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" Politicians and Diapers should
be changed with regularity, and for the same reasons. "
FCC raids pirate
station in Castro neighborhood
Low-power broadcast on FM dial for years
Federal marshals and
representatives of the Federal Communications Commission raided a
residence on a quiet block in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood
Wednesday, confiscating equipment used to operate an unlicensed,
low-power FM radio station.
Volunteers at San Francisco Liberation Radio, which has been on the
air for 10 years, said the agents removed an antenna from the roof and
seized computers, tape and CD players, turntables, a mixing board and
other equipment.
"We were a little surprised," said Charlotte Hatch, who along with
her husband, Jim Hatch, has provided space in their building for the
station for the past year. "We thought we might have another warning
or so."
In July, FCC investigators showed up at the station's doorstep,
asking to inspect the equipment. When they were turned away, the
agents warned of a potential $17,000 fine.
This time, they brought a search warrant and more than a dozen
federal marshals.
No charges have been filed against anyone associated with the
station. An agent with the FCC did not return a call late Wednesday
seeking comment.
http://www.indiantelevision.com/end/y2k3/oct/16octge4.htm
FCC Targets Copying of Digital TV
The federal government is preparing for the first time to require that
personal computers and other consumer electronics devices contain
technology to help block Internet piracy of digital entertainment
"The Recording
Industry Association of America is pressing a federal court to ignore cable
Internet provider Charter Communications' attempt to keep private the names
of 93 subscribers who allegedly traded songs online illegally.
On Friday, the trade organization filed a
court memorandum opposing Charter's "motion to quash" a subpoena request for
the names. The RIAA charges that Charter is unlawfully withholding the
identities of its high-speed Internet subscribers who, it says, disseminated
more than 100,000 copyrighted songs in peer-to-peer communities like Kazaa
without the permission of rights holders.
Among other arguments, the RIAA is denying
claims by Charter that it has not filed proper documentation to receive the
detailed information on alleged infringers, including their names,
addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses.
"European peer-to-peer
network users are abandoning traditionally popular applications like Kazaa
in favor of new P2P software, according to new research.
A study released Tuesday by network
equipment manufacturer Sandvine has found big differences between the
North American P2P market and that of Europe. While applications that are
based on FastTrack--such as Kazaa and Grokster--still dominate in the
United States, they have less sway in other countries.
In Germany, the United Kingdom and Israel,
eDonkey is the rising star, which Sandvine says is evidence that the
file-sharing sector is now an evolving, multiapplication environment."
"Whether the error was made
by Comcast or the RIAA, the issuance of a federal complaint on such slim
evidence demonstrates the serious flaws in the Recording Industry's
litigation campaign," says Wendy Seltzer, the EFF staff attorney
representing Plank.
"It's not fair to hold people like Mr Plank as collateral damage in the RIAA
dragnet. If the labels don't dismiss the complaint, we'll look forward to
discovery into how they made this misidentification in the first place."
A small New York company has sued
Microsoft, charging that the software giant's new music download service
in Europe infringes on a patent it owns nearly 20 years old.
E-Data, a Long Island-based
company that's focused largely on licensing its patents, contends that
Microsoft, Internet service provider Tiscali and digital music company
OD2 are collectively trespassing on its rights with their new music
download services, recently released in several European countries.
E-Data is asking that the services, variously called MSN Music Club and
Tiscali Music Club, be shut down until a patent licensing deal is worked
out. "
BREAKING NEWS-MUSICIANS PROTEST
"http://www.afm.org/public/press/press_10-10-03.php
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 10th, 2003
Contact: Honore Stockley (315) 422-4488 ext. 104
>From the Office of Thomas F. Lee, President, American Federation of
Musicians:
Musicians to Demonstrate in front of Record Label
The artists, who irreverently refer to themselves as "The Green Linnet
Five," are planning to do a "sing-in" protest at the record label's
headquarters in Danbury, Connecticut. This will be the first protest
demonstration by recording artists against a label since the 1960's.
