I have little sympathy for the whole RIAA.
Recently I had a cd from a 3 cd set split in half, so it was useless. I realised I had bought the right to have my own 3 cds of this music and it was the media that had failed. I contacted the distributor of the cd set and they did not want to know me let alone help rectify the problem. Their only advice was that they were sorry but if I really wanted the cd again I would have to purchase the full set at full retail price again.
I am so pissed off, I had paid full retail and expected some kind of support but instead I was treated very poorly.
As I said I now have no respect for the RIAA.

You want to get rid of the RIAA and etc? Just have everyone refuse to buy any new CD's or DVD's for 60 days. For 60 days people could rent DVD's or borrow a CD from a friend. If everyone just absolutely refused to buy a new disk for a mere 60 days it would impact the recording industry so severely they would dump the RIAA and associated groups. Hit them in the wallet! I absolutely refuse to buy anything new. I can listen to it on radio, online, or etc.

Unfortunately the only effect that would have is that a lot of the smaller distributers/retailers would go out of business due to a ruined cashflow.

Why sue the student? Why not go to the root, and sue the cable and dsl ISP companies. If not because of their boardband connection, P2P will not be possible. Of course, it's easily to get to the students then to the multi-billions cable and dsl companies. Just attack those without any line of defense.

That. Would. Be. Retarded.

Why shut down ISPs? They didn't do anything wrong. And by doing that, everyone would suffer including the vast majority of innocent users (those that don't even know what P2P is. I'd argue that that's a majority of Internet users).

They do need to go to the source, but that's a lot trickier than it sounds. I can't come up with a better idea, but I know there's got to be a better solution than suing college students.

You've got the right idea, just the wrong implementation of it.

Well...on the other hand if companies can be held responsible for the content on their servers or even content being moved "through" their server then why coudn't we get the ISP's involved too?

You know, for the content moving over their lines, hold them responsible for allowing packets of illegal nature to be transmitted in the first place? A diffrent point of view, if I was a lawyer I'd sell it.

Thinking about that post made me wonder, could we be giving the beast ideas?

The ISP's cannot be held responsible for material that is moving accross their lines or even that is cached on their servers. The DMCA explicitly talks about this. All the ISP's have to do to protect themselves is to have somebody that monitors the activity and warns the violator of the risks.

Wouldn't that cost the ISP's a fortune? Talk about rising costs of access...

We'd easily end up paying a fortune for access to cover the costs.

I'm sure they've thought of that one, but you never know.

Do you think the RIAA/MPAA give a flying...well, you know what :)

They don't, but the telcos do, and they still, for the moment, can buy more senators.

Sue the ISP?? The ISP is in alot of parts the MPAA/RIAA.. Since the MPAA/RIAA owns all the content they sell on the TV side. They in turn own the ISP.

What about usenet newsgroups???????
I havent heard a single thing about any threat to this service which provides (with the right server) an unbeleiveable connection that can max out a 5mbps cable or dsl anyday

Movies in under 30 min tv shows in under 10?

Why there is no talk of it is bewildering?
Is this being tageted by the RIAA and MPAA???

Because that is not in the spotlight right now.

That and the content on those boards s***s and you have to collect all the pieces and if one of them is missing you are screwed. It takes alot of work to get applications/movies off newsgroups. Unless the post in question uses *.PAR files, in that case nevermind! :)

No, and shut-up before they get wind of it.

;)

No, seriously, as far as piracy is concerned, this is probably the safest place to do it, but since access to good servers tend to cost actual money, it'll never be as popular as P2P.

Personally, I am thankfull for that. The second RIAA and MPAA focus on it, my endless source of updates goes back to the web...which can be slow and unreliable.

Par, Par2, NZB, AutoUnRAR...

The usenet is no longer the unwieldy goliath it used to be.

That, and web-based usenet servers can be quite handy.

And ahhh yes, THANK GOD FOR PAR AND PAR2 FILES!!

