RIAA to stop suing individual file traders

[walkonby]

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?

[vansmack]

McGuinness: "Ultimately, free is the enemy of good"

[azaghal1981]

He can rest easy; his band's output for the last 15 years isn't download-worthy (free or otherwise).

[azaghal1981]

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?

[sweetcell]

McGuinness: "Ultimately, free is the enemy of good"

Bono risks becoming next Lars Ulrich

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."

[Venerable Bede]

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.

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.   

[Jaguar]

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.

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.

[Venerable Bede]

surprise!!!

Obama's Department of Justice has filed yet another brief defending the RIAA's outlandish statutory damages theory ? 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.'"

[James Ford]

And in related news...

Vampire Weekend Hit Number One

Apparently 124 people actually bought this album.

[azaghal1981]

RIAA asks FCC not to block anti-piracy measures...

[sweetcell]

Swedish Music Fans Start to Steer Clear of Pirates
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/25/technology/internet/25iht-music.html