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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."
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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!!
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.