New RIAA promo tool: Kazaa
p2pnet.net News:- In days of yore, when the corporate record labels wanted air-time for one of their tunes, they’d fire CDs at every DJ and his brother.
But not any more.
That’s because they’ve found a clever, new ‘high tech’ way of getting the music out.
It’s called Kazaa, the self-same p2p file sharing application used by many, if not most, of the 19,000 or so men, women and children the RIAA has singled out as the back-drop for its bizarre RIAA sue ‘em all marketing campaign.
“I’ve been informed by more than one source that the major labels have encouraged the use of the very p2p networks they’re villifying,” Ray Beckerman, the New York lawyer who’s representing a number of RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) victims, has told p2pnet.
“Radio DJs have said the record company people who used to drop by with CDs would instead now tell them to get Kazaa, or gnutella or something, and download the song files that way.
“We have numerous affirmative defenses which would be supported by the fact that the RIAA has encouraged the very conduct it’s suing Marie Lindor for,” Beckerman says angrily.
Lindor is the Brooklyn, New York, home health aide who’s being sued by the Big Four Organized Music cartel’s RIAA.
Although she literally doesn’t know one end of a computer from another and has never even turned one on, according to Warner Music, Vivendi Universal, EMI and Sony BMG, she’s been using an “online distribution system” to, “download, distribute, and/or make available for distribution” copyrighted music.
Now Beckerman wants to see just how common the practice of employing the likes of Kazaa as a free corporate p2p promotional vehicle is, asking interested parties to call him at 212-763-6809, or email him here.
Definitely stay tuned.
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July 26th, 2006 at 7:59 pm
Hey Jon,
Any more info about the Patti Santangelo case?
July 26th, 2006 at 9:48 pm
If this is widespread, wouldn’t that make these cases a civil version of entrapment?
RIAA: “Go to kazaa and download the single”
DJ: “ok”
DJ downloads MP3
RIAA: “ha… I’m suing you for ‘illegal downloading’”
DJ: “but you told me…wait, is that even a real term?”
RIAA: “It doesn’t matter… I have more pull than some nations, so I can do whatever I want. You owe me $1,568,734. Or we can settle for $4600.”
July 26th, 2006 at 11:51 pm
Unfortunately they probably can authorise the networks use on a case by case basis; may not help the individuals being sued but could help the networks. If I were a DJ I’d be wanting it in writing though or better still I’d wanna tape the coversation for future prosperity.
July 28th, 2006 at 8:49 am
HookedOnFonix says –
This is really vile. You know, I haven’t downloaded anything…or uploaded to another machine any content, illegal or otherwise, for a very long time. I stopped because I really couldn’t afford to see my IP end up on a “John Doe” lawsuit list.
There is a certain amount of “true stupidity” that only greed and a whole lot of money can give an entity. …enter music bigwigs…stage right would be fine. …True stupidity….I’ll help you out with this one.
When you have enough money to think that a current group of people…like filesharers let’s say, will eventually go away when you make them, and your bread truck will be rolling in again…this is true stupidity.
When you think that “we the people” simply live without you and your product(s)….this is true stupidity.
If you think that selling poor quality content from a paysite is going to get filesharers to “flock” to your services….you might think about having another tall one….and trust me here, it won’t hurt the “truly stupid”. ….so go ahead, drink up….
If you think that I’ll use a service that involves my buying music from said service that you bullied and harassed other users with….(yeah, insert phrase here….)
By the way…so that the world knows, I don’t/won’t be buying anything from anyone that is associated with any group that “bites the hand that feeds”.
To bad that you still think that your bottom line is my bottom dollar. Please rest assured…your new bottom line doesn’t involve any of my bottom dollars…for music or other items bearing the names of entities that have zero (0) common sense…like Sony.
~HOF(a.k.a. Anon Coward…that’s pretty funny!!)
July 28th, 2006 at 7:03 pm
Almost entirely, the list of victims grabbed out of cyberspace have come from Kazaa. Acting on behalf of the RIAA, Loudeye seeded the p2p with trojans, fake files, viruses, and you name it. Anyone that had any sense got out of Kazaa long ago or became a security expert if they are still there. So who is left to download anything from there?
Loaded with spyware didn’t help Kazaa’s reputation either. While I personally have never been to Kazaa, some of the other apps started at one time to follow the idea of the spyware insertion in to other p2p clients. While some I suspect were part of Big Champaigns’ efforts to get tracking figures, others were just plain ad shovelers.
In other p2p places it was always suspected that this preadvertisement happened. Very often new stuff showed up that wasn’t on the market yet. Only an insider would have access to such. It is often a standard practice (or was) to pass on samples in the form of cds and albums of artists to other insiders to check out new stuff for appeal. Kazaa makes far more sense in that in that they had a ready market trial consisting of millions and could be done for free.
This just makes too much sense not to have been so, given how hungry and greedy the cartel is.