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Filesharing Up 10% After RIAA Threatens Users

Moldy-Rutabaga writes "Technews says filesharing has gone up 10% on some sites such as Grokster since the Recording Industry Association of America's announcement on June 25 that it will start tracking down and suing users of file-sharing programs. Wayne Rosso, president of Grokster, commented 'even genocidal litigation can't stop file sharers'."

30 of 750 comments (clear)

  1. Anecdotal Evidence - not so good by afreniere · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I was speaking to a lay-person friend of mine last weekend, and he mentioned to me that he had heard about the threat of lawsuits, and decided to quickly install Bearshare, download all the songs he wanted and then uninstall it. Apparently at least some people are spooked.

    --
    G=C800:5
    1. Re:Anecdotal Evidence - not so good by cervo · · Score: 5, Funny

      Actually the fact that hearing the threat of lawsuits he still decided to install Bearshare certainly says something about human psychology. If you tell a person that they cannot do something, they are almost certainly going to try to do it.

      It was true with Napster. I know I didn't care for it at first, but after hearing about the legal issues and such and that you were not supposed to be using napster suddenly I couldn't resist. And it is true that all the legal problems of Napster actually increased the user base.

      So Microsoft, whatever you do, do NOT fix all of the bugs in windows!!!

    2. Re:Anecdotal Evidence - not so good by AndroidCat · · Score: 5, Funny

      Okay, so he's installed Bearshare, he's downloading all the songs he wanted. Let us know when he finally uninstalls it, m'kay?

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
    3. Re:Anecdotal Evidence - not so good by Jonavin · · Score: 5, Funny

      Is that the same as "Do not mod me +5 Funny" on slashdot?

    4. Re:Anecdotal Evidence - not so good by Chiascuro · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Actually you are wrong. There are quite a few artists around who release music that can legally be shared and more than a few individuals who use the file sharing networks to publish their works and get some form of distribution. It's much easier to cut an MP3 and stick it on Kazaa than to get a record deal.

      --
      I am a bomb technician, if you see me running - try to keep up.
  2. How? by Tuffnut · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm just curious..

    How exactly do they go about finding these people? It's not like they openly give out their names on things like KaZaa?

    1. Re:How? by usotsuki · · Score: 5, Interesting

      They sue an IP address (no, I'm not kidding).

      -uso.

      --
      Dreams, dreams, don't doubt dreams, dreaming children's dreaming dreams. Sailor Moon SS
    2. Re:How? by gilesjuk · · Score: 5, Informative

      1. Initiate a download.
      2. Do a netstat.
      3. Write down IP address and date/time.
      4. Contact ISP and request user information after providing IP address.

    3. Re:How? by C_To · · Score: 5, Interesting

      What happens if the invididual sharing the files in question is out of jurstidiction of the United States? As far as I know ISPs in Canada, Australia, England, won't give out user information without a court order. Since the DMCA or whatever law it is that allows the RIAA to get information from ISPs does not exist in these countries, these users don't have to worry (at least in theory).

      And even worse, what about those who have filenames that are similar but not exactly the same as commerical music? They're going to have to download every song they can to verify it, otherwise it will be tossed out of court (and on 56K, that can be hours if not days).

    4. Re:How? by Tingler · · Score: 5, Funny

      Time to install a wireless NIC card into my laptop. I can download some cool songs & send my neighbors up the river at the same time! Once they are all sent to prison, I'll get a much better parking spot next to my house.

    5. Re:How? by koko775 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Get Peerguardian (windows program). It blocks IPs from RIAA, MPAA, and other IP ranges. It might not totally solve it, but I find that without fail, my IP is checked day after day, several times, by either or both the RIAA and the MPAA. I feel violated.

  3. Effect due to... by drquizas · · Score: 5, Funny

    96% or so (+/- a couple due to frequency distribution) of file-swapping system users realizing that their last names do not start with 'A'

  4. my parents are spooked... by wo1verin3 · · Score: 5, Funny

    they decided to print out the article and come have a serious talk, and how I should realize filesharing is wrong.

    you know when your non-technical parents get it on the action, one of two things:

    1) my parents are androids from the future sent by the evil RIAA
    2) this is more of a marketing campaign then anything...

    VISIT http://www.napsterbits.com for the hillarious adventures of the napster kittyhead!

    1. Re:my parents are spooked... by tinrobot · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Your parents have a lot more to lose, like their house. If you get caught while using their internet connection, they're the ones who are going to pay the price.

      It is marketing, but the RIAA knows the people who scare easiest are the ones with the most to lose.

