvard University?s Berkman Center for Internet & Society can broadcast online a hearing in a recording-industry lawsuit scheduled for January 22.
Sony BMG Music Entertainment is suing Joel Tenenbaum, a graduate student at Boston University, for alleged copyright infringement. Charles R. Nesson, a Harvard law professor representing Mr. Tenenbaum, had filed a motion last month to ?admit the Internet into the courtroom.?
Today?s ruling goes beyond simply approving that request.
?The public benefit of offering a more complete view of these proceedings is plain, especially via a medium so carefully attuned to the Internet Generation captivated by these file-sharing lawsuits,? Judge Nancy Gertner wrote. ??Public? today has a new resonance, especially in this case.?
Sony had opposed the Internet broadcast, arguing in court documents that the goal of the request was ?to influence the proceedings themselves and to increase the defendant?s and his counsel?s notoriety,? The Boston Globe reported.
Judge Gertner called Sony?s objections ?curious.? Recording companies? mass-lawsuit campaign, she said, ?effectively relies on the publicity resulting from this litigation.? (In a footnote, however, she acknowledged the recording industry?s move away from mass lawsuits, saying, ?It is possible the plaintiffs have now changed their minds about the virtues of this strategy.?)
A spokeswoman for the Recording Industry Association of America declined to comment on the ruling. Mr. Tenenbaum?s Web site, Joel Fights Back, announced the decision on its Twitter feed.
Proceedings in an RIAA case have never before been televised, according to the blog Recording Industry vs. the People. But next Thursday the Courtroom View Network will narrowcast the hearing ? an oral argument ? to the Berkman Center?s site. Whether that arrangement will continue for further hearings and a trial remains to be seen. ? Sara Lipka
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Tracy Mitrano: Why the Recording Industry Stopped Suing Students (http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=3575&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en)
When the Recording Industry Association of America decided in December to stop filing bulk lawsuits against college students, several students in my ?Culture, Law, and Politics of the Internet? course asked me to comment on the strategy. Here is what I said:
Over all, the [recording industry?s] approach was increasingly losing steam, both as a public-relations tactic and financially. More important, if the RIAA had any hope of creating tension between students and administrators, it ultimately backfired. Although when the first wave of letters went out there were upset students and parents who expressed themselves openly, the more that everyone involved came to understand the issues of who was threatening to sue whom, the more solidarity it created among those of us [at colleges]: students and their families, staff and faculty members. Legal costs and complications also boomeranged.
Be that as it may, the end of suing students does not signal the end of the RIAA?s efforts. The RIAA has shifted its immediate focus to Internet-service providers. As a rule, ISP?s enjoy ?passive conduit status??that is, immunity from legal action because the alleged infringement is neither uploaded nor downloaded by a server of the ISP. But under the same safe-harbor provision (512(a) of the DMCA), an ISP also has an obligation to ?terminate? the accounts of ?repeat offenders.?
Stay tuned. No definitions or case law exist to determine what those terms mean. So while it is smart on the part of a content user to probe this potential liability, doing so could also result in extensive litigation. That the RIAA is motivated to find a deep pocket is not a new observation; whether the organization?backed by the labels and their stake holders?has money enough to last through extended litigation is where the real question lies, especially since entrepreneurs are offering new business models every day.
Out of this creative class, I expect legal scholars and activists, entrepreneurs, keen social observers, and great technologists to emerge! For it is this generation that has the challenge of balancing intellectual-property laws with market models, appropriate social norms, and emerging technologies. In my rocking chair, if not before, I look forward to watching this new generation of talent remake the world! ?Tracy Mitrano
Tracy Mitrano, our January guest blogger, is director of information-technology policy in Cornell University?s Office of Information Technologies, where she also directs the computer policy and law program.
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Tracy Mitrano, our January guest blogger, is director of information-technology policy in Cornell University?s Office of Information Technologies, where she also directs the computer policy and law program.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBUz4RnoWSM
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Sources: AT&T, Comcast may help RIAA foil piracy (http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10151389-93.html?tag=nl.e703)
January 28, 2009 4:00 AM PST
Posted by Greg Sandoval
CNET staff writer Marguerite Reardon co-authored this report.
AT&T and Comcast, two of the nation's largest Internet service providers, are expected to be among a group of ISPs that will cooperate with the music industry in battling illegal file sharing, three sources close to the companies told CNET News.
