Canadian file swappers attacked
p2pnet.net News:- Canada is about to follow America’s lead by using heavy-weight legal intimidation tactics against Canadians who share music online.
The CRIA, Canada’s version of Big Music’s RIAA, has been instructed to start pressuring ISPs in an attempt to force them into revealing the identities of people the record labels claim are infringing copyrights.
What’s described as “sophisticated Internet surveillance technology” will trace “high-volume music traders,” says The Toronto Star here.
The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) recently ramped up its vendetta against Americans and has sued, or wants to sue, close to 1,000 people, mostly teenagers but also children and senior citizens.
Stacked against the estimated 60 million online music lovers in the US, the number is insignificant. But, boosted by a multi-million-dollar record label PR campaign and blanket coverage by the mainstream US media, the RIAA sue ‘em all campaign has become a major issue.
The RIAA was until recently improperly using subpoenas it gained under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) to threaten ISPs, hoping to compel them to reveal names. Its attempts met, and are still meeting, with stiff legal resistance and after losing the Verizon case, the RIAA is now being forced to use due process.
Among the ISPs being attacked by the CRIA (Canadian Recording Industry Association) is high-speed cable company Shaw Communications Inc, based in Alberta.
“Shaw did not say how many of its customers were affected, but was the only company yesterday to declare it would go to Federal Court to fight for customer privacy,” says the Star, quoting chief executive Jim Shaw as saying:
“We believe this application amounts to a civil search warrant, and we do not think that the music companies’ application should override our responsibility in law to protect the rights of our customers to maintain their privacy.”
CRIA lawsuits will, “target high-volume music traders – people who store several thousand MP3 song files on their computers and make them available through the Internet for others to download,” says the story, going on:
“Bell Canada, Rogers Cable, Telus Corp. and Shaw Communications Inc. are among major Internet service providers being told to expect federal court orders early next week that would require them to identify Internet subscribers who are allegedly pirating this music.”
At least 20 people “are being pursued” and CRIA president Brian Robertson said the music industry owned trade organ has spent the past three months gathering evidence on individuals who have more than 3,000 copyrighted songs in their computers.
“Using sophisticated Internet surveillance technology, the association has tracked computers – identified online through their Internet protocol or ‘IP’ addresses – that are actively trading copyrighted songs,” says the Star. “The next step is to match those IP addresses with subscriber information so the alleged pirates can be identified.”
Whether or not identities unearthed in this way would stand up in court is a very big question. Despite the fact the RIAA has sued almost 1,000 victims, no one has ever stood up against them in court, preferring to settle rather than risk a battle with Big Music’s highly paid lawyers.
And the ’sophisticated Internet surveillance technology’ too is highly suspect.
But, “Critics of the music industry say record labels will not gain sympathy by suing their own customers,” Howard Knopf, an Ottawa intellectual property lawyer, says in the Star report. ‘
“Real live kids and their families should not become collateral damage in test cases where the law is uncertain and the industry is desperately seeking scapegoats.”
Does any of this look familiar?
February 13th, 2004 at 5:15 pm
The music industry should look at the top selling cd,s to see why they sell and not others. I buy cd,s that are full of good music and not filler songs. I down lownload because the rest of the cd is crap. Also the price is way to high. The rich always want to get richer. The new ones want to get known and file swapping is the best way to do that. My kids all download and when they find something they like they really want the cd. They are shooting themselfs in the foot.
February 13th, 2004 at 6:45 pm
The music industry has treated their clients, us, as cash cows since they started. First the music industry tried to stop tapes from being able to copy, then the movie industry also tried to ban copying of videos. However, I believe that aritists need to make a living like anyone else, and as such we should buy resonably priced cds, where the profits are geared towards the artists and not the “high priced” music industry, that basically has the artists by the balls too. If an artist wants his/her music to get out, they must take like a 3% cut off of a 15 dollar cd?!@! Or, they get it on the web.
I tip my hat to Shaw for sticking it to “the man” and forcing the music industry to stop bulling artists, people and government for their own greedy means.
Bring down the price of music and stop being jerks, and the people will start buying music again. I know that because of this, I will attempt to download as much as I can just to spite their bullying, and when they stop I will start buying again.
February 13th, 2004 at 6:56 pm
I agree 100% with the previous poster. I have downloaded many complete albums from artists that either get limited airplay or none at all. My buying habits have increased a thousandfold. If it were not for the availability of music on the P2P networks, I would have never even heard this music, never mind buying it.
February 13th, 2004 at 7:39 pm
If you think that a record company makes piles of money selling CD’s and the artist gets screwed, you’re wrong. Can you name one artist looking to get off the ground that had the millions of dollars up front to record, market, press and distribute the record across the country / world?
Take Eminem for instance since we’ve all seen “8 Mile”. Do YOU REALLY think that he could have made it or been successful if he didn’t have a big record company paying his way until he was popular? How in god’s earth would he have got his music out across the world? On what, a factory workers salary? Give your head a shake!