"This protest is not just about the five of us - it's also about the
countless other Irish artists who have also been stiffed but who can't
afford to sue a company with the financial resources of Green Linnet,"
said Mick Moloney, who is a professional musician, as well as a
professor of Irish music at New York University. "We will sing some
great old labor movement songs that were well known to the first
generation of Irish immigrants in America," Moloney added. "It will be a
great concert with an important message," Moloney said.
"It would probably shock most Irish music fans to know that the artists
who recorded their favorite Green Linnet albums have not been paid a
dime for many years," said famed fiddle player Eileen Ivers. The Green
Linnet Five hopes that their protest will cause the company to account
and pay all of their artists the royalties, which are long overdue.
Cherish the Ladies lead musician Joanie Madden said, "Green Linnet has
gotten away with this outrageous behavior because Irish artists sat back
and did nothing … well those days are officially over!"
"Two Out of Three American Teens
Oppose Fines for Music File Sharers, Says Harris Interactive Youth Survey Thursday October 9, 3:40 pm ET
Almost Eight in Ten Teens Feel
Sharing of Copyrighted Music Files Should be Legal
ROCHESTER, N.Y., Oct. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Results of
a new Harris Interactive® survey show that two-thirds (66%) of American
teenagers (13-18 years old) oppose fining individuals who offer copyrighted
music online for other people to download while about one in ten teens (13%)
believe that people who offer copyrighted music on their computers for others
to download should be fined. Half of teens (52%) strongly oppose such fines
and two in ten teens (21%) neither support nor oppose the fines.
Teen boys (69%) and girls (62%) are equally
likely to oppose the fines, although boys are more likely than girls to
strongly oppose the fines (60% vs. 45%), and girls are more likely than boys
to neither support nor oppose the fines (28% vs. 15%).
In addition, the poll found that most teens
believe that sharing and downloading of copyrighted music should be legal.
Three quarters (78%) of them feel that sharing (letting other people download
music from them) should be legal. Additionally, 74% of teens said that
downloading copyrighted music files from the Internet without paying for it
should be legal."
The world's most popular song-swapping network,
Kazaa, has thrown its weight behind a plan to start billing song swappers for
their music downloads.
The proposal, which could finally end the days of the
free lunch for millions of music fans, has been put to big US record labels at
the same time as a new legitimate version of the former file-swapping giant
Napster is launched in the US.
The idea is to phase in a billing mechanism for peer to
peer networks, such as Kazaa and Morpheus, that allow users to copy music
directly from each other's hard drives.
Initially payments would be by credit card, but in the
future downloads would be automatically detected and a charge added to the
monthly internet service provider bill." -
BAD NEWS FOR P2Pers
http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5088349.html
"Eolas Technologies on Monday filed a motion to permanently
enjoin
Microsoft's distribution of its Internet Explorer browser amid a flurry of
court filings by both sides in the pivotal patent infringement case.
Eolas, the sole licensee and sublicensor of a browser plug-in patent owned
by the University of California, asked the U.S. District Court in Chicago
for an injunction against distributing copies of IE capable of running
plug-in applications in a way the Eolas patent covers."
NAPSTER IS BACK- BUT THIS TIME, YA GOTTA PAY.
WHO CARES...IT CAN GO BACK TO OBLIVION!
" A New York man the FBI arrested for using
the Internet to sell hundreds of CDs loaded with unauthorized copies of songs
was found guilty in a federal district court and sentenced to six months in
jail.
Alvin A. Davis, 42, of Brooklyn, was incarcerated
and ordered to pay $3,329.50 for selling
pirated music via his Web site. Judge Reggie B. Walton of the U.S. District
Court of Washington, D.C., last week sentenced Davis to one year of supervised
parole, to be served upon his release from jail, and barred him from using a
computer for one year.
Earlier this year, Davis admitted in court to
using his site, EmpireRecords.com, to market more than 100 different CDs and
cassette tapes featuring compilations of copyrighted materials from various
musical artists. Davis was arrested by an undercover FBI agent who purchased
more than 200 of the illegal CDs and had them shipped from New York to
Washington. The Web site has since been shut down. "
New website being announced.
