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RIAA Threatens ICANN Over Music-Themed gTLD Standards

Posted by Soulskill on from the same-old-song-and-dance dept.

think_nix writes "A letter to ICANN (PDF) from Victoria Sheckler, Deputy General Counsel for the RIAA, demands modifications to the future implementation of the .music gTLD, threatening to 'escalate the issue' if certain concerns about 'wide scale copyright and trademark infringement' are not addressed by ICANN in compliance with the RIAA. 'Under the current proposed standard, we fear that we will have no realistic ability to object if a pirate chooses to hijack a music themed gTLD to enable wide scale copyright infringement of our works,' Sheckler said."

37 of 174 comments (clear)

  1. RIAA is still going? by funkatron · · Score: 5, Funny

    According to their lies they should have gone bankrupt by now. Maybe this year they can finally fuck off?

    --
    "Welcome to our world. We are the wasted youth. And we are the future too." Yes, I know these are stupid lyrics.
    1. Re:RIAA is still going? by mcgrew · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Lies is right. From TFA:

      1. String Confusion. The sought after gTLD is "confusingly similar to an existing one, or one making its way through the application stage.
      2. Legal Rights. The applied-gTLD somehow "infringes" on the rights of the protesting group.
      3. Morality and Public Order. The proposed gTLD is "contrary to generally accepted legal norms of morality." One guesses that the gTLDs '.extortion' or '.kickstraydogs' would fall under this rubric.
      4. Community Objection. "There is substantial opposition to the gTLD application from a significant portion of the community to which the gTLD string may be explicitly or implicitly targeted." See '.lawyerssuck' or '.justinbieberfansmustdie.'

      1. .music is close to .info? Who do these lying assholes think they're fooling?
      2. TFA pegged it. How in the world could it infringe on their rights? What rights, in fact? They act as if nobody but the RIAA is allowed to write, perform, or record music.
      3. "Legal norms of morality?" legal != moral, moral !=legal, immoral != illegal, illegal != immoral. There's nothing immoral about smoking marijuana, but its posession is against the law. There is little that is more immoral than adultery, yet it is legal in most jurisdictions.
      4. What community? Most musicians are not RIAA members, and in fact almost every musician I know personally hates the RIAA's guts.

      And Jesus H. Christ, who is the RIAA to preach to anybody about morality? Satan himself has better morals.

      --
      Free Martian Whores!
    2. Re:RIAA is still going? by dkleinsc · · Score: 4, Informative

      Are you at all familiar with the accounting practices rampant in the recording and film industries?

      They typically keep at least 3 sets of books - 1 for the royalty payments (which will invariably state that the actual content earned nothing so nobody with net royalties earns a dime), 1 for the tax collectors (which will invariably state that the company owes no taxes), and 1 for the stockholders (which will show the massive profits they're making). That the math has never added up hasn't stopped the very small number of big conglomerates so far.

      --
      I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
    3. Re:RIAA is still going? by funkatron · · Score: 3, Funny

      Are you at all familiar with the accounting practices rampant in the recording and film industries?

      No, if I was I would be doing them. Instead, I'm watching futurama and imitating bender by drinking and smoking a tasty cigar.

      --
      "Welcome to our world. We are the wasted youth. And we are the future too." Yes, I know these are stupid lyrics.
    4. Re:RIAA is still going? by AndrewNeo · · Score: 2

      They act as if nobody but the RIAA is allowed to write, perform, or record music.

      Woah woah woah WOAH woah. Hold on now, let's not say anything crazy.

    5. Re:RIAA is still going? by robot256 · · Score: 4, Informative

      I'm sorry, that sounds too much like a song, please have your payment ready when our lawyers come to sue you. ~ RIAA

    6. Re:RIAA is still going? by funkatron · · Score: 4, Funny

      To the funny moderator: I meant it, you insensitive clod.

      --
      "Welcome to our world. We are the wasted youth. And we are the future too." Yes, I know these are stupid lyrics.
    7. Re:RIAA is still going? by Crudely_Indecent · · Score: 2

      On that note, Futurama Season 6 is out on DVD.

      --


      "Lame" - Galaxar
    8. Re:RIAA is still going? by TheSpoom · · Score: 2

      2. Legal Rights. The applied-gTLD somehow "infringes" on the rights of the protesting group.

      See, that's it right there. They're claiming ownership of the word 'music'.

      --
      It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
      - E. Debs
    9. Re:RIAA is still going? by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 3, Funny

      and if you are schizophrenic, then that counts as a 'group performance' and you have to pay extra for that.

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
  2. Space in a Parking Lot by NReitzel · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Isn't this akin to the DEA informing a grocery store that they can't have a parking lot, because a lot of drug deals are taking place there at night?

    --

    Don't take life too seriously; it isn't permanent.

    1. Re:Space in a Parking Lot by achilles777033 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      More like the Home Owner's Association, or the PTA, than the DEA, I would think.

