RSSRIAA Claims File Sharing 'Contained'
By Ed Oswald | Published June 13, 2006, 3:29 PM
The Recording Industry Association of America claims file sharing had been "contained," saying the market digital downloads continues to expand while illicit music swapping has seen flat growth, USA Today reported on Monday. The industry credits recent legal decisions with helping to combat piracy, as well as the increasing popularity of digital music stores.
The rise of digital music has been assisted by the increasing popularity of Apple's iPod and its accompanying iTunes Music Store, industry executives say. The service has sold over 1 billion tracks.
A Supreme Court ruling back in June of last year ruled that P2P services could be held liable for the actions of its users. Several networks closed their doors: WinMX in September and Grokster in November of last year, and Bearshare in May. Others, such as Morpheus, decided to go legit after the ruling.
However, even with a number of P2P networks now offline, file sharing is still popular. 10 million users now swap files, up from 8.7 million last year, according to Internet analysis firm BigChampagne. But the firm said that the rapid rise in Internet piracy is beginning to level off as the industry continues its enforcement and education programs.
The RIAA has sued thousands of individuals, and 4,500 of them have already settled for fines of around $4,000 per case. While album sales are still slightly down this year, digital downloads are beginning to pick up the slack. Sales increased 77 percent, and 23.7 million digital albums have sold this year, up from 13.4 million at this time last year.
Still, the RIAA is not giving up on its enforcement efforts. The record industry is continuing to sue file sharers, and has even sued XM Satellite Radio over its new devices that allow users to save songs. The RIAA claims that the satellite radio service needs an additional license to offer that feature.
XM has called the suit an attempt to gain an upper hand in negotiations. Sirius has already signed an agreement to allow its players to perform a similar function.
About twenty years from now, and at dinner, probably with a drink in hand, at some fancy restaurant in New York or the like, RIAA Ex-President Cary Sherman will be having a long overdue get together with some of his old friends at the RIAA, many of which were involved in the early 2000's music download struggle, and a struggle it was. It's only natural the subject of all the music file litigation will arise. "Jesus, if we had ever known how tough that battle was going to be, we never would have touched it," said a man named Sherman." It was like shoveling s*** against the tide, "a Sherman co-hort said. "And the friggin' money we spent. We won thousands in litigation to pay for the hundreds of millions it cost us. We had no choice. It was kind of like our own little Viet Nam War. At least in the eyes of some, we appeared to win. "Who did we really fool?",Sherman said. "I'd never want to go through that s*** again," another said. "A good reason to order another round," Sherman said.
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|On napster, i could download a song in about half of an hour. Using bittorrent, I can now download an entire discography in that time, or I can download a CD in aobut 5 min. It is obvious who is winning this war.
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|An increase in per-capita bandwidth is justification for copyright infringement now?
Cute...
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|I'm not saying that is is ok to download music because of this, I am just saying that filesharing is not "contained" when the bandwith has increased 10fold since the first cases. If the RIAA had not shut down napster, everyone would still be using it, and downloading less music as a result. The RIAA has fanned the flames, and now claims that it has "contained" filesharing, when this is clearly not the case.
Note: I am not arguing whether filesharing is immoral or not, I am discussing the article above.
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|Everyone needs to shut up. If they believe they have done there job then let them continue to think so. Maybe they will lighten up since they have stopped the evil pirates. It's great news to here they think they have won. I'm very pleased they are no longer in a frenzy. Oh yeah and file sharing networks can all die for all i care. Cause the days of Bearshare and limewire are over. Torrents rule the world now. Catch me if you can a******. And when and if you do, it will be for one movie. You'll never catch me sharing a entire drives of songs. What they have done is forced people to realize which method of stealing is most safe for them.
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|Everyone needs to shut up.
Bite me. This is a forum.
Catch me if you can a******.
They can.
And when and if you do, it will be for one movie....What they have done is forced people to realize which method of stealing is most safe for them.
Ah, so you *are* an idiot. Thanks for clarifying.
I'll not feel the least bit sorry for you if they *do* catch you and your ilk. Bunch of Entitled morons who can't be bothered to respect the creators of the work they are infringing and feel above the requirement to pay for that which everyone else must.
Your morals and ethics are reprehensible.
