RSSRIAA Finally Takes Aim at Newsgroups
By Ed Oswald and Nate Mook | Published October 18, 2007, 12:00 PM
With courtroom victories against P2P networks and individual users behind it, the Recording Industry Association of America is launching a new legal effort to take down binary newsgroup providers, which have long claimed immunity from copyright claims.
For now, the suit only targets Usenet.com. However, some worry that if the RIAA is successful, it could open the door to lawsuits against anyone who offers newsgroup services, possibly endangering the future of this nearly three decade old Internet staple.
Usenet, where newsgroups are located, has largely been relegated to secondary-citizen status in the overall Internet. Most ISPs offered newsgroups as part of their overall packages as recently as five years ago, but now many have ended service as newsgroups fell out of favor due to the rising popularity of the Web -- including e-mail and IM -- as a means of communication.
But newsgroups have quietly continued to flourish as trading centers for pornography, warez and MP3 music. A growing number of companies have built their businesses around this, serving as central storage houses for files uploaded to Usenet and selling access by the gigabyte to downloaders.
Even while the attacks on peer-to-peer networks such as Napster began in 2000, newsgroup providers continued to grow their businesses into multi-million dollar enterprises. GigaNews and EasyNews are among the largest, including NewsHosting, UsenetServer and the targeted Usenet.com.
Despite their different names, what they offer is similar: access to download anything uploaded to Usenet in the past 20 to 60 days. Some services like EasyNews have built extensive databases for searching through content, as well as handy tools to make downloading easier. A number of front-end services aid the process of finding material on Usenet, with a handful being sued in early 2006 by the MPAA.
Although none of the companies have spoken publicly about user numbers, insiders say that newsgroup service is a billion-dollar industry that is fueled by easy access to copyrighted content and pornography. EasyNews, for example, reportedly has well over a million users, each paying about $10 per month for the ability to download.
The largest Usenet download providers have extensive networks and push hundreds of gigabits of Internet traffic every second. EasyNews, located in Phoenix, has boasted the biggest network capability in all of Arizona, providing access to the likes of Cox and Comcast.
So why has it taken so long for the RIAA to set its sights on Usenet download providers? The answer lies in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's Safe Harbor provision, which protects ISPs from copyright infringement lawsuits as long as they do not control what content is uploaded and take offending content down when notified.
Usenet companies have also enjoyed the protection of precedent, after a 2000 case against AOL by author Harlan Ellison who alleged that his works were uploaded to the newsgroup alt.binaries.e-book. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that AOL could not be found liable because it was simply acting as a conduit, and had no control over the content being shared.
However, this argument was the same used unsuccessfully by Grokster when defending itself against MGM. The U.S. Supreme Court found that Grokster could be found liable for the activities of its users, because it openly encouraged illicit file swapping and made no effort to stop it. And that is why Usenet.com and other newsgroup download providers could find themselves in hot water.
Unlike AOL, most of today's Usenet services have a file retention policy of greater than 14 days, which is one of the big selling points of their offerings. In addition, they encourage the downloading of huge files and offer tools that are especially useful when downloading warez and movies.
Usenet.com may have specifically drawn the RIAA's ire for the text on its Web site. In advertising its service, the company says that an account would allow access to "millions of MP3 files" and would allow the user to share other files as well.
The RIAA argues that this is essentially the same as what Napster, Grokster and Kazaa did - all of which have been enjoined by the courts. It also says Usenet.com encourages users to download files through promises of anonymous and untrackable downloading. "[The] defendant touts its service as a haven for those seeking pirated content," the suit alleges.
The big difference between Usenet and P2P, however, is the large number of legitimate uses for newsgroups, as well as the historical nature of the service, which has been around for 28 years. Unlike P2P, Usenet was not initially created solely to facilitate the trading of files. The vast newsgroup archive on Google can attest to Usenet's importance.
But if the RIAA can successfully argue that Usenet.com loses its DMCA Safe Harbor rights due to the specific nature of its service, other newsgroup providers -- at least those with a business selling binary download access -- could quickly find themselves in the courtroom. Usenet's dirty little secret isn't so little, or secret, anymore with hundreds of millions of dollars flowing in every year.
A request for comment from Usenet.com had not been answered as of press time.
So let me see:
Will the next step be law enforcement charging telcos because their networks were used to facilitate things like drug deals?
Oh wait, that WAS tried and tossed out like the drivel it was.
This will go the same way.