"Boycott-RIAA.com, p2pnet.net and DMusic.com have joined DownhillBattle.com to
create www.stopRIAAlawsuits.com, designed specifically to organize a one
week boycott of RIAA music starting with the next round of lawsuits against
music fans."
Since the
http://www.stopRIAAlawsuits.com site is going to be involved in helping the
movement against the RIAA, this site is joining with others as part of the
network linking to the new site.
I believe the site is not up yet, but should be online tomorrow.
Here's a sample letter to your
representative in Congress.
Please contact your congressional representative, and make it clear that
you are opposed to HR2517. This legislation is backed by such horrors as
John Conyers, Lamar Smith, Howard "I got my money from the RIA" Berman, and
others. It would allow, among other things, the FBI to
prosecute p2p file sharers. It is worded that its function is to " To enhance
criminal enforcement of the copyright laws, educate the public about the
application of copyright law to the Internet, and clarify the authority to seize
unauthorized copyrighted works." For those wanting to delve deeper into this
devilish deployment of degradation,
check out :
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c108:H.R.2517
" Politicians and Diapers
should be changed with regularity, and for the same reasons. "
In an article that appears in the 5 October edition, we find:
" The young and the board
With little sympathy for the record industry, the P2P generation is takin’ it to
the screen
BY MIKE MILIARD
"...These sites have been around for several years, but since the RIAA’s
announcement in June that it planned to subpoena individual P2P users, and
especially since the first volley of 261 lawsuits, the tone of their discussion
boards has taken on an added urgency. Hiding behind aliases like
CodeWarrior and AverageConsumer — screen names
that, unlike those on file-sharing services these days, are still able to
protect their identities — posters hold forth. Back and forth they ask and offer
advice, debate each other on issues of fair use and intellectual property, thumb
their noses and vent their spleens. Mostly, they howl for the downfall of the
major labels. On the day the lawsuits were filed, September 8, the P2Pnet.net
was aflame."
In more rhetoric that to this author, seems like direct
and intentional misuse of the legal term "pirate" DirecTV is going after people
it calls "Hackers". There have been more than 11,800 lawsuits filed against
people across the country (out of what DirecTV alleges are around 70,000
violators). One such person sued is Vang Phromphanh, who alleges he did
NOT steal any cable signal. The reason I am reporting it on this site, is
that the DirecTV people are using the same, incorrect terms and analogies that
the RIAA is using, such as "pirates" and, "It's the same as shoplifting".
If they really believe this is "piracy", they should NOT be filing civil tort
actions. The government should be the ones filing under Title 18, Chapter 81,
Section 1652, which provides for a life in prison penalty. "Sec. 1652. Citizens as pirates
Whoever, being a citizen of the United States, commits any murder
or robbery, or any act of hostility against the United States, or
against any citizen thereof, on the high seas, under color of any
commission from any foreign prince, or state, or on pretense of
authority from any person, is a pirate, and shall be imprisoned for
life." My point is that if you are going to be accusing
someone of "piracy", the federal prosecutors, should darn sure be filing
charges of a criminal nature under Title 18, Chapter 18, Section 1652, or they
should QUIT misrepresenting the law ! Also,
if you are going to say "this is the same as shoplifting"...let's see the
criminal misdemeanor charges for shoplifting you are filing. If NOT, quit using
the term
"shoplifting" !
THE PICTURE AT THE LEFT IS A
PARODY
AND AS A PARODY, ALL PARTS OF THE PICTURE ARE USED UNDER A FAIR USE
PROVISION OF THE COPYRIGHT LAW
AND ARE NOT MEANT TO REPRESENT ANY PERSON LIVING OR DEAD. ANY SIMILARITY
TO ANY PERSON LIVING OR DEAD IS MERELY COINCIDENTAL. THE IRONY OF OUR
ECONOMY IS THAT EVEN ATTORNEYS MAY FIND THEMSELVES AS BEGGARS.
