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RIAA Wants To Scrap Anti-Piracy OPEN Act
silentbrad writes with these selections from an article at Ars Technica: "The Recording Industry Association of America found itself in an unusual position this week: opposing an anti-piracy bill that's gaining momentum in Congress ... the RIAA argues the bill won't be effective at shutting down rogue sites. The trade group warns of 'indefinite delays' as claims of infringement are investigated. And it complains that the process envisioned by OPEN would allow for 'endless submissions by parties such as Google,' further gumming up the process. All the while, the alleged rogue site would be able to continue operating. The RIAA also warns that the need to hire an attorney to navigate the ITC's arcane legal process will 'put justice out of reach for small business American victims of IP theft.' The trade group complains that sites aren't held responsible for the infringing activities of their users, a rule the trade group says 'excuses willful blindness and outright complicity in illegal activity.' RIAA also says it's 'virtually impossible' to prove that a site infringed willfully, as OPEN requires."
But, but, due process is so Hard!
The RIAA also warns that the need to hire an attorney to navigate the ITC's arcane legal process will 'put justice out of reach for small business American victims of IP theft.'
What part of copyright law do you currently NOT have to hire a lawyer in order to get 'justice?'
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
I think it's obvious to all that these guys just want the power to kill any website they wish with little oversight...
Arguing ridiculous ideas like this demonstrates that they are pretty much the last people we should hand over the power to do so.
>> The RIAA also warns that the need to hire an attorney to navigate the ITC's arcane legal process will 'put justice out of reach for small business American victims of IP theft.'
Funny how they're not concerned about those same legal costs that innocent individuals have to face to defend themselves, when the RIAA spam arbitrary blocks of John Does with threatening lawyers letters that amount to extortion.
The RIAA also warns that the need to hire an attorney to navigate the ITC's arcane legal process will 'put justice out of reach for small business American victims of IP theft.'
as if they are representing ANY small business.
im a foreigner - but even i learned it ; whenever some politician/lobbyist uses the word 'small business' in american politics, small business has nothing to do with it and its for some fucking 4-5 megacorp monopolizing in any field related to that law/bill.
Read radical news here
Rough translation: "This bill doesn't go far enough and it's going to cost us money. Please kill this bill and surrender the internet NOW or kiss your campaign contributions goodbye. What we want is the US government to go anywhere any time we pull their chains and stomp all over those eeeeeeeeeeeevil pirates who are anti-American, anti-corporate profits and obviously terrorrorrorrorrists too. We'll have the new bill in your office so you can jam it through just before elections and don't forget to pick up your checks."
Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
The trade group complains that sites aren't held responsible for the infringing activities of their users, a rule the trade group says 'excuses willful blindness and outright complicity in illegal activity.'
This is, again, the scariest part of their campaign. The ability of sites to not be liable (unless they ignore takedown requests) is the best part of the (otherwise pretty crappy) DMCA, and the XXAA want to undo it. They don't care in the least that it would end every social collaboration web site (like slashdot), because they think their old business models (pay the radio, tv, and newspaper to advertise, then reap profit via local stores and theaters) would spring back to life if we didn't waste all our time and money on the internet.
Seriously, the only way this will end is if someone puts a bullet in them. And by bullet, I mean hostile takeover. And by someone, I mean Google. And if Apple just so happens to take over another one of them a few days later, oh well. Maybe Microsoft would even like to own a music label? Hell, isn't EMI suffering and looking for a buyer?
It doesn't hurt to be nice.
It's not fair to them until they can have their system of guilty until proven innocent. Or rather guilty until guilty guilty guilty.
Due Process is so expensive. Can't let an irrelevant thing like 3,000 years of developing the Rule of Law get in the way of all the Benjamins, now.