RIAA sends letters to P2P services

[SCerviche]

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has sent cease and desist letters to seven P2P companies demanding that they halt their "practice of encouraging users to illegally distribute copyrighted material".

http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/6829.cfm

hmm this is interesting, i was wondering why WinMX was acting up on me. Maybe this is why?

[Marurun]

Don't most P2P programs discourage distributing illegal stuff? Or wait, that's just the policy in the front

[adam808]

I worried this would happen.
Poor guy on WinMX won't get his Eto Rangers from me now...

I have set up Winny now and will set up Share later.
I'm still trying to get used to Winny. The english modded version is 2.0b6.6 but the newer versions are only in Japanese.

[Violet]

Well, this messes up my main system for sharing my KNT and SPC episodes. 

The Japanese P2P, Winny, is still going as strong as ever at the moment.

[Methid Man]

To hell with the RIAA.

-- Sam the Methid Man

[BurkeWorld]

So does that mean WinMX, Kazaa, LimeWire and stuff is all going to hell?

Damn! Where am I gonna get my family guy stuff now??

Burkey

Burkey

[Threaux]

You can never stop a true pirate.   We will just make new P2P apps and by the time they shut it down another one will be around to take its place.  "Rock n Roll isn't dead, Rock n Roll never dies!"- Guitar Wolf

[Methid Man]

Y'know, maybe Threaux's right. No matter what the government does, people will continue to use underground methids of downloading music, videos, etc. They'll always come up with new ways to obtain something illegally. Computer files are just too easy to circulate, especially within small communities.

-- Sam the Methid Man

[Anonymous]

lets not give them reason to shut us down. lol our little community is off the radar at the moment, but shouting too loudly will only make it beep to certain people who's job it is is to sit there and trawl through the net.

i personally hate the RIAA and MPAA, simply because they are too beaurocratic. the English counterpart is much more within its own guidelines, and an organisation to fear.

Neko

[Violet]

I never even used P2P to download any American music or movies.  I used it to get Japanese music and videos that I wouldn't be able to hear/watch otherwise.  And the Japanese artists actually profited from me doing it, because when I found songs/shows I liked, I would then go through the trouble of buying them from Japanese online stores.  I'm not going to go buy a CD without knowing if I'll like the music on it.  And then there's stuff that just isn't for sale at all.  I can get KNT/SPC online, and I'm very willing to spend a lot of money to buy DVDs in Japanese or English, but they just aren't there for me to buy.

Although I don't care for the way they word it, Threaux and Sam are right.  As I told a friend recently: Supply and Demand will always win in the end.  When people want something, they are going to find a way to get it.  You can supply it for them and profit, or try and get in the way, and they'll just find ways around you.

But personally, I'm not interested in anything the RIAA is selling, so they just annoy me by interfering with other things.

[BurkeWorld]

lets not give them reason to shut us down. lol our little community is off the radar at the moment, but shouting too loudly will only make it beep to certain people who's job it is is to sit there and trawl through the net.

i personally hate the RIAA and MPAA, simply because they are too beaurocratic. the English counterpart is much more within its own guidelines, and an organisation to fear.

Neko

Haha, good point!

"Oh noes, they're pirating an old cartoon from 1991! STOP STOP! YOU'RE ALL GONNA BE ARRESTED!"

SPC Community: o__O

Burkey

[Daisensei]

In my point of view, it`s big thieves smashing little thieves. Actually the artists, whom really produces the real things, aren`t paid by the real value of their work. They always are stolen after all. 

[Methid Man]

For those curious to know everything about the RIAA and the music industry, I have provided the following quote:

"First let's go into a little detail on copyright law.

The whole point of copyright is to compensate the artist for his/her work when publishers and others sell those works. It's that simple. Back when copyright law was created publishing companies were taking works and not giving a dime to the artist. As a matter of fact Thomas Edison shown just how ruthless industry can be when he tried to create and take over the motion picture industry. In other words when someone is making money off of your work they have to give you a share of the profits. That's copyright in it's intended form.

So what has happened to copyright now? A few things did. First the record labels found a loophole in the system in the fact that you can sign away your copyrights to another person. Thus the beginnings of the RIAA's stranglehold on it's artists, who they consider no more than 'work for hire' employees. Then, with this control over all this music, they start pushing copyright laws to fit their own ends. This includes the incredibly high term limits of copyright as well as some of the new ammendments on the copyright books including the NET Act. Essentially copyright law has been twisted and mangled by years of lobbying and abuse by the entertainment industry.

