RSSRecord Execs Go Down Under to Battle Kazaa
By Ed Oswald | Published November 29, 2004, 7:03 PM
Opening arguments in a case which could determine the future of peer-to-peer file sharing networks got underway in Sydney on Monday. The lawsuit is the music industry's latest attempt to make P2P networks legally responsible for the actions of their users.
A court ruling in the U.S. in August sided with P2P networks claiming that they could be used for legitimate purposes. Record companies then turned to the Australian court system to take on Kazaa, as part of the company is run from that country.
In opening statements to the court, lawyers for five record labels claimed that the actions of P2P networks are hurting the companies financially. They alleged that Kazaa's parent company, Sharman Networks, had previously admitted that as many as 100 million of its users were trading illegal copies of songs by the record labels' artists.
The lawyers also claimed that after talks between Kazaa and the major record labels failed, the company became even more intent on spreading its software, creating a "copyright piracy engine."
No one from Sharman Networks appeared in court Monday, although the company has vowed to fight the case.
Seriously, that's what I perceive of this situation. Since the record companies lost their battle here in America, they're running across the globe to see if they can seek "justice" elsewhere.
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|If the companies that back Kazaa fall. I do not think that the already established Kazaa network will diminish in 1 night. It is very likely to stay. Clone clients will appear. In fact there are many clone clients around now.
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|I can see it happening--it won't, but I can see it happening. Getting rid of Kazaa will certainly cut computer tech support calls in half, which could cost me my job as a computer support tech for a well-known computer company.
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|People need to get their heads out of their ass, and stop funding music promoted by the RIAA leeches. Then and only then will the insanity stop.
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|Or not, I really don't care.
However, I strongly suggest that you support the artists that give it away for free, and encourage you to do so too. By "support," I mean browse the music freely available, download and keep what you want. Send some $ if you feel it was worth it. Where can you download free music from? Here is a list of places:
http://www.soulseekrecords.net | http://music.download.com/2001-1_32-0.html?tag=tab | http://www.archive.org/ (click on the "Audio" link) | http://www.amazon.com (click on MUSIC at the top, then right beneath that, click FREE DOWNLOADS.
Also learn about the OGG format, and use it verses MP3. Software and hardware designed for MP3 must pay a price to use MP3, so they charge that much more for their product. OGG is Patent/Royalty-Free: Open Source.
Info about OGG: http://www.vorbis.com/faq.psp
questions, comments, concerns - jeffshippen AT bluebottle DOT com
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|Well, mp3 is so successful as more than just computers, mp3 has entered the living room of general people, thanks to new music systems which are capable of playing mp3. I am not aware of anything playing ogg till now. till that gets into effect, I have doubts people would support ogg.
Any comments ?
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|Yeah, just a few: Why sell iPods in Australia when broadband coverage is "poor" and those that have it are on slow connections (512k). I may be wrong with my AU Fair Use Rights but: you cannot rip CDs to any digital format and produce a copy onto your iPod. Is the only legal way to download them from iTunes?
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|In response to the person that questioned the legal ways to have a digital song: You are allowed by U.S. law to own 1 reproduction of any music you legally own. It even says this on 99% of the CD's if you look at the inside sleeve or read from the RIAA's site. Ripping to MP3 as your "archive copy" is perfectly legitimate. It's the sharing of these copyrighted works which is the problem (not that I care). So go ahead, rip all your CD's...or I propose another solution: buy the CD, rip it, then let a friend "steal" it and have them do the same. Eventually the CD will make it a rather long distance, every person along the way is making an archive copy, having it stolen, then letting the "criminal" do the same. It's a loophole, but as long as nobody gets greedy and keeps the CD, then theoretically a whole nation could have MP3 archives of every CD, with only 1 CD being purchased per record. Wouldn't that be a snap in the RIAA's ass?
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|*sarcasm*
Yes, blame Microsft for encouraging their users to share copyrighted material illegally by allowing them to connect to other computers. Perhaps if we stopped computers from connecting to others then the music and movie industry won't be affected?
If connecting to another computer by using some sort of listing and communicating with it is illegal: THEN BAN THE INTERNET! Surely the internet ITSELF is one of the most destructive technologies to have affected the music/movie industries.
Then again, the internet and peer to peer networks working together have promoted artists social status'. Who wants to be paying $30 for a CD, Vinyl, DVD and find that it was absolute crap. Chatting with other users lets users share their thoughts on what's good and what's NOT. MP3, WMA, WMV, AVI, MPEG should all be considered demo formats. If the user is "Satisfied" with the media produced then they'll buy it in it's "Best Retail Quality".
Are there any free legal mp3-sample download sites with such efficient technologies more so than P2P Protocols? If there are "PROMOTE IT".
Nobody wants to here "P2P IS EVIL!". P2P IS A FORM OF NETWORKING! Internet is a form of networking! The day P2P is made illegal is the day the internet dies. Is a webserver not perceived as a peer? With the amount of subdomain services such as no-ip.org I'd strongly believe that the role of them is much the same as any other computer. Sharing information.
*/sarcasm*
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|Amen.
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|Amen.
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