In an effort to gain campus-wide exposure and to inform
students of threats to computing freedom, the new student-run group Swarthmore
Coalition for the Digital Commons held a rally and information session on
Tuesday night in the science center.
The group, founded by Nelson Pavlovsky ’06 and Luke
Smith ’06, is dedicated to a multitude of issues pertaining to the prevention
of the limiting of open culture. This translates into resisting the efforts of
the Recording Industry Association of America to sue those who share music
files, opposing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and similar expansion of
intellectual property law, spreading the use of Linux and other freeware
programs and fighting the plan of Microsoft and the “Trusted Computing
Platform Alliance” to put monitoring chips in personal computers. "
In an article reported in
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/6918373.htm
"WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Norm Coleman said Thursday he will push legislation
this year to reduce legal penalties for people who download copyrighted
music off the Internet"
" Coleman said he will also press for changes in federal law to reign in the
recording industry's subpoena power."
" Coleman, R-Minn., said current penalties, which range from $750 to
$150,000 per downloaded song, are excessive and enough to scare innocent
people into settling lawsuits filed by the recording industry.
``I can tell you that $150,000 per song is not reasonable, and that's
technically what you can put in front of somebody,'' Coleman said in a
conference call with reporters. ``That forces people to settle when they may
want to fight, but they're thinking, 'goodness, gracious, what am I going to
face?' ``
http://news.com.com/2100-7355-5085442.html?tag=nefd_hed- quotes below: "A high-profile digital civil liberties group is criticizing a component of
the "trusted computing" technology promoted by Microsoft, IBM and other
technology companies, calling the feature a threat to computer users. "
"
The paper,
which was set to be released late Wednesday by the
Electronic Frontier Foundation, analyzes the promised features of several
different trusted computing initiatives. The efforts aim to develop
next-generation hardware and software that can better protect data from
attackers, viruses and digital pirates.
Applauded in the paper are three features of the
best-known trusted computing technology, Microsoft's Next-Generation Secure
Computing Base, that may be positive ways of securing consumers' computers.
However, the EFF criticized
a fourth
feature--known as remote attestation--as a threat that could lock people
into certain applications, force unwanted software changes on them and prevent
reverse engineering.
Remote attestation allows other organizations that "own"
content on a person's computer to ascertain whether the data or software has
been modified. Such technology could easily be at odds with a computer owner's
interests, said Seth Schoen, staff technologist for the EFF and the primary
author of the paper."
"MPEG founder seeks copy-protection accord"
http://news.com.com/2100-1025_3-5084381.html?tag=nefd_pop
"A bevy of
digital-media experts, led by the founder of the group
that created the widespread MPEG set of media standards,
launched an international forum Tuesday that's aimed at
standardizing digital media and copy protection technologies."
"Nielsen//NetRatings,
which tracks Internet usage, said on Tuesday it found a 41 percent drop over the
last three months in the audience for Kazaa, the leading music file-sharing
service. "
http://www.zeropaid.com/news/articles/auto/093020032.php
"After a barrage of criticism resulting from its initial round
of lawsuits, the RIAA is attempting to stem the tide of negative publicity by
slightly altering their tactics. Now, before a lawsuit is filed, potential
defendants will be contacted and given the opportunity to pony up some cash to
make the problem go away, or argue that they haven't engaged in activities
frowned upon by the RIAA. The shift, announced at a Senate hearing by Mitch
Bainwol, chairman of the Recording Industry Association of America, was in
response to critics who accused the music industry of casting too wide a legal
net over alleged song pirates, ensnaring 12-year-olds and grandfathers alike.
