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Is your network safe from a lawsuit

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by thechas

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In case you missed it on the news, the RIAA is in the process of collecting data from the peer to peer file sharing networks to identify those users with a "substantial" number of files available for download.

The RIAA will then force the ISP to identify the user and begin processing lawsuits against individual peer to peer users.

http://www.riaa.com/news/newsletter/062503.asp

Reguardless of your position on music file sharing, are your networks free of these files?

Is your employersafe from a lawsuit from the RIAA?

I am advising everyone I know to stop their users from logging onto any of these services.

I further recommend that all corporate and institutional network administrators remove ALL peer to peer file sharing software (KaZaA) and personal MP3 file collections from their networks.

Whether you believe music file sharing is okay is not an issue. You have a responsibility to protect your employer, and yourself, from being served with one of these lawsuits.

Chas

14 replies

by thechas

My personal position on this issue is that the music industry has it's head up it's a**!

Until the RIAA stops it's draconian attempts to collect exorbitant amounts of money for an inferior product, I will stop buying CDs.

If the music industrywant to improve sales, they need to provide a product that users are actually willing to pay for, at a reasonable price.

Further, the music industry needs to acknowledge that they are no longer the only source of entertainment. With all the entertainment options available, it is not reasonable for the music industry to believe that it's sales should stay the same.

I hope that this new tactic by the RIAA backfires on them, and the music industry enters a deep recession.

Chas

by zlitocook

I totally agree with you! The RIAA is using the sue until you get what you want. People have been saving and coping what they like sense the eight track and they are going to record what they like. The DVD is just another way for the big companies to make money off of the people who buy the movies!

by oldefar

Any corporate or institutional organization that is not interested in a court challenge to the RIAA needs to insure their employees are not using corporate resources to share music files.

However, taking a position to challenge the RIAA in court by actively pursuing shared music files could be an excellent approach towards gaining new customers and potentially positive publicity. Make sure your marketing gurus are actively involved in any challenge. :)

by road-dog

corporations that have a large number of folks downloading at work. To target individuals would be a PR nightmare due to "David vs Goliath" parallels.

If RIAA can get several hundred companies to block MP3 downloads and hammer employees for music piracy, then they are getting other companies to do their heavy lifting for them. This will also cover a lot of ground quickly, as opposed to engaging in the piecemeal approach of going after individuals.

I have already scoured all music off myservers and warned all employees in writing that my file server is not their damn jukebox. Morpheus and other software is strictly forbidden.

This was an issue of corporate asset protection and proper use. We handled this before RIAA announced their plans.

by mallardtooxx

It is coming down to this. Do we have the freedom to choose what we do with that which we consume? According to the RIAA we do not; in a world of consumers that does not bode well for the RIAA. If I, as a consumer, feel pressure from the source provider to do their bidding with their (my) product then I am not going to consume as much. This is going to really kick the RIAA in the ass and I cannot wait, I understand the precepts of the entire RIAA stance, I also understand the propensity of the PtoP group to do what they are doing. My point is this; on Kazaa or Morpheus you can download copies of any Microsoft product you want. You can also get adobe and macromedia. Do you see them hoping on this bandwagon? No because they know it is not really hurting them. Most of the time PtoP stuff is either buggy or barely usable. What does that do? It causes people to have to go out and buy a copy for themselves. This is a case of the medium changing without the RIAA's consent, they got caught with their pants down, Hell I still prefer vinyl but if I can store 80 gazillion songs on a player the size of a quarter and it never skips while I jog, then I am going to do it too. Wake up RIAA and start producing hi-fi MP3's for $.35 a download, you'd make a mint!!

by hal 9000

Accountants who can't see the trees for the forrest.
They continualy only see what they perceive they are loosing and not what a killing they could make.
This is a perfect example of an Association being so caught up in what they are currently doing that they can not see outside the square that they currently inhabit.
There is a massive opportinuty there right now for this type of thing Napstar proved that and so far nobody is trying to fill the gap left by Napstar.
The recording industry has some very interesting policies like producing cheap recordings for teenagers and far more expensive recordings for adults who have more money to play with and so more money to spend on records/CD's or whatever other media is currently availabe.
Right at the moment there are a mass of MP3 players available and so far none of the Recording Indusrty has even made an attempt to fill this market but they can't help but scream out about loss of income because they won't move to fill the large market that has opened up with the advent of new technology.
But the funny thing here is that the recording industry gets a royalty on every blank piece of media sold so they are still making money on this media but they want more without putting themselves to the trouble of filling the open market that has opened up.
I think they are getting what they diserve and until the recording industry makes a serious attempt to fill this market the pratice will continue as there is no alternative other than ripping a WAV file to MP3 for all these players that are currently available. Even some Cell phones have MP3 players that can be loaded from a computer and so far the recording industry has made no attempt to satisfy this large market that has developed over the past few years.

by thechas

I might be wrong, but at least in the US, I don't believe that the royalty on blank media ever made it through our Congress.

There were too many issues with how the money from the fee would be distributed.

The only media that I am aware of that does have a royalty is the Music CD-R blank that is required for stand alone stereo system recorders.

Interestingly, the audio equipment industry bowed to pressure from the RIAA and included digital copy protection and the requirement for special media in component audio CD recorders.