The bottom line is this… if you don’t like the price of CD’s, don’t buy them… that’s fine with me. But don’t go stealing music because you think it should be free or you’re sticking it to “the man”. There’s lots of stuff that is overpriced… hell, do you want a Porsche? I do! Do I have the right to walk up and drive off in it for free? No. Is it overpriced? In my eyes, YES… $150,000 for a car is overpriced. Therefore, if I can’t have it and think it costs too much, I don’t buy it. Simple.
I’ve got news for you brother, I hope you don’t work in an industry that will fall prey to mass theft, because the day that happens, I’d love to be able to get the products your company makes for free… you know, just so you can go home to your wife and kids without a job and watch the underground economy thrive too!
Another example closer to the music copyrights issue:
Why don’t I just open a burger joint and put the McDonalds logo on it? Hell, why not? That logo is just a drawing, right?… Who can say whether that logo belongs to them? it’s just copyright laws that protect McDonalds logos… much like the music industry’s music.
Better yet, I’ll open a numbered company, put the McDonalds logo on the window and sell burgers. When the company comes to sue me, I don’t think that the government should be able to tell McDonalds who the numbered company belongs to and I can continue doing business… I’m just a victim of big corporate people and should be protected, right? imagine the anarchy if copyrights couldn’t be protected? Imagine product quality if everybody in the world could make whatever they want and steal the copyright from someone who put time into making it famous and reliable?
Stealing is stealing. I don’t care if it’s a cars or copyrights, it’s stealing. Grow up children!
February 13th, 2004 at 8:01 pm
I guess I will be forced to go back to making compact-cassette tapes of my favorite tunes from my FM radio !
February 13th, 2004 at 11:46 pm
Sue them if you must but if you choose this avenue for restitution drop the damn levy on the CD media I use for photos and hard drive backup. These guys want it all ways.
February 14th, 2004 at 3:39 am
If I can record from the radio then the internet should be no dif. It is not stealing as it has not been proven so.Make good music and it will sell. Make a cd with one or two good songs on it and it will not. Why do think big shiney tunes and others sell so well. I quite often are looking for an odd peice of music and without file swapping I would not find it. I will record music and buy music get used to it and compete with it not regulate it.
February 14th, 2004 at 12:36 pm
If you dont want people doing what they are doing,why doesnt one of the record company’s start up retailers that you could go to pay a flat fee for a cd and give them a list of all the good songs you want on the cd by the artist that recorded it. I for one would love to be able to do that.Then all this wouldnt be necessary. Or does this make to much sense?
February 14th, 2004 at 4:57 pm
Maybe the reason that the RIAA is attacking their customers is because the RIAA leadership is in a frenzied panic. New technologies are unfolding that provide a totally new way to distribute music, and the current flock of music executives have become too narcissistic to bother to learn something new. Also, they might fear that others will become more familiar with these new methods than they ever could, and will depose them in their roles as music executives. The executives coldly ignore the benefit of their customers, so that they can continue in their callously self-serving outmoded but well understood methods.
What about the shareholders in these music companies? They, along with millions of music lovers, are being abused and ripped off, since the incompetent behaviors of the executives entrusted with running their companies are serving the executives’ own needs, rather than returning a fair profit to the shareholders.
Maybe this whole mess will resolve in class action lawsuits against the officers of these music industry companies, which could lead to those scoundrels being broken at the bank, and run out of the business. Once that crew is packed off, those who love music lovers will be in a position to transform the music industry into the Information Age, to all of our benefit. Cheers!
February 14th, 2004 at 5:28 pm
Hey there, superior smart guy! Why stop in your bowing down with your few suggestions? Why not research your geneology, figure out what patch of land your most usual ancestors served on as bound peasants under fealty, and return, hat in hand, to submit to your master, from whom your ancestors callously stole your lineage! Don’t you feel like you are continuing your family’s tradition of thievery, otherwise? Like you said, stealing is stealing.
Can you imagine what it must have been like for your ancestors’ master? It must of been really upsetting for all of his servants to run away, or, even worse, to have deposed him. As you suggest, grow up (down?) and return to your position as a low servant!!!
Meanwhile, I enjoy being a free individual in the Information Age. In the same way a bear might take me in the forest, I know that there are risks, but I will breathe deeply and enjoy life, until then. Those who fear bears in the forest should stay in their master’s castle, and tremble in his presence.
Sorry about having to leave you behind . . . you can always catch up, later, if you have a change of heart. By the way, I am happy to pay a reasonable monthly flat fee, similar to ISP fees, for unlimited downloads. Since there are no raw materials consumed in this process, many billions in additional profits will be generated as soon as the music industry grows up and joins the Information Age, itself.
Cheers!
February 15th, 2004 at 1:28 am
Copyright violation does not equate theft. What the music industry are telling you is FUD. Even the copyright laws themselves do not use the term theft.
Copyright is a temperory time period for the exclusive copy/production right before it will be release to the pubic domain.
i.e. the public will have ownership after the term expires.