"We are trying to be reasonable and fair and allow these cases the opportunity
to be resolved without litigation," Bainwol said. While it's nice to go the
extra mile before dragging unsuspecting senior citizens into court, it would be
better still if the RIAA would take a look at other causes of slipping CD sales
such as high prices, lawsuits, and a stagnant economy. Perhaps with Congress
holding hearings on the RIAA and the ACLU filing suit alleging that the RIAA's
subpoenas violate due process and privacy rights, the RIAA will rethink its
strategy. (Cue "Wouldn't It Be Nice" by the Beach Boys) "
"Via Microsoft's technology, the threat of piracy could
become more real to content owners. Media Center Edition software and compatible
hardware give consumers ways to copy and "burn" content to a DVD or CD. Users
could, for example, use the personal video recorder to copy a television show or
movie from a pay channel to their hard drive and then burn that content to a
DVD. They could then transfer the copy to another computer and make it available
to mass audiences within a peer-to-peer community such as Kazaa.
Poole said Microsoft is working on solutions or "speed
bumps" to make it harder for consumers to copy material. For example, Microsoft
has announced full support for an analog standard called CGMS/A that secures
content recorded through personal video recorders. Broadcasters use the standard
to mark their content and restrict its reuse in other devices. Additionally,
Poole said Microsoft is working with the industry on other technology standards,
yet to be disclosed, to restrict copying practices. Other technologies the
company is looking at include "forensic watermarking," which lets rights holders
track content. "
In case you missed the TechTV Music Wars/Open Mike
Stuff-
I contacted TechTV and suggested they provide this online as
video, and they responded, thanked me for the suggestion,
and have made it available .
SENATOR CARL LEVIN
(parody)
WHAT CRAWLED UP INSIDE HIM AND DIED ? Intravenous
purgatives are possibly of value for him!
I ask that because his infantile and embarrassing display
during the P2P hearings on 30 September, and Nazi-like
interrogative techniques, would lead one
to believe that there is something rotten within him or his
psyche to attack Alan Morris, and make such disparaging
comments about the nation of Vanatau . His disgusting
performance has earned him a prominent place in my
list of politicians to monitor the actions of, and an equally
prominent location in the "Defeat this jerk at the polls list".
LORRAINE SULLIVAN DID US PROUD ! Ms. Sullivan
did an EXCELLENT job
in representing us as average citizens. She got out the message that she,
for one, is not buying any more music CDs from the RIAA.
Chuck D was a very vocal and wonderful
outspoken critic of the RIAA.
Props to Chuck. He did a great job, a heartfelt advocate for the consumers.
He said P 2 P to him meant power to the people! Right on Chuck!
PIRACY IS NOT COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT.
Senators kept using the term "piracy" in an incorrect fashion, since they
were talking about legal matters. They should not, as legislators, misrepresent
the laws. I would urge folks to email Sen. Carl Levin,
Sen. Susan Collins, and Sen. Mark Pryor, for their edification and education,
this email (copy and
save as a txt file first). Thanks.
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
199 Senate Russell Building, Washington, DC 20510
DUMBASS Mitch Bainwol said that 99
percent of music files are "copyrighted". This shows what an idiot he is, since,
with the current, "point of creation" standard, every music file is copyrighted
at the point of creation.
DUMBASS L L "Not-Cool" J was L A M E. To quote a poster named
bulkereraser...his most articulate saying was "We tha dreamuhs".
What a marooooon this cat is. Boycott every movie and every song
this L L "Not-cool" guy has ANYTHING to do with!
EVEN dumbass Bainwol says "The answer isn't
lawsuits."
Listening to these hearings,
I urge EVERY VISITOR to support
the introduction of my bill
http://codewarrior.50mb.org/digitalconsumers.htm
and it's passage.
"Change the laws or the laws change you."
30 September hearings- Even the Senate can't get the
word piracy correct!
Title: Privacy & Piracy: The Paradox of Illegal
File Sharing on Peer-to-Peer Networks and the Impact of Technology on the
Entertainment Industry
Date: 9/30/03
Time: 10:00 AM
Place: Dirksen Senate Office Building, Rm.
SDG-50
Piracy is defined under
Title 18, USC :
"18 USC Sec. 1652 01/26/98
TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
PART I - CRIMES
CHAPTER 81 - PIRACY AND PRIVATEERING
Sec. 1652. Citizens as pirates
Whoever, being a citizen of the United States, commits any murder
or robbery, or any act of hostility against the United States, or
against any citizen thereof, on the high seas, under color of any
commission from any foreign prince, or state, or on pretense of
authority from any person, is a pirate, and shall be imprisoned for
life."