Issues over copy protection is part of why DAT never made it past studio use in the US.

Chas

by thechas

The US major recording labels have NEVER been interested in providing what the consumer wants.

They are focused on 1 thing, and that is money.
Money for the lavish lifestyles of the executives and their pals.

Even the artists get a raw deal from the record labels.
After the industry removes their 'cut', very few artists can survive off of royalties.
They have no choice but to go on concert tours.

Quality control for vinyl records and tapes was limited to no skips with a heavy cartridge, and no broken tape.

It can be argued that the record industry fostered home taping in the 70's due to the very poor quality of the pre-recorded tapes they offered, at a premium price.
Even with a cheap stereo system, you could create a better sounding tape that lasted longer.

The CD was looked upon as a method to extract more money from the consumer rather than a way to provide better sound.

MP3, they are not interested since the recording industry did not create the format. Nor, can they control it.

As far as content, there is very little invested beyond teenage pop music.

Chas

by hal 9000

Has 2 different price catorgories that they catter to the first and the biggest in terms of sales is the young teenage market. This market has less to spend so their recordings are generally cheaper than the rest as the music industry wants to get them hooked for life {like the tabacco industry} so they offer cheap items for this market.

The other market is for the late teen and adults who normally have a higher disposable income so their recordings are more expensive to buy. While this is asmaller sales market it is the bigger income generator for the Labels so they push this heavly for their own ends but they work on the theroy that is "Get Them Young and You'll Have them For Life."

This is the main reason for the two teired pricing system for most music sold.

by guruofdos

The RIAA, I think, stands for Recording Industry Association of America. Note the operative word...America!

They have no legal clout or jurisdiction OUTSIDE the US, so servers hosted outside the US are immune to any of their attempts to track users or get personal information. As Kazaa is hosted in Australia and the majority of OpenNap protocol servers are in Europe and the Far East, this will be a problem for them anyway.

In the UK, there has for a long time been a royalty payable on blank media and CD-R disks for consumer audio have a subcode written onto them which is read by domestic CD-R machines so that only 'royalty paid' media can be used for recording with these devices. Even the humble compact cassette has a royalty which is collected by the Performing Rights Society (the UK equivalent of RIAA) and then redistributed to the industry.

Intresting to note...I attempted to use 'royalty-paid' blanks for writing audio disks, but they are not as good as bulk 10p (16c) a throw 'data' blanks! Not only that, but TDK-CDRXG 'royalty paid' disks are currently being sold at three packs for the price of one in a national supermarket chain here...so does that mean the PRS are only making 1/3 of the royalty per disk?!!!

by hal 9000

On all tape both audio and video the recording industry makes a cut on, this has been going on for a very long time now in most parts of the world and was started in America about the time that mobile cassetts became available as this was really thefirst time that it was possible to make masses of copies of music for the car and the like. It is only natural to expect this to be carried across to the CD like it has been in Australia.

One of the really big areas for the music industry is in the video clip and this is mainly aimed at the young teenager who just lacks the money to go out and buy these videos so the industry gets far more from their slice on every video tape rather than just the ones sold for music clip recordings.

Currently Microsoft is even instigating Legal action against manafactures of blank CD's for pirating their product so they not only go after the real pirates but the suppliers of the blank media as well. So they know which side their bread is buttered ondon't they?

by thechas

I still do not believe that there is a fee in the US on blank audio or video tape.

I know that the movie and music industries tried VERY hard to get a royalty fee added.

In adition to blank music CD-R disks, there is a fee on both CD and DAT audio recorders, but not on computer CD media or recorders.

http://www.aarcroyalties.com/ahra.html

The RIAA and movie industries have had a very hard time getting any legislation through the US Congress.
The copyright issues do not directly affect many workers in the US, nor is the impact felt to have a major impact on the US economy.
Further, with the high concentration of the industry in California, it is very hard for them to get the broad range of support needed to get the attention of our Congress.

The US movie industry has taken it's concerns on the road, and is getting very good results on a state by state basis with laws that give them the right to access ANY computer that they suspect has illeagal copies of movies on them.
These laws are so bad, that they technically ban ALL use of firewalls on computer networks.

Chas

by thechas

This is interesting.

I find that the rock music I like is usually priced lower than the teen pop CDs here in the US.
The latest Pop CDs sell for $15 to $20.
Classic rock CDs sell for $10.

Jazz and "New Age" music is the same price as the teen pop.

Classical pricing depends on the Artist.
If you avoid the major Orchestras, you can find classical CDs for under $3 US.

What does this all mean?

In the US, teens have more "disposable" money than their parents do. The entertainment industry knows this, and looks to make their profits where the volume is.
In the US, the recording industry has always made their profits from the teen market.

The problem the music industry actually faces is that teens have more entertainment options now than ever before. While teens are spending more money on entertainment, they are spending less on music. Between movies, concerts, video games and DVDs, teens are starting to make choices based on the value of the entertainment.

Talkingwith my teenage daughter, she does not feel that it is worth spending $15 on a music CD that only has 1 or 2 songs she likes.

The music industry is in charge of it's own destiny. If it provides music that is worth buying, sales will improve.

Iread last night that the music sharing networks are working on software that will mask the identity of the users. So the battle escalates.

Chas

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