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RIAA Tactical Legal Victory vs SBC
lurker412 writes "The RIAA has won a tactical victory in its legal battle with SBC Communications/PacBell Internet Services. CNet News reports that a San Francisco judge has moved the case to a District of Columbia federal court. SBC had resisted turning over the identities of purported coyright infringers to the RIAA. While the San Francisco court ruled on procedural grounds only, the DC court is the same one that previously ruled against Verizon in a similar attempt to contest the DMCA."
is a loss for freedom.
When anger rises, think of the consequences.
Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC)
Comment removed based on user account deletion
...where we move the trial to the location where we get the verdict we want.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
So, did the RIAA attempt to force this by their arguments and "evidence". It's a pretty sad state of affairs if the system is so cynically manipulated (and capable of being manipulated) like this.
One of the strengths of the division between the courts and the law-makers is that the courts interpret the law, but if joe random nasty-person can try to establish precedent in a "favourable" court, then it reduces the value of the 'interpret the law' job description. Sad.
Simon.
Physicists get Hadrons!
They aren't even mediating for the artists, but for the labels. Nearly all of the extra money they've received as results of these litigations have just gone into the coffers and not into the pockets of artists.
100% Pure Evil With The Look And Feel Of Wholesome Goodness
They came for the old cliche lines, but everyone cheered for that because they were tired of hearing it
How about instead of reciting the same old drivel, you offer a plan of action that people might persue. It's fine to bitch about how nobody else is acting, but really unless you're offering a plan or incentive then it's not being productive.
Copyrights (or more accurately, the alleged right to restrict what other people duplicate) are really the root of the problem, when we deal with this one - then all the other ones will go away by themselves.
The fundamental question is how long can they continue along this path before the public demands a fundamental reform of copyright laws and intellectual property mechanisms.
Considering the majority of the public is uneducated about law and worry more about Ben Affleck's love life, probably a very very very long time... if ever. After all... it's the people who let shit like the Patriot Act happen.
Man, what a great idea.. let's allow the FBI to search our houses without even KNOWING!! Woo!!
We have secretly replaced these Slashdot mods' sense of humor with a rusty nail. Let's see if they notice!!
These various court battles having nothing to do with creative effort and everything to do with maintaining power and control.
I believe you're right about trying to maintain control, but it does really seem like the RIAA is trying only to gain speed toward a supreme court case. They don't really care about one ISP not willing to cave-in to the pressure...they're trying to set precedents with these smaller court "wins" to give legitamacy to their stance on the whole issue, which (of course) they'll use to their advantage if/when it goes to the highest court in the land.
Actually, from a legal perspective there is a change of environment. When the Verizon case was handled, there was no precident and no errors in subpoenas. In the case of SBC, they now have proof that the RIAA process is flawed -- something Verizon could only speculate about. How they play that hand will likely determine the outcome of this case.
Banjo - The more I know about Windoze, the more I love *nix
Why stop at copyright laws. I believe the root of this problem and many others is campaign finance reform that actually has an effect. Looking at lobby and special interest groups efforts BIG picture is nothing more then bribery. "Here's some money, go do what is best for me!!". How we have come to accept this practice is well beyond me. Just because it's been happening for so long does not make it right. Try offering the policeman who pulls you over for speeding a $20 bill. How could your intentions be interpetted any other way then bribery? Just because the police enforce the law and congress makes the law should not be a difference, the end result is the same.
Bottom line...
Those that pay get thier way.
Bad boys rape our young girls but Violet gives willingly.
Sorry to be the voice of pessimism on here, but I've noticed a few people asking for *courses of action* which we as consumers could suggest or take to remedy the **AA's gestapo style tactics for movie and music sharers.
IMHO there is nothing we can do that will provide them the security and control that they want, while at the same time, protecting our rights as consumers. They simply will NOT let go! It really is that plain and simple. They've built an industry out of milking every last dime out of an intangible product. They don't offer a service... they offer an *experience*.
That's what sells... and sells very very well. There is no happy medium in this fight. They either get the control they want and we lose the control we want... or we get what we see now, half-assed versions of the products (if they can be called that) that we were used to, i.e. DRM'd CDs, bans on academy award screeners, etc. They'll do ANYTHING and everything to keep their fingers in the pie.
The only thing that would wake them up is a total nose-dive in sales. Not just a lull or low... an over-the-cliff, down the rocks, plummet of sales, either for music or movies. How will that ever happen? It won't... it won't happen because they're spoonfeeding us their restrictions. They know that whatever they come out with, we'll hack. Whatever move they make, we'll make another. But each step forward that they make, however small, in general public acceptance of their new products
whether it's a slightly DRM'd CD whose protection is defeated with a green sharpie pen or a watermarked movie, any little bit of that that slips into the mainstream and doesn't cause WalMartians to flip out over, is a victory for them.
Educating the general public about these things is the only way to go. Educating them to the dangers and restrictions that are being forced down their throats. But guess what? The public doesn't care. They don't give a rat's ass about DRM or watermarking or encryption or any such nonsense. They only care about the experience. Being able to escape the real-world for 5 minutes of music or 2 hours of movie is all that they want. So long as the **AA's are in tact organizationally... they'll have product to sell and that my friends.....
is the "rest of the story" so to speak.
To get on-topic, this court ruling (however final) is to be expected at this point. Perhaps it's always been this way and we never knew it because it never affected us... but whatever the reason, big-business in the country rules the land with an iron fist. I'm not saying that the justice system is totally corrupt, I'm saying the entire country is totally corrupt. Look around you right now in your offices and homes. What's NOT for sale?
Damned near everything we see and a good portion of what we can't, is for sale in some form or another. An organization like the RIAA getting SBC's previous ruling overturned is about as surprising as the ending of Titanic. Did you all think that the RIAA was going to bend over and take it like a man? That they'd let a media conglomerate of sorts like SBC tell them whose information is available and whose isn't? Hell no, they want names, they want numbers, they're not going to sit by and let some mid-level corporation tell them what can and can't be done.
This is a big win for the RIAA because there is precedent in the DC Court of Appeals, while none yet exists in the 9th Circuit.
The judge that transferred the case is a weenie. (I'm pretty safe in saying that. She obviously is not a /. reader.)
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
Could we have forgotten the roots upon which this country was founded and hand over such ungodly power to a corporation. The RIAA (and MPAA for that matter) is a profit-hungry organization, and sees people as merely profit generators. They don't care about provisions such as fair use. If they had their ideal situation, they would charge us every time we hear or see some of their "intellectual property" whether it was willingly or not. The common people need to stand up for their rights before they don't have them anymore, and contrary to what the placid images on our televisions tell us, that time is rapidly approaching.
Prepare to become even more of a faceless number than you already are.
Our greatest enemy is neither a single man, nor is it a nation, it is, as it has always been, our own greed.