RIAA to Start Monitoring Downloads

[rising up out of the back seat-nuh 0]

Basically this is an American action on American people. If you live outside the states, you should be ok.

 

HOWEVER, if these lawsuits have a positive effect upon the downloading of music, similar action may take place around the world.

 

Also, I have no idea whether the RIAA have jurisdiction over Canada or not. If someone else knows, feel free to post it

[Gert T 0]

It will be interesting litigation once somebody stands up to them and refuses to settle, but I guess when they throw at you that you might have to pay 150-10,000 dollars per song, some might want to settle. Not sure if those dollar amounts are right though.

[Rendclaw 0]

I knew someone in canada who had like 15,000 mp3s and she would get harrassed by the Canadian version of the RIAA for sharing copyrighted music... her cable company would rat her out every time she did so... and this was over mIRC, too.

[Guest The Tino Standard]

I'm kinda confused on what they mean by a "significant" number of files being shared... I have like 240 songs in my Kazaa "My Shared Folder."

 

Now, I don't really think 240 songs is that many compared to the numbers I've heard other people have... but do THEY think that is worth going after?

[Guest Ram]

I'm sure this will be easy to get around in court.

 

For one thing, they have to have proof you were downloading off of them. All they can do is do a print screen that shows who you are and possibly show a list of files you have. However, both of those are quite easy to fake, so proof will certainly be hard to find. That and you can delete all the music from your system indefinitely (you'll need to use the thorough delete system though so the file's "residue" doesn't stick to your hard drive). Am I missing anything else?

 

Although this is only if you get a fair trial. RIAA's been known to have certain people in their pocket, but we can hope.

 

I think I'll label this a scare tactic and not worry about it. Even if they do sue some people, it won't be long till a countersuit comes and the RIAA has to do a cease and desist of their own.

[Guest El Satanico]

Well I just turned off sharing and messages. I'm also going to steer away from anything involving big name artists.

 

Actually I wasn't worried at all until what rant said. Now a little paranoia has seeped in.

[Guest Eagan469]

I've come to the conclusion that if RIAA ever sends me a suit I'll just reformat my hard drive and play dumb.

[Guest NoCalMike]

Question: is every record company in the America a part of the RIAA? As far as Roadrunner records and shit like that.

 

Also, what about the artists who encourage their fans to download and share their music/songs?

 

From my understanding, it is very few actual music artists that are against file-sharing.

 

Oh well, I don't give a shit, since I can use mIRC and places besides kazaa.

[rising up out of the back seat-nuh 0]

Question: is every record company in the America a part of the RIAA? As far as Roadrunner records and shit like that.

 

Also, what about the artists who encourage their fans to download and share their music/songs?

 

From my understanding, it is very few actual music artists that are against file-sharing.

 

Oh well, I don't give a shit, since I can use mIRC and places besides kazaa.

Isn't Roadrunner a subsidary of a major label like sony or something?

 

It doesn't matter what the artists views are. The rocord companies and publishers pay them money for their work, and they have the right to protect sales of their records in order to get their money back.

 

Hopefully someone who gets sued will stand up to them in court. The case will get high publicity and force the issue to be solved in a court of law.

[Guest NoCalMike]

hopefully the lawsuits will be thrown out as frivilous. the RIAA made something like 14 billion in 2000, and 16 billion in 2001.....I don't have the figures from 2002, but definately it is still in that same range.

[Guest El Satanico]

Oh don't worry if they go through with this, there's no doubt that someone will fight back.

 

Some high powered lawyer or lawyer looking to make a name for himself will drool over the chance to fight them.

 

Chances are the RIAA would blink first, unless they have judges or powerful politicians in their pockets.

[Guest razazteca]

I think Roadrunner is owned by Time-Warner and SBC.

[Guest the 1inch punch]

Well I dont dl anything, mainly because i dont know how

 

I wouldnt even know how to get an mp3

 

Goes to stand in the corner...ashamed

[Guest nl5xsk1]

It won't be illegal to download songs, but to upload them, right? So, if someone in a country where it's NOT illegal to share music uploads a song, can we download it in the US? Or no way?

[Guest Bosstones Fan]

It won't be illegal to download songs, but to upload them, right?  So, if someone in a country where it's NOT illegal to share music uploads a song, can we download it in the US?  Or no way?

I'm not a lawyer, but I think I can offer you this: it's illegal to upload and/or download. But don't let that deter you - just unshare all your files, move them elsewhere on your hard drive, or immediately burn them to a CDR and clear them off your hard drive (like I do) and the chances of you getting busted are reduced quite a bit. Besides, I think they're only going to end up going after the folks who have thousands of files (otherwise it's probably not worth their time to sue), so if you don't do it a lot you should be ok.

[Guest The Old Me]

I will laugh my ass off if I got served court documents for downloading 10 songs per month. Fuckin straps.

[Guest thetrendsetter]

Here's a question they should worry about... What's going to happen in the event they turn around and sue somebody...

 

And it's found out that the person indeed owns recorded copies of all of the files. The size of a countersuit could be deadly, as the RIAA has claimed that illegally transfering music is the same as stealing. they would be guilty of libel, for claiming that said person had stole all that music.

[Guest Ravenbomb]

ok, say that they'll sue you for d/ling anything from any band, regardless of whether or not they care about file sharing. What if my band (hypothetical band, I don't really have one) records some of our songs onto mp3's and puts them on KaZaA to get our name out? Will they try to sue us then?