Columns A DRMerry New Year

http://www.bit-tech.net/columns/2007/12/31/a_drmerry_new_year/1

On the last day of 2007, columnist Brett Thomas takes a look back at a year of the People vs. the RIAA. Who fought, who won, and what we have to look forward to in 2008 - a DRMerry New Year.

 

Nice column Brett. Thanks for reminding me how absolutely insane our legal system is

 

I actually find that depressing. The RIAA needs to be stopped. Or, at least change severely. For consumer rights!

 

Although allofmp3.com is currently (and possibly forever) closed, they are still operating under 3 other names.

 

All I can say is F**K THE RIAA!!!!!

You can't even back up your CD's onto your computer without getting sued now, so how are you supposed to put the music that you paid for and own on CD onto your MP3 player?

All actions like this from the RIAA are going to achieve is to generate bad press and negative public opinion towards them, I mean when was the last time you saw a successful misician short of cash and searching through a bin for their next meal?

Long live torrents!

 

Wait... people still buy music?

*cough*

 

Nice article Brett, as Firehed says, simply reminds me of the insanity of the legal system.

I can't believe the RIAA can take half the crap they say/do seriously.

 

Be the second to say

F**K the RIAA

Bringing the suing culture of big american companies to everyone else

 

I'm so glad I don't live in America and am outside the reach of the RIAA. They really are ridiculous - the more money you have, the more power you have.

 

You might find out that you actually are in reach of the RIAA, as AllOfMP3 was.

The only thing that really worries me is the Howell vs, RIAA case. I do not download any music, even though I am poor. I simply don't need thousands of songs. But did the RIAA ever actually listen to a song downloaded from Itunes? A CD still has far superior sound compared to anything you can buy online. What is their goal here? Getting people to not buy music anymore at all, but only steal as we are sued anyway? Should we not buy CDs anymore but rather lay aside the money for a good lawyer?

The thing that really gets me is that the music you can steal online not only is DRM free so it will work on any device, but it actually has better quality.

 

I hate the double standard between the music and video formats. we are allowed to have vcr recorders, dvd recorders, even things like tivo or other digital recorder/burner. why is that legal and me buying a cd for me, to listen on my ipod(usually located in my car) or on my computer illegal? i hate using CD's. they are big, get scratched easily, and not a stable format in my mind. i think we should honestly start a protest. stop buying all forms of music for at least 1 month. no itunes, no cd's, not even using bittorrent or other online services. this needs to stop.

does this mean that anybody that made a mix tape for a significant other is also breaking the law? why not go retroactive and try and get them too? see the logic? thank you RIAA for making me sad i live in america.

 

The RIAA is going to mess with the wrong person one day.
Nothing leads to revolution faster than oppression.
When the government takes music away from the people, there will be blood.

 

^^^ sorry, that was a bit more threatening than intended, but the RIAA makes me enraged like nothing else.

 

to be fair jamie tomas did nothing to help her self, like failing to give right hard drive to prosecution, claiming it was a wardrivers doing, whilst not actually having any wifi products in the house.

remember reading that the jury were harsh on her because of the antics of the defense....

cant say i agree in the slightest with the actions of RIAA, the MPAA, or the general missue of DMCA laws at all, especially when american law spills over its borders

welcome to the new world order....

 

i think i will start a movement to embargo all things that have RIAA (or any other acronym that states stupidity or oppression) stamped on them..... and all artists that support them..... i want them to starve to death....
Today artists have the power and the technology to make their stuff at home and sell it over the internet, either it be digital media at a nice price or even lower price when it becomes profit and then make it free 1 or 2 years latter, they can also sell the CDs, you buy them, they post it to you, CD burners are everywhere these days for cheap, blank media is cheap, they could even sell ipods and other mp3 players filled up with their music.... the commissions would be nice.

 

A hard drive she no longer had because it had failed and been replaced months before the court case was even brought!

 

if digital copies are illegal (unless you've got 1 copy bought online) wouldn't that make the contents of every Zune/phone/iPod/mp3 device illegal in the eyes of the RIAA? wow. just wow.

They really need a wakeup call, and a f*** you from the US government

 

What could be interesting is that Antigua & Barbuda recently won the right from the WTO to ignore $21 million per annum in US copyrights - sound like a good place for an internet radio station or CD/DVD copying operation?

 

I wonder, since the RIAA is so massive and basically brown noses all the legal / politicians everywhere with lobbying and propaganda, shouldn't there be some equally large, powerful entity working to counter them? Maybe a civil liberties group? They could be sponsored like a charity and then when the RIAA tries to sue someone for downloading 2 songs, they could have specialist lawyers on hand to defend them in the name of getting the law right, rather than protecting individuals.

But politicians (Stephen Dorrell) I've spoke to on this matter don't really have a backbone. They say it's best left to the private market and that government intervention does no good. That's in the UK though.

 

I want to comment on AllOfMP3 bit.
First thing to note is that buying music from the site was legal only for the residents of Russia. Media group that was gathering royalties was using loopholes in the law which allowed it to sell music of any artist without even telling the rights holder. And they could sell it at any price their want too. This kind of distribution is not legal abroad. So people from other countries who did buy music from AllOfMP3 did the same thing as downloading via bit torrent, only they payed to the pirates who ran the site for their convenience. To put it simple: what may be legal in a country with lame IP protection (and there are many besides Russia) doesn't legitimise sales in the rest of the world.
Russia was required to set "things right" on the IP field as a requirement for joining WTO, so in summer of 2007 the new law was introduced that made such practice illegal. However it was passed with haste and therefore it can't address the situation as a whole. Although AllOfMP3 was put to rest many followers sprang to life, as you have noted. Starting from 1st of January 2008 another law will allow to actually do something against those sites which became illegal back in summer. I can't predict if this new law will be effective, but I'm sure that in order to get into WTO Russian parliament will continue stomping anything that blocks the way. In the end these sites will cease to exist (in Russia).

Another note on RIAA. Please remeber that RIAA's competition is to protect the rights of content producers. But, say, if NBC pulls its shows off iTunes store it has nothing to do with RIAA. It is a decision of content producer, NBC.