I dont understand how, say giganews for example wouldnt be under fire, i mean tecnically their servers store data (media etc.) that may be copyrighted for periods of time (retention) and they are'nt getting harassed?

But lets all pray to whom-ever it is, that usenet stay up, and as for a monthly charge (giganews is offering unlimited access for 25USD) in my mind i compare this to the cost of basic cable per month :P

RIAA... You're dead. The time is coming, and as it inches closer we'll all clearly be able to see the evidence of it as your actions become more desparate and nonsensical. Blind ignorant lawsuits against unknown underage kids, dead people, and now students? How sweet it IS to see the real thieves and criminals struggling and gasping desperately for air in a futile attempt to "curb" or "reverse" whats happening now. The beauty of it is that no matter how many BILLIONS you have to put into these dispicable actions, you'll lose. You'll lose to the "little" people.

Keep sharing, keep downing, keep $$ in your pocket.

Think about it, as much as I think the RIAA are a bit over the top in there dealings, there right. Its theft. There is NO excuse , buy the song if u like it like everyone else. I know this message may "go against the grain" of the "P2P" thinking but its true.

No excuses, Buy the song, no trouble with the law.

Amen.

Hey! That's my line! I have a patient for it! :)

a what?
A patient?

Doctor Max,

See, now that post would not have been nearly as amusing had you not misspelled patent.

Thanks!

Damn people on the internet, they always get you with those darn spelling errors.

Ain't that why were here, Doctor?

*ahem*

it's "we're"

Someone just got burned...

yeahyeahyeah. Ya got me.

Skitt's law strikes again. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skitt%27s_law)

:P

An apostrophe Nazi?? (Did I just invoke goodwin's law? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin\'s_law)

w00t!

You did it again.... spelling.... lol
goodwin yet it is Godwin

An apostrophe Nazi?? (Did I just invoke goodwin's law? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin\\'s_law)

lol

Will this nveer end?

D'oh! There goes another one.

Most of you know I am against Piracy and have vehemently argued for RIAA/MPAA's right to defend themselves. This, however, is getting out of hand. They're going too far.

While I personally think piracy is wrong, I also think that this constant suing of college students is spiteful. I don't think this is helping their case any, especially when we start seeing the full effects this is having on some of the students.

A suit like this could easily ruin a person's life. Especially in college when one's future is quite precarious to begin with.

Sacrificing people's livelyhoods to make a point? Use the legal system to bring ruin to those you can...simply because you can?

Why not do something useful to help combat piracy? Why not fund the hell out of legit services to lower prices, increase marketing and entice more folks out of pirating.

There are *so* many non-Evil ways to fight this, but they keep choosing to take the lowest road they can find.

I'm getting damn close to no longer caring about piracy if this is how they intend to continue to fight it.

Damn PhoenixPath, I wish they had a prize for the best post, I'd gladly hand it to you personally. Straight-up answer. The artists and companies do need to get *fairly* compensated for their works. I would be pretty pissed if somebody watched me work my arse off all day, and then THEY got paid for it. The problem with the RIAA is that they repeatedly use scare tactics, and this is not the most effective means of getting people to 'turn over a new leaf.' It's been said 1000 times before, but just one more time, hoping that the RIAA/MPAA is listening:
If you really want people to pay for your content, why not open up a LEGIT P2P network and find a method to charge for the content, but keep the fees in line. Charge honest, fair prices and you will see quite a turnaround. Offer me Mr & Mrs Smith for $8 as a download, and I'll probably have my friends downloading it as well. Offer fresh content, new movies, and all at a price that is REASONABLE. Once you have everyone hooked, then you can probably raise prices a tad, but not until these absurd gas prices get back under control. If our Cost of Living is too high, we are going to drop purchasing expensive (read: $18 CD's and $23 DVD's, going out to movies, etc...) entertainment in lieu of making our ends meet.

Yeah... it's news like this that makes me really hate the RIAA for all the same reasons you mentioned.

