A Boston Globe editorial gave the RIAA the following advice:
Stop lawsuits, not musicComplete editorial
THE RECORDING INDUSTRY helped its image when it ended its misguided policy of suing individuals for illegally sharing music over the Internet.....
But the Recording Industry Association of America is not withdrawing suits that have already been filed, threatening to negate the good will.....
Before the case goes to trial, the best course is to end the litigation, and for the industry to shut down its punitive campaign entirely.
Keywords: lawyer digital copyright law online internet law legal download upload peer to peer p2p file sharing filesharing music movies indie independent label freeculture creative commons pop/rock artists riaa independent mp3 cd favorite songs intellectual property portable music player
7 comments:
I'm sure the boston globe wouldn't be giving the same advice if it's daily columns were being ripped off and given away for free thus depriving them of their rightly-earned income.
The RIAA's job isn't to make friends, it's to protect the copyrights of the labels from the wholesale misappropriation by people with a false sense of entitlement.
There shouldn't be less suits, there should be more.
Dear "Anonymous"
I notice that you have made several posts lately in which you have failed to identify yourself.
No further such posts will be accepted.
It is obvious to me that you have an agenda, but are failing to disclose it.
I do not accept posts from shills and trolls.
Dear Anonymous
I'm sure the Boston Globe has problems of copyright infringement all the time.
I'm also sure that the last thing it does is bring stupid moronic lawsuits every time it happens.
Most lawyers, and most businesses, know better than to waste their money and good will by clogging up court dockets with lawsuits against teenagers, grandmothers, and everyone else.
Only the big 4 record companies are idiotic enough to think that suing everyone and their brother is a solution.
And only someone who is on their payroll or would like to be is stupid enough to have written the post you wrote.
I wish the Boston Globe would properly
research the RIAA claim of 'Stopping the Lawsuits'
I find id odd that not one Major news outlet
seems to have done any look into THAT
particular falsehood.
Dreddsnik
Dear Anonymous,
As ray notes, the Globe undoubtedly has some copyright issues of its own to deal with. But if the Boston Globe was the RIAA they'd not only be suing Ray for quoting from a small portion of their article and linking to it they'd also be suing dead people and people who've never owned or used a computer, and sewing them by the tens of thousands. Fortunately, reaching the level of greedy and vituperative mendacity that the RIAA has achieved is no small task, and few others will ever be able to match it, IMO.
Dear Anonymous Troll,
You feel there should be more suits, not less. This man suggests to you that you don't understand the number of hours necessary to prepare and pursue even boilerplate complaints in venues all across the country. The problem is multiplied when defendants are able to present defenses against the flimsy nature of such suits which can quickly threaten to overwhelm even the largest law firms.
Also the RIAA must win every suit (sort of like the war against terrorism). A loss against any of the fundamental underpinnings of their case (e.g. Making Available is not equated to Actual Distribution; or that unlicensed investigators will not be allowed; or that a TCP/IP address and timestamp does not identify an individual, or even an individual computer; or that the ISP accountholder is not automatically libel for infringement detected on that account; or that the methods used are very unreliable and have produced many many clearly erroneous identifications; or that the threatened damages are unconstitutional; or...) will take down their entire legal strategy.
To this man the RIAA campaign isn't about damages at all, except to meet their expenses in this ongoing war. Even they have admitted that no artist has yet received any compensation from any of these cases. Instead, to this observer, it's about two things:
1: Numbers. Billions of dollars and thousands of jobs lost, and tens of thousands of cases filed. These make headlines weekly, if not daily.
2: Using those numbers to demand stronger copyright laws and enforcement to give the RIAA companies a virtual monopoly over every song, forever, with payment every time that song is played by any person. The very thing our forefathers tried to prevent when they wrote the Constitution about two hundred years ago after seeing how badly that system had worked in Britain and Europe. While the RIAA doesn't expect to get it all at once, they use this continuing clamor (totally self-created) to beat the drum for (in effect) perpetual copyright and guaranteed income forever.
So why do they carry even one case to actual trial? Every bully has to have hit somebody at least once.
{The Common Man Speaking}
I too have some advise for the people-with-no-morals working at RIAA HQ (and the record labels who support these 'people', please note I use 'people' in a very loose sense here)
but with respect to this blog/Ray (and it probably wont make it past Ray's "decency comment test") I shall refrain from writing it here.
But for those of you curious: I know just the place where the RIAA can put their lawsuits.... as well as a treetrunk and other large items.
Never said my advise was original :)
Cheers!
Ryan
www.eZee.se
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