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Interview with Student Sued by RIAA

Posted by michael on from the look-at-this-in-depth-analysis dept.

TinoMNYY24 writes "Jesse Jordan, owner of chewplastic.com, was on CNN this morning discussing the RIAA settlement. You can read a poorly spelled transcript of the interview. Jesse is one of the two students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute that were sued by the RIAA."

1 of 559 comments (clear)

  1. Fallacious argument by FallLine · · Score: 2, Flamebait
    I believe everybody that does so should be prosecuted for aiding criminals. What we have here is somebody being prosecuted (or intimidated to be prosecuted) for creating a generic tool that, in some cases, can be used to commit copyrights infringements.

    You can kill people with a gun, but I haven't seen any lawsuit against S&W for creating a tool that can be used to commit a crime. ...

    I know that these students don't have the resources to fight this through courts, but boy, how was I hoping for some one of them to figh this.
    I am quite sure if you actually read the complaints against these students that you would discover that they were NOT being sued for creating the tool. They were being sued for actually RUNNING them and for the specific INSTANCES of piracy across that INSTANCE. There is a huge difference between creating a tool and using a tool. If I merely create a tool, especially one with an arguable general purpose, then it may well be used in ways that I cannot reasonably be expected to anticipate before it is recieved by users. However, if I RUN the TOOL, then I can see at least see HOW it is being used and take action based on actual OBSERVATION before it gets out of control. I'd say the difference is analogous between that of manufacturing a gun and that of placing a bunch of guns on your doorstep across the street from the local elementary school (which there is strong legal precedent for, btw).

    Furthermore, unlike your analogy of the gun manufacturer, I am quite certain that if you were to analyze the usage of these search TOOLS (not to mention the websites run by the same students) that you would discover that the overwhelming majority was used for piracy and not legitimate use. Certainly you won't deny that there are millions of hunters in this country (not to mention people that use them for target practice, collection, and self-defense). Although I am for an outright ban or much stricter controls on guns in the US, even I will make this distinction clear.

    Although my allegations may not be proof--the only way to settle them is by going to COURT--you cannot reasonably declare them to be unreasonable assertions before hearing the case and seeing RIAA's evidence.

    You can make a photocopy of a book, and while it's true that Xerox and other companies have been threatened I haven't heard yet of any paper company being sued for creating a medium that can be used to infringe copyrights.
    Kinkos and others have been sued successfully for copyright infringement.

    Is Ford liable for you running your car against a 80 years old man crossing the street?
    No, but many people would hold liable the owner of the car if they left their shiny new red Ford Mustang with keys in the ignition and a big sign saying "take me for a spin" in front of some middle school (or especially if they lent their keys to their friend's drunk son).