EFF Calls RIAA Tactics 'Reign of Terror'

nanday writes "What happens when the RIAA prosecutes people for alleged illegal music downloads? In an article on Newsforge (also owned by OSTG), lawyer Ray Beckerman of the Electronic Frontier Foundation explains the RIAA's favorite tactics, and why they play fast and loose with the law. Beckerman also explains why two of these cases may stop the RIAA in its tracks - and what you can do for help." From the article: "In UMG vs. Lindor, the defendant 'is a home house-aid who's never even used a computer,' according to Beckerman. 'She's never operated a computer, she's never even turned on a computer. The only connection she has ever had to a computer is that she has on occasion dusted near the parts that she believes are a computer. And yet she is being pursued as an online distributor in peer-to-peer file sharing.' Since Beckerman became involved in the case after it had gone to federal court, he has tried to learn the details of the charges -- so far with little success. 'The RIAA is trying to conceal the information about how it conducts its investigation,' he says. 'They have stalled every discovery request we've made' -- presumably because to reveal this information would also reveal the weakness of all the similar cases."

Comments

Re:technology is outstripping Justice's understand

[N. Vander Ende]

I have faith in our ability to do the right thing... For ourselves! The greed and self-centeredness of the consumer will always win out, and DRMs are unbelieveably irking to many people. The dollar is more powerful than anything else in this country, and people are already buying less music because of the RIAA's tactics and methods of enforcements.

With regards to this: "Considering technology, the RIAA, and the gazillion combinations of playing with digital media it isn't clear a judge could ever be educated enough to understand the technical issues. Instead, the deepest pockets win because they can afford the biggest megaphone -- they've convinced the legal system via FUD that consumers are evil and piracy is rampant and must be stopped."

I disagree. I think that as the generation currently in power begins to phase out in the next five to ten years, and the one preceding mine begins to phase itself in, we'll see a dramatic shift in the technological savvy of our lawmakers and judges. They won't need to be educated, because they already know this stuff. All they'll have to do is keep on top of it.

Honestly, the idea of DRMs pisses so many people off that they simply can't stay around for long. The consumer hates not being trusted, and won't buy things that have DRMs. DRMs will be a thing of the past in the next decade, I have faith.

Non-RIAA Labels of the World, Unite!

[kthejoker]

How come non-RIAA labels can't form an "anti-RIAA" coalition? Most labels not on the RIAA are pretty hip, they have tracks for download without DRM on their sites, they're real big on freebies and artist promotion, and they're generally more about the music itself than the big labels.

So why can't they generate some sort of composite publicity for their activities? Why can't they call themselves soemthing fun like "AWESOME" (Association of Wedding Evil SOBs Out of the Music Enterprise) and run press releases like the RIAA? Donate some money to the EFF? Have some benefit concerts to Kill the RIAA?

Get your acts together, people! Let's synergize our paradigms, or something! Go go go!

Re:Non-RIAA Labels of the World, Unite!

[cyber-dragon.net]

Very well said and an excellent point.
I would add, although you eluded to this, that the way to combat the **AA behavior is not to pirate but to spend your money on CDs and DVDs produced by labels that follow your personal ethics. It will require educating yourself on the various labels and companies but if you truly believe in a solution that is what you MUST do.

Companies must SEE solid numbers showing what consumers want and what they will tolerate. So long as people still buy, they have not found the limit yet. They can pass all the laws they want, if their sales drop 50% one month and a label that advertises "DRM free and we won't sue you" suddenly jumps 400% in sales the **AA WILL notice and that will matter to them my friends.

I see on here often the phrase "vote with your money" well that is what you must do. -BUY- CDs and DVDs but from companies who operate the way you want.

Re:technology is outstripping Justice's understand

[sjwaste]

I'm wondering if the blame doesn't lie with the clerks. Let's face it, federal judges have enormous case loads. I'm not sure if the 2004 case reference was at the district level, but it's especially busy there.

