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Filesharing Issues

post #1 of 17
6/26/03 at 1:48pm
Thread Starter 
Can anyone give me a succint breakdown of what is currently happening in regards to the file-sharing issue? I know that just today something came up in regards to lawsuits against users of P2P networks and was wondering what is going on and what, presently, to watch out for.
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post #2 of 17
6/26/03 at 1:50pm
Quote:
CTDeLude:
Can anyone give me a succint breakdown of what is currently happening in regards to the file-sharing issue?
Basically, you're about to get sued.
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post #3 of 17
6/26/03 at 1:58pm
Thread Starter 
Alright, scratch succint and give me a detailed breakdown of what is going on.
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post #4 of 17
6/26/03 at 2:02pm
RIAA is allowed to use P2P technology to see what files you have on your computer. If they determine that you have a lot (I forget the official word they used, but it was intentionally vague, like a lot) they can take your IP address to your ISP and find out who you are. The ISP is required to tell them your identity, and you will be served with a summons. A single song can cost you from $150 to $10000, and typical users have hundreds of songs.

Typically, the RIAA settles out of court.

All this is from my memory of an NPR story that aired this morning on my way to work. I was a little sleepy so the details may be a little off, but the gist is accurate.
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post #5 of 17
6/26/03 at 2:15pm
Quote:
Jankis wipes with silk:
RIAA is allowed to use P2P technology to see what files you have on your computer. If they determine that you have a lot (I forget the official word they used, but it was intentionally vague, like a lot) they can take your IP address to your ISP and find out who you are. The ISP is required to tell them your identity, and you will be served with a summons. A single song can cost you from $150 to $10000, and typical users have hundreds of songs.

Typically, the RIAA settles out of court.

All this is from my memory of an NPR story that aired this morning on my way to work. I was a little sleepy so the details may be a little off, but the gist is accurate.
Basically, this damn broke when the courts set a precedent by allowing the RIAA to force Verizon Wireless to give up the names of customers who'd been doing massive file-sharing over Verizon's bandwith.

So, now they're going to use this ruling to hit every ISP possible to make high-profile public examples to scare off every other file-trader.

...which will of course, accelerate the migration over to sources like Bit Torrent and other newer harder-to-trace file-sharing services.
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post #6 of 17
6/26/03 at 2:17pm
The word I was trying to think of is multitute. If they determine that you have a multitude of files, they'll sue you. No one knows how many a multitude is. I think it's pi.
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post #7 of 17
6/26/03 at 2:49pm
Quote:
Jankis wipes with silk:
The word I was trying to think of is multitute.
I doubt that. But...

Quote:
Micah Robinson:
Basically, this damn broke...
Interesting pun.

OK, done being a smartass.
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post #8 of 17
6/26/03 at 2:55pm
No, I was actually thinking of multitute. ... fucker. It's funny to me that I got it right the second time.

Nice catch.
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post #9 of 17
6/26/03 at 3:18pm
The breakdown is they're going after uploaders more stringently than downloaders. If you're serving up these things illegally you're in for a shock sometime soon.

So if I were to serve up scanned copies of the latest Harry Potter book in *.pdf for free...
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post #10 of 17
6/26/03 at 5:27pm
Thread Starter 
<a href="http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,59392,00.html" target="_blank">http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,59392,00.html</a>

Here is a article that seems to get into the situation pretty good.
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post #11 of 17
6/26/03 at 5:32pm
Quote:
Kronos & Macleane:
So if I were to serve up scanned copies of the latest Harry Potter book in *.pdf for free...
Get in line. About a thousand people have done that already.
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post #12 of 17
6/26/03 at 5:38pm
Which explains the poor sales...
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post #13 of 17
6/26/03 at 5:43pm
I'm curious to see what happens when they try to sue someone from another country. Preferably one with a non-extradition policy.
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post #14 of 17
6/26/03 at 8:38pm
Considering the huge numbers of file sharers out there, does the RIAA really have the resources to sue a significant number of them? Heck, even if just a small percentage of those sued fight back, this could become a legal nightmare. Or is the whole thing just a scare tactic to make filesharers repent their evil ways?
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post #15 of 17
6/26/03 at 8:59pm
Thread Starter 
Well there was another article on Wired that mentioned they would at first send cease and desist letters...
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post #16 of 17
6/26/03 at 9:06pm
I think this is mostly a scare tactic. There's no way you can sue tens of millions of people. They'll sue you right back... and they have superior numbers.

I read an article on this in the paper this morning. They used breaking speed limits as an analogy. Basically, some lawyer for RIAA said, "What if tens of millions of people broke the speed limit? They'd get tickets, of course."

That's a bad analogy. Let me make it better. If tens of millions of people are speeding down a road, some will get tickets at first... but then guess what? The speed limit will be raised. You just can't win against THAT many people.
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post #17 of 17
6/26/03 at 9:09pm
As I think about this more... this is really stupid of them. Their own consumers are the ones file-sharing... as most people who file-share also buy their records... so their pissing off their customers. Metallica-like back-lash follows.
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