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RIAA Says P2P Encourages Illegal Downloads
stlhawkeye writes "The RIAA is at it again, attacking inconvenient technology because it can be abused. They have sent another round of letters to P2P services, asking them to stop "encouraging users" to illegally distribute copyrighted material. eDonkey, LimeWire, and Kazaa are all on the RIAA's hit list, along with 2Hub, BitTorrent, WinMX and Free Peers, maker of file-swapping software BearShare. One wonders how they intend to attack BitTorrent, which can be and is used in legitimate mass distribution efforts of legal material, such as World of Warcraft patches. Are FTP and /usr/sbin/scp next?"
... men I am so tired of this bs.
Ding ding ding. You've said the magic word of the decade. Your argument now has immediate credibility, and anyone who disagrees with you is unpatriotic.
Thanks for playing!
Further, prior to P2P, web sites were used. P2P evolved as ISPs got wise to the illegal content and started cutting of people's accounts. If current P2P technology gets killed, another new technology will evolve to replace it. From what we've seen so far, each generation will be easier to use and harder to track back to the offending party.
Bottom line is that these little games the RIAA is playing aren't going to stop P2P's use for illegal purposes, and they have to realize this; they aren't idiots. If this were really about stopping distribution of illegal music downloads, they would have given up long ago. It's really about preventing indy bands from being able to distribute using those mechanisms and gaining popularity. It's primarily about maintaining strict control over the music market in the hands of their members, and it is disgusting.
Now, if the RIAA weren't so myopic about controlling distribution, they might see ways to take advantage of this. If, instead of suing the P2P users, they tried to get this stuff legalized (with mandatory identification) and tracked them for statistics, it's better than Neilsen ratings when it comes to finding out what music is popular. This can be used to help target advertising towards particular groups of people, and could be very lucrative for the industry.
Heck, the industry could use this as a means to figure out what bands are going to sell. Instead of A&R reps having to take a best guess, they could just do a live recording of a band and make it available, then see how many people bite, and use that to gauge the band's potential. It would save the industry millions---if not billions---of dollars on artists that never actually went anywhere.
Unfortunately, it's hard to convince someone to change their business model in much the same way as it is hard to convince a captain to abandon a sinking ship. If the RIAA drowns, thoughu, much like P2P technologies, another will take its place.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
American Idol stars suck. I mean, there is that new chick who's doing M&M ads? WTF?
My big problem with new releases is the price. How can they keep charging $15+ a CD when I can buy 100 CDs in bulk for that much (or less!). I strictly buy my CDs used or via BMG. But BMG charges way too much for shipping. It's insane!
I can see how someone would just download it and not have to deal with it. I mean, who really cares about the latest Kayne West or Jay Z releases? They all sound like crap to me.
It's either on the beat or off the beat, it's that easy.
I moderate therefore I rule!
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My bro used to work at a gun shop and there is a reason why you can still purchase a weapon if a person says "I need a gun to kill my husband with".
The right to own a gun is a constitutionally protected. If you refuse to sell someone a gun for any reason other than the ones prescribed by your local, state, and federal laws - you are fucked. The gunshop will be sued into the ground, and the prosecution will win almost all of the time. You could have your license revoked, and you will probably be the target of much harrasment from gun lobbyists and fanatics.
ATL huh, I reside at 285 and Roswell Rd.
Sounds like there's a market for a new type of recording company -- one that explicity and exclusively markets artists via p2p, iTunes, etc.
Though I think the recording industry as it stands won't survive for very long anyway, I think such a new service would hasten the fall.
Kythe