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|thanks, now i dont have to say that...
saves me a few keys typed:)
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|Paid for Led Zeppelin 2 on LP, then paid for Led Zeppelin 2 on 8 Track, then paid for Led Zeppelin 2 on cassette, then paid for Led Zeppelin 2 on CD, then DIDN'T pay for Led Zeppelin 2 on MP3 because it was "FREE"!
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|P.S. And Oh Yeah, I couldn't care less what all you "Let's stick a camera up everyone's ass", dumb conformist, never had an original thought, bow to corrupt big brother, spy on your neighbor, RAT'S think about me!
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|How can you stop millions ?
it is same way as it is hard to control the beast after it has tasted blood.
Just imagine what will happen if(imagine) every single file-sharing network is closed down. I believe that we will see even greater file-sharing technology which will make it even harder to stop filesharing.
Millions of people are using p2p, so certainly there is demand.
So there definitely going to be a service to satisfy their demand, and that is NOT itunes as it has been there for quite some time and p2p's still exist.
Suing people/potential costumer is the most stupid thing they can do.
Suing Kazaa is even more stupid thing.(as they make many people go to itunes after getting their system infected)
What they should have done is to bribe these network owners to infect their network using same intel inside strategy.
IM NOT on RIAA's side, and am strong supporter of p2p's. And believe that it is impossible to stop such thing.
Drugs are illegal too and drugs are STILL available.
What they should have done is to make sure that development of file-sharing technology is not lucrative enough and they should have slashed prices heavily to make sure that downloading off such networks is not worth of a risk.
I guess RIAA and MPAA are just dumb.
They are paying for not being where their costumers were.
Such things will keep P2P alive.
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|same junk different day
If you can afford a computer and an internet connection you can afford anything on the net music, movies and software. unless you a kid who leeches it off your mommy and daddy who has parents that probly spoil them or have lots of money then you should be able to get them to get this junk for you.
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|...
"Do you really believe that
a working stiff making barely
enough to get by, who is
ripped-off by the powers"
...
See, exactly ~this~ is the flaw in your morality !
You think that if -in your mind- somebody stole
from you, that empowers you to steal from others.
A thief's morality !
Which is what file-sharers have in common with
all other criminals: They believe their own supposed
victimization a license for them to victimize others.
...
The Computer Rodent
...
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|rodents have tendency of stealing too, just today found a little hole in our kitchen and after using a torch found all sort of stuff in it :)
are you going to justify that ?
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|I was once as naive as you are now!
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|sure maybe in ethiopia, where nobody has computers or internet fast enough to share.
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|They're believing their own hype.
Must be the cocaine.
Their comments are also hysterically funny in light of Hillary Rosen's most recent statements.
I mean, if you're going to lie at least do it in a way that has a shred of believability.
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|...
The War Against Crime, of course, never ceases.
But slowly the RIAA is winning the battle against
file-sharing crooks !
Though only when the last file-sharer gets put
behind bars can the public relax it's vigilance.
"Share a file / Go to jail !"
...
The Computer Rodent
...
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|Hey computer rodent on a soapbox, are you joking or what. Do you really believe that a working stiff making barely enough to get by, who is ripped-off by the powers that be (Gas,Food,Oil,Cable TV etc.) deserves to be thrown in a cage with murderer's, rapist's, child molester's & the like for downloading a song that might have come out in 1970. Who the hell were you in a former life? Hitler!
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|Yeah and then the RIAA won't even stop there. Then they'll push to make it so if you rip a CD so you can play it on your ipod that you'll 5-15 years. The RIAA are the crooks. Yes file sharing is wrong. But the RIAA is going overboard on this stuff.
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|please don't feed the idiots.
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|Crime is crime. Share a file go to jail may be overstating things a bit, but yes. I suppose you break the law, since its not on par with murder, kidnapping or rape, you think they should just get a fine and go home? Like you said, they are working stiffs, they can't pay the fine now what? They should be garnished 1 dollar every pay check for the next 250 years? WTH!
You break the law, you go to prison, if the punishment warrants it, that's how it works! If you get stuck with Charles Manson, I guess you will think twice about breaking the law the next time, won't you?
The justice system only works, because there is cause and effect. If you allow certain people to commit less violent crimes, then EVERYONE will do it, because they aren't enforcing it. Yeah that makes a lot of sense.
