Highly unlikely, and wholly unprofitable to shut Kazaa down. First they are in a seperate country (believe Australia, but may be confusing them with another File-swapper), which means they are only subject to their own countries laws, and whatever international laws their government chooses to follow, not american copyright law (despite the RIAA and MPAA’s claims to the contrary). Second, they aren’t breaking the DMCA in the same way that napster was. They have proven quite well that their service (unlike napster) can be used for service other than copyright theft, in the same way that a computer can, or a VCR, or a Cassette Recorder; they have also proven that they have no control directly over what the users are sharing (unlike napster, they don’t keep central lists on the servers); they actually make a profit directly off their business (they sell stuff); and they have demostrated, on several occassions, that they wish to negotiate a financial arrangement with the RIAA. And finally, even if someone could wave a magic wand and make it go away today, it wouldn’t affect anything for more than the week it would take file traders to discover, morpheus, E-donkey, bittorrent, e-mule, and the hundred other filetrading methods available.
Oh, and I could not find the initial whitepaper I refferred to earlier, but i was able to find these related cites, that give at least a broad idea of the bogusness the RIAA is vomiting up.
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=9048
http://www.boycott-riaa.com/article/7526
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3117505.stm
http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/200304/msg00129.html
I don’t buy your argument at all. Matter of fact, you end up contradicting yourself. Since 99.9 percent of all music now is rehashed and plaigarized, then it doesn’t even belong to the artists who perform it - using your logic. The difference with our generation is that these suckers refuse to be taken by the record companies.
I was about to start my own thread about this, since it has been a little while since there has been one. So hey, great minds think alike. Here are my stances on the issue:
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The RIAA claims a deficit of 18 to 31 percent directly because of downloading. However, during this same time period the entire US economy was down 37 percent. On top of that, they are an entertainment industry, they should be happy that they haven’t lost more. In some respects, losing only that much could be seen as a profit. They aren’t producing durable good, homes, or food.
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Eventhough some of the cases have already been settled, there are currently half a dozen price fixing lawsuits against the RIAA. It is ironic that it is them offering us amnesty.
Yes, this practice is illegal. Having said that, the RIAA is acting like a bunch of guerilla vigilantes about it. Not only were they caught price fixing, but now they are acting quite heavy handed for being on thin ice. Not only that, they have seemingly shucked the love for music away, along with the glastnost of sharing the love. They may be losing some money due to the downloading of music, but they stand to lose a lot more by turning into a gestapo. They are simply forgetting where their paychecks come from. They are not going to win over any fans by suing them into debt.
Precedent shows that the bands who embrace the fans: Grateful Dead, Phish, Black Flag, and Limp Bizkit; tend to be more profitable versus how much money is spent on their marketing and touring, from an economical standpoint. [opinion] On top of that, these same bands tend to encourage lasting legacies and fan loyalty.[/opinion]
What I feel is going on is another market correction due to the advent of more advanced technology. Musicians are now realizing that they don’t have to pay thousands of dollars an hour to make a studio recording. They don’t have to beg and sell their first born for a lousy recording deal. They get to honestly keep the money that they earn from their efforts. They can press their own CDs, do their own advertising, and set up their own gigs. If they are good, they will succeed.
The RIAA, I feel, knows this and it scares them shitless. They are seeing their main source of revenue being threatened.
Chicago Faucet, I just wanted to give you a round of applause for that post.