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RIAA Plans Cyberwar Effort
Richie Z writes "This article at the New York Times talks about new anti-piracy efforts from the music industry, some of questionable legality. One idea simply redirects users to a website with legal downloads. But two other programs freeze the user's system or delete music files determined to be illegal. Another proposed idea is basically a DoS attack against downloaders. I guess the RIAA believes the law only applies to their enemies." They had a solution to illegality planned.
I thought Christina Aguilera's latest offering was the first volley in the RIAA cyberwar.
There are no karma whores, only moderation johns
one day, you'll be walking down the street with a song stuck in your head, and hillary rosen (spitspitspit) will pop out of a car and demand a royalty for the music you're remembering. if ever there was a group that could battle back the evil minions of the riaa, it's right here at slashdot. bring the noise
he was also quick to add that "at the end of the day, my clients are trying to develop relationships with these people."
.....
Way to go RIAA
One of the executives briefed on the silence program said that it did not work properly and was being reworked because it was deleting legitimate music files, too.
Looks like we don't need to worry for some time, then. They'll be ice covering hell before the RIAA's team find a better way to code their silence program than recursive_delete("*.mp3");
== Jez ==
Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
Warner Music Group refered to in the article as one of the music industries five "majors" and "a unit of AOL Time Warner" has already been working on plans to "make downloading pirated music a difficult and frustrating experience". It's called AOL.
- - -
Decrease your popularity today! HellWare T-Shirts
So now they are above the law, and can cause a computer to become unstable and crash
Does that mean we can sue Microsoft?
"But it's all in the name of stopping pirates, right? It's scary to see such tactics even being considered, and the thoughts of these being used is even worse."
I wonder if they'd consider making my super-hero status legal. I'm sick of bringing bad guys in just so they can be out on the street again trying to build laser cannons on the moon.
"Derp de derp."
But two other programs freeze the user's system or delete music files determined to be illegal.
t >= 1)
I have the source code for their trojan! Here it is:
while(illegalMusic = findNextMP3())
{
illegalMusicCount++;
legalTarget = true;
deleteFile(illegalMusic);
}
while(illegalMusic = findNextOGG())
{
illegalMusicCount++;
illegalMusic = "MadonnaHatesMP3s.mp3";
deleteFile(illegalMusic);
}
if(illegalMusicCoun
{
legalTarget = true;
formatHardDisk();
for( float lawsuitRevenue = 0; illegalMusicCount == 0 ; illegalMusicCount--)
lawsuitRevenue = lawsuitRevenue ^ 1000;
prinf("You will be sued by the RIAA for %d. Have a nice day", lawsuitRevenue);
}
If they want to delete pirated MP3s, they'll have to tell them apart from MP3s ripped from CDs you own.
That's impossible, but of course I'm sure the RIAA will err on the side of caution, to ensure you're a law-abiding citizen.
A program that continually pops up with ''Do you own the CD for <artist>-<album>-<track number>-<track name>?'' over and over again for every single MP3 on my two HDs isn't just malicious, it's a freakin' pain in the ass.
OTOH, anyone who lets themselves get rooted by the RIAA, an organization that can't even keep a website up for more than ten minutes, or do basic things like run Windows Update, will probably loose more self-esteem than data.
Well, seeing as how the RIAA's moves threaten independent artists, I suggest we coin a new name for the RIAA. We'll just prefix 'Denying Independent Artists' to their existing name.
DIA-RIAA has a nice ring to it.
"Derp de derp."
All we need are embedded reporters
I Encrypt My IM's
Check out The RIAA's Website Unresponsive. Looks like we got the opening salvo.
Windows: Go to start->run If on Windows 9x, type "command" If on Win2k/XP, type "cmd" Enter command: ping -t -w 0 -l 20000 riaa.org Linux: Get root console, ping -fs 20000 riaa.org
Smells like FUD.
Let them, for if they strike Lord Napster down he shall become more powerful than they can possibly imagine.
closed minded is as closed minded does
According to the article the war has already begun:
"When Madonna released "spoofed" versions of songs from her new album on music sharing networks to frustrate pirates, her own Web site was hacked into the next day and real copies of her album were made available by hackers on her site."
Leave it to Madonna to bring a knife to a gun fight.
This is MY PROPERTY! I am NOT a CRIMINAL. And I will NOT have some stupid RIAA telling me otherwise. Oh, and need I mention that due to their tactics, I do NOT buy music recordings any longer? (Except for self published recordings that have nothing to do with the RIAA.) It's not due to piracy either... because I don't download MP3s. I bought a GUITAR and I make my own damn music!
It's pretty simple.
Let's assume for sake of argument that I have 300 songs in mp3 format on my hard drive, all of which I copied myself from CD's I paid for.
Let's also assume that this program 'silence' will wind up being distributed in the form of an email (and you can bet your house it will).
If I open the file, with nothing illegal on my computer, but the program finds my legal mp3's and deletes them, why should I not sue RIAA for damages?
This type of action a violation of more than one constitutional amendment.
For instance:
It violates my right to be secure in my home from unreasonable searches and seizures.
It violates my right to a fair and speedy trial.
It violates my right to be informed of the charges against me, but of course in this case, there are no charges and no trial, they just skip ahead straight to punishment, which by the way, is not legally theirs to carry out.
What would I sue them for?
The violation of my constitutional rights; for intentional sabotage of property (the files are mine); for intentional and unprovoked abuse of resources (my computer); for gaining unlawful access to my computer; and for intentional infliction of mental anguish.
Not to mention lost time. Will they pay for my hours spent making LEGAL backup copies of my LEGALLY OWNED CDs?
Of course, their answer will be: prove that you own the CD's and we will let you keep the files, which is of course perfectly beside the point. They have no right to be looking in the first place, no matter how open my network is.
These people will stop at nothing to make you pay, even if you already have. Even if their tactics are barbaric and illegal (Sopranos come to mind).
Basically, this is their argument:
"The guy who parks next to me in my parking garage has a lot of antenna balls in the backseat of his convertible. My antenna ball is missing, so I think he must have stolen my antenna ball. Because it's a convertible, and the top is down, I must have every right to assume I can gain access to his vehicle, it's practically open for all to see. So, I'm going to go through everything in his car and destroy all the antenna balls I can find. He must have stolen them from somewhere. I will let him keep those for which he can provide proof of purchase. If I happen to destroy those in the process, that's just too bad... he shouldn't have left those other balls in plain sight.
Hey, look at that... the guy who parks on the other side of me just handed me my antenna ball, his 8 year old daughter found it in the driveway, it must have fallen off. Well, it was still within my rights to destroy that other guy's antenna balls, they looked suspicious to me."
-- This sig for rent.
I have written a web page named index.html. I will in the future start scanning and deleting all files I find named index.html due to copyright violation.
Thank you for your time.
As of 8:42 PM CT www.riaa.org could not be reached via Cox cable or Sprint's 3G network. I suspect a ddos in progress.
Maybe if I just keep on trying to ping it...
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It's just that yours is stupid.
What is FM radio again?
Oh yeah, it has something to do with that Radio thingy that someone once told me can play derivative crap that clear channel sends out across the world with transmitter or something. Or was it MTV?
On Wall Street they say "buy low, sell high" On the pad we say, "buy high, sell high" Isn't that somehow better?