RIAA attempts to add new, tougher laws in war against piracy

November 13, 2005

GristyMcFisty, Hypnosis4U2NV and yes,
even TrueAudio used our news submit to tell us that the battle of the
RIAA against piracy is escalating. With
studies showing a doubling of downloads in the wake of it's legal wrath against
P2P, the war against technology has been uphill to say the least. In a
new effort to litigate against this progression of crime, the RIAA
and the membership that funds it, has turned to it's favorite
ally..the legal system of the United States of America. Even though the news
submittals came from several separate sources, the message is the basically
same, so we will go with the article from PC Pro.

The law would criminalize the unauthorised copying of copyrighted material and would also enable prosecutions of people who try, but fail, to make copies of intellectual property including music, movies and software. It would also allow the seizure of assets acquired with the profits from sales of copied content.

"This legislation is a reflection of the
sustained commitment on the part of the Bush administration, including the
Department of Justice, to ensure that we are doing everything we can to
combat this problem," said US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

The proposed legislation has yet to be
presented to Congress. It has been welcomed by the Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA), but others have called for parallel
legislation to protect fair-use rights. Record and movie industry
lobbyists have been pressing for firmer restrictions on the distribution
of copyrighted content, not least because their attempts to sue file
sharers through the civil courts while netting many thousands of dollars
in "compensation" have failed to make a dent in p2p activity.

A report by the Electronic Frontier
Foundation, an organisation that campaigns for digital rights, shows that
since the RIAA began suing alleged file sharers in September 2003 the
number of p2p users has doubled. "Are the lawsuits working?," the EFF
asked. "Has the arbitrary punishment of more than 15,000 random American
families done any good in restoring public respect for copyright
law? Have the lawsuits put the p2p genie back in the bottle or
restored the record industry to its 1997 revenues? After two years of
threats and litigation, the answer is a resounding no. "Even the RIAA has
stopped claiming that its lawsuits are having an effect."

Danger...commentary ahead!

Message to the RIAA and to those that make up the membership of
this organization: Look, "sales of copied content" and
"p2p activity" are two different things. The people using
file sharing programs are not the problem, as they are not selling content. It
has been shown that they are the ones buying your content. They buy on average
more than those that do not use P2P! What you are witnessing with P2P is the
inevitable progression of the structure of things to come, it is an
evolution. Yes, you can sue an individual and you can even pull the strings
of their legal representatives, for now. But you cannot sue the future and
thank goodness, you cannot litigate against progress. This is a battle that
you cannot possibly win, hence the "doubling". Drop the crusade, you
look foolish and it is not productive to your cause.

Technology and the society that creates it, will continue to advance. The
choice is simple, it's time to adapt, get out of the way, or it is time to
die. You want to fight piracy of DVD factories or businesses that sell
copies of your content? Go ahead! The legislation is in place already.

But, trying to destroy a family or individual over the illegal possession of
lossy unauthorized music files, to set an example for others, is not going
to stop P2P, turn the tide of piracy or gussy up your bottom
lines. The headlines of those punished will be forgotten as quickly as you
shut the door on your limousine. As we can all read today, the millions that are
unaffected by such lawsuits will continue to grow at an exponential rate.
You have already witnessed that such actions will not increase sales and
numerous studies have shown that the margins are not shrinking because of it.

It would be laughable what the RIAA was trying to accomplish
against P2P, if it were not so tragic to those few that are affected by
it's civic cases. Yet, the rest of the world knows, that the problem
of piracy will continue to advance, whether we have P2P or not. Sure, it's easy
to fight those that can't fight back, but is it effective? What do you
think?

Source: PC Pro