RIAA under scrutiny in counter lawsuit

It turns out that the RIAA may have picked on the wrong customer. A single mother was mistakenly sued by the RIAA for pirating music. She decided to counter the lawsuit with everything but the kitchen sink. From the article [WIRED.com], she is going to hold the RIAA accountable for all sorts of heavy infractions ("RICO violations, fraud, invasion of privacy, abuse of process, electronic trespass, violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, negligent misrepresentation, the tort of 'outrage,' and deceptive business practices").

Of particular concern:
- How much the RIAA's lawyers make
- Why the average file sharing settlement fee is $4-5K
- How it decides which file sharers to sue, and which ones not to sue
- Where the settlement money goes (i.e. whether any of it makes it to the artists)

It's no secret that the RIAA is making tons of cash that is not reaching the artists. I don't have any strong feelings about that. It's just that I hate these parasitic, soulless, life stealing, misanthropic, pompous .... where was I?

Consider this: the Nine Inch Nails earned $750,000 [boingboing] in just two days in the Creative Commons download experiment they recently did. That's as much as they would have earned from an entire album cycle. That is a measure of the size of the cheat. I just can't see why the entire music industry hasn't thrown the RIAA out to the curb already. Perhaps this is the beginning.

RIAA Wants Your Anti-Virus To Scan For Pirated Content

So now the RIAA wants your Anti-virus to scan your downloads for pirated content. The one thing that went through my mind at first was "I can barely get the damn Anti-virus to do what it was designed to do", and now the RIAA wants to Big Brother my downloads via Anti-virus? Cary Sherman says "doesn't give rise...to any privacy concerns because it can operate automatically and anonymously"? uhh.... yeah, right.

But Sherman at least knows that people wouldn't go for this:

"Why would somebody put that on their machine? They wouldn't likely want to do that, they'd do that when it benefits them such as for viruses and so on and so forth...it could be enforced at the modem or put in by the ISP."

Oh, so now you want my ISP provider to filter my content now? Yes copyright material should be protected, but this isn't the way. If the ISP providers open this Pandora's Box, where will it end?

What else will be filtered one day? News? Blogs that bad mouth ISP's?

We can't afford to let this happen.

[Public Knowledge via Gizmodo]

The 1.5 Million Dollar Album

Yeah, like any album made in the last 10 years is worth that much. Give me a break.

The amount that the RIAA gets in statutory damages in filesharing lawsuits is already completely bananas, but they still aren't happy. The problem? Compilation CDs. A rascally pirate could rip 10 tracks from 10 CDs, say they came from a compilation and then only be culpable for one album. That's not right! The RIAA would then be cheated out of money they could use to polish the rubies on the ends of their walking sticks!

So what are they doing? Pushing the PRO-IP Act through Congress that'll increase the statutory damages for compilation albums to a whopping $1.5 million. Yes, if you get busted sharing a soundtrack or compilation album with multiple artists on it, the RIAA wants to count each track as its own album. You know, just for the heck of it.

With statutory damages already so out of the league of the rational and the justifiable, increasing the damages this much might actually happen. I mean, if they could justify $150,000 an album before, is it really such a leap to make that $1.5 million?

The moral of the story? Be careful and don't get busted. That and the RIAA makes Mr. Burns look more like Mr. Rogers

[Gizmodo via Ars Technica]

RIAA Comes Up With Fake News Segment

Boy you just can't make this stuff up!!!

The RIAA has launched a new campaign in the fight against pirated music, this time by creating their own fake news segment. taking on the apperance of a local news segment, the RIAA warns consumers that record companies do not sell CD's on street corners, that pirated CD's sound "atrocious" even though it's a digital to digital copy, and my favorite; watch for CD's with too many good songs on them.

WATCH OUT FOR CD'S WITH TOO MANY GOOD SONGS ON THEM?

That last one might be the reason that the record industry is losing money RIAA. Perhaps you might want to try the idea of putting a lot of good songs on a CD, consumers might even buy them. That statement sums up the record industries total mind set.

RIAA Fake News! [Live Leak via Crunchgear]

RIAA Says CD's Ripped To Your Computer Are "Unauthorized"

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]

A Different Look At The Music Industry

In the most provocative, innovative, and forward thinking article I have ever read about the RIAA and the music industry, Rob from Demonbaby gives his take on the take down of Oink. If you don't know what Oink is, it was one of the top music donwloading sites before the lawmakers and the RIAA brought it down. But before you form your opinions about the former site, I highly recommend that you read this article that Rob posted.

