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Title: RIAA Legal Ruling Could Shut Down The Internet, U.S. government supports legal case that would criminalize making any files available on the world wide web
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URL Source: http://prisonplanet.com/articles/november2006/291106shutdown.htm
Published: Nov 29, 2006
Author: Paul Joseph Watson
Post Date: 2006-11-29 14:54:02 by christine
Keywords: None
Views: 189
Comments: 13
A landmark legal case on behalf of the Recording Industry Association of America and other global trade organizations seeks to criminalize all Internet file sharing of any kind as copyright infringement, effectively shutting down the world wide web - and their argument is supported by the U.S. government. Ray Beckerman, a lawyer representing clients in cases against the RIAA, recently took part in a conference call organized by http://DefectiveByDesign.org, an organization which opposes DRM Technology, content restricting programs embedded into software that blocks users access to music, movies, software and other forms of digital data. Beckerman describes how Internet users are randomly targeted by the RIAA for simply having a folder of music on their computer, kept in the dark about legal details and intimidated into paying thousands of dollars immediately or facing a federal lawsuit. The RIAA doesn't even attempt to prove copyright infringement with specific examples, dates or times - it simply coerces and threatens the victim until they relent into paying out huge settlement fees. "They have an investigator pretend to be a user of KAZAA or one of the other similar file-sharing networks. He finds a shared files folder that has a goodly number of copyrighted songs in it. He has no idea whether those song files were obtained legally, whether though payed downloads, or through making personal copies from one's own CD for backup purposes, or whether anything illegal was ever done with those files, whether anyone ever copied one. And what he does: he takes a screen shot of this shared files folders (He of course does not see the folders, he merely sees the text in the metadata) and decides that this is a big shared file folder." "Then through some secret process which he will not share with us and has tried to conceal from the courts, he then associates it with a dynamic ip address. And then, after he has what he believes is the correct dynamic ip address, for the date and time at which he made that screen shot, he then brings a proceeding to get the name and address of the subscriber who paid for the internet access, which of course would tell us nothing. But once he gets that information he then sues the person." In one case, UMG vs. Lindor, a cleaner who has never used or owned a computer but simply dusted near one was sued as an online distributor in peer to peer file sharing. Accusing the RIAA of "conducting a reign of terror" by bringing lawsuits against defenseless people, Beckerman warned that one case in particular, Elektra vs. Barker, has the potential to shut down the Internet completely. RIAA's argument is that Miss Barker, a poor nursing student who lives in housing projects, should be prosecuted on the basis that "merely making files available on the internet is in and of itself a copyright infringement." Beckerman calls the complaint "a shocking argument because if it were accepted it would probably shut down the entire internet." The U.S. government has also filed legal briefs supporting the RIAA's argument. Deep sixing the entire Internet seems a highly unlikely move in that it would probably derail the world economy and put thousands of huge transnational corporations out of business. An outcome more likely to happen if this ruling is accepted is that it would further pave the way for government regulation and tracking of the Internet, namely "Internet 2," a completely controlled, surveilled and autocratic cyber police state similar to the Chinese model, whereby website owners have to obtain government permission to run a blog, be approved by a biometric thumb scan just to turn their computer on, and immediately get their Internet access shut off if they misbehave. This case is another attack arm of forces in government and the corporate structure that seek to suffocate the last outpost of true freedom of speech and dissent and it must be countered at all costs.
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#1. To: christine (#0)
I'm waiting for Lew Rockwell to spin this positively for me. I have to believe that the Chimperor deeply regrets the invention of the "Internets" by now. The gatekeepers have lost control.
...An outcome more likely to happen if this ruling is accepted is that it would further pave the way for government regulation and tracking of the Internet, namely "Internet 2," a completely controlled, surveilled and autocratic cyber police state similar to the Chinese model, whereby website owners have to obtain government permission to run a blog, be approved by a biometric thumb scan just to turn their computer on, and immediately get their Internet access shut off if they misbehave. And get computer purchasers and users more accustomed to the idea that the government has the right to regulate what you do and say on the internet. And in your life in general.
the law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal bread.
what?
"The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer." I think it's about time to take this fight to the RIAA's front door. From now on, don't buy another fucking "music industry" product. Download them on P2P networks, trade MP3's with your friends, buy used CD's and copy them, but don't spend another fucking penny on anything. Steal it all. Starve these fuckers to death. If the "artists" want to get paid, they can do it the old fashioned way...perform live for it.
"First I'm gonna bother everybody I meet, and then I'll probably go home and get drunk."