So I'll ask, where were the clerks, if this account is correct? Federal clerkships are fairly prestigious, and many clerks are young enough to have direct exposure to this technology. Are they not doing the research? I'm fairly certain any due diligence by the judge would be carried out by the clerks on these matters.

I've said it before and I'll say it again...

[starseeker]

For goodness sake stop distributing their music! Find the legitimate free music out there and start a grassroots movement!

If they don't want people illegially distributing their music, that's fine with me. That's what the law says, and changing the law is going to be tough. Is there response extreme given the crime? Of course, but you have to admit it's hard to deter people from downloading music - the odds of being caught and punished are still extremely low. We think they shouldn't be doing this, but remember from their point of view they want to stop this behavior. The only question then becomes what it will take to stop it. Secondary damage to sales (if any) doesn't seem to phase them much.

The only way we'll EVER win this is to cut the RIAA out of the picture. There are folks doing free music out there - let's get organized and promote the good ones! Just like open source software - don't pirate commercial software, do it right and create free alternatives. In the end, everyone's happier.

Admittedly, the creative/artistic community seems to function differently than the software folks - look at how many game engines there are, vs. high quality maps/data for said engines. I expect high quality free music might also be a bit unusual, but that's no reason not to try and start a new social trend.

We don't like Microsoft because of their software and business practices - all right, we're doing something about that. Not pirating Windows, but creating alternatives and using them. Let's do the same with music - if we're correct about the low quality of product being promoted by the large commercial groups (debatable - I personally don't think there are any useful univeral quality metrics that will decide what is enjoyable to all people, but I'll go with it here for the sake of argument) it shouldn't be impossible for folks with the time and hobby interest out there to put something together.

Let's establish a non-commercial Americal Idol type phenomena - people can compete for rating on the internet, and the most successful of those might be able to start playing live concerts, selling professional quality CDs with covers/etc. and other things that actually generate revenue. (I can't say I care for the way Americal Idol works, but we should pay attention to the techniques they are using to identify people that America wants to hear sing).

iRate radio has some good ideas, but I think they should utilize bittorrent technology and start building more of a community structure than just scraping free music websites. Lets do this right - don't fight the RIAA on their own turf. They can use the legal system to beat us over the head - they've got the $$ to do it. So let's not let them dictate the terms of engagement - let's take both the long term solution and the moral high ground. THAT's the way to fight, and the only real hope I see for success.

Re:I've said it before and I'll say it again...

[starseeker]

As an AC I would normally ignore you, particularly given your tone, but since you seem to have a reasonable question hidden in there - "why don't I do it myself" - I will answer. I personally have very little interest in music - the RIAA concerns me more in terms of the havoc they are wrecking and will continue to wreck with the legal and technological scenes. A community music effort could only be successfully undertaken by one or more preferably a group of people who are passionate about music and willing to devote a lot of time and resources to forming a community. Preferably, they should also have good contacts with the music scene, particularly the existing free music scene. That is not me - I would not be sufficiently energetic or credible as a leader to make such a movement succeed.

I might be interested in the technology and techniques that would allow such a network to function robustly, but that is almost a field unto itself and would require more knowledge of social networking phenomena than I have. It might actually be an interesting research topic for a sociology Phd - what the necessary checks and balances would be to have a good web based functioning music community. There are hundereds of quasi-free and commerical sites out there, some already fairly successful, and they should first be studied to learn what they do right and wrong. Done right, it is not a trival undertaking.

I did not and do not mean to imply that such an undertaking would be simple, painless, and quick - merely that it is an obvious and entirely legitimate counter to the present RIAA activites, and one that does not seem to recieve much attention or interest. Part of the reason for that is probably that to be a solution it has to function at the level of a general social trend, and as the RIAA itself is aware the least energy solution is to continue pirating and ignore the lawsuits until people actually get one. The only way to "bootstrap" such a movement would be to have a website appear with robust infastructure and a significant song offering already in place, and then start to build word of mouth support. People telling people about the site, and then those new arrivals being impressed when they arrive. It is a job for a group skilled in both music and computers, and that is a very small group indeed.

