BusinessWeek, as mainstream and pro-business a publication as you are likely to find, says the RIAA's continued reign of legal terror is stupid and counterproductive:
- The music file-swapping masses got a fresh jolt of fear on Jan. 21 when the Recording Industry Association of America filed 532 lawsuits against alleged copyright infringers for downloading or sharing pirated tunes on the Internet. The suits made good on the RIAA's promise in December not to skip a beat in its legal war against music piracy.
That promise came after a U.S. appeals court in Washington, D.C., in December found that a federal law the RIAA used to force Internet service providers to cough up the identities of alleged file swappers is unconstitutional. The court ruled, essentially, that the provision violated due process.
In response, the RIAA shifted its attack to a more cumbersome form of lawsuits. In these so-called John Doe suits, RIAA lawyers file against an Internet protocol address (an ID that every computer connected to the Net has) that they believe is attached to a computer engaged in illegal file trading. Should the court deem the suit worthy of consideration, then the ISP used by that computer to access the Net could be forced to reveal the subscriber's identity.
....The recording industry's hardball tactics have fueled a technological shift that'll make it nearly impossible to pursue file swappers in the future.
How so? The culture of fear and loathing that the RIAA has created is starting to put encryption on the must-have list of every Joe and Jane Internet user. The results will be wide-ranging and will pose a threat to the movie industry, the software industry, and just about any other industry involved with the creation and sale of intellectual property.
....By ripping off the thin veil of anonymity and hitting hundreds of users for thousands of dollars per case in settlement costs, the RIAA has inspired the most tangible fear yet seen among Web users — something neither credit-card thieves, nor hackers, nor even the U.S. government has managed to inspire.
Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
i don't know why this continues to amaze me...but it's a technology war that the riaa cannot win.
don't they have anybody smart enought to tell 'em that?
2 - Eric Olsen
maybe they aren't willing to pay for that level of smartness, either.
3 - Joe
OMG, Johnny Depp is soooo hot, they'll never catch him!!!
4 - Eric Olsen
"soooo hot and FIT"
5 - Dwaine AKA Scooter AKA D.J.
Shit!!! Now there are guys who say these gay things about men! You should be ashamed of yourself!
6 - Joe
Dwaine, there's two kinds of men in the world, those that can face reality and admit they think Depp is hot, and those that lie about it and don't. Set yourself free.
7 - Jonathan
He really is hot.
So is Ed Norton.
And Dave Navarro..
and..
Uh.. i've said too much.
8 - duane
Jacob, my good man, I think it's time to think about getting yourself a girlfriend. I think you've been indoors for much too long. Or get yourself a dog, if the girlfriend thing doesn't work out. Join a bowling league. C'mon, man, you can do it. Pull yourself up. And stop slouching.
9 - Eric Olsen
You have a son like Johnny Depp? You must be old and rather proud.
10 - Dwaine AKA Scooter AKA D.J.
I refuse to call another guy hot.
11 - Eric Olsen
Dwaine, we were making reference to the ongoing Johnny Depp lovefest here, which is largely being conducted by neo-pubescent girls.
12 - Dwaine AKA Scooter AKA D.J.
Oh well, here it goes:
OH MY GOD!!!! JOHNNY DEPP IS SO HOT!!!!! (*scream*) AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (*faints*)
That wasn't me, it was the liquor.
13 - Eric Olsen
well done
14 - Dwaine AKA Scooter AKA D.J.
Comment 12 was just a reference. I ain't gay. But anyway, if Johnny Depp is so appealing to women. What would his sister (if he has one) look like? Hmmm......