RIAA sues another 762

[MacBytes]

Category: 3rd Party Hardware
Link: RIAA sues another 762
Posted on MacBytes.com

Approved by Mudbug

[solvs]

That'll get people to buy more music. There are better ways kids.

[g4cubed]

Though I don't use a P2P app, this article does have a few valid points. And the amount of people sued is miniscule in comparision to the number who use P2P networks. Just remember that if dance sometimes you have to pay the piper.

[½win½lin]

And also more telling:

How do 5,800 lawsuits, not one of which has yet been proven in a court, stack against those figures?

It doesn't matter if you are guilty or not, can you afford to fight?

Mostly, no (I believe there are a handful of cases where the settlement offer has been rejected).

Pay the fine and get on with it. Most people have neither the money nor the legal team and most likely not the technical skills to put their case when pitted against the best the RIAA can afford.

And it's coming to the UK, too. At $3000 a pop, they would be stupid not to!

[shadowfax]

I hate to side with the RIAA, but that author sounds ridiculous to me. his de facto moralism is dumber than a box of nails. it's so freaking ridiculous that we as americans are at the level of materialism in this country that we can justify stealing from a "tyrannical" organization in the entertainment business, as if we have some basic right to revolt against overpriced luxury items.

"The entertainment industry's narrow interests have little to do with the quality of life, or with improving it. In fact, in many aspects, the studios and labels are responsible for much of the misery in the world by leading people to unrealistic expectations of themselves, of others and of the world around them.

"And it gets away with it."

...uhhhh... again, it's ENTERTAINMENT! this is not bread, this is not even butter. "much of the misery in the world" my ass. maybe in the US where we sit on our fat trunks and do nothing but watch TV and listen to music, our worst problems being depression and other such habit-induced psychological problems because we all want to look like celebrities without spending any time in the gym or figuring out how to look good. THAT, my friends, is SURELY MOST of the misery in the world. Never mind terrorists murdering schoolchildren in Russia, starving masses and genocide in Africa, corporate exploitation not of Minimum wage American workers but of unthinkably poor people in places like Indonesia, China, and India. Shoot, that's nothing compared to the misery of fat, depressed americans who are so poor they can't even afford to pay for music!

"The multi-billion-dollar music industry is selling CDs like hot cakes but it claims its record label components, the artists under contract to them and support workers are suffering terrible financial and personal hardship because of online file sharing.


This is utter nonsense."

You're one to talk, man. You've made an argument that is equally ridiculous at the very least. And while they're defending their right to sell their product, which you have ABSOLUTELY NO RIGHT TO, at whatever price they see fit, you're defending everyone's right to steal from them.

I'm not saying that the RIAA isn't making stupid decisions, but I am saying that we have absolutely no stake in what they decide to do. if we're pissed off as a country, or as 60.8 million people at any given second, at the RIAA, we should be boycotting their crap, not stealing it. when blacks were infuriated with the Montgomery, AL bus system, they didn't get on the bus and refuse to pay. They boycotted it and found another way to get around. And this wasn't as easy as turning the damn TV or CD player off or stopping buying the latest CDs and GOING WITHOUT MUSIC, OH GOD PLEASE NO! This was getting to work/school/the grocery store/etc without necessarily having an alternate means of transportation. OH! PAIN! having consumeristic integrity! can't do it! must... bash... the man!

[musicpyrite]

What's so shameful about this is: file sharing is not going away and these people - children included - are being victimized and terrorized for absolutely no reason.

I do sometimes hate to side with the RIAA, but on this they are right. It IS ILLEGAL to download copyrighted material. That's the LAW!!!

If you do get sued by the RIAA/MPAA/etc. how do they notify you? Through the mail or your ISP?

Down with the RIAA!!11!!

[iMeowbot]

At a very conservative estimate, more than sixty million*Americans regularly share music online.

That would be astounding, since there is an estimated total of 145 million (Nielsen) American internet users, 48 million (FCC) of whom have broadband service.

The total number of users connected to all p2p networks at any given time worldwide is in the neighborhood of 6 million, and the actual number will be somewhat smaller once multi-protocol hosts are taken into account. Of course, not everyone is connected 24/7, but 60 million "regular" users for just the US seems to be just a bit inflated.

(Ah, I see what's going on. The higher numbers in that article are from BigChampagne. What they do is scan the p2p networks for offered files, then multiply by a fudge factor to guess at the total number of p2p users. The lower numbers come from actual packet analysis at ISP routers.)

[birdherder]

Yes as copyright law is currently written p2p sharing is illegal. But laws do change over time. they need to. It used to be illegal to drive cars in some cities. Times change and the law needs to change.

The riaa is resorting to the "sue the bastards" strategy because that's all it knows. it doesn't realize that on one side you have companies like Apple being very successful at selling music legally but the riaa's fees make it hard to make money [but we all know iTMS is really there to sell iPods].

The real pirates are not the ones being sued by the riaa. It is the guys who make thousands of copies of CDs, package and distribute the pirated copy.

The riaa's mentality is nothing new. This is coming from the same industry that first shunned radio and tape recorders. Both technologies lead to further growth of the industry.

I've retired from being an active file trader [not the lawsuits, but because of the quality of many of the downloads, I'll give Apple 99¢ to avoid the frustration of downloading crap]. But if I did get sued by the RIAA I would the EFF's legal folks would help me fight it. The RIAA simply could not prove damages from my activities. The civil case would be easily --yet expensively-- winnable. A criminal case would be a challenge but none of those cases have been brought. The FBI has other **** to worry about than people sharing music.

[Dr. Dastardly]

Does anyone else feel like all these RIAA lawsuits are kinda tiresom. When they first started doing it it was kinda like a shock and awe campaign, at least when I first heard about it. Now it seems they do it every week and people are just getting used to it. I rank it up with getting a speeding ticket now.

"S!@$, I'm getting sued by the RIAA again!"

[space2go]

Originally Posted by shadowfax

if we're pissed off as a country, or as 60.8 million people at any given second, at the RIAA, we should be boycotting their crap, not stealing it.

Exactly.

"And lo there was music on the net the artists were giving away for free."
Book of Revelations 4,58

[noxes]

Makes me glad to live in Canada. That small levy can go a long way in getting stuff.


My message to the RIAA, MPAA, CIRA - Stop Ripping Us Off and We Will Stop Ripping You Off (SRUOaWWSRYO) - Join the club, we got jackets.