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|You wanna know what's gonna happen next? IF the RIAA is successful, other Usenet providers will be very careful with wording and search-features. IF RIAA is STILL successful in taking down entire music-related binaries newsgroups (they will never be able to take off ALL binaries arbitrarily), then the next step for the pirates would be to simply create new binaries newsgroups with masked newsgroup name. Instead of binaries.music.michael-jackson it would be binaries.all-media.michael-jackson where you'd have legal pics, news clips etc... Even if 99% of material in that newsgroup is illegal, it will not get shut down quickly enough, and there will be already 4-5 backup newsgroups waiting "binaries.legal-free.michael-jackson", "binaries.parody.michael-jackson" etc...
And naturally..the next step would be for users to use ToR-style anonymous networks THAT WILL PROTECT YOU FROM FBI ARRESTS (for child porn of someone else) and that would be relatively fast by simply limiting the type of files shared to music files, and by filesize...
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|RIAA/MPAA are simply using their legal rights. I wonder if laws do really reflect the feelings of the majority of the citizens, as it is due according to the american constitution.
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|Wrong.
The constitution is there to protect the rights of the people, even those running businesses. It is not there to protect any "majority".
It was, in fact, created in part to effectively deny mob rule/tyranny of the masses.
It's happening anyway (trans fat ban, etc), but in direct opposition to the intent of the constitution, not in accordance with it.
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|I assure they are using their legal rights, and nobody has declared it to be against constitution and then it is also totally in accordance with it. I simply wonder, not as an assertion, if old laws should not be renewed to adapt them in this point to the computer era by the legislative power (the will of the american people), but not of course to impose any tyranny of the masses or communist dictatorship.
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|Copyright law needs to be fixed, for sure, but it ain't gonna happen.
*shrug*
Call me a pessimist.
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|You are not a pessimist. You simply see the nude reality.
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|Ok look, the RIAA/MPAA are simply doing what they have to do to survive and live in a kind of luxury that is so INSANE that most honest folks have trouble formulating a visual picture of it. In other words, they are doing whats in their best interest. Nothing wrong with that. So now WE the people have to do whats in OUR best interest. Get it?
If we're gonna eventually crush these hideous demons then we have to get smart about how we share and realize that it's not a joke anymore in the US to share content, regardless if you own it. Stick together and don't falter. Don't stop sharing, ever. Just get smarter about the way you do it. Spread the word and help your friends do what is right. Let's help transform "RIAA" to "RIP" in the next 10 years.
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|it's not a joke anymore in the US to share content, regardless if you own it.
lmao...Any band or artist not signed tot he labels can share without fear. Unless you were talking about someone who just bought a CD... But you know that doesn't mean they *own* the content, right? I know you're smarter than that.
Don't stop sharing, ever. Just get smarter about the way you do it. Spread the word and help your friends do what is right. Let's help transform "RIAA" to "RIP" in the next 10 years.
Oh. Okay. Maybe you are.
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|Thats right, just give up. It's so much easier. Theres just "no way" anyone can do anything to fight the industry... they're just "way too powerful". May as well just sit back and take it in the backside. Damn right not me.
Anyway I know were on the right track with P2P because otherwise the industry wouldn't be doing these acts of pure desperation!! Blind lawsuits, what a crock of sh*t, doesn't everyone see it, they know the time is coming and they just don't know what else to do!! :)
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|I have said that from the beginning you give the MPAA RIAA a inch they will take a mile. I knew the lame a** ruling would come back to bite users in the ass. Trust me it will not be long before every American will be considered a criminal in the eyes of the RIAA MPAA. Its almost there now the way they treat even consumers that buy their product legitimately... If the government does not step up soon Consumer backlash WILL cause a real hurt to the industry in Destroying it utterly.
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|While I cannot defend those pirating the content, I also cannot defend the RIAA in going after folks like the garage in the UK, or the dude playing music out of his car in LA.
If the government does not step up soon Consumer backlash WILL cause a real hurt to the industry in Destroying it utterly.
They won't. Sadly, the RIAA pays a lot for their power. Copyright in the US will not get fixed any time soon.
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|"They won't. Sadly, the RIAA pays a lot for their power."
Their servants in that American Parliament of Hos includes both of California's US senators any more that 50 members of the lower House. Most of them are anti-Bush liberal Democrats but dirty money stil talks loudly...
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|there goes the planet
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|Someone see a Spaceball or something?