    2. Re:Space in a Parking Lot by mysidia · · Score: 2

      Isn't this akin to the DEA informing a grocery store that they can't have a parking lot, because a lot of drug deals are taking place there at night?

      No... at least the DEA is part of the government.

      This is akin to the MADD threatening real estate developers that they cannot offer land for sale on a street named "Bar Street", without addressing certain concerns, or they will escalate (probably to a zoning authority), because there is a chance that some business developers might have bars built on the street, some of the bars built might have alcohol available for sale, there is a chance that some tenants of those bars could go there and be encouraged to imbibe, and some of them might try to take their alcohol with them on the road.

    3. Re:Space in a Parking Lot by spun · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Not really. I don't think the RIAA is concerned about piracy on .music gTLDs. They appear to be more concerned that they will not have as much control over domain names as they would like. They object to three specific things: "Ultra high standards for community objection," which means it will be more difficult for them to stop things they consider to be cybersquatting; "Lack of transparency" means they will not be able to easily figure out who owns what domain name, and who to sue; and "Malicious Conduct" which means that they suspect people might do things on the .music gTLD that they do on other parts of the Internet, like pirate music. They seem to want to force ICANN to be their unpaid police force, or to do their thinking for them and come up with a technical solution that protects their interests.

      Basically, I believe RIAA wants to control anything remotely related to music. The idea of a huge new marketplace of independent music scares the crap out of them. I think they want ICANN to basically say, "The RIAA owns .music. If you want to put music of any sort on the Internet, talk to the RIAA." And I want to date supermodels, plural. Come on, RIAA, you are thinking too small. Take getting paid for doing nothing to the next step and force everyone with ears to pay a music tax directly to you. After all, if they have ears, they might hear some music without paying you for it, and we can't have that.

      --
      - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
    4. Re:Space in a Parking Lot by vagabond_gr · · Score: 2

      Isn't this akin to the DEA informing a grocery store that they can't have a parking lot, because a lot of drug deals are taking place there at night?

      Worse, it's akin to suing the yellow pages for potentially listing the grocery store (even though it's not even printed yet).

    5. Re:Space in a Parking Lot by Diss+Champ · · Score: 2

      No, it's more like Phizer informing a grocery store that they can't have a parking lot, because a lot of drug deals are taking place there at night.

    6. Re:Space in a Parking Lot by Mashiki · · Score: 2

      I think they're more concerned that someone is going to get the shit.music domain before they do.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
  3. Thanks! by xMrFishx · · Score: 4, Funny

    Oh hey thanks for your information about the parking lot, I used to buy my drugs at the chemist, where there was a limited selection. Now I can get the drugs I want from this source without the hassle of getting them through proper channels.

  4. Stupid? by Nemyst · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You'd be pretty stupid to paint yourself in a corner like that, as a pirate. That's akin to the .xxx TLD that'd make porn sites way too easy to filter.

    I don't think .music would be used for much pirating. Plus, even if it does, it would've happened WITHOUT it anyways... The RIAA is apparently trying to piss off everyone they can. I don't get it.

    1. Re:Stupid? by MartinSchou · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well, if ICANN had a sense of humour, they'd just refuse to register any music related domain names. Period. Nothing that could even remotely be associated with any of the RIAA companies, their subsidiaries, their artists or employees.

      I mean - to avoid lawsuits.

    2. Re:Stupid? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      That's akin to the .xxx TLD that'd make porn sites way too easy to filter.

      As someone who's done business with porn sites, they're all about it. Porn sites want to be filtered by libraries, schools, parents, etc. because it lessens the hassle and negative image they have to deal with while not seriously effecting their business (very few people in any of those situations buy porn instead of looking at free stuff). Heck, most of them voluntarily add tags to help filtering programs know to filter them.

      P.S. going to company mandated sexual harassment sensitivity training being done by an outside consultant is a riot when a number of the "rules" they tell us to follow would prevent us from doing work. The trainer eventually just blanked over, stopped taking questions, and read from her script pretending like no one had asked anything.

    3. Re:Stupid? by jammer170 · · Score: 2

      Honestly, I don't think has to do with piracy at all (or at least very little). What the RIAA and associated organizations are worried about is a single identifier that can be used to find, promote, and distribute legal music that isn't under their complete control. As more and more artists are moving away from pursuing a record label contract, the RIAA has less power. If they have basically the right to knock any website off the domain they choose (in an effort to "protect the consumers from pirates" or whatever bullshit they claim), they maintain their power and business model.

      --
      Remember, you can't look dignified when your having fun! Don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out of it alive
    4. Re:Stupid? by plover · · Score: 4, Interesting

      So ICANN should issue a .riaa gTLD, and give the RIAA the authority to be the regsitrar.

      Then everyone business and and ISP on the planet could block .riaa resolution, keeping us safe from being subjected to lawsuits for infringing their rights by looking at their content.

      Brilliant!

      --
      John
  5. Re:God damn it RIAA by countSudoku() · · Score: 2

    Let the babies have their bottle. No one is going to visit any of those lame .music sites. The more they tighten their grip, the more music will slip through their (fat) fingers.

