Red Herring

[nfotxn]

File-swappers face the music

The Verizon internet service provider (ISP) was ordered to surrender the names to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) by a court of Appeal in Washington.

On Wednesday the court rejected Verizon's request for a delay, pending a final decision in the case.

The ruling removes, at least for now, the anonymity of millions of people in the US who routinely download copyrighted music and films over the internet.

I'd like to see how they can equate using a p2p network to having stolen music. How much of KazAa's traffic is for fair use? Lotsa people own vinyl and tape recordings of music that they want to listen on their computers. Others find it easier to download their favourite songs off a p2p rather than rip them off a CD. I could go on and on about fair use but I think what this outlines is RIAA's truer intentions. It's not a mis-guided battle on music listeners but the greater battle of controlling the future of music distribution. A pariah here and a scapegoat there and they can claim that these systems are designed only for stealing and terrorism! Litigate them into the ground and implement a "legitimate" system with obscene profit margins and obtrusive privacy (or lack-there-of) with hegemonic control.

Remember kids, the RIAA is NOT the music you like. Pay your artists not the corporate Mafia.

Comments

[teljanin.livejournal.com]

I hate headlines! I think this constantly, but..I just had to let it out.

[cartmatt.livejournal.com]

If it makes you feel better, the courts are getting better at dealing with technical aspects of these types of lawsuits. Take a look at:

METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER STUDIOS, INC., et al., Plaintiffs, v. GROKSTER, LTD., et al., Defendants. JERRY LIEBER, et al., Plaintiffs, v. CONSUMER EMPOWERMENT BV a/k/a FASTTRACK, et al., Defendants. AND RELATED COUNTERCLAIMS

CV 01-08541-SVW (PJWx), CV 01-09923-SVW (PJWx) (you can read the text of the decision here)

The good stuff starts on page 11. The courts realize that just because certain technologies CAN be used for illegal activities, they coan only be banned if their sole purpose, or if the purpose of their creators, is for illegal activity. Not to be overly simplistic, guns aren't going to be banned just because some people use them for illegal purposes. P2P has many legitimate uses, and the MPAA, RIAA, and others are going to have a difficult time getting everyone to accept that certain technologies should be banned simply because they think it's adversely affecting their bottom lines. (US CD sales are down during a recession? P2P is the ONLY POSSIBLE EXPLANATION!) :D

[(Anonymous)]

That's a great point. Can't you wait for the day until when millions of American's still own guns, yet P2P is illegal because of it's inately immorality? Sounds like hypocrasy isn't it?

Actually it's not hypocritical at all. This is because the values of life, and quality of life arn't our main concern. Our main concern is the bottom line. Henceforth guns are moral because they increase profitability, and P2P is immoral because it decreases profitabiltiy.

-Aaron

How much of KazAa's traffic is for fair use?

[backrubbear.livejournal.com]

Probably damned little of it from an aggregate traffic standpoint. "Fair use" doesn't include letting even your friends grab copies of your music but it could be argued that it is fair use for you to listen to your own collection remotely.

Given that, you could predict that a given KazAa aggregate data flow is never more than a single-person's download of any given set of the stuff in their collection at a given time. That's hardly true. KazAa and other P2P traffic constitutes in some cases 70% or more of the aggregate traffic flow throughout a day for most public universities in the US.

I wont have the "piracy is fair trade for shitty pricing and licensing" argument with you - I don't think you believe that. I think we'll both note that VCR's had similar issues at one time and it eventually led to the rise of a bigger industry.

And really, since you're in the Great White North, your arguments should be a little different. I know nothing about Canadian copyright law or enforcement. I do know that your CD's are taxed under the presumption that piracy goes on and that those being pirated should be somewhat reimbursed for that. Perhaps in that case, the government has given the populace the license to pirate.