Who the hell are you, Ghandi?
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|...
"deserves to be thrown in
a cage with murderer's,
rapist's, child molester's
& the like"
...
In common with the others, file-sharers believe
their own perceived personal circumstance justifies
their committing crimes.
Prisons are ~full~ of people who have what they
think are "good" excuses for violating the Law !
File-shares in this respect are no different than
other criminals.
...
The Computer Rodent
...
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|for downloading a song that might have come out in 1970
That opens up a whole new topic on copyright reform.
Look at germany, for instance. AFAIK, Copyright cannot be sold or transferred. It dies with the owner. If the owner is dead, the work becomes public domain.
I'm not saying it should be that way. But it should not be of an infinite duration. Right now, in the US, it basically is. Sale, transfer, extend, these things can last forever.
I believe there should be a 30-year limit on enforcement of copyright. The owner, after that time, should be able to sell "official" copies or derivatives of that work, but enforcement (barring others from doing so without license) should cease.
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|Let the punishment fit the crime.
Just as one would likely not go to jail for lifting a CD, one should not be thrown in for downloading a song.
Fines, community service, etc... delivered by a judge through the criminal justice system. Not via civil suits brought by the idiots at RIAA.
If we're going to call it theft, then treat it like theft, not some three-ring, comedy of errors mockery of our legal system.
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|So if I'm caught without my seatbelt on, I should be rooming with Charles Manson. Damn, you're smart!
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|I can remember a time when my friends & I "BOUGHT" our cassettes & then "BOUGHT" the blanks to record on & shared music between us. If I buy something, anything, I will share it with whomever I want. My concern is for the musicians & frankly, I've not seen Elton, Madonna, Springsteen etc. sleeping in any cardboard boxes!
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|Kinda reminds me of that image of Pres. Bush on that navy boat with the big 'Victory' sign (or whatever it said) behind him!
Yet the war still goes on, soldiers still dying, oil prices have gone through the roof, the world suffers.
I can image the RIAA cheif with the 'P2P Contained!' sign behind him, yet RIAA still looses money, musicans ditch the RIAA todo distribution of their music through the internet companies that have a clue about todays youth, while the RIAA slowly goes crawling down a plug hole like a dying c***roach...
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|...
"Kinda reminds me
of that image of
Pres. Bush on that
navy boat with the
big 'Victory' sign"
...
Yeah ? Tell it to al-Zarqawi !
There's no 'innocent civilians' in the
War Against Illegal Downloads. The
RIAA is revving-up a digital Haditha
for file-sharers.
...
The Computer Rodent
...
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|al-Zarqawi wouldn't be in Iraq and been commanding such a successful insurgency if the war hadn't started in the first place.
Make no mistake, the invasion of Iraq was the worst thing to happen to the cause of world peace and global stability.
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|I'm sure Israel would agree with you after all their years of battle!
Thanks for the uninformed comments.
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|http://www.betanews.com/..._Grandmother/1107532260
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|hmm those are palestinians, so thanks for yours.
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|And now he's dead..lol. That's ok, now there's another person in his place... Bah, go for the HEAD of the snake, not it's mid-section.
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|...
"al-Zarqawi wouldn't be in
Iraq and been commanding
such a successful insurgency"
...
"Successful insurgency" ?
Has his insurgency got U.S. troops out of Iraq ?
He's a failure, and his insurgency is a failure !
The ~real~ "invasion of Iraq" is by Jordanians
like al-Zarqawi (no, he's NOT an Iraqi).
...
The Computer Rodent
...
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|that was a different war jackass.
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|Yeah, take my money I work for, transform it into a $1,000,000 bomb & drop it on a guy riding a donkey with a musket. These are the kind of people the rat likes to have in charge. You know, the same ones who are always coming up with new ways to relieve the working man of his money. I'm glad he "LOVES" having trash like the RIAA dictating to him!
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|You have got to love these RIAA press releases. They think wishing the problem away will make it so. What will their next headline be? "Elvis, Tupac and Kurt Cobain to release a new album together!" Come on, they're just making themselves look bad, nothing more. File Sharing 'Contained' -- In the RIAA's wet dreams maybe.