I, being an artist take offense to the notion that someone would take something that I made, and make copies of it, without me seeing a dime. Here's why. My skill, my talent went into making something that I turned into a commercial product. I am deserving of compensation for my effort. I have no idea what you do for a living Orangedog, but I would bet that you wouldn't be willing to go to work every day for free now would you? Here's the issue at hand. Most of the crap being pirated, whether it be music, movies etc, isn't pirated by people STEALING it. These people are BUYING IT. They're buying the product and sharing it. The problem, is how they're sharing it. Some people make bootlegs that they sell with reckless abandon. Like China for instance. Any DVD you buy out of Hong Kong, is more than likely a ripped off version of whatever the Hollywood, or Music biz people paid the Chinese to produce for them. I shit you not. In the toy industry, there is rampant theft of intellectual property. Let's say I sculpt a toy. I make this toy prototype. It in turn is taken to China and turned into a mass produced product. I make X amount of dollars on the projected sales. THEN I find out that the company I hired to mass produce it, made more toys than I paid for. Guess what they do with those extras? I don't get them, THEY SELL THEM AT A PITTANCE OF WHAT I SELL THEM FOR IN THE AMERICAN MARKET. Pretty soon, they're killing my profit margins because THEY DOUBLED THE RUN!!! Now that's just one scenario where the artist gets screwed. Here's how they get screwed when it comes to music and movies. No album, No Movie has ever, and I mean EVER been profitable. Do you know why? Because of their arcane accounting practices. Most artists get paid a few bucks, but it's nothing in comparison to what the lawyers, and the bureacracy make in handling those artists. You want to see an industry that needs to be audited like a mother fucker, it's the goddamned movie business. Literally Trillions of dollars circulate in that world, and yet nobody seems to be making a profit. It's how they avoid paying taxes my friend. You want to fuck the industries you hate? Don't go to see their movies. Don't go buy their CD's. Don't watch their TV shows. In fact, don't pay your cable or internet bills. It's better to starve those who profit by doing nothing, than to starve those who produce the art, film, or music you love.
This sucks.
-Thomas Paine
#2. To: christine (#0)
#3. To: christine (#0)
RIAA Legal Ruling Could Shut Down The Internet, U.S. government supports legal case that would criminalize making any files available on the world wide web
#4. To: christine (#0)
In one case, UMG vs. Lindor, a cleaner who has never used or owned a computer but simply dusted near one was sued as an online distributor in peer to peer file sharing.
---Henry Kissinger, New York Times, October 28, 1973
#5. To: christine (#0)
#6. To: orangedog (#5)
 | This country's priorities are all fucked up. |
#7. To: TommyTheMadArtist (#6)
It's how they avoid paying taxes my friend. You want to fuck the industries you hate? Don't go to see their movies. Don't go buy their CD's. Don't watch their TV shows. In fact, don't pay your cable or internet bills. It's better to starve those who profit by doing nothing, than to starve those who produce the art, film, or music you love. You're kinda making my point for me. If the artists are already getting fucked by the record companies, then that's a pretty good case for gutting that screwed up business model like a trout by just about any means that gets the job done. Jesus, they're suing ten year old girls for a half million dollars, for fuck sake! That's a little out of control for swapping some Milli Vanilli MP3's. If a band is good, they'll make a bundle doing concerts. If not, well the world could do with a few less boy bands and one hit wonders who end up working in mini marts a year after the top 40 stations forget about them.
No album, No Movie has ever, and I mean EVER been profitable. Do you know why? Because of their arcane accounting practices. Most artists get paid a few bucks, but it's nothing in comparison to what the lawyers, and the bureacracy make in handling those artists. You want to see an industry that needs to be audited like a mother fucker, it's the goddamned movie business. Literally Trillions of dollars circulate in that world, and yet nobody seems to be making a profit.
"First I'm gonna bother everybody I meet, and then I'll probably go home and get drunk."
#8. To: christine (#0)
Deep sixing the entire Internet seems a highly unlikely move in that it would probably derail the world economy and put thousands of huge transnational corporations out of business. An outcome more likely to happen if this ruling is accepted is that it would further pave the way for government regulation and tracking of the Internet, namely "Internet 2," a completely controlled, surveilled and autocratic cyber police state similar to the Chinese model, whereby website owners have to obtain government permission to run a blog, be approved by a biometric thumb scan just to turn their computer on, and immediately get their Internet access shut off if they misbehave. This case is another attack arm of forces in government and the corporate structure that seek to suffocate the last outpost of true freedom of speech and dissent Ding ding. This is the reason in a nutshell. Don't forget CongressWhore Joe Barton R-Tx...the nazi who sponsored the internet sellout bill to BigTelcom, got re-elected. :(
The U.S. government has also filed legal briefs supporting the RIAA's argument.
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
Just as there is no money in peace or freedom, there is also no money in a healthy Amerika - - IndieTX
#9. To: Sam Houston (#2)
Exactamundo. Our CFR masters MUST shut down the free flow of information over the internet, before their dreams and aspirations for world domination crumble to dust.
The gatekeepers have lost control.
Remember...G-d saved more animals than people on the ark. www.siameserescue.org
#10. To: IndieTX, Zipporah (#8)
we better be good girls, zip!
Deep sixing the entire Internet seems a highly unlikely move in that it would probably derail the world economy and put thousands of huge transnational corporations out of business. An outcome more likely to happen if this ruling is accepted is that it would further pave the way for government regulation and tracking of the Internet, namely "Internet 2," a completely controlled, surveilled and autocratic cyber police state similar to the Chinese model, whereby website owners have to obtain government permission to run a blog, be approved by a biometric thumb scan just to turn their computer on, and immediately get their Internet access shut off if they misbehave.
#11. To: christine, Zipporah (#10) (Edited)
Bite your tongue woman! There will be no good girls around here, you hear me? :P
we better be good girls, zip!
The Subversive Firearms Forums
#12. To: christine (#10)
Be good??.. do we have to?? .... you KNOW this is impossible chrissy.. :P
we better be good girls, zip!
#13. To: Critter (#11)
alright :P
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