The people that can be accused of stealings are the ones that push for copyright extensions and/or forcing additional restrictions on the media (aka Digital Rights Managements etc) and/or levy on media.
Are they going to release the music into public domain after the copyright term is over when they don’t even let you exercise your fair use rights ? Remeber folks, you pay levy on every single CDR you purchase whether or not you are going to copy music.
February 15th, 2004 at 1:48 am
i can’t believe they would specifically create software for the sole purpose of hunting down and going after people that file swap, if you’re gonna make software like that for use on the net, GO AFTER THE PERVERTS FIRST, i don’t think the person with a few hundred or even a few thousand is a danger to society, if you’re gonna use software like that, use it for something that’ll truly benefit society, not line the pockets of record companies.
February 15th, 2004 at 9:24 am
File shareing, in itself, is OK. I send you something, you send me something. Yeah.
MP3s are OK. They’ve been OK since *before* you even had highspeed internet, when you attemtpted to rip a CD onto your hard drive and test out that new subwoofer speaker system.
And when you did get high speed internet, you went looking for that great “high speed” content they talk about, and the content was not there. It simply isn’t there. Hey you can mail-order DVDs upto 75x faster than dial-up. wow.
WHERE IS THE CONTENT?
As anyone who knows will tell you, content is expensive to serve. And it’s hard to sell. I mean, the designer of this webpage can have his entire work ripped with a few mouse clicks. And so can photographers. Why is music the hot issue?
Well not too many downloaders understand the history behind, well, music business and why it works the way it does. To sum a potential rant up quickly, we still need concerts & people aroud the world want our music and believe or not the Internet is not always the best international medium to distribute music!
GIVE THEM CONTENT.
Most Internet users they….. listen to music. SURPRISE!
They even used to be customers of local record stores. And since *you* don’t give them content online (videos, high quality audio, interviews, concert dates, etc.), they’re misusing your product, the CD, to make up for it. And by now all hell’s broken loose and all your products are all over the Net and there’s even Win32 applications to find them!! haha
Game OVER….. so sad… DAT & MD are almost smiling back at you now, Industry. (those are failed digital formats, btw)
WOULD YOU LEND YOUR CDS TO STRANGERS??
No, personally I wouldn’t.
But once you put your CD in a computer, you’re actually steps away from lending it to easily hundreds a month.
That’s not *really* what you wanna do right? You just want to listen to some music, not give out copies of your purchased disc right!?!
Blame the labels. There’s not enough true good online content from the source. People without computers don’t – share – files! You need to make the high speed users happy about buying music and that’s IT – poof no more massive & growing p2p problem.
The p2p networks should & will survive, they are legal. But people must feel that music experience is worth something so that they don’t misuse it. After all, no one wants to ripoff the artist. And if the artist wanted to be independant, there are routes for that you have to admit. They got big money to be known by random people in far away countries and every half-penny of that CD goes somewhere, into someone’s paycheck, not just the big boss.
Would you share CDs with strangers? Why would you share MP3s of those very CDs. That’s so backward, it’s even MORE effort! haha.
Music ownership is a great feeling. You had it once. But lack of high speed content ruined it. Getting high speed internet ruined music for you. Think back, please tell me I’m wrong…
People used to listen to records, read the liner notes.
Do you ever just sit & listen to a CD?
Thanks.
February 15th, 2004 at 10:40 pm
is it just me but i was aware music file trading was completely legal in canada due to the savage tax put on recordable media such as cd-r’s to compensate cria
all revenue of this tax goes to the music companies.
if this was true someone should counter sue cria
to reemburse this fraudulent tax
get some runs on the board for global music sharers
February 16th, 2004 at 11:39 am
I KNOW the record companies and artist make piles of money.
They are only ones among us that can afford to purchase $150,000.00 cars and still get to act like children. Stop wining and be thankful the public hasn’t caught on to the scam yet, and just stops buying music all together.
February 25th, 2004 at 1:58 am
the cria & the riaa are not concerned about our reasons for downloading music. they just want it stopped anyway possible. they got pissed when they could do nothing against p2p that did not require a central server like napster. so now these lowlife fu*ks want to go after regular people.
its the greed of big corporations who want more and more. their “sales going down” and “layoffs” is bullsh*t talk. these bitc*hes have been ripping of the public for years. they will answer that they are a business and there to make a profit i.e. if u dont like the price of a cd dont pay for it.
they can make the price as high as they want and sell crap to boot but its my business if i download music. i am not stealing, i did not break into a store and take the cd’s. the music is already bought. u cant tell people what to do with something after they buy it.you might as well come to my house and tell me what to do or not to do with my computer . nobody is selling anything so ria cria go fu*k yourselvres. the bottom line here is the big corps are trying to stamp out our freedoms.
we need to be discussing stopping them. they want to scan the internet to see who is sharing. we can use the same technology to stop them and foil their efforts. I hope nobody is using the regular kazaa software. use the other kazaa versions.
hackers everywhere please offer your skills to help fight against those who would tread on the freedom of the defensless here in Canada and in the U.S.