Rob use to work for the big labels in the 1990s and into the 2000s, and his insight might have you rethinking everything you know about the music industry. And you would be surprised about how he feels about how and what the music industry has evolved into. Please understand that I really don't like long articles, but this one is so necessary for any music fan, that it should be mandatory reading for anyone who's ever purchased a song.

Please!!! Take the 20 minutes and read through this one.

When Pigs Fly: The Death of Oink, the Birth of Dissent, and a Brief History of Record Industry Suicide [Demonbaby via Crunchgear]

Nine Inch Nails Dumps Record Labels, Going Direct to Fans

I thought this was an interesting article from Gizmodo:

"Hear that? It's the RIAA quaking in their diamond-coated boots as yet another A-list band gives labels the finger: Pretty hate machine Trent Reznor announced today that "as of right now Nine Inch Nails is a totally free agent, free of any recording contract with any label." Instead of futzing through the hapless middleman of an inept label, Trent's promising "a direct relationship with the audience as I see fit and appropriate," so we can expect more experiments in direct distribution and promotion, probably culminating in an album release not unlike Radiohead's In Rainbows.

If two of the biggest acts in the industry can see the digital writing on the wall and totally embrace it—that the old way of doing business is broken—why can't the labels? What Radiohead and NIN are showing is that the business model "of the future" feared by entrenched interests isn't arriving some time in the horizon. It's touching down now. [NIN, Flickr]"

I truly hope that this is the start of something new and better.

Mother Told To Pay RIAA $220,000: WTF?

Jammie Thomas, the woman who lost her case against the RIAA was ordered to pay $220,000 for downloading 24 songs. The Minnesota woman said that the U.S. copyright laws are unjust and that the cost of proving her innocence was almost impossible. Check the quote:

"It says in the Constitution that there should be no undue fines, I was just fined (9,000 percent more) than the value of these songs." She goes on to say "I was basically forced into a situation where I had to prove a negative. How do you prove that your IP address was spoofed or hacked. If I could afford an FBI analyst I'm sure it could have been proven. But I don't have the money."

Thomas rejected the typical settlement of few thousand dollars and chose to defend herself, and she strongly denies sharing music files. But 12 jurors felt differently and ordered her to pay $9,250 for each of the 24 songs she's accused of downloading.

She is still deciding whether to file an appeal. I would think yes!!!

Does the punishment of $220,000 fit the crime of donwloading 24 songs? I think not!!! Regardless if she's guilty of file sharing, I don't believe that a mother of two should be brought to financial ruin over 24 songs. How the 12 morons on this case came to this conclusion is beyond me, but I hope that somewhere in their lives, they are judged just as harshly.

[Crave]

Sony-BMG: You're A Thief

Wow is all I can say about this one!!!

During the first trial between the RIAA and a person who they claim illegally downloaded music, Jennifer Pariser, who is litigator for the Sony-BMG Music Group is calling damn near everyone a thief. During her testimony she was asked if she thought a consumer should be allowed to copy a song off a CD that they already owned.

Under oath she stated that “when an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song.”

So there you have it!!!

Most people have to copy music from their CD collection to get it to there ipods or Zunes, so now they are thief's? Not to even speak about all the old school people back in the day who made tapes from records, just to play in their car. I don't think I know one person who has never made a copy of music that they owned, for another media. So if you already own the CD, Sony-BMG says you should have to re-purchase it again to put it on your MP3 player, to be considered not a thief.

So everyone, according to Sony-BMG you are all thief's!!!

Sony BMG’s chief anti-piracy lawyer: “Copying” music you own is “stealing” [Ars via Crunchgear]

Down Goes AllofMp3

This is a sad day for me and anyone who thinks that the RIAA is the devil.

It appears that the download site AllofMp3.com has been shut down for good. This Russia site had new and old mp3's at a fraction of the cost of most on-line stores. It has been shut down before and has come back in some way. But pressure from the World Trade Organization holding Russia hostage by not allowing them entrance until they dumped the downloading site.

The US Government claims that AllofMp3 was stealing money from American artists.

I guess the US Government doesn't care if the artists or the record industry is stealing from the American people.

Read the rest after the jump. [Torrent Freak via G4TV]

RIAA Takes On Disabled Woman: Gets Sued

A woman in Beaverton, Oregon has filed a federal lawsuit against the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America). The RIAA accused her of illegally downloading music and violating copyright laws. The lawsuit that Tanya J. Andersen, 44 filed alleges that the RIAA used “abusive legal tactics, threats and illegal spying" against her and her 10 year old daughter.