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|P2P may not be growing as quickly as it was, but what technology does after it reaches critical mass?
Besides, it's not like P2P is the only warez distribution model that offered high-speed, anonymous downloads. Other technologies have been around since the 'net started...and are in amany ways superior.
Heh...RIAA is clueless.
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|DIE-A-RIAA -
As a musician I thank you for all you do for music all over the world....LOL
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|the blablabla from riaa doesnt surprise me
but this 1 billion songs from itunes is kinda astonishing ...
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|I caught that as well. Last I heard iTunes is doing roughly 1 million downloads per day. With the addition of videos and TV shows, they are making a killing in the digital market. I use iTunes just because it is easy to find what I want and the downloads are quick. I can handle 5 - 10 bucks per month for songs I really want.
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|They haven't contained me.
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|yea but you are part of the damned problem. maybe if you ever invent something i will duplicate it and see how you feel. then when you complain and try to sue me, ill ddos your website then register a domain to (your name)sucks.com and make fun of you, then complain about how im entitled to your work because you have more money than me and the world shoud be fair blah blah blah.
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|what a laugh. they really have no clue about anything, they never have... and never will... The analogy of a Ostrich with its head in the sand avoiding danger. Sooner or later they have to pull there head out and see what the future has in store for them. and guess what... Its not all that pretty for them...
Abusing your customer base to protect a dieing business model is not a good idea to promote a new concept in design. Further restricting DRM to the point of making it unusable will eventually bite the hands that feed them. And then, ONLY then. will the government step in and say wait a minute!!! There is something wrong here...
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|RIAA: "WAAAA we don't make enough money. WAAAA people are stealing our hard earned dollars. We screwed the musicians out of the lion's share of the sale and now people are stealing money from us."
It is usually thieves that hate being stolen from even worse than regular folks. Regular folks can get mad/upset, but thieves "get even".
I'll support a paid model when I can pay a cheap monthly fee ($5 or so) and download all the music I want, keep it as long as I want, use it on what ever device I want. Until that day I say a big FUC% YOU to the music industry and especially RIAA.
I can listen to the radio for free and record it. I can listen to XM for a fee and can't record it... that's bulls***! If I pay for something, it is mine and I can do what ever I want with it. It's not like I'm leasing a car here and have to return the car in prestine condition. I can watch TV/Satellite/Cable/Movies for free and I can record them for my own PRIVATE personal usage. I can listen to the radio for free on the internet and record those streams for free for private and personal usage. I don't see how I'm hurting anyone. I still buy tickets to concerts. I still buy CDs when I find a CD that is worth owning.
I would be tempted to buy more CDs if they didn't cost so much and if the artists that made them actually got a little higher percentage of their own work.
RIAA can go F$CK themselves sideways with a spork in my personal first amendment protected opinion!
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|ARTIST: "I see you people saying things like,
"RIAA: "WAAAA we don't make enough money. WAAAA people are stealing our hard earned dollars. We screwed the musicians out of the lion's share of the sale and now people are stealing money from us.""
as way of justifying ripping us off even more.
Thanks for that. We make little enough from RIAA as it is, and you want to take even *that* away?"
Point: Perspective changes everything.
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|Preach it like it is, brother, preach it! Here's a "HUGE" Amen!
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|It really doesn't matter, I mean yes it is easier to go to itunes and get a song you want for a dollar instantly. It's also cool to get the tv shows you want in the same way. But just like all other ways of breaking the law. It's always going to be there if riaa likes it or not. I mean they are assuming that if all those people who swap, weren't able to swap they would buy the music. That is just a crock. I mean how did people do it before, they found a friend who had it, burned it and carried on.
Not to mention the countless other ways to get your music for free. I mean going to yahoo, playing the video and capturing the stream with your sound recorder is a pretty effective means and there is no way to get caught. What are they going to do about this, because I am sure that is way more popular now and it takes less time, and no need to worry about the bad files that are out there as well as viruses and so fourth
I think their aggressive lawsuits are really not doing much other then tying up the legal system. I mean getting 4 thousand dollars per lawsuit out of court and they didn't even have to pay the lawyer 800 dollars an hour. So the strong arm tactics certainly are working for those who get "caught". what about the real "pirates" who do this stuff for a living I mean 11 million swappers? That is ridiculous although im sure that is only those who are signed on at any given time, more like 50 million, they just sign on and off daily or weekly.
