Comments on: RIAA drops lawsuits; ISPs to battle file sharing

The recording industry has decided to stop suing customers and has instead decided to make deals with ISPs to help thwart file sharing.

Does this remind anyone of the warrantless wire taps? PATRIOT Act?
I'm not sure of the legal background in this situation, but i'm pretty sure it's a huge invasion of privacy for any ISP to tap in to our high-speed connections in search of illegaly downloaded music files. I realize that the ISP's provide a "service" which they can limit at will, but that would only add to a case against any high-speed ISP for anti-competitive business practices (since there are very, very limited options for consumers trying to get a high-speed connection). Pirating IS stealing, and I support the artists i love (which makes my wallet perpetually thin), but i cannot stand this kind of an invasion of privacy.

I also can't think of a way for them to correctly throttle/boot/respond to any user, without invading the user's privacy, and not monitor their specific traffic. If they just monitor bandwidth usage, people like the podcast dude earlier would probably end up either leaving that ISP or taking legal action. And, when ISP choice is limited by location, i'm sure an anti-competitive lawsuit will come up too.

The point is, Congress scolded the Bush Administration for warrantless wire tapping, but who's gonna do that to the ISP's when they get out of hand?

[freemarket--2008]

Not that I'm defending ISPs or the RIAA, but if you are openly sharing torrents with the world, they are not really violating your privacy in reporting you are they?

As mentioned above, nobody ever gets sued for just downloading. It's filesharing that ticks them off.

Does this remind anyone of the warrantless wire taps? PATRIOT Act?
I'm not sure of the legal background in this situation, but i'm pretty sure it's a huge invasion of privacy for any ISP to tap in to our high-speed connections in search of illegaly downloaded music files. I realize that the ISP's provide a "service" which they can limit at will, but that would only add to a case against any high-speed ISP for anti-competitive business practices (since there are very, very limited options for consumers trying to get a high-speed connection). Pirating IS stealing, and I support the artists i love (which makes my wallet perpetually thin), but i cannot stand this kind of an invasion of privacy.

I also can't think of a way for them to correctly throttle/boot/respond to any user, without invading the user's privacy, and not monitor their specific traffic. If they just monitor bandwidth usage, people like the podcast dude earlier would probably end up either leaving that ISP or taking legal action. And, when ISP choice is limited by location, i'm sure an anti-competitive lawsuit will come up too.

The point is, Congress scolded the Bush Administration for warrantless wire tapping, but who's gonna do that to the ISP's when they get out of hand?

[kboateng]

Yes this is a better alternative than being sued but it is a very, and I mean VERY stupid alternative. Is it even legal? If you're an ISP what jurisdiction do you have to suspend my service that I pay for? Unless I pay then you can say something but other than that just do your job and don't bother me...not very complicated.

[sadchild]

from one bad idea to the next

[Robert G K]

Smart people will leave the ISP's if they are being throttled and dumb people will stay and take it. I understand some people don't have a choice, they can't get DSL so they stick with Cable or vica versa, its the people who have a choice that are dumb. Also hopefully 4G high speed wireless internet will take off and give people another option. If enough people quit an ISP (or call and threaten to quit), they will change their ways...its all a money thing. Like with Gas when the gas companies are loosing money because people aren't driving as much they lower the price of gas, but when people start driving more they raise the price. A lot of things can be change if people just used their brains