The Recording Industry Association of America, the lobbying group representing the four largest recording companies, said last month that it had enlisted the help of ISPs as part of a new antipiracy campaign. The RIAA has declined to identify which ISPs or how many.
It's important to note that none of the half dozen or so ISPs involved has signed agreements. The companies are "skittish" about negative press and could still back out, said the sources. But as it stands, AT&T and Comcast are among the companies that have indicated they wish to participate in what the RIAA calls a "graduated response program."
There's more... (http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10151389-93.html?tag=nl.e703)
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This sounds like it will be much ado about nothing. especially blackballing users who have been kicked off other accounts! These ISP's must be getting paid handily to be on board with this.
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Well, I suspect it's not blocking individual IPs as much as it's filtering file types, but we shall see. Of course, the general public is always ahead of the companies when it comes to using technology for their own purposes.
I would support this type of remedy that the RIAA is trying but only if it doesn't interfere with legitimate uses of Bit Torrent (I use Bit Torrent all the time for Beta software) and legitimate MP3 downloads (from retailers, for example).
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i thought most people just zip up albums and put them on mediafire
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Sources: AT&T, Comcast may help RIAA foil piracy (http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10151389-93.html?tag=nl.e703)
interesting. as discussed in this month's Wired mag, Comcast has a history of suppressing torrents (http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/17-02/mf_brianroberts). their argument was that they are "engaging in network management":
Every company "manages" its network by restricting and opening access to maintain speeds. Providers have little choice, especially when it comes to P2P, the kudzu of cable. File-sharing eats up a half to two-thirds of his upstream capacity in some places. And because cable is a shared network?with some 300 homes downloading from any one pipe?a few BitTorrent devotees could make everyone's surfing experience feel more like swimming against a riptide. "We manage our network so 99 percent of the people have a great high-speed experience," he says. "You've always had Ma Bell managing its network for things like how you handle voice traffic on Mother's Day. You get a busy signal occasionally."
this turned in to a public relations fiasco for them - people accused Comcast of censorship, preferential treatment, attacking net neutrality, etc. they had backed off from filtering out torrents and moved to capping the total bandwidth that one can use per month. BUT NOW they have a reason to start filtering torrents again - "it's not our decision, we're doing it for the record labels! we're enforcing their copyrights!". i don't know if ISPs care about copyright protection and/or being sued by the RIAA, but what is certain is that they're always looking for ways to restrict those who take more than their share of bandwidth.
convenient how ISPs pick and choose when they are & aren't responsible for what flows through their pipes.
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Well, I suspect it's not blocking individual IPs as much as it's filtering file types, but we shall see. Of course, the general public is always ahead of the companies when it comes to using technology for their own purposes.
truer words have never been spoken.
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picking up on my point about "network management" in my previous post: google to the rescue!
New Google Tools Determine if Your ISP Is Blocking BitTorrent (http://blog.wired.com/business/2009/01/new-google-tool.html)
Next time you're dealing with a dreadfully slow internet connection, you can ask Google what's causing the trouble.
The company announced a new open platform Wednesday called Measurement Lab, or M-Lab for short. As part of the initial launch, M-Lab includes three publicly accessible tools, including a tool called Glasnost that tests whether BitTorrent traffic is being blocked, throttled or otherwise impeded on your broadband connection.
Also part of M-Lab's launch are a tool to test your connection's overall speed and a diagnostic tool that will tell you if you're suffering from speed barriers common to last-mile broadband-network infrastructures.
In a post on Google's official blog, the company's chief internet evangelist Vint Cerf says M-Lab was launched to help the academic community. Researchers at institutions like Georgia Tech and Germany's Max Planck Institute have been working on these projects, but they've been hampered by infrastructure problems.
"Unfortunately, researchers lack widely distributed servers with ample connectivity," he writes. "This poses a barrier to the accuracy and scalability of these tools. Researchers also have trouble sharing data with one another."
Artistsc01_logoTo provide a suitable testing environment, Google will roll out 36 servers over the course of 2009. Also, all data collected by the project will be made publicly available for anyone to cite or reuse.
