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The War Between p2p and Record Companies Heating Up?

the-dude-man writes "Securityfocus.com Reports that there may be a new nasty turn to the battle between the p2p networks and the RIAA/MPAA. recently, the RIAA has been trying to flood kazza with files that appear to be valid copyrighted material (movies,mp3s, ect) but are empty or, in one case, of Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone, contain a voice file asking, "What the f*ck do you think you are doing?". The p2p networks are considering a possible move agianst the RIAA in response to this by using recently enacted anti-spam laws."

17 of 463 comments (clear)

  1. I can see what would happen... by eet23 · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I download a fake mp3.

    I sue the RIAA for $1.00 or something

    I have to spend it quickly, because the RIAA is about to sue me for $17,000.

    I'm not going to be the one who simultaneously antagonises the RIAA and admits in court that I tried to pirate music.

    1. Re:I can see what would happen... by feldsteins · · Score: 5, Informative

      No shit. Let's not forget that our major problem with the RIAA is the fact that they are enacting laws and introducing DRM technologies that destroy our fair use as consumers. Our problem with them is not that they are trying to prevent us from stealing music.

      Granted, they need to be in compliance with the law as they take swipes at pirates...but c'mon, they're still pirates.

      --
      You like your Macintosh better than me, don't you Dave? Dave? Can you hear me Dave?
  2. How ironic... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I spent ages on KaZaA looking for the fuck off Madonna track, filling my computer with propert Madonna material.

  3. Don't need Kazaa by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    RIAA members are going to see their sales shrink again this year. Kazaa is only one manifestation of the mp3 trading that will doom them. Many I know, don't use Kazaa, they just trade with friends via CD-R, DC++ and S-FTP.

    I was driving near the airport in SF in Feb. I looked at the car next to me. I saw a teenage girl leafing through a 3-ring binder full of CD-R's with band/album names drawn on the CD-R with a black marker. With or without Kazaa and public p2p, these guys are going to lose another 10% this year.

    Musicians will have to make a living from live performances.

    1. Re:Don't need Kazaa by keirre23hu · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I hope that the lawyers for Kazaa etc... can find some means to sue.. the reason the recording industry is losing money (if thats even true) is because they have a broken marketing model... want to make money? give customers what they want and adapt to market and economic trends.. want to lose money? criminalize your customers and piss them off with "features" like DRM and CD's you can copy/play in all CD players..

  4. This of course will force the networks to evolve by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Flooding networks with spam files will just result in networks becoming smarter to route around the garbage. Suppose for example that new p2p networks use a weighted reputation system where individual content files can be rated by the users of the network. Of course, positive ratings by users who have good reputations would indicate that the file is good, likewise negative ratings for a file by reputable individuals would indicate that the file is garbage. Similar to how these comments are rated on Slashdot.

  5. Re:A pity... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Indeed. P2P networks may be largely used to facilitate copyright infringing distribution of music, movies, books etc but lately I use it for downloading legitimate files such as game demos, movie trailers, and free software updates (whether those updates are for free software, or games and other software I have paid for). P2P is incredibly useful in this regard. I don't have to register with gamespy or wait in a long queue for my download. Long live P2P. RIAA - grow up, evolve, or die.

  6. Remixed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    The "what the fuck" clip has already even been remixed. The site with the links for that is here.

    A screenshot of madonna's hacked site can be found here.

  7. Serves em right by santos_douglas · · Score: 5, Funny

    I just can't feel bad for anyone who intentionally tried to download Madonna 'music'.

  8. Billboard Top 100 by Snork+Asaurus · · Score: 5, Funny

    1) What the F*ck Do You Think You Are Doing? - Madonna
    2) F*ck Off and Buy the %$#^*@! CD - Metallica
    3) We Don't Want Your P2P - Hillary and the Shylocks
    4) ...

    In other entertainment news, a startling shift has occurred in Madonna's music style as the lyrics to her latest #1 single are found to be far less offensive than usual and the song far more musical in general.