Couldnt agree with you more. They are alienating the same audience they target with their product.

We can only hope that someone who actually has the resources to fight the RIAA/MPAA stands up and fights.

And when that day comes you will be where I was when this all started. At least in terms of a mental state ;)

So not to ruin someones life the students should not engage in illegal activities!! Stealing is stealing, didn't your mother teach you that, just because the RIAA is so big and no real face to it, it is still stealing.

There are some that believe the punishment should fit the crime.

I personally don't feel college-piracy should result in the complete ruin of one's life.

Whats the best P2P now?

BitTorrent. Kazaa has been tapped and exploited, eDonkey and WinMX are gone, Morpheus is getting exploited as well. Now i2hub is being targeted. BitTorrent isn't impossible to crack/track, but it is very tough. Not to mention the legal problems with actually trying to nail someone for using it because you technically never download any entire file from any single source... You are legally allowed to download ANY mp3 from any single source as long as it does not contain more than 75% (approximately) of the original content. Therefore, you are downloading 10% from user x, 13% from user y, 2% from user z, etc....

The catch there is not in the downloading, but in the uploading. This is where leeches have a legal advantage over the so-called "honest" folks who share to 1:1 or greater. If you distribute a full copy, you're hosed....legally.

BT ain't the answer.

I hate to say it, but the only real way to get away with piracy is not to share it, which brings P2P to it's knees. There's currently no P2P client out there that can handle illegal piracy well enough to make it absolutely RIAA-proof.

Now...if it only allowed you to upload a random 25% of the song...over and over...then you might have an argument.

Not a moral one, mind you, but a legal one at least. I mean, we are talking piracy here.

I wonder wether this RIAA has ever tried to sue people outside the USA for illegal file sharing ? allthough the american market is big, the combined users outside of the USA are significantly greater in numbers. will the RIAA eventually try to block all outgoing connections from USA users ? does the RIAA have any hope to convince the whole world to join their "crusade" ? or do they want to set an example in their own house first before obliging the rest of the world to follow suite ? when there was communism their roleplay was clear and usefull, now, there are so many doubts to their own behaviour...

The record industry should spend their time trying to figure out ways to make money on the whole internet file sharing trend rather than trying to block it (which will fail - it's inevitable). If they don't, someone else will do it and they'll be left out in the cold.

Agreed. They're actions, while justifiable to an extent, are damaging to all and do nothing to actually fix the problem.

Everytime I see a post like this, I'm very thankful I live in Canada...

"cheap means of getting the music legally" is totally insignificant, if it were not for P2P in regard to music, there are about 20 or so CD's out of my 28 CD collection that I would NOT have BOUGHT if it were not for the exposure P2P gave us to obscure music that our local stores don't sell, it's all import UK trance/techno btw.

But Ill tell ya something, I'm a student, I don't have much money, if I hear it costs ANY money at all I'm not interested AT ALL. Especially if I don't really know if it's the VERSION of the song that I want considering as to how I download all dj mixed versions of songs anyway...RARELY do i DL album track versions, which for the most part I dislike.

If it were not for P2P I wouldn't purchase music CD's at all, nor would over half of my friends, we simply do NOT have the funds to pay for all the music we want when we have to pa tuition, food, rent, insurance, car payments, and just general entertainment costs for ourselves all the while in school full time and working.

I'm their target market and I barely have the funds to feed myself, damn right I'm gonna download everything I care to listen to. Because a download by me is NOT a lost sale by ANY means whatsoever, I'm perfectly content listening to the radio and getting an FM tuner to rip it off the air if I wanted a song that bad.

You have every right to be an ahole because you're a poor student?

I'm so sorry.

FOCK YOU!!!!

Hey, I went to college too. I paid my own tuition. I worked my a** off. I PAID FOR MY MUSIC!

Scratch my above post concerning RIAA's actions in this regard. If they're all like this focking ahole, they deserve everything they get.