Re:technology is outstripping Justice's understand

[lgw]

This is the truth of the DRM war.

Today geeks are pissed, mostly because we see a dark future if trends continue, and consumers aren't upset by this. However, consumers *will* be upset if trends continue! If DRM moves to a place where consumers choke on it, it will be as dead as Divx, and all technology assoiciated with whatever consumers hated will be dead as well, as fast a a boy-band becomes no longer cool.

I work with engineers who are working on the TCG standards, and there is a lot of awareness of this problem. If, as many Slashdotters fear, Trusted Computing gets used to lock down consumer DRM, then Trusted Computing is dead, and years of work are wasted.

This doesn't mean that DRM is going away, however. There's plenty of room for less intrusive DRM that won't annoy the average customer, but will still seem restrictive to geeks. iTunes is there, more or less, for example.

Re:technology is outstripping Justice's understand

[bigtimepie]

piracy is not rampant (yeah, it exists, but it's not the monster the RIAA claims it is

I kindly disagree.

As a working musician, it is my opinion that filesharing spreading to a large percentage of the general public is a direct reason that independant record labels and independant cd stores are increasingly becoming invisible and/or dieing.

This, in turn, helps the major labels strengthen their grip on the market and control this medium of mainstream media. I would say that it is a small monster now, but when it grows up it could become a godzilla.

Just wondering...

[gnasher719]

how many copies are made without going online. My music collection is backed up on DVDs, on the average about 600 songs per DVD, and all a lot better quality than you find on any P2P network or iTMS, and all DRM-free. Just good that I don't let anyone get their hands on those DVDs, it would be RIAAs nightmare and completely untracable.

Re:technology is outstripping Justice's understand

[Roody Blashes]

What you don't seem to understand is that it's irrelevant whether or not theives are hurting their bottom line. What is relevant is that they're correct: people ARE stealing their music. Regardless of the impact it has (or doesn't), that is what gives them traction to press for insane anti-consumer laws and technologies.

Furthermore, it gives them a scapegoat. If CD prices go up and legit consumers complain, they can just blame the theives to silence detractors. No regular consumer has the time to delve into balance sheets and such to discern the truth, so they just say "oh okay" and then when people like me go around and say "I don't buy CDs here's why", they just say "oh, you're one of the dirty theives who makes my CD prices go up".

What the p2p theives just don't get, or don't care about maybe, is that by continuing to steal music, whether it hurts the industry or not, they just provide this enormous amount of fuel that makes it next to impossible to actually stop the RIAA. People using legit means get looked at just like the pirates so they get no support from common consumers. Furthermore, they give the RIAA a reason to keep pressing for new laws and restrictions.

P2P does nothing but harm any chances of ever reversing this tide. The best friend the RIAA has in all this is the people who keep stealing music.

Re:technology is outstripping Justice's understand

[TheVelvetFlamebait]

If you want to put an end to this, the simple answer is to cease all activities involving consumption of the product. Don't steal it, don't buy it, don't listen to it on the radio

I actually have to disagree there.

If you dissosciate yourself completely from the RIAA's music, you deliver the message loud and clear that it is the music, not the company that you object to. Sure you can "make sure you let everyone know your position and explain why you're taking that position", but that level of detail doesn't reach the sales figures of the RIAA. Show demand for the music (if there is any demand for it), just not the company's "Reign of Terror". So called piracy boycotts the business model thrusted upon us every time we want to listen to music, but still retains the demand for the music. I know everyone has said it, but give me a good-quality, DRM-free system (read: the system allofmp3.com uses), and I will be generous with my hard-earned cash.