    --
    Sigs are bad for your health.
  9. Is it just me... by teutonic_leech · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... or is the RIAA getting real desperate? It amuses me that their broad 'onslaught' of lawsuits against P2P networks, downloaders, uploaders, etc.. as well as more 'creative' activities such as these envisioned to battle illegal copying of shared digital media had almost zero effect on its proliferation. P2P file sharing is alive and kicking and I just bought myself a brandnew Sony car radio that - big surprise - also plays MP3s (what irony I might add). UPS is also in the process of delivering my shiny new KISS DP-500 from Europe, which plays DVDs and - you probably guessed it - DivX and Xvid files as well (and it has an Ethernet port - droool ;-)
    So, I really wonder what the RIAA's vision of the future is - obviously they are paying a lot of people (i.e. lawyers) very high consulting fees to come up with something to preserver their 'interest' (pun intended) - and this is the BEST they can come up with? LOL
    Seriously - a friend of my and I came up with a working, commercial P2P digital distribution model 3 years ago, that would kick illegal copying to the curb since it actually rewarded people for downloading. We actually pitched it to the usual suspects and got laughed at. I'm actually surprised that noone has replicated our effort up to this point - maybe I'll pick up on it when I'm done with my current company.
    Maybe Rosen should buy herself a copy of 'Sun Tsu' (a book about the art of warfare which predates the bible) - and I quote: 'fighting a protracted war against an overwhelming and resourceful enemy should be avoided at all cost.' It is time that the RIAA fesses up to its evils and relinquishes these silly stabs against P2P downloaders - they just wind up pissing off their greates asset - the kids willing to pay good money for concerts and 'affordable music' (Rosen: re-read the last sentence three times).

  10. Downloading pirated music is not illegal by Fastolfe · · Score: 5, Informative

    In most countries, it is not illegal to download copyrighted music. It's illegal to redistribute copyrighted music against the wishes of the copyright holder.

    The RIAA can't come after you just for downloading music. You have to be actively re-sharing that music out again to break a law.

    On the flip side, though, you are not procuring that music through legal/legitimate means, so you may not be granted certain protections and warranties that you might otherwise be granted, so your law suit might be tricky.

    Your jurisdiction may differ, though.

  11. It was amusing how she got hacked after that.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    After Madona flooded the P2Ps with mp3s of her repeatedly saying "what the fuck do you think you're doing?" somone took an appropriate response by hacking her website, posting her full new album on it, and writting "This is what the fuck I think I'm doing..."

  12. Re:Verified downloads by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    I downloaded an "Excellent"-rated copy of a Zwan song only to find it was a 10 second repeating loop for 3-4 minutes.

    Sounds like a description of most "pop" music to me.

  13. Re:A pity... by gnarled · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The horse and buggy analogy's purpose appeared to me to highlight the antiquity of RIAA's business model. Obviously Ford wasn't stealing horse and buggies. The point is that the business they were in became pointless and obsolete, what causedd this, piracy or new technology, is irrelavent. The music industry is also becoming obsolete, because practically anybody can record songs with qualities just as good as them. P2P abuse is simply a precursor to a paradigm shift that will change being a musician forever.

    --
    I'm a firm believer in the philosophy of a ruling class. Especially since I rule. -Randal, Clerks
  14. Re:A pity... by fanatic · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They hold the contracts on hundreds fo thousands of artists who use the services provided by the RIAA.

    In much the same way that antebellum slaveholders in the American South had 'contracts' of slaves who used the 'services' provided by the slaveholders. The RIAA are an oligopoly. Artists wishing to engage with one of its members (other than the already fablulously successful artist) are typically confronted with an identical contract which forces them to give up ALL rights to their own work. It is true they can choose not to sign these heinous contracts - but then they are out of the main game.

    RIAA fails the 'clean hands' test - they have inhibited freedom of competition for many years, and recent court decisions confirm what we've all known - price-fixing is rampant.

    --
    "that's not encryption - it's a new perl script that I'm working on..." - from some Matrix parody
  15. Re:A pity... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Remember that piracy is stealing

    1. It's not "piracy". Piracy is a crime committed on the high seas, involving armed robbery and murder. This is copyright infringement.

    2. It's not "stealing" under any sane definition (not even under the law, in most cases). It's a civil tort.

    While I don't condone copyright infringement in any way (and I don't have ANY bootleg music or software myself, nor do I want to) it's disturbing to see someone who's been so thoroughly brainwashed by the RIAA.