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|There are two ways to use the usenet; one is to download files and the other is as a forum. I use it for the later but unfortunately too many ISPs and usenet providers see it only for use as the former. I don't wish to pay a fee just to talk; there's plenty of free forums on the internet for that.
The simple fix is simply remove all binaries. If someone has a legitimate file to share there's much better ways to do it such as putting it on a site or even posting a torrent. Actually trying to get binaries through newsgroups is like mailing a jeep home one piece at a time.
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|Actually, for distributing files to a massive amount of individuals, it's quite a bit better than most other services.
Upload once, download billion of times at top speed.
These services have more bandwidth than Microsoft and can easily support hundreds of thousands of users downloading at megabits/second.
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|"I don't wish to pay a fee just to talk; there's plenty of free forums on the internet for that."
This is exactly what pisses the artists off royally. They don't like thieves, who charge a fee to get access to somebody elses's music. USENET is no better than somebody who sells pirated CDS and DVDs on the street. They should have been busted long ago...
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|Next, RIAA will sues IRC, then the ISP that provide high speed internet.
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|They can go after IRC. Simple enough to track down the guys running the file-server bots.
However, the DMCA specifically removes ISPs liability. (Yay for the DMCA??)
..I think I'm going to be ill.
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|Well I use Newsgroups, my provider gives them for free, not the binaries tough, but I don`t need them. Unfortunatly I hate truncations in any way. Stop limiting our freedom to choose!
My consequence in this is just not buying artists that release under RIAA (Sony BMG Music Entertainment, EMI Group, Universal Music Group and Warner). For me that's the only way to take away a little of that stupid power they waste.
Tip: There is a nice plugin for Firefox that marks products from RIAA while surfing on sides like Amazon ;-)
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|http://www.breitbart.com...BLG0&show_article=1
COMCAST has begun filtering content.
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|So what's next to attack? IRC? People have long used IRC to trade files and as other means come under attack you be sure this will be used more, until it is somehow attacked as well.
The RIAA just doesn't get it. People will continue to find ways around it if they truly want to get their music, etc for free. However if the industry would just focus on bringing us content worth paying for and providing a means to get it how we wish to use it, we'd buy.
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|No surprise here. The only question I've had is why it's taken them so long. I know a guy who has downloaded over 120 gigs of mp3 music from one of these services in a 4-month period. He laughed when I asked if he was worried about getting caught and told me to get a life. The weird thing here is that people are paying money to these providers, so there's even more of an incentive for the RIAA to crack down on these guys than when they went after free services like Napster and such. Honestly, who really signs up for EasyNews so they can get recipes or sports scores? Most of the text content of Usenet is available in forums on the web these days. I don't know anyone who pays for Usenet access who doesn't use that service to get music, movies, porn pictures, and cracked games and software.
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|The difference here is that Easynews does not advertise the fact. The homepage is relatively plain, actually.
They cost less than Usenet.com and have more features (Web interface, global search, par-viewer, auto-unrar, thumbnails, etc..)
They might be able to get by with the safe harbor bit, since they don't single out binaries or the "perk" of being able to download music/movies on their homepage, or advertisements.
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|mjmarshall
Who said they were going after ALL newsgrops? Just the ones who do wrong I assume.
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|Geez, when will they stop, they act like they own the whole internet. This is getting sickening now and as I see it, they are going way overboard.
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|No, they're acting like they own the content being distributed on the internet without their permission.
Suing a garage for playing it too loud, or a guy at a beach party playing it from his car is overboard. Suing a company that advertises and promotes the ability to infringe on your rights is decidedly not.
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|"But newsgroups have quietly continued to flourish as trading centers for pornography, warez and MP3 music."
While that might be true of the binary newsgroups, the ignorant author has completely ignored the vast numbers of newsgroups (and servers) devoted to everything from hobbies to discussion to technical support.
Many companies, especially tech-oriented ones (eg Microsft and CodeGear), use newsgroups for support (both official and peer), announcements, etc.
To write off all of Usenet as nothing but porn/warez is an insulting generalization.
Is the author employed by RIAA/MPAA?
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|"The big difference between Usenet and P2P, however, is the large number of legitimate uses for newsgroups, as well as the historical nature of the service, which has been around for 28 years. Unlike P2P, Usenet was not initially created solely to facilitate the trading of files. The vast newsgroup archive on Google can attest to Usenet's importance."
I guess you missed that paragraph.
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|The only way they are going to win this is if they get a law passed that makes ISPs responsible for the content on their servers, but so far they have safe harbor from that.
