More Music File-Sharing Lawsuits in Europe

rfunches writes "The New York Times is reporting that 20,000 cases in 10 countries were brought against file-sharers in Europe, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). '...Users targeted for legal action included a Finnish lumberjack, a British postman, a Czech IT manager and a German judge,' according to the article. More than 70 computers were seized in Italy by authorities investigating illegal file-sharing. IFPI targeted both those who 'illicitly downloaded music' as well as uploaders serving copyrighted material on file-sharing networks. Total music sales were down 3% in 2005 according to the IFPI, with the decline in physical media (e.g. CDs) countered by 'soaring' digital music sales."

Comments

The War On Drugs = The War on Downloading

[AudioEfex]

No one is ever going to win. Governments and private corporations are going to spend billions. The only people who are going to get hurt are those who missed last week's episode of "Vernoica Mars" and downloads it instead so they don't get behind.

If the assholes would just realize the problem is them charging $20 for a CD that 20 years ago they promised would eventually be cheaper than cassettes and vinyl ever were. If CD's cost something more commesurate with their value and production cost downloading wouldn't be an issue beyond the fringe.

AE

Re:The War On Drugs = The War on Downloading

[Tom]

No one is ever going to win.

You assume "they" are interested in winning.

I propose that they aren't. Many more involved parties profit more from the ongoing conflict than from its resolution. That includes especially the lawyers, but also law enforcement, a large number of institutes, think-tanks, industry associations, etc. and of course the media which gets a fairly reliable source of news every now and then.

That's true for both, the war on drugs and the copyright war.

Re:The War On Drugs = The War on Downloading

[voice_of_all_reason]

+1 (Truthful)

War on drugs, war on terror, war on downloading -- it's just a boot, stomping on the face of humanity. Forever.

This is silly

[Anonymous Coward]

Copyright was not designed to handle file sharing networks. Most of it was based on the idea of criminals ripping off records and making large numbers of copies and selling them. Not ordinary people sharing for free. The sheer number of people doing this indicates that people simply don't see anything wrong with it. Laws that the vast majority disagree with are not usually a good thing.

Re:This is silly

[Ilex]

Laws that the vast majority disagree with are not usually a good thing.

And the act of passing such laws which criminalize a large section of the population is usually called "Oppression"

Re:Full Text (no login)

[Opportunist]

Careful there, you're about to get into trouble for copyright infringement. :(

Careful now!

[PinkyDead]

The law is a dangerous tool to play with.

At the moment there is a lot of grey area with copyright and the internet (IANAL) - which is why 'legal' music sites like allofmp3.com have disclaimers regarding local laws rather than concrete advice. In my own local jurisdiction the law appears to be clear about importing copyrighted material (and it's quite similiar in most other places) - i.e it's ok for personal/domestic use.

When the rights organisations test these laws the outcome might not be the one they want - and it will send a message to the mainstream users, who up to this point have been terrorised into not downloading music, that it is actually safe to do so.

They are playing with fire - and their time would be far better served coming up with a better business model than trying to defend an outdated one.