Entertainment is not a right, it's not something you are born entitled to have. If you cannot afford it, ****ing live without it, you stupid piece of sh1t.

Well said

At the same time PhoenixPath that anger makes me want to download a song just to smite you. Maybe a movie too...or two.

Personally I like it when I actually DO buy a DVD or music CD and it mentions something on the cover about "copy protection" and the first thing I want to do is make a copy of the thing.

You know, I disagree with the way PhoenixPath has put his message across , but I have to completely agree with the point he's making.

I don't have the funds currently, or any time in the near future for an Aston Martin DB7 or Ferarri 355. I could steal one, but buy another car and that would make it ok? I'm sorry, but although you're not stealing physical item, you're getting to listen to music that you haven't paid for.

joesnow's argument about not ever buying the album version of a song is completely invalid - every single online music store has a preview of each track. If that isn't enough, most of the online stores will allow you to stream the track for 1p (in the UK. It might be about $0.05 in the US, I don't know) and you could then decide if it's the version you want. You could also pay a subscription and download as much music as you like.

You don't have the funds...? Then you shouldn't have the music - work an honest day's work, save up and buy it. Just because you're a student doesn't make theft legal or ethical.

Got a little flamey on that one. My Bad.

Just pissess me off to see someone using that justification.

It's called Self-Control.

You may want to, but you don't (or, at least, I hope you don't).

I'd hate to have the things I do in life determined by the flames of others.

*grin*

Ah! Now, CD copy protection is a different matter. If you buy a CD, you should be allowed to use it within your leagl rights as you see fit (ie. make mp3 files for use in you iPod/mp3 player at whatever quality you want). If you buy a Copy Protected CD with SunnComm copy protection, it automatically installs a driver that makes the CD unreadable on your system. It does this without your permission using the autorun feature of your CD drive. Legally, I think this is pretty seriously questionable. My quick tip: Hold down s*** when you put the CD in - this stops the autorun feature and you can rip away.

Just don't share your files!

Agreed. They shouldn't subvert one's Fair Use rights.

Personal copies, format s***s...as long as they remain personal, unshared copies should be 100% legit.

I'm hunting down some more info on SunnComm now. That's BS. I cannot believe they're getting away with that. Equivilent of SpyWare.

NOTE: I do have autorun disabled on all my optical drives. I suppose it would be a problem if I plugged in an external, but...

Did you try and turn that around on me? Awwww.

Full info on SunnComm:

http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~jhalderm/cd3/

Hope this helps!

"You may want to, but you don't (or, at least, I hope you don't)."

No, if I'd wanted to flame, I'd have pegged you as a pirate...which I didn't do. (Cuz I know yer a Doctor...with pat(i)ents?)

See? I'm a nice guy.

So there.

I like the term pirate, it sounds more scary than Doctor...but on the flip-side being a Doctor you would have to pay if I fix you or not.

Man, did I choose the wrong career. Oh, wait... I get to surf BetaNews all day.

Scratch that.

there are many many songs that are not available online anymore, especially from artists that didn't make it big, and compilations that people such as some of my friends make themselves and share on P2P networks, remixes, ....even for example techno remixes of classical music, etc.

A few fellow students in my classes saw me writing about this and agreed that they couldn't find a lot of music they were looking for because it's not available online or locally for rent/buy/streaming, those specific songs/tracks are ones that if it weren't for P2P we wouldn't be able to find some that we like randomly, or get those that a lot of people seem to have on these networks, whereas legit sources do not have them.

Otherwise, if there were no MP3's, I would be copying my friends' CD's until I could actually acquire some funds of my own to spend on them. Right or Wrong, I >personally> don't consider digital media as something tangible and capable of being stolen, >>unless I go and make money off of it.

$cp Spiderman2.avi Sexfiles-8.avi
$rm Spiderman2.avi

$echo "Problem Solved, track my porn"

Why not do: $mv Spiderman2.avi Sexfiles-8.avi ?

