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RIAA File-Sharing Lawsuits Top 10,000 People Sued
An anonymous reader writes "While Firefox broke the 50,000,000 barrier today, the RIAA broke a more
dubious barrier this week: It has now sued over
10,000 file sharers for copyright infringement, making it a good time to ask
if the RIAA will ever throw in the towel. Taking an academic look at
what's best for the industry, this
economics article shows the financial upside to P2P file sharing. And
on the flip side, this
legal article argues that file swappers have a constitutional right to pay
much smaller penalties than the millions of dollars they can be liable for under
copyright law, making the RIAA's lawsuits much less profitable."
The growth of file 'sharing' just shows that humans are by nature cowardly thieving scum who will get away with only what they are allowed to. Many file 'sharers' would sneer at muggers or drug dealers but are quite happy to commit criminal acts online, because of the perceived safety.
And then they whine when they get caught.
Please note I will not reply to any 'ITS NOT STEALING!!!111ELEVEN!!' replies.
Pay girls to strip!
It's interesting to me how the labels are able to generate a cycle of lawsuits aimed at "educating" people on IP laws, when in fact they point out that p2p increases sales. Where are the policy changes or the development of label-run P2P networks to cash in?
The status quo is detrimental to a society which runs on IP. I'm a little pissed that the data shows that P2P helps the labels' bottom lines, yet they fail to innovate. I suspect that this is due to an obese business model, which will die as our networks and technology replace elements of their vertical (and horizontal) integration.
I would like to see the labels pay the price when their limelighted artists realize that people are listening to digital music - which can be produced with skilled contractors and minimal management. It will require more geeks (who build the tools) and artists (using them) and less lawyers and protectionism (media conglomerates extending their IP rights)
I believe that, with time, the internet will help us route around this "damage" and reinstate fairness over obvious corporate greed.
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Viva la evolution!
You misunderstand something: these lawsuits are not costing them anyway. On the contrary, these lawsuits are optimized so as to MAKE them money. These lawsuits are a revenue stream for them, NOT something that costs them money at all. This is just another business for them. Why on earth would they stop doing this?
They are doing EXACTLY what the American system and the American Constitution were DESIGNED to enable--specifically, cornering and putting at a disadvantage a set of Americans and then and exploiting them. This is what America has been about from the very beginning. Remember that whole African slavery, indentured servitude, white slavery thing? THat was the launching pad of America, and we are right on path here with large amounts of organized capital exploiting human beings. So what are you bitching about? Move to France if you don't like it! Oh, wait, the French are too smart and too much in control of their control to let in too many immigrants. Never mind....
eat shiat and bark at the moon