      Eighteen year old kids can afford to lose their life savings, because they can get it back in a week or two.

  5. They need to study psychology not criminology by gilesjuk · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They're considering suing normal people, people who for the most part don't shoplift, don't deal drugs, don't kill people etc..

    You need to understand your market if you are to sell your product to it. With the Internet the market has changed, selling a song to the 'net generation is a lot more complex than a flashy video and radio play. This is the X factor that the recording industry hasn't really bothered to look into and I find it very interesting that one of the most successful online music sites is part of a computer company (Apple).

    In summary the record labels need to send their marketing and product development guys off to college, study the success of e-commerce and redesign their business model cus CD is after all only a storage medium.

    1. Re:They need to study psychology not criminology by ejaw5 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think there's another part of the market, the Compact Disc. Its a very durable and long-lasting medium that reproduces sound well. In the past, I'd say the RIAA profited from people repurchasing music on cassette tapes when upgrading from LP, and the same with CDs from cassette. Also have to consider the "replacement" purchases made when an LP or cassette wore out. CDs last a very long time (if not infinite life) if you take care of them. --CDs from the mid 80's in my collection still sound the same when played today. A new and improved medium could be introduced, but since the current CD is 'good enough', it probably won't catch on. In addition, If you ask music listeners today, the music pumped out today probably isn't worth buying again if the medium did change.

      --

      $cat /dev/random > Sig
  6. Consequences not effective by bajo77 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    People generally don't respond very much to possible consequences. There is a high chance of getting a speeding ticket, yet almost everyone goes above the speed limit, often ignoring the safety of themselves and others. There's not likely much the RIAA can do to make even a slight decrease in file-sharing.

  7. Artists Against iTunes by pgrote · · Score: 5, Interesting

    And from the "they keep shooting themselves in the head" department, Metallica says no iTunes do to principles. :
    "Artists hold out on iTunes on principle
    Reuters News Service

    LOS ANGELES -- The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Metallica are refusing to make their music available as individual downloads on Apple Computer's iTunes online music store.

    That move comes in response to Apple's decision to allow users to buy single tracks and is intended to protect the future of the long-playing album, said Mark Reiter of Q Prime Management Co., which manages the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica and several other artists.

    Green Day and Linkin Park, according to a source familiar with the situation, have also refused to make their songs available as individual downloads on the Apple service, which has sold over 5 million songs. "

    -- Hey .. I have a great idea. Let's tick off our customers. They want this, but let's not give it to them. In fact, let's prosecute them. Works for me.

    Idiots.

    1. Re:Artists Against iTunes by realdpk · · Score: 5, Insightful

      These same artists that have supposedly declared their albums are the "full picture" allow the radio stations to chop up the album in to individual songs, allow the DJs to chatter during the lead-in and lead-out, and allow the radio stations (or the labels) to censor their lyrics.

      Artistic integrity is quite obviously not the prime concern for them.

  8. Re: Is copyright going the way of prohibition? by Black+Parrot · · Score: 5, Insightful


    > Seriously, if enough people blatanly disobey copyright laws, if there is enough civil disobedience, it almost HAS to force a change in the law. The question, though, is how much is "enough" and do we REALLY need to go through all of the heavy handed law enforcement attempts before this happens?

    How many people do you suppose are in prison right now for smoking pot, and how long has that enforcement been going on?

    > Can't the law makers see for once, that this is what the PEOPLE want and step up to the plate to do their job?

    Most of them will take an interest exactly when they think the number of votes the current arrangement costs them will hurt worse than the number of lobbying dollars an alternative tack would cost them.

    Welcome to the lobbyocracy.

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  9. Re:Is copyright going the way of prohibition? by garcia · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Uhh, prohibition on alcohol is over with but drug prohibition is not.

    We spend millions and millions of dollars on the "Drug War" and millions and millions more on holding people in jail because they do/sell drugs...

    How many people smoke pot? How many states have made it a minor offense to smoke it? How many people are still being busted for it, having their cars and houses seized for buying a dime bag?

    And you think that filesharing is going to continue because people do it? Get real.

  10. Lazy RIAA by cervo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "Weiss said the recording industry should lobby for special taxes on CD burners and Internet access as a way to recoup losses incurred from file sharing, an idea that Grokster's Rosso also supports."

    Yeah right, so you can't properly secure your own cd's or whatever, so go ahead and put a tax on internet access and cd burner's to make up losses because of your own incompetence. And as we all know, no one uses CD Burners for say....backups, or transferring legitimate files from one person to another. No one uses the internet to do do legitament things like research. So of course everyone should Pay the RIAA and help them. Never mind that if they really want to stop piracy they should be better protecting their own media.