The current witch hunt has absolutely nothing to do with revenue losses because the losses are truly negligible compared to the benefits (not to mention the losses to date are of the record industry's own doing). This is about control over exposure. You see P2P allows people to find out about music they never would have known existed considering all the other channels are controlled by the RIAA. BTW music labels are showing a strong increase in sales. It's just they are the independent labels. That is... the record labels who are not part of the RIAA and who are, in fact, competitors for your CD dollars.

Not a single independent label has complained about file sharing. You know why? Because they see the obvious benefits. Music is a form of art and as such should have channels of exposure that aren't so regulated and controlled like radio, MTV and even the record stores. What better form than one that is about sharing your favorite songs with others?

Nobody is selling the music in this model so artists aren't being deprived by not getting a share of the profits. Artists have a new way to promote their music that doesn't cost them a penny. Music lovers get to try out new music and YES they do buy records as a result (I point out the sales figures from the past four years shown sales were on the rise before the major labels attempted to skew the numbers).

Why is the RIAA making such a massive deal over something that shows more returns both in a business and artistic sense? Why are they spending all this money on attorneys and lobbyists when the losses that are shown are minimal (remember the losses are also their doing)? It's control. They know with P2P people will get exposure to music other than what many are calling crappy pop music. The fact the indies are gaining marketshare proves that point. It also shows a business model that can work for artists without the record labels.

The RIAA is out of control and all these tactics show the desparation they are actually in. I am waiting for them to sue the wrong person who has just enough information about every little misleading action they have done over the past several years and that person decides to counter-sue. Can you imagine ANY jury in this country, after hearing all the crap about the RIAA along with their misstatements about P2P and copyright law, who will NOT side with the individual over the corporation?

And now you have the RIAA issuing unsigned supoenas and sueing for up to 150,000 dollars a song? Putting people into bankrupcy because they uploaded 10 songs? Grow the **** up RIAA, this isn't about lost profits, it's about control first and foremost. When is the last time you saw Britney spears out in the streets begging for quarters?

Not to mention, what the RIAA has is not proof of copyright infringement. An IP adress + a file name = proof? They expect people to shell out thousands for this?

So going by this, I could infact download a IP spoofer, spoof MY ip adress to that of my neighbors than use Kazaa to upload hundreds of music files than laugh when he goes to court. This isn't evidence, this is bull**** and I feel sad for the families who don't know that the RIAA really doesn't have any solid evidence to support their case(nevermind issuing unsigned supoenas) to make them pay thousands of dollars.

While I do agree that serious offenders SHOULD BE DEALT WITH. However the way the RIAA is going about this, sueing people with little evidence, taking family's whose children downloaded a few songs to court is just sad. Goes to show you how desperate they are.

But alas, look how quickly the tables turn. people are becoming more aware of the RIAA's lies and bull****, funds are springing up with people donating for court costs for the people sued. Articles are coming up on various news websites basically exposing some of the RIAA's ****.

All I can say is raise your fist and resist."

Source

[BTW D-Mac, you might wanna add the word 'bull****' to the censored word filter. I had to censor it myself.]

-- Sam the Methid Man

[adam808]

"Frrrrrreeeeedooommm!"

[Supersonic]

For those curious to know everything about the RIAA and the music industry, I have provided the following quote:

"First let's go into a little detail on copyright law.

The whole point of copyright is to compensate the artist for his/her work when publishers and others sell those works. It's that simple. Back when copyright law was created publishing companies were taking works and not giving a dime to the artist. As a matter of fact Thomas Edison shown just how ruthless industry can be when he tried to create and take over the motion picture industry. In other words when someone is making money off of your work they have to give you a share of the profits. That's copyright in it's intended form.

So what has happened to copyright now? A few things did. First the record labels found a loophole in the system in the fact that you can sign away your copyrights to another person. Thus the beginnings of the RIAA's stranglehold on it's artists, who they consider no more than 'work for hire' employees. Then, with this control over all this music, they start pushing copyright laws to fit their own ends. This includes the incredibly high term limits of copyright as well as some of the new ammendments on the copyright books including the NET Act. Essentially copyright law has been twisted and mangled by years of lobbying and abuse by the entertainment industry.

The current witch hunt has absolutely nothing to do with revenue losses because the losses are truly negligible compared to the benefits (not to mention the losses to date are of the record industry's own doing). This is about control over exposure. You see P2P allows people to find out about music they never would have known existed considering all the other channels are controlled by the RIAA. BTW music labels are showing a strong increase in sales. It's just they are the independent labels. That is... the record labels who are not part of the RIAA and who are, in fact, competitors for your CD dollars.

