So the RIAA has decided to go after the individual users now? They even sued a 12 year old girl for downloading music. I guess making a example of a 12 year old is now a acceptable practice. Do they really expect to stop piracy this way? The only result they will achieve is angering and alienating their customers. It is unbelievable to me that they would employ these scare tactics. It’s not like they have the money to sue every single person they have subpoenaed (261 and counting). Besides, most people will stop once they are informed they are doing something wrong, it’s not even necessary to sue them. But no, these asshats are determined to smite the immoral masses with their flaming sword of justice. They have a long, hard battle ahead.
This article states Kazaa traffic has gone down. Guess what? People will simply find ways of filesharing without being detected. While on the surface it seems like the RIAA is winning, the more likely reason is the tech-savvy users have relocated to other programs. They know kazaa is being watched so they have moved. End result? RIAA is still losing ground everyday.
Even if a case does make it to court, the ability to prove any copyrighted content was ever on the offending computer is tenuous at best. What’s to say they were even able to acquire the whole file? In THIS country people are innocent until proven guilty but it seems like the justice system is letting the RIAA have their way. We can’t turn a blind eye to what is going on around us. I can’t help but feel most people are too scared or apathetic to fight back. At least there are a few people willing to stand up for themselves.
Let me digress a little to explain how the RIAA is finding people. Here is a very informative post from another forum I visit.
As I was saying, the RIAA can show that you were trying to download a file but not that you still have it in your possesion or even downloaded the entire file. There is no actual proof, just circumstantial evidence. What if I downloaded a song first to decide if I wanted the cd then erased it when I bought it? Would I get sued too?
So how can they get away with this? Because none of these people have the time and resources to get involved with a lengthy court battle. Your average 12 year old doesn’t have the money to hire a team of lawyers. The RIAA is targeting the end users because of the relative ease compared to targeting Kazaa or Grokster.
I’m going to have to call bullshit on this amnesty program they have initiated too. So they want people to admit to a crime and send in a notarized letter when they haven’t even been proven guilty of committing said crime? How can this be considered amnesty when they collect all your information and start monitoring your every online movement? What are they going to do, start a database of ‘loyal’ and ‘non-loyal’ customers? This sounds like an asshole tactic to net more people then they have already discovered. Scare and guilt your buyers into buying your stuff!
Here is a sample of a C&D from a isp as well as some information on copyright law. Here is a internal RIAA memo regarding kazaa. They might be of interest for anyone who expects to get sued.
I don’t think they realize what a big mistake they are making. Piss off enough people and your screwed. Is there anyway I can state that simpler for them? This story about the little girl was the final straw for me. I’ve decided to never buy another cd again until the RIAA wakes up. Not only that but I will actively encourage anyone who listens not to buy another cd either. I’ll go to local shows and buy the cds from the band themselves. I’ll make cassettes of friends’ stuff or record off the radio if necessary, just like the days before the internet. It, in essence, may be the same as filesharing but I didn’t see the record companies suing me back then or shutting down radio stations. This over reacting by the RIAA is just going to far. I’ll show them what I think with the only thing that they recognize, my wallet.
So, who’s with me?
I’m not trying to encourage or justify filesharing. I’ve seen the futility of debating whither it is stealing or not so I’ll like to try to avoid it if possible. I just don’t believe it’s right for the RIAA to establish suing their customers as the new business model.
PS I’ve posted this at a few of the forums I frequent but I wanted to post here too. This site has many intelligent people who can discuss something from both angles. Most forums seem to turn into a group knee-jerk reaction of ‘hell yeah!’ or ‘damn straight!’. If I’m being ignorant about something then please help me out.