I've been known to go on a rant or two about the RIAA and how they go after their own customers. Well I'm going to let you add your own opinion about this latest gem from the RIAA. In the case of Atlantic vs. Howell, a couple who is being sued for sharing music on KaZaA. The RIAA says that music ripped to your hard drive (turning music into MP3's) for personal use is making an "unauthorized" copy. So any CD that you own, and have put on your computer to listen too, by the RIAA's definition is stealing. Check the statement below:
"It is undisputed that Defendant possessed unauthorized copies of Plaintiffs' copyrighted sound recordings on his computer ... Virtually all of the sound recordings on Exhibit B are in the ".mp3" format. ... Defendant admitted that he converted these sound recordings from their original format to the .mp3 format for his and his wife's use."
This should frighten everyone.
[The Brief via Gizmodo]
It's awful. Before long purchasing music will come with a EULA you have to agree to (Like Microsoft Office or XP) And when you sign this horrifically long document (which no-one in their right mind has time to read) you will have agreed to be a licensee for that album or song.
ReplyDeleteThis means you don't own it. You also can't do with it whatever you want because (say it with me folks) YOU DON'T OWN IT.
It's ridiculous, It's insulting our rights, and it's JUST PLAIN WRONG TO DO!!!