In addition to the three tools launching Wednesday, there are two more currently listed as "coming soon" on M-Lab's site. The first is called DiffProbe, and it's described as network probe that will determine if your ISP is shuffling certain kinds of traffic onto a slower pipe. The other tool still in development is Nano, which will tell you if your ISP is purposely throttling traffic from a particular group of customers, traffic from specific applications or traffic bound for specific destinations.
It's interesting to see Google stepping up into the role of a proactive net-neutrality watchdog. As a company that's banking on the internet eventually being put to use by all of us for everything above the operating system level ? applications, data storage and communications ? the move makes sense. But rather than push for open, reliable connections in the courts or through legislation, Google is taking the fight to the streets.
For years, ISPs have been notoriously shady about what they're throttling or blocking. The industry needs a healthy dose of transparency. Right now, we're just a bunch of pissed-off users complaining about our Skype calls getting dropped and our YouTube videos sputtering to a halt. But when it comes to placing blame, most of us are in the dark.
Google and the academic institutions its partnered with are empowering users to find out for themselves who's to blame when their service turns lousy, and helping them figure out where to direct their anger. And not just the command line jockeys, but everyone ? tools like Glasnost are aimed at novices, the only requirement being a current version of Java.
With access to the data that tools like this can provide, we'll be able to suss out the culprits and force them to own up to the true nature of their traffic-shaping policies.
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Ouch. Google is not going to make any friends with that.
They must be thinking of entering the ISP business with the soon to freed up TV airwaves. I can't think of a better sales pitch - unfettered internet access and we'll provide you the tools to prove it. All the power to them (and I hope to be on their beta test....I gave the finger to Cable and DSL sometime ago, we don't have fiber and WiMAX has taken forever to roll out in SF).
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Dropping lawsuits? They really have quit (for now)....
RIAA Drops Lawsuits but Keeps the 'Takedown' Notices Coming (http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=3596&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en)
The Recording Industry Association of America announced in December that it was shifting gears and would stop suing groups of students for alleged illegal file sharing. So what is it doing now?
For starters, the industry group is pulling back from pending cases. In many lawsuits that recording companies filed against anonymous students ? ?John Does? ? legal hurdles and universities? challenges inhibited identification of those defendants.
?We are by and large dismissing all John Doe cases where we have not received a discovery order or a subpoena response,? Cara Duckworth, a spokeswoman for the RIAA, said in an e-mail interview. ?Of course, there are some exceptions,? she said, without naming which ones.
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RIAA is NOT the government.
not yet (http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/06/2342251)
More RIAA lawyers (http://gizmodo.com/5146966/riaa-and-bsas-favorite-lawyers-taking-top-department-of-justice-posts) off to the department of justice. .
maybe that's why they are slowing down lawsuits- all their lawyers are joining the administration.
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I found this interesting....
Why Microsoft, labels cling to music subscriptions (http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10158141-93.html?tag=nl.e703)
David Ring, executive vice president of business development for Universal Music Group's digital arm, said at the EconMusic Conference that the recording industry simply can't sustain itself from download sales alone.
"If what we're trying to do is one-by-one downloads...that's not a business that can grow," Ring told conference attendees during panel discussion he participated in. "It won't be healthy for the industry."
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somehow, somwhere i feel that vansmack is really
(http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/1964/425x28311849095lr1.jpg)
or
(http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/05/0508_ballmer/image/bp204776.jpg)
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the RIAA is NOT the government.
Obama names 5th RIAA lawyer to department of justice (http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2009/04/obama-taps-fift.html)
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record industry 1, the pirate bay 0
Court Says File-Sharing Site Violated Copyright (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/18/world/europe/18copy.html)
bonus story: Court Bars RIAA Trial Webcast (http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2009/04/court-bars-riaa.html)
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record industry 1, the pirate bay 0
Court Says File-Sharing Site Violated Copyright (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/18/world/europe/18copy.html)
bonus story: Court Bars RIAA Trial Webcast (http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2009/04/court-bars-riaa.html)
(http://forum-images.hardware.fr/images/perso/_dare_.gif)
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walkies, are you drunk? this is the second blank reply you've posted...
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walkies, are you drunk? this is the second blank reply you've posted...
He's a homosexual and it's two o'clock in the afternoon. Unless they've run out of Orange Juice for Mimosas do you even have to ask?
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jules, you're on FIRE today :)
and i retract my earlier comment. for some reason the images that walkonby was posting as his reply weren't appearing for me... but now they are.
as you were.
