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The week after its first major loss in the peer-to-peer wars, the RIAA sent instant-message warnings to hundreds of thousands of users of the Grokster and KaZaA networks:
It appears that you are offering copyrighted music to others from your computer. ...When you break the law, you risk legal penalties. There is a simple way to avoid that risk: DON'T STEAL MUSIC, either by offering it to others to copy or downloading it on a 'file-sharing' system like this. When you offer music on these systems, you are not anonymous and you can easily be identified.While its labels of "theft" mischaracterize the acitivty, the warning about lack of anonymity is unfortunately far too true. Users of peer-to-peer networks are identified by IP address ('internet protocol', not 'intellectual property'), and the recording industry has been using subpoenas to prod Internet service providers to reveal the user identities connected to those IP addresses.
At one point in the Verizon lawsuit, the RIAA had claimed that it needed subpoena-derived identifying information simply to contact the users, but since the software itself permits them to send messages, that claim rings hollow. They want to pick and choose their targets for suit, to comb for The Hacker Quarterly of file-sharing, before judicial review and opportunity for the users to oppose discovery.
Posted by Wendy at April 29, 2003 02:14 PM | TrackBackby the way, if it is not clear from the email, i am advocating a complete and permanent boycott of the RIAA and a complete shift to p2p file trading networks.
this is a copy of an email i sent to the electronic frontier foundation (eff)
----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2004 8:18 AM
Subject: drastic action on riaa lawsuits
> i have a solution on how to appropriately respond to the excessively unfair lawsuits by the riaa. this is by boycotting the purchase of cd's from the record companies involved. if this is done in an effective way, it will do more to change the outcome of the lawsuits that anything that happens inside or outside the courtroom. my hope is that this would be the final blow against the record industry who will then finally be forced to change their economic model towards embracing the internet the way it is possible and of most benefit to consumers and society in general. i am trying to publicized this boycott. you are welcome to view my blog at:
>
> http://ganga_na.tripod.com/persephone/
>
> the latest entry entitled "The Napster Wars" describes my ideas regarding the current industry model and a boycott if the lawsuits ever go forward. my ideal time for going forward with such a boycott is the moment the first judgment is entered against the first person being sued. that would give time to organize and give the whole movement a sense of poetic justice. i am trying to work on this idea with as many organizations as is possible and appropriate. if you are not able to go along with this boycott, that is fine but you may be caught red-faced on the sidelines while it moves forward knowing that you could have participated and made it have even more of an impact. The choice is your but i think you' ll agree as i do that a boycott of the music industry is the best action to take in retaliation to the riaa lawsuits against consumers.
>
> -(~)
>