Citing
Right to Anonymity Online, ACLU Asks Boston Court to Block Recording
Industry Subpoena
September
29, 2003
"
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BOSTON – The American Civil Liberties
Union and a Boston law firm have asked a federal court to quash a recording
industry subpoena filed against a local college student, saying that
companies should not have the authority to strip Internet users of anonymity
without allowing them to challenge the order in court.
The case is one of the first
constitutional challenges to the controversial subpoena clause of the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which recording industry attorneys
have reportedly used at least 1,500 times in recent months in an attempt to
uncover the identities of Internet users who might be violating copyright
law through the use of file sharing software.
“We’re not saying the
recording industry shouldn’t go after file sharers, only
that they must do so in a way that’s fair,” said Christopher Hansen,
a senior staff attorney with the ACLU, which filed the lawsuit together with
the ACLU of Massachusetts and the Boston law firm Prince, Lobel, Glovsky & Tye."
"Shamnesy" program by the RIAA has found
838 victims...er...people have requested amnesty from future lawsuits, in
exchange for a formal admission they illegally shared music and a pledge to
delete the songs off their computers. Of course, now the RIAA has signed
confessions, half a mug shot, and the address of 838 people that they can now
turn over to federal authorities, as well as copy the list to the copyright
holders of any and all copyrighted songs these people have admitted under oath
to have illegally traded. Man, 838 signed confessions.
Geez, some people never learn.
"Six P2P software
companies today came together to
demand an end to the Recording Industry Ass. of America's
hostilities toward US file sharers - by legislative action, if necessary."
THINK THE PATRIOT ACT IS ONLY
BEING USED AGAINST TERRORISTS?
READ ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE HOMELESS HACKER !
Some of you may be aware of the trials and tribulations of the "homeless hacker"
Adrian Lamo. Adrian Lamo busied himself with hacking into various organization,
doing no real damage, and then, confidentially informing the organization of the
security loophole he found. Well, the New York Times got mad and got the
federal gov involved and Adrian was arrested. You can read more on this
at http://www.freelamo.com/ Well...looks
like the gov is using extraordinary
measures, using the Patriot Act, to run roughshod and get info on him. This
is a disturbing issue which is reported in the link below :
"Bust PC builder lands ICM Computer Group with
huge piracy bill" "ICM Computer Group
has been landed with a huge bill for buying pirated software unwittingly
from an unnamed distributor.
The disaster recovery specialist has set aside £725,000 to cover its
obligations to Microsoft, of which £400,000 has already made its way to
the software giant.
In a statement accompanying its results yesterday, ICM said it had bought
the counterfeit software as part of a routine hardware and software supply
agreement from a "large PC manufacturer" between two and five years ago.
The vendor had a direct OEM relationship with Microsoft. However
counterfeit software produced by a "major" network had found its way into
ICM's supplier. "
NOTE- I quoted verbatim under Fair
Use, however ; they continue to misuse the word "piracy". I will not give
up my crusade to get people to properly use the word "piracy".
SENATOR COLEMAN STARTS HEARINGS ON 30 SEPTEMBER, 2003.
From an article at
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/4111183.html we find : "
Steve Schier, a political science professor at Carleton College in Northfield,
Minn., said that for a politician, ``The recording industry is as inviting a
punching bag as tobacco companies. Politically, it's hard to see a downside for
anyone who pummels the recording industry. You can easily be a white knight.''
Dr. John Moreno, a medical bio-ethicist, and college
friend of Senator Coleman, at this point, is the sole panelist for panel three.
In panel two, testifying on behalf of the 261 people sued thus far, is Ms.
Lorraine Sullivan , a courageous college student who was sued by the RIAA,
and started a website,
http://www.suedbytheriaa.com will be able to tell the victim's side of this
issue. Visit www.c-span.org for the schedule
of Senate hearings.
