Individual ReplayTV Users Pulled Into Lawsuit

1010011010 writes "A moderator on the AVSForum website has been deposed in the lawsuit against SonicBLUE. He says, "Never forget that the internet is as huge as it is tiny. Your off-the-cuff remark on some website you don't even remember visiting may someday be presented to you on a sheet of paper with an exhibit number." He goes on, "Right now, the RIAA has shown that it is perfectly willing to sue individual users who are believed to be sharing copyrighted material over the internet. I believe that it is certainly possible that copyright holders may seek to make their point directly to the users of ReplayTV by suing those users who are believed to be using the Show Sharing in a manner that they believe infringes on their copyrights." And, "I present this scenario, along with my first comment, in order to make sure that people understand what could possibly be at stake in this case. I know it seems unfathomable that you could buy a consumer electronics device at Best Buy and then be sued for using all of its features. There was a time when I would have said "what would they do, sue everyone?" But now I realize that the answer is that they don't have to sue everyone. They just need to sue a few to make the point." This worries me, as I've written my own software client (I'll decline linking to it here, thanks) for the Replay, so that I can perform the digital equivalent of saving shows I like on VHS tape, just like the Boston Strangler. I wonder if I will be re-living the CueCat vague-legal-threat experience, except that this time it won't be so vague? Maybe this should be an Ask Slashdot -- "Where does the RIAA get off?" As jleavens, the moderator who was deposed, goes on to say, "Join the EFF or simply donate a few dollars (http://www.eff.org/perl/join)." I would like to add, "Do not support the RIAA and other greedy organizations actively working to screw you." Yeah, seems obvious. Do something about it. Don't just not buy their CDs. Do everything you can to let people know how awful they are. And, if they want to use the legal system -- well, that's a sword with two edges. How do we get the RIAA outlawed? I think it's come to, "What's bad for the RIAA is good for America.""

Comments

Here's a tip to kill the RIAA:

[torpor]

- Write your own damn music.

- Only buy music from people you personally know.

This is not as difficult as it seems...

You don't need 'recording artists' any more ...

Re:getting rid of the RIAA

[ConceptJunkie]

I'd like to see more publicity about the non-RIAA success stories like the album The Artist Formerly Known As The Artist Formerly Known As Prince released and marketed himself over the Internet. Doing his own distribution, he was able to make 95% profit. I don't know how accurate this story is, and of course, Prince has many years of success and noteriety behind him.

Still, with organizations like MP3.com growing and the record companies constantly pushing themselves into irrelevance by hyping the same old boring crap (of course, it sells...) and tenaciously holding on to a 19th century distribution scheme, the demise of the RIAA is imminent. But unfortunately, as Disney has shown, they can buy their way into continued existence and monopoly.

Re:Individual ReplayTV Users NOT Pulled Into Lawsu

[Sheetrock]

They probably could have used more specific terminology than 'pulled into this lawsuit' (which gives the idea that they're being sued to the casual reader), but this should have been front paged in my opinion. The real story here is that nobody can assume that they can relax and chat on the Internet without the risk of getting served with papers or an investigation (the K5 incident) if they don't carefully watch what they say. This is dangerous as hell to the free exchange of public information over the best tool we've got to do it, but the public good hasn't a leg to stand on against private interests.

But a deposition, sucky as it is especially if you have to travel to give it, is still a far cry from being on the receiving end of the type of legal hurt the RIAA can deliver.