I've been keeping an eye on the whole "RIAA vs. Interweb" debacle. It seems that the record companies are indeed losing according to the following article from Downhill Battle.
"THIS COULD BE ENDGAME. A federal appeals court has just ruled that the RIAA can't force internet service providers to turn over the names of suspected filesharers (p2pnet article). And if the RIAA can't get the names, they can't file suits.
Unfortunately, there are hundreds of people who have already fallen victim to these illegal subpoenas. They've had to pay thousands of dollars each to settle suits or to avoid having a suit filed against them. Downhill Battle is starting a campaign today to demand that the major record labels return all of the money that they have extorted from families and individuals.
UPDATE: We have just issued a press release calling for the RIAA to return all settlement money. Read the release (pdf). "
It's an odd situation because in my eyes because both sides appear to be wrong.
Illegal peer-to-peer file sharing of music is... erm... illegal. It infringes copyright laws all over the planet which allegedly "affects earnings and jeopardises future releases" according to the record industry.
On the other side of the coin, who wants to buy product off multi-national mega corporations who sue families and marginalise independent music? Not me! I don't want to end up listening to Celine "The Horse" Dion, Britney "Nice-videos-when-on-mute" Spears and West "Talentless-Irish-feckers" Life for the rest of time.
EDIT- I just Googled "RIAA". Seems that Google is not without a sense of humour (check the ads on the left.) I chuckled. And the Interweb is now full of this story!
Friday, December 19, 2003
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