In a related interview on
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news2.php?ID=8052 Ms. Sullivan said : "I'd really like to thank
everyone for their moral support and for sending me money towards paying off the
RIAA," she says. "Thanks a lot. I received $ 600 in donations, I had $ 1500
put away in savings, and I borrowed $ 400 on my credit card for the rest."
"..."I
want to go before congress because I still think the way the RIAA has gone about
this whole procedure is just off and I hope my testimony will help to change it.
I hope there'll be no one else in the position I was in - that it won't be as
easy for the RIAA to go and get information and scare people, which is basically
what they did to me.
"Like, on Sept 9 or 10, I think it was, I heard about the summons from a
reporter and it wasn't until a week later than I actually got it.
"And it's huge - the entire catalog of songs, and then about 10 pages of what
they're accusing me of.
"Then attached is a letter saying, and of course I'm paraphrasing, 'If you'd
like to settle, call us'. To me it was either deal with this huge, daunting
summons and worry about it for months, or 'Pay us and we'll go away'.
"I've done a lot of thinking on this and the most difficult thing is: although
I'm not responsible for everything and although I didn't know I was sharing, I
was, and there's no getting away from it." She's referring to the fact that she'd installed new p2p
software on her computer which then went automatically to a folder which stored
downloads. "I didn't know it but this folder was also open to the world," she
says on her web site. "It was turned off in the old software.
"But," she adds, "People like the grandfather? He had NOTHING to do with it. And
the little girl? ......."
www.Downhillbattle.org , One of my links listed, has started a defense fund
for those folks who want to fight the RIAA. The P2P legal defense page is
http://www.downhillbattle.org/defense/ - check 'em out, especially if you
have been considering donating to an RIAA legal defense fund.
INTERESTING PROTEST SONG AGAINST THE RIAA by Mr. Bob
Dixson, an up and coming artist. Worth giving a listen. To access the song,
please click here
to get directions.
THE US IS JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG THEY SAY
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/26/technology/26MUSI.html?ex=1065562823&ei=1&en=9fe5fea38fafd149
"...Music executives abroad are scrutinizing the American
industry's legal campaign against people who share files on the Internet. But
many doubt such tactics would work in their countries, given the relative
weakness of laws protecting copyrights and the ubiquity of the activity. "People
in their 60's are burning CD's at home," said Gerd Gebhardt, the chairman of the
German Phonographic Industry Association. "Housewives, who should be cooking,
are burning. It's not like we can go after 80-year-old men or 12-year-old kids.
We have to find the right approach."
NOTE- They continually misuse the word "piracy" in
the above article, but it
is a long article and I included it for readers to draw their own
conclusions.~Code
Befuddled by
the Panelists Selected -
Senator Norm Coleman
has selected his panelists to hear in the RIAA hearings, and,
I think a broader selection of folks could have been chosen.
DOES YOUR ISP HAVE TO KEEP LOGS THAT IDENTIFY
YOUR IP ADDRESS? AND, SHOULD THEY
GIVE UP THIS PRACTICE? CLICK
HERE.
NEWS:
Dell to market it's own portable MP3 player. The
player will have a 15GB drive, and is meant to compete with iPODs. The
popularity of portable, large capacity MP3 players indicates to me that the
makers/vendors, must believe there is a mass market for the MP3 format. But,
where do they think these massive amounts of MP3s are coming from? Do they care?
The RIAA is subpoenaing the names and other
identifying information of 109
customers which it is alleging, are infringing on copyrights.
Charter is the third largest cable company offering high speed access.
The fiends at the RIAA have demanded that all information
on the
identified subscribers, be turned over to a local law firm .
Bryan Cave, within one week.
Mistaken identity raises questions on legal strategy
By Chris Gaither, Globe Staff, 9/24/2003
"The recording industry has withdrawn a lawsuit against
a Newbury woman
because it falsely accused her of illegally sharing music --
possibly the first case of mistaken identity in the battle against Internet
file-traders.Privacy advocates said the suit against Sarah Seabury Ward,
a sculptor who said she has never downloaded or digitally shared a song,
revealed flaws in the Recording Industry Association of America's legal
strategy.
