p2pnet.net News:- Here, in order of appearance, are three Reader’s Writes on the RIAA’s current rampage (which looks like the start of a full-scale war) -

One looks like it may have been written by someone working for the music industry. See if you can guess which —-

Quote:
It’s almost as if having lost its bitterly fought case against the p2p application owners and failed in its many obvious (and expensive) attempts to disrupt the p2p networks, the music industry is now determined to vent its wrath on helpless men, women and children who can’t hope to stand up to it with its tremendous political and financial power.

“helpless”? The law is supposed to apply equally to everybody, and when all is said and done, copyright infringement is still against the law. The people the RIAA are going after have broken the law (and evidence on the confiscated computers proves it),and here people are feeling sorry for them.

Oh, right… this is the nation that let OJ off…

Quote:
It’s like a bicycle and a 18-wheeler truck fighting to share the same road. Who do you think’s going to win? The people being sued are very much “helpless”. Many of them unknowingly do it. They install the programs and it sets them up to share everything and immediately, they are brushed with the same brush as any other criminal counterfeiter.

Ignorance is not an excuse. Someone installing P2P software is well aware of the function it serves. By making available copywrited material without the copywrite owner’s permission they break the law in the same way that the criminal counterfeiter does. If someone walks into a store and steals their entire inventory and then brazenly stands out front and gives it to anyone who wants it is breaking the law in much the same way that sharing copywrited material on P2P is breaking the law.

Should things change? yes. But breaking the law is not the way to do it unless you want to be a martyr for your cause. In the ’50s – ’60s people stood up for something they believed in to make a change, and accepted the consequences. This may not be as morally important as civil rights or a war, but it is a loose comparision to the struggle for change. A wise man once said, “Don’t do the crime, if you can’t do the time.”

Helpless. Okay, toss that term. How about “comparitively at zero resources for participation.” A simple lawsuit will cost several thousand to simply show up in court; and aggrivated or outright hostile suit can employ tactics to costs tens of thousands and years of time before seeing a judge, and hundreds of thusands more before resolving. The attorney fees to simply keep up are enourmous. The time and agony involved can easily cripple a normal person trying to make a normal living.

It’s one thing for corporations to engage in large legal battles with other corporations, where both sides have the resources to verse themselves in the law and tactics of the courts and legal system. It’s quite another to pit a panel of 40 lawyers against a citizen that has no legal experience or means of getting it. Sure, I’ll put my 12-year old on the field against a professional NFL football team. Gee, I wonder if the game will be worth broadcasting?

The difference is, in the world of normal human society, the NFL football team won’t play against a 12-year old boy as the opposing team. They’ll walk off the field. The RIAA, on the other hand, gladly piles on him, thinking somehow this means they are winning against pirates and, apparently, millions of p2p’ers. Huh. Doesn’t speak too well for the RIAA folks.

The tactic of throwing such overwhelming legal action against “micro-parties” are clearly designed to terrorize and intimidate. Luckily, I agree with many people that these are the death throes of the industry. No industry that intends to be around in ten years (and isn’t scared silly) would ever stoop to such undignified, petty, and fear-mongering tactics over their own customers. Talk about creating negative associations with their product! They think they have a monopoly control; they are about to discover that people do love their music so much that they _will_ figure out a way to get songs from band to my iPod without these failing and annoying record companies. And once that product-delivery path is cleared, the RIAA member’s will know their demise is inescapable.

Give people what they want. And charge them for it. Works in business every time.

==================

current rampage – RIAA sues another 762, p2pnet, September 30, 2004

full-scale war – Big Music to sue UK file sharers, p2pnet, October 1, 2004

This entry was posted on Friday, October 1st, 2004 at 7:40 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

HOME

Viewed 2045 times