This disabled single mother claims that she received a letter in 2005 from a Los Angeles law firm, she contacted the Settlement Support Center as directed. She informed them that she hadn't downloaded any illegal music, but was told that she must pay $4000-$5000 or she would be ruined financially. She even told them they could inspect her computer.

RIAA refused to drop the lawsuit even after their own experts said that the computer wasn't used for that purpose. Anderson states that they threatened to interrogate her 10 year old daughter, and went so far as to have a woman pose as her grandmother and contact her school about her attendance.

The lawsuit was finally dropped.

I'm not a huge fan of lawsuits, but I hope she takes the pants on this one!!!

Read the entire mess after the jump. [Oregonlive.com via G4TV]

RIAA Accused of Extortion, Conspiracy. being jags!!!

Looks like the RIAA is getting a little of what they've sown!!! The group is being accused in court of extortion, conspiracy, computer fraud, and trespass. I love it!!! The accusations are being made as a counterclaim in a suit initiated by the RIAA in Tampa, Florida. Check it:

In the case of UMG v. Del Cid, the defendant has filed the following five (5) counterclaims against the RIAA, under Florida, federal, and California law:

1. Trespass

2. Computer Fraud and Abuse (18 USC 1030)

3. Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices (Fla. Stat. 501.201)

4. Civil Extortion (CA Penal Code 519 & 523)

5. Civil Conspiracy involving (a) use of private investigators without license in violation of Fla. Stat. Chapter 493; (b) unauthorized access to a protected computer system, in interstate commerce, for the purpose of obtaining information in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1030 (a)(2)(C); (c) extortion in violation of Ca. Penal Code §§ 519 and 523; and (d) knowingly collecting an unlawful consumer debt, and using abus[ive] means to do so, in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692a et seq. and Fla. Stat. § 559.72 et seq.

Seems about right to me!!! Here's hoping that Justice prevails and the RIAA gets their comeupance. Read the article after the jump. [Consumerist]

50 Politicians Who've Gotten Money from the RIAA

You know we hate the RIAA around here, and for good reason. You do realize that their bully tactics are tolerated by the government for a reason, right? Because they give lots of money to politicians.

Well, tell those politicians you don't like it one bit!!!

Consumerist has gathered up a list of 50 politicians that take campaign money from the dreaded RIAA, along with their contact info. One of those suckers purporting to represent you? Give them a call and give them a piece of your mind. It's your duty as an American.

Click here for the linky. [Consumerist]

Polish University raided for P2P file sharing

The RIAA and the MPAA have been targeting Universities lately, in an effort to stop students from downloading their product. Most of the time it would end with a law suit against some kid for downloading 'My Hump'.

But students at a University in Poland took it to a new level.

Polish police officers conducted a raid on the campus of the 18,500-student Koszalin University of Technology. The officers recovered one main PC running the DC++ hub software, 10 laptops and 60 hard drives. A total of 35,000GB (Wow, that's getting it done) of movies, music and software. The administrators were arrested as you might imagine.

The Polish music industry doesn't go after the casual music sharer, instead they go after main hub administrators and major uploaders.

You here that RIAA and MPAA!!! Stop going after and suing grandma's, college kids, and Joe average.

Oh, so this is how they're doing it.

From the bittorrent site 'Torrent Freak' gives us a detailed view on how RIAA and the MPAA are able to find out that someone is sharing illegal files.

"The cleverly named “File Sharing Monitor” is the system being used by Logistep to gather evidence against file-sharers. It is actually just a modified version of the Shareaza P2P application that is configured to search for infringing files, and collect the information from the hosts that share these files."

The “File Sharing Monitor” only targets Gnutella and eDonkey users, so it is still unclear how they track down BitTorrent users. Here is how it works:

1. The client connects to the P2P network, searches for sources of the infringing file, and collects the IP addresses that were gathered through the search.
2. The client requests to download (a piece of) the file from the host that was found through the search.
3. The filename, file size, IP-address, P2P protocol, P2P application, time, and the username are automatically inserted into a database, if the host permits the download.
4. This is the “best” part. The application does a WHOIS search for the ISP information and automatically sends an infringement letter to the ISP if needed.

So now you know, and knowing is half the battle!

Click here to read the entire article.