I am sure the granny's and 11 years olds appreciate the lawsuits they get busted for. Not to mention are traumatized for a very long time not to mention embarrassed. Think they will buy another cd? Probably not, for one they can't afford it and another they would be too disgusted to put money in the riaa's pockets after what they just went through. So that is a great way to alienate your customers.
I also think the whole contained comment is a little uncalled for, 11 million swappers doesn't sound contained to me. That is like saying a 4 alarm fire is contained because it is not spreading. So that is a bad choice of words.
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|its got nothing todo with the lawsuits or education, its got todo with some actual 'legal' companies actually starting up and providing people with what they've wanted for a long time!
Instant music downloads! for many years it was quicker and easier to download an illegal copy than to have to drive to a store and pay $$$ for a CD with 20 plus songs when you only wanted one!
Now finally some 'intelligent' (non RIAA) people are figuring out people will pay for the same service instead of illegaly getting it, as long as its still as fast and convenient.
RIAA are just pissing people off and not helping anyone get what they truly want or need!
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|yeah but when they add drm bulls*** people go back to piracy.
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|LOL, as long as the RIAA keeps thinking that, we don't have to worry about them coming up with even more over the top attempts of stopping it.....
Good for them..I hope they can finally sleep at night...LOL
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|Man Pretty soon the RIAA will not have to make music anymore they can just keep there company alive with lawsuits
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|LOL
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|Since when did RIAA make music?
RIAA is an organization that exists to protect the rights of it's members. They produce nothing.
They also have wholly and beyond measure twisted and maligned their original charter to protect the rights of artists.
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|World > RIAA
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|Technology > *
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|Still living in a fantasy world. The networks are moving underground to things like waste meshes and member-only bittorrent tracker sites. As long as these fools try to stick to such an outmoded profit and distribution model or infect their music with drm, there will be filesharing.
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|Fantasy world? Perhaps--but they are indeed making positive (or negative, depending on your view) steps to affect the number of illegal (sigh--or "supposedly" illegal...) downlaods off of P2P networks. They know they cannot prevent all of them--they only intended to lesson it. I think you can agree that they have accomplished that goal, even if only for a short time.
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|Someone up top said it best. Its not the RIAA and others doing it, its the business savvy companies who are tapping into the public's willingness to pay for quality 'stuff'. If you can charge people a decent fee to access quality music, leaving the option open for track-by-track purchases, and do it quickly and conveniently, i.e. downloading, then you have a winning idea. Same with movies and so forth. The main reason people download movies (not the ONLY reason) is because, like me, they are tired of paying outrageous prices for movie tickets, and PLEASE dont let me hear anyone say that the prices went up because of downloading, thats bs. Theaters are putting out crap like the record labels and LIKE the music labels they are charging entirely too much FOR that crap. Enough is enough.
Now yes there are those who are going to download ANYways just because 'free' anything is better than paying for anything. No comment there from me. But how dare the RIAA claim the victory in this? They havent. The majority of people they have caught and successfully sued are parents and kids who knew nothing of the download laws or at least, didnt know enough about them to think they applied. Their boogeyman tactics are NOT what changed the internet. Its actually just the opposite... listening to them and keeping an ear to the streets.
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|I see your points, and respectfully disagree for one big reason: Gokster was a HUGE source of material for even the most ignorant users, and many of them used that network. The illegal stuff is now pretty much gone from that. Yeah, the Supreme Court ultimately sealed its fate, but RIAA started the process.
That's just one reason, but I still believe that in and of itself did make a huge impact as that was the one that even Joe user could readily access. As far as the issue about price? Can't disagree with you on that issue...
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|True... the Grokster issue is definately tru... maybe it was just a combination of the two. The smash and grab move and the addition of customer friendly services from other companies. That could very well be the case. In any case, i find it hard to believe that the RIAA should be justified in taking credit.
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|yes but paying a dollar per song that i cant even take and put on my laptop for when i travel, and on my pc at home to listen to there, and my mp3 player, is alot less atractive then buying the cd and ripping it, or just downloading it for free where there are no restrictive drm schemes.
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|