Also, good luck to the RIAA in convincing the courts that usenet doesn't have any uses other than pirated content! It's been around longer than the web.
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|Usenet.com may have seriously harmed their ability to claim safe harbor by effectively advertising copyright infringement. Talk about a boneheaded idea.
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|What is the copyright limitation - how many years.. so if there are old music files there then where do they fit into any claims?
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|75 years plus the life of the author. Of course then they get their high powered lawyers to extend it, like Disney did with Mickey Mouse. So really, may as well say they last forever.
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|Sad but true...
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|"the company says that an account would allow access to "millions of MP3 files" and would allow the user to share other files as well."
Just put a big target on yourself with "shoot me" why don't you?
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|Exactly.
I believe one of their headlines on their homepage recently read,
"Share your MP3s without getting caught!"
Brilliant marketing, but their lawyers must have been on holiday.
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|Better start hoarding now.....
Did you ever notice they only go afer the sharers and not the downloaders?
That's like suing a store for putting out merchandise and not arresting the thieves who steal it.
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|Not really, unless the store was putting out stolen merchandise.
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|Actually it would be more like arresting someone who stole something from one store and put it in another store, and then not arresting the person who stole it from the new store. :)
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|Actually, it's like stealing from the store would be ok... but you better not give it away... just keep it.
ok, ok, ok,.... I got it! This one is better.
The Sheriff of Nottingham (RIAA) doesn't care that Robin Hood (Us... I mean other people)... steals from the Rich (Record Company)... But Damn it if he gives it to the Poor (other people).
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|"Did you ever notice they only go afer the sharers and not the downloaders?"
In my humble opinion, it's only a matter of time before that changes. Because they are fighting a losing battle, it's only a matter of time before they start getting ip addresses of only downloaders/leeches and start threatening them also, with scary letters. They will have to hit the demand, not just the supply. I could be wrong, but that's where i see it heading. How this could work on newsgroups, really i don't know. But it could work on other file sharing networks.
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|his one is better.
The Sheriff of Nottingham (RIAA) doesn't care that Robin Hood (Us... I mean other people)... steals from the Rich (Record Company)... But Damn it if he gives it to the Poor (other people).
Yeah...they're all freedom fighters. Riiiight.
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|Please, someone, start spreading rumors that RIAA is mounting a crusade in the Middle East. Maybe if Americans can't do anything about them, Al Qaeda might be able to.
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|*laughing*
Ok, that's wrong... but damned funny... ;-)
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|Hate to say it, but I told you so newsgroups were next.
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|So....what do you want a cookie or something?
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|Usenet's *.binaries groups really serve little purpose. It is almost NECESSARY to pay a secondary provider to get access to the groups.
Before Napster, I used newsgroups extensively. I downloaded music videos, albums, games, etc. That was a long time ago.
Sure - getting rid of newsgroups takes away another option to find porn and warez -- but who is getting this for free? Why not just buy a Napster/Rhapsody account or subscribe to PlayboyPlus or a hardcore site?
Trust me - for a monthly fee that is THAT low, you will save time by not having to dig through newsgroups to find things worth listening to or looking at.
--
And yes, legitimate discussion newsgroups are great. It's nice that Usenet is an open standard. UseNet.com != UseNet.
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|"Why not just buy a Napster/Rhapsody account or subscribe to PlayboyPlus or a hardcore site?"
Well... because usenet is a lot more than just mp3s and porn. You're proposing replacing the grocery store with McDonald's and Subway.
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|True, usenet predates the internet itself. But suing "it" is like trying to sue your ISP for which web browser someone might use to access any given site. RIAA is in the SCO/Microsoft extortion racket (if only the bush admin. had ever heard of the RICO statute), and because they cannot compete, this IS their business model. They're hoping to find a sucker to pay up.
In this case, however, they have no clue what they're up against. Usenet people are freaky-serious about their world.
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|April 12, 2011
The RIAA made headlines today when it made the unusual move of suing itself. The RIAA claims that if it weren't for the record companies who produced music, no one would be able to steal music. Therefore it considers itself as the prime enabler of this illegal activity and is seeking 100 billion trillion dollars in damages. The RIAA's defense attorneys had no comment.
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|lmao, I do believe this is the future.
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|Good job RIAA...you just advertised this type of service to the millions of people that were not aware of it...
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|i'm guessing the riaa only wants about 20billion for every mp3 they find on usenet's servers
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|