‘Let’s talk,’ says Morpheus boss
p2pnet.net News:- Senator Orrin Hatch and other interested parties should meet with members of the commercial p2p industry to discuss alternative language and solutions to the INDUCE Act, says StreamCast Networks ceo Mike Weiss, who wonders why no one from the industry was at Thursday’s Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearing into it.
In the past, congress has in effect put stakeholders together and told them to work out compromises and solutions which congress could then consider and, “That’s what should be done here,” declares Weiss.
StreamCast, a founding member of the trade and lobby group P2P United whose members include FreePeers (BearShare), Manolito P2P (Blubster), Grokster Ltd (Grokster) and MetaMachine (eDonkey2000), owns the Morpheus p2p application.
During the INDUCE hearing Hatch, who chairs the committee, incorrectly characterized p2p applications as programs which “When used as intended” automatically “redistribute every file downloaded”. He also claimed uploading and redistribution is “automatic and invisible to the average user”.
Weiss points out, “At no time and under no circumstances are users’ hard drives (or, indeed any files in their computers) automatically made available to other users.”
Hatch [$159,860] is infamous for his unswerving support of acts which bolster the entertainment industry and for making ‘mistakes’ about p2p technology and practices which are picked up and quoted by the mainstream media as ‘facts’.
With him on the committee were Charles Schumer [$509,635], John Edwards [$314,547], Arlen Specter [$273,800], Dianne Feinstein [$272,316], Patrick Leahy [$221,950], Edward M. Kennedy [$200,708], Mike DeWine [$111,199], Dick Durbin [$81,100], Joseph Biden [$75,774], Chuck Grassley [$73,572]. Lindsey Graham [$72,523], Russ Feingold [$45,450] and Herb Kohl [250].
[The figures inside the brackets indicate support from the entertainment industry.]
“Why is Congress turning a deaf ear towards learning the truth and hearing all sides of the story?” – Weiss asks in a statement released after the hearing, going on:
“In his endorsement when introducing the INDUCE ACT in the Senate, Senator Hatch presented a multi-page indictment of P2P companies, littered with inaccurate and misleading statements about legitimate P2P software providers.
“I further urge Senator Hatch and his fellow Senators to take the time to gather accurate information in order to develop a balanced position based upon all of the facts. I particularly urge Senator Hatch to do so before repeating inaccuracies that appear to be speaking points drafted by entertainment lobbyists and transmitting these falsities publicly and on the record in front of his Senate colleagues.”
Hatch – accused of using unlicensed software on his official website – believes people who download copyright songs should have their computers automatically destroyed, for which he was awarded the sobriquet ‘Terminator’ after the destructive android in California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s ‘Terminator’ movies.
July 24th, 2004 at 5:36 pm
I can’t believe that there was no one there to counter the BS that Hatch is spewing for Hollywood, INDUCE will pass through sheer ignorance unless people get their act together and unify in the effort to present reality at these hearings. If not things will change in a bad way….
TT
July 24th, 2004 at 6:14 pm
Let’s face it – the entertainment industry has so much money that they can – and likely will – get virtually any law passed that they choose. The fact that the number of P2P downloaders outnumbers the number of people working the industry by maybe a thousand to one has little bearing.
July 24th, 2004 at 10:26 pm
Remember the Tobacco Wars? After spouting transparent lie after transparent lie, Big Tobacco eventually had to cave in. But they kept it up for as long as they could. Now they’ve turned their attention to third world countries and Asia.
As you say, *P2P downloaders outnumbers the number of people working the industry by maybe a thousand to one* but I think it DOES have a bearing. Big Music as it exists will collapse too – or will be dramatically remodelled. The dinosaurs maintaining the status quo can’t last forever.
However the movie studios will, I think realize which way is up.
Cheers!
July 25th, 2004 at 4:02 am
You know what? I bet that in the next two months we find out that The RIAA has been told to talk to the P2P people. Just my two cents.
July 25th, 2004 at 4:18 am
Maybe but I doubt it!!! The best statement in all of the hearing was when a tech Ind. spokeman said ” that the music Ind should focusing on the Play button and not the record button ” meaning work it out with your Foes and make some money off of P2P.!!!
August 9th, 2004 at 3:10 am
sharing music by internet peer to peer network is just a hobby for uploader and downloaders, downlaoding slow unlike Napster. Overkill for a no-existent threat to entertainment industry. CD burners and mp3 format have done more than any peer-to-peer ntework in taking money from RIAA. Can’t stop these earth shaking technologies. The entertainment industry have to solve their own problems with better ant-piracy technology mechnisms.- invest in R&D like most industries instead of crying wolf to senators and gov’t like cry babies.