    --
    This is the NSA, we're gonna geet U h@x0r5! Also, what is a h@x0r5?
  6. Why this one? by amicusNYCL · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How exactly is any one TLD more or less capable of being used by pirates than any other?

    --
    "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
  7. Re:Essentially by McTickles · · Score: 3, Insightful

    effects = affects... know the difference people...

  8. simple solution: .riaa ghetto by bugi · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There's an easy solution to this. Give them their own .riaa gtld and let them ghettoize it however they like.

    That can be the official newspeak channel for angry out of touch distributors, and the rest of us can get on with appreciating music for its aesthetic value.

  9. My understaning by UnknowingFool · · Score: 2

    The RIAA wants special considerations for rights holders that no other business or perons on the Internet has today and wants to limit criticisms under the guise of morality. For example if I want to register JustinBieber.sucksballs the RIAA wants to make it easier to challenge it because of the use of "JustinBieber" and they don't like the suffix for morality reasons. The first part of the objection may be partially valid, however in the context of parody and criticism, it should be allowable. The second part they object because of community standards like morality. I have no doubt though that they would object to JustinBieber.terriblemusician and JustinBieber.isnotverygood. The best counter case I have to this is when someone registered the Did Glen Beck rape and murder a young girl in 1990 case. The courts allowed the domain and shot down all of Glen Beck's objections.

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    1. Re:My understaning by careysub · · Score: 4, Informative

      The RIAA wants special considerations for rights holders that no other business or perons on the Internet has today and wants to limit criticisms under the guise of morality...

      17 USC 1008, Section 1004 imposes a 3% tax on blank music CDs since 1998, even though making copies of music for your own use is legal, and the music industry did just fine with no tax on analog media supporting them. Once they got a taste of having a special tax in which the proceeds flow directly to private for-profit businesses they have been eager to extend this "business model."

      You may have seen proposals being floated by the RIAA for some sort of Internet tax to replace their "lost" revenues (compared to their all-time high banner year of 1999). This idea does not seem to have gotten traction yet, but the more Congress resembles the U.S. Chamber of Commerce the more likely they are to dust this one off again.

      Yessiree - protecting private intellectual property is best done through tax-supported corporate welfare.

      --
      Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
  10. What about domain squatting by kabloom · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'm surprised that the RIAA is more worried about piracy than having their domains bought up by speculators who will charge them millions of dollars for the names of their bands.

  11. Re:Uhhh... by Penguinisto · · Score: 2

    Apparently the RIAA has a yearly summit to decide the most ungodly drop-stupid way they can think of to piss off the rest of the planet.

    Their other idea (have agents walk around handing out random invoices to everyone they catch humming a tune in public) apparently never made it past the focus groups. Probably because everyone would tell them to fuck off or something...

    --
    Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
  12. Fuck Everyone, We're the RIAA by eldavojohn · · Score: 5, Funny

    The RIAA is apparently trying to piss off everyone they can. I don't get it.

    Dear Everybody,

    You're not us. So that means you're either a pirate or a pirate pretending to be a consumer. That includes ICANN. That includes the Vatican. That includes OPEC. That includes the United States Government.

    You want to use the word "music?" We can assure you, only if you pay royalties to us and right now all we see is people profiting off of our artist's copyrighted works (i.e. all music) that we broke our backs locking down with crippling contracts.

    Remember our motto: "If you're not us, you're against us."

    No, that wasn't a typo. We're sick of making weak individuals our enemies -- it's time we pick on someone our own size.

    Notes, scales, chords, percussion, etc. It's only a matter of time before we own those words and what they represent.

    The RIAA

    P.S. Resistance is futile.

    --
    My work here is dung.
  13. Re:special by TaoPhoenix · · Score: 3, Funny

    Someone has gotta find a way to pit the RIAA against the TSA.

    --
    My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
  14. Re:Essentially by Abstrackt · · Score: 2

    Good luck effecting that change...

    (I swear I'm not trolling, that statement was grammatically correct!)

    --
    They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it's not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance. - Terry Pratchett
  15. not my job by v1 · · Score: 2

    Under the current proposed standard, we fear that we will have no realistic ability to object if a pirate chooses to hijack a music themed gTLD to enable wide scale copyright infringement of our works

    They appear to be under the mistaken assumption (dilution) that it's the world's job to make sure they obtain maximum profits.

    --
    I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
  16. Re:So conflicted by Gerzel · · Score: 2

    The RIAA wants the word "material" taken out of the draft because it raises the burden of proof which they don't want.

  17. Re:those Rtards at RIAA by CCarrot · · Score: 2

    i saw a comic once, cant recall where.

    Was it something like this?
    (http://www.thebuzzmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/why-people-pirate-movies-steps-to-watching-video.jpg)

    --
    "I love animals! Some are cute, others are tasty, what's not to like?" - Betsy Schroeder, Jeopardy contestant