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walkies, are you drunk? this is the second blank reply you've posted...
He's a homosexual and it's two o'clock in the afternoon. Unless they've run out of Orange Juice for Mimosas do you even have to ask?
(http://slog.thestranger.com/files/2007/12/drunk1.jpg)
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McGuinness: "Ultimately, free is the enemy of good" (http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10250711-93.html?tag=nl.e703)
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He can rest easy; his band's output for the last 15 years isn't download-worthy (free or otherwise).
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I was going to give this its own thread but it fits here.
Last.fm and/or CBS handing user/scrobbler data over to the RIAA? (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/22/deny-this-lastfm/)
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McGuinness: "Ultimately, free is the enemy of good" (http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10250711-93.html?tag=nl.e703)
Bono risks becoming next Lars Ulrich (http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-10423544-261.htm)
quote: "Bono and McGuinness know how it looks to some fans when the richest band in the world starts complaining about lost profits. But both men say they aren't speaking out for the benefit of U2, which McGuinness acknowledged is rich and makes a load of money off concert tours and merchandise sales. Bono and his band manager suggest that they are arguing on behalf of talented acts that have not yet made a name for themselves but would be in the future harmed by file sharing.
"Note to self," Bono wrote in the op-ed piece. "Don't get over-rewarded rock stars on this bully pulpit, or famous actors; find the next Cole Porter, if he/she hasn't already left to write jingles."
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Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) is demanding that U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk confirm leaks surrounding the unfinished Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, being negotiated largely between the European Union and United States. Among other things, Wyden wants to know if the deal creates international guidelines that mean consumers lose internet access if they are believed to be digital copyright scofflaws. (http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/01/senator-demands-details/)
i'll avoid saying any wild statements like, is the federal government negotiating away its citizens rights...that would just be improper of me to do so. :)
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Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) is demanding that U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk confirm leaks surrounding the unfinished Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, being negotiated largely between the European Union and United States. Among other things, Wyden wants to know if the deal creates international guidelines that mean consumers lose internet access if they are believed to be digital copyright scofflaws. (http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/01/senator-demands-details/)
i'll avoid saying any wild statements like, is the federal government negotiating away its citizens rights...that would just be improper of me to do so. :)
That's okay, I'll say it for you. "Is the federal government negotiating away its citizens rights?"
I'll even answer it! "Probably."
Copyright issues aside, I'd like to know how they know for sure that various files are 'lifted' or obtained with full rights of the artist? There are plenty of bands out there now giving entire releases away. The Depreciation Guild is a perfect example. Plus, I'm not the only one out there who has an internet radio station. It is not uncommon for bands to send us music files. We should not have to be treated as guilty before proven innocent! I do know that there is a problem with pirating but this is NOT the solution.
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surprise!!!
Obama's Department of Justice has filed yet another brief defending the RIAA's outlandish statutory damages theory (http://politics.slashdot.org/story/10/01/20/211243/Obama-DOJ-Sides-With-RIAA-Again-In-Tenenbaum?art_pos=1) ? that someone who downloaded an mp3 with a 99-cent retail value, causing a maximum possible damages of 35 cents, is liable for from $750 to $150,000 for each such file downloaded, in SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum. The 25- page brief (PDF) continues the DOJ's practice of (a) ignoring the case law which holds that the Supreme Court's due process jurisprudence is applicable to statutory damages, (b) ignoring the law review articles to like effect, (c) ignoring the actual holding of the 1919 case they rely upon, (d) ignoring the fact that the RIAA failed to prove 'distribution' as defined by the Copyright Act, and (e) ignoring the actual wording and reasoning of the Supreme Court in its leading Gore and Campbell decisions. Jon Newton of p2pnet.net attributes the Justice Department's 'oversights' to the 'eye-popping number of people [in its employ] who worked for, and/or are directly connected with, Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony Music's RIAA.'"
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And in related news...
Vampire Weekend Hit Number One
Apparently 124 people actually bought this album.
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RIAA asks FCC not to block anti-piracy measures... (http://www.tinymixtapes.com/news/riaa-asks-fcc-not-block-anti-piracy-measures-court-questions-whether-fcc-legally-entitled-set-n)
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Swedish Music Fans Start to Steer Clear of Pirates
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/25/technology/internet/25iht-music.html