Not a single independent label has complained about file sharing. You know why? Because they see the obvious benefits. Music is a form of art and as such should have channels of exposure that aren't so regulated and controlled like radio, MTV and even the record stores. What better form than one that is about sharing your favorite songs with others?

Nobody is selling the music in this model so artists aren't being deprived by not getting a share of the profits. Artists have a new way to promote their music that doesn't cost them a penny. Music lovers get to try out new music and YES they do buy records as a result (I point out the sales figures from the past four years shown sales were on the rise before the major labels attempted to skew the numbers).

Why is the RIAA making such a massive deal over something that shows more returns both in a business and artistic sense? Why are they spending all this money on attorneys and lobbyists when the losses that are shown are minimal (remember the losses are also their doing)? It's control. They know with P2P people will get exposure to music other than what many are calling crappy pop music. The fact the indies are gaining marketshare proves that point. It also shows a business model that can work for artists without the record labels.

The RIAA is out of control and all these tactics show the desparation they are actually in. I am waiting for them to sue the wrong person who has just enough information about every little misleading action they have done over the past several years and that person decides to counter-sue. Can you imagine ANY jury in this country, after hearing all the crap about the RIAA along with their misstatements about P2P and copyright law, who will NOT side with the individual over the corporation?

And now you have the RIAA issuing unsigned supoenas and sueing for up to 150,000 dollars a song? Putting people into bankrupcy because they uploaded 10 songs? Grow the **** up RIAA, this isn't about lost profits, it's about control first and foremost. When is the last time you saw Britney spears out in the streets begging for quarters?

Not to mention, what the RIAA has is not proof of copyright infringement. An IP adress + a file name = proof? They expect people to shell out thousands for this?

So going by this, I could infact download a IP spoofer, spoof MY ip adress to that of my neighbors than use Kazaa to upload hundreds of music files than laugh when he goes to court. This isn't evidence, this is bull**** and I feel sad for the families who don't know that the RIAA really doesn't have any solid evidence to support their case(nevermind issuing unsigned supoenas) to make them pay thousands of dollars.

While I do agree that serious offenders SHOULD BE DEALT WITH. However the way the RIAA is going about this, sueing people with little evidence, taking family's whose children downloaded a few songs to court is just sad. Goes to show you how desperate they are.

But alas, look how quickly the tables turn. people are becoming more aware of the RIAA's lies and bull****, funds are springing up with people donating for court costs for the people sued. Articles are coming up on various news websites basically exposing some of the RIAA's ****.

All I can say is raise your fist and resist."

Source

[BTW D-Mac, you might wanna add the word 'bull****' to the censored word filter. I had to censor it myself.]

-- Sam the Methid Man

Originally, it would censor it at any part of the word, but after I found out it was needlessly censoring romaji, I changed the filter. I'll amend the profanity list now.

[Methid Man]

Quoting the whole thing and only replying to very last part? That's bull*bleep!*, oops...

-- Sam the Methid Man

[BurkeWorld]

Quoting the whole thing and only replying to very last part? That's bull*bleep!*, oops...

-- Sam the Methid Man

I was just thinking the same thing, it's pure bull****!

(Yeah yeah, screw you guys too ^_~)

Burkey!

[Threaux]

The RIAA is evil.  They sued a 12 year old girl.   Way to go RIAA, thats the way to show them who is boss.  Slam little kids with $150,000 per song lawsuits. 
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/09/09/the_riaa_sees_the_face/

Anyway if you do use P2P apps get Peer Guardian, you will love it.  It keeps the Government, RIAA, etc. from seeing what files you have.  Best of all its a free download!
http://methlabs.org/projects/

[adam808]

And there is a build for Windows XP Pro x64

[Methid Man]

The RIAA is evil.  They sued a 12 year old girl.   Way to go RIAA, thats the way to show them who is boss.  Slam little kids with $150,000 per song lawsuits. 
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/09/09/the_riaa_sees_the_face/

Anyway if you do use P2P apps get Peer Guardian, you will love it.  It keeps the Government, RIAA, etc. from seeing what files you have.  Best of all its a free download!
http://methlabs.org/projects/

Sounds great...though for some reason that link doesn't seem to have any downloads for this PeerGuardian.

-- Sam the Methid Man