Better yet, $ren Spiderman2.avi Spiderman2.rip

Then just s*** right-click, open with,

Go ahead and scan my drive...

Buggy

"right-click, open with"
hmm based on the commands you are using, i'd guess you are on a linux system, wich does not even need an extension... Though I haven't tried giving a file the wrong extension and see if it would still be autodetected - maybe you really would need to do open with on incorrect extensions, who knows.

RIAA...we wont stop!!! understand that?!! u can sue me for all 2 dollars in my bank account..i'll still come back and download stuff..and once i download it..i will DELETE IT!!!! yay!! u guys fookin suck azzcrakz!

"The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."

hahahahaha

classic Star Wars quote.

Nice. =p

****ing A! That is the most well placed quote I have seen in a long time!

The harder the RIAA pushes, the deeper underground and more determined the file sharing public will become. You make people mad like this and they'll swap songs just because they hate the RIAA.

It's amazing how blind and stupid the RIAA can be. They're shooting themselves in the foot with a bazooka.

I agree here. If they put all their litigation fees into reducing the price of legal downloads (even temporarily to get people started) then surely they could attract a wider audience, sell more tracks and MAKE MORE MONEY!

Currently, I'm sure there are several coders working on anonymous P2P systems... once they get off the ground, the RIAA are in big trouble.

Question! How many legitimate Bob Dylan albums aren't purchased because his record company's Japanese parents sell:

cassette recorders
VCRs
CD burners
DVD burners
blank media
and computers with many of the above extras.

The same could be said for any artists signed by Columbia Records or Columbia Pictures which are owned by SONY...

comp

You keep using this argument and we keep correcting you.

Wincement...want to take this one again, or should we just use our greasemoney scripts to filter him out?

rofl @ greasemonkey scripts!

I fail to see a valid point in any of that...

RIAA is too gay, those ppl who work for RIAA surely need to get a life and leave the students alone.

Oh! They can't catch those REAL pirates out there anyway coz they are so stupid and only capable of catching the little people such as students and kids.

RIAA

lol... who do you think the majority of file-sharers are?

That's right: kids, and especially college students.

*DISCLAIMER: I hate the RIAA too.

The more they sue, the more they will lose. There are others way to get free music.

BTW has the RIAA during this whole mess come up with a study that trully links File sharing to profit loss? I believe they have not.

First off, you would think people would learn to not use i2hub anymore! Hello?! What are these people thinking? Whatever. If they're stupid enough to use it, maybe they deserve to be sued.

As far as a study linking file-sharing to profit loss is concerned, it's irelavent when it comes to grounds for suit. Basically, it's illegal to exchange copyrighted material. And it should be pretty obvious that if these people are getting music for free instead of paying for it, there's a financial loss for someone. I don't think a study is needed for that.

Well actually a study should be conducted. Why? Well simple there are some ppl that even though they download the music, they do so to review the music before buying the cds, also they download discontinued products that cant be found in any music store.

Besides, if they want to do something proactive, they should lower the prices on CDs. I mean a Movie costing 15-25 dollars i can understand, the costs of making a movie are huge compared to composing music. Music CDs should not cost more than 10 bucks. Anything higher than 10 dollars is over priced, specially when the CD might have 1 or 2 good songs with the rest being garbage.

They are talking in the big-picture and yearly summary how much does piracy cause/affect them?

Can they no longer have Tab in the cola machine? Did the guy that fills the snack machine stop coming?

I'm amazed people still use these networks when it's clear the RIAA is out for blood. Common sense anyone? If you're going to pirate.. use something that isn't probed by the RIAA.

Or just don't pirate at all. I mean now we have many services that offer you very cheap legal means of getting music.

Maybe NOT cheap!

The solution is simple !! Let all Artist's affiliated with the RIAA and their Big Brother Partners KNOW! that all will Boycott their products. Maybe they will stop funding the RIAA IF I see their name on any product, it is a lost sale. (contaminated)