    The worst thing is that the RIAA probably has enough influence in Washington to pull something like this off!! What's next, Microsoft builds an internet monitoring meter into windows to send usage statistics to the government so they can bill you monthly. Then Linux is outlawed for not having the US government metering package?

  11. Re:bitTorrent by Yosho · · Score: 5, Informative

    How does BitTorrent make you any more safe than any other filesharing system? In fact, I think it would be trivial for someone working with law enforcement to go through search sites like the one you just listed with a client such as this one and grab the IPs of everybody downloading the file.

    --
    Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)
  12. Re:New P2P by carpe_noctem · · Score: 5, Funny

    I would, but I can't see anything on their webpage, because apparently, they believe that flash is a suitable substitute for HTML and content.

    --
    "Quoting famous computer scientists out of context is the root of all evil (or at least most of it) in programming." - K
  13. Why, why, why? by themaddone · · Score: 5, Insightful

    RIAA threatens to sue dozens, hundreds, or thousands of file-shares. File-sharing increases, and we brag about it? "Woohoo! Look at us! You can't get me RIAA! Your threats and lawyers and lawsuits don't bother me at all!"

    Look, I'm all for giving the RIAA whatfor, just on principle, but STOP TELLING THEM YOU'RE INFRINGING THEIR COPYRIGHTS (not stealing, as we all know... right?) AND QUIT FLAUNTING THAT YOU'RE NOT AFRAID.

    Because they are going to drop the hammer. And they are going to sue some poor college kids and high school kids and ruin their savings and credit and quite possibily their future. This isn't funny. People should be switching to anonymous technologies ASAP. It's like a burgular going back to the same house after having a long conversation with the owner in a coffee shop about how he previously stole from the owner, and he didn't care that the owner now has some nasty looking guard dogs, a moat, and a team of lawyers ready to defend him when he shoots the burgular in "self-defense."

    So shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. It's for your own good.

  14. Re:Irony is the best sword to fall by. by BiggerIsBetter · · Score: 5, Funny

    Make Backup copies of your stuff like you've never done before!

    Heh, yeah, OFF-SITE backup copies. Lots of them! :)

    --
    Forget thrust, drag, lift and weight. Airplanes fly because of money.
  15. Re:Pointless Statistic by Polo · · Score: 5, Funny

    Also, RIAA threats have led to GLOBAL WARMING as global temperatures have also increased. (as measured in the northern hemisphere this spring)

  16. Re:A bad thing? by Music+To+Eat · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Removing dependance on full-length physical media will do a couple of good things. First it will force the industry and artists to put out more quality tracks instead of relying on a couple radio tracks to sell a disc made mostly of filler. Second, the consumer will no longer get stuck with a lousy disc.


    Some bad things:

    1) Instead of having one or two radio friendly songs to get you to buy the album, so you can then hear the more innovative stuff they really want to do, record companies may force bands to only release "radio" friendly music, since that's what sells. Leaving a lack of innovative music.

    2) Selling individual songs on the internet could lead to bands being pressured to shorten their songs. If you get 99 cents a song, record companies would rather a 3 minute 3 Meg song to a 10 minute 10 meg song.

    3) The death of the "concept" album. If each song has to stand or fall on it's own, what incentive does a band have to release something with a larger scope? No more Darksides, Quadrophenias, Red Headed Strangers, Kind of Blues, etc.


    Buying music by the song may be the future of bubblegum pop, but I hope it'll never be the future of truly creative music.
  17. RIAA - shoots self in foot again by KevMar · · Score: 5, Insightful

    the RIAA just keeps shooting themselves in the foot. Every major lawsuit just leads to more public attention.

    I remember when mp3's were only found on IRC or FTP server or crappy porn filled mp3 warez sites or college network shares. the Dimond RIO suit put mp3 in the spotlight and the napster lawsuit made mp3 a household name. They may will according to the law, but thats all they are winning.

    --
    Im a gamer, not a grammer major. This post is full of spelling and grammer mistakes.
  18. Frank Zappa Said it Best (Go Buy Joe's Garage!) by Greyfox · · Score: 5, Insightful
    "This is the Central Scrutinizer. It is my responsibility to enforce all the laws which haven't been passed yet. It is also my responsibility to alert each and every one of you to the potential consequences of various ordinary everyday activities you might be performing, which could eventually lead to... The Death Penalty. Or affect your parents credit rating. Our criminal institutions are full of little creeps like you, who do... Wrong Things."

    Amazing how a guy who's been dead for 10 years can still be on topic...

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?