Please note also that boycotting music (or movies for that matter) is not easy for everyone. I love my music, and I couldn't imagine my life without it. Right now, the RIAA could boycott me and I'd come crawling back, humble and submissive, within weeks.

Why does the RIAA does the ivestigation?

[houghi]

The RIAA is trying to conceal the information about how it conducts its investigation,

That should not matter. What they should do is file a complaints and then the COURT should do the investigation. The fact that they even know who the person is, is a bad thing. What is happening is:

RIAA to ISP: Give us all the details of IP XYZ:
ISP: OK, there you are:
RIAA to ISP: Sue this basterd, he must die.
COURT: Sure, whatever you say.

Here is how it SHOULD go:
RIAA: We want to report a copyright crime:
Court: Ok, please specify
RIAA: IP adress 127.192.168.172 at GMT 23:12 shared song "Some_music by Some_person_or_band" wich is in violation of ....
Court: Ok, we will see what is going on.
Court to ISP: Give us the data of the person who connected with IP on ...
ISP: There you are
COURT: Ok. Now let us proceed.

What happens in Belgium is that the court says: Fuck off if they don't ask money for it. We ain't got no time to do that. Come back when we have nothing to do or if you have people who are SELLING the stuff for profit.

Also if the local RIAA would come with the adress of the person, a serious investigation into the ISP will be done because of violation of the privacy laws AND the evidence (the name of the accused) will be dropped as evidence, making them loose the case almost immediatly.

America: Home of the give-your-privacy-away-for-free. :-(

Re:Why does the RIAA does the ivestigation?

[kilgortrout]

The courts have a much different role in the US than in most European systems. Here, everything is party driven; the courts do not do any independent investigation of facts. In fact, a court conducting a private investigation on a case would be highly improper. The court's role in the US is to make rulings of law based on the facts and arguments presented by the opposing parties and, where there are factual disputes, to make findings of fact in a bench case based upon the evidence the parties bring forth at trial. In a jury case, the jury resolves the disputed factual issues and the court only rules on matters of law and instructs the jury as to the applicable law. This is called an adversarial system of justice since it is driven by the adversarial parties in the case. Most continental European have an inquisitorial system of justice where the court is expected to make its own invstigation of the case, usually based upon the reports prepared for the court by its own investiagators.

Re:technology is outstripping Justice's understand

[Oxyrubber]

If the judge of such cases (and/or jury depending on how the case works) does not understand the issues, then they should not preside over it.

Do not write off the intelligence of a judge or the judge's willingness to learn about the impact of a case simply because we do so with legislators and most of the Exectutive. Judges are very capable of reading amicus briefs. It a judge's business to learn about the relevant facets of their case before a ruling is issued. You aren't implying that all judges know about everything except DRM/technology are you? Judges are expected to learn during their cases.

I am much more worried about legislators with precious little understanding of technology that is affected by the laws they create. A law is expensive and time-consuming to turn-over (the process of which is undesirable for most any individual/special interest).

The *IAAs' tactics sound eerily similar to what I know about the SCO case... unwilling to reveal key tidbits of evidence. Perhaps they are just trying to stall long enough to drive the defendant into the poorhouse (or use that image as leverage to settle). I hope someone makes a massive countersuit.

Steam

[ate50eggs]

I don't think DRM is going anywhere. Now that every computer is on the internet almost all the time, companies can start demanding that you remotely validate your software every time you run it.

I hate Steam. I just hate everything about it - clumsy interface, annoying ads, whining message boxes when it can't find the intenet. guess what Steam, I know when I'm connected and when I'm not, but thanks.

Yet I tolerated it so I could play Halflife 2. I have even purchased half-life add-ons that I might not have purchased otherwise. As odious as it is, it worked on me.

I also think the argument could be made that people will tolerate technology that annoys them if that technology seems to provide an indispensible convenience. how many blood pressure raising dropped calls have you had this month? going to get rid of your cell phone? yeah, me neither.