Ward was caught up in a flood of 261 lawsuits filed two weeks ago that
targeted people who, through software programs like Kazaa, make
copyrighted songs available for others to download over the Internet."
KaZaA (Sharman Networks) sues the RIAA. Kazaa
blasts Hollywood 'conspiracy
"File-swapping company Sharman Networks filed
new antitrust charges against record labels and
Hollywood studios, hoping to deflect copyright infringement
claims still pending over the popular Kazaa software"
Suits against the RIAA :
1) Pac Bell
2) Webcasters Alliance
3) Private citizen in California sues about "amnesty"
4) Sharman Networks.
First jury trial conviction under the DMCA!
A man is looking at 30 years in prison with
six felonies, and possibly around 2.5 million
in fines , after being convicted of hacking
a DirecTV cable feed.
http://news.com.com/2100-1025_3-5080807.html
Dentists may get drilling from RIAA for music
royalties.
http://www.zeropaid.com/news/articles/auto/09222003f.php
" The group that
collects royalties for songwriters is taking aim at an unusual source: dentists.
It's not just dentists, but chiropractors and opticians -- any kind of office
space that plays CDs.
"This was a money grab, what is the legitimacy of this
kind of request of a license for this purpose," asks Dr. Jack Cotrell of the
Canadian Dental Association. "
"
Earlier this month, a Philadelphia Comcast broadband
subscriber got a letter
from his service provider, telling him he'd been using the Internet too much.
Keith, who asked to keep his full name private,
said he'd subscribed to the service
for four years and never had a complaint before. Now he was being labeled a
network "abuser."
Worse, he said, Comcast refused to tell him how
much downloading
was allowed under his contract. A customer service representative had told him
there was no specific cap, he said, adding that he might avoid being suspended
if he cut his bandwidth usage in half. But even then, the lack of a hard number
gave
Keith no guarantee. "I don't mind restrictions, but how can Comcast expect
users to stick to a limit when they don't say what the limit is?" he said.
"If they're going to impose limits, that's one
thing, but at least tell us what they are."
A GOOD STRATEGY FOR THOSE WHO
HAVE BEEN SUED.
Please click on the above link for more info.
Since I am not an attorney, this advice is offered for your entertainment only.
But, if you are sued and contacted by the news media out of the clear blue
for a comment, it is a good idea NOT to make ANY comments to ANYONE
until you talk to an attorney. After a consultation, it will be ultimately up
to you (after advice from counsel) whether to fight the suit, or to pursue
an offer of settlement out of court.
The EFF has been one of those in the forefront on this
issue,
and I would advise anyone who is notified of a suit, to at least
contact them for their advice on what you might do.
HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT
This country had a perfectly good copyright
law for around two centuries.
But, in the latter part of the 20th century, due to an increasing trend toward
globalization, there was a move to implement a European copyright model, from
the World Intellectual Property Organization, or WIPO. This WIPO inspired act
became what is generally called the DMCA, and continues to be used by groups
such as the RIAA to trample citizens rights under foot, to circumvent the
traditional methods by which subpoenas are sought, and it is the stance of many,
that the DMCA must be repealed.
There is an increasingly large number of right thinking
Americans who are becoming increasingly aware that the Copyright laws need to be
changed, and that the rights of the people to be secure in their houses,
vehicles, AND computers, should be protected.
This site is about spreading the word, offering some
directions, and pointing out
resources to assist in that fight.
This site is just starting. I am not putting any fancy
Flash intro, because I think most people skip a Flash intro. I think you are
here for information you can use, and thus, I am designing it very simply, so
that the information will be the focus, not the bells and whistles.
First off, there are lots of people who have been sued, and
are being sued, by the RIAA under the DMCA, or Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
This act was a Title 17 implementation of the European based World Intellectual
Property Organization's own copyright act.
For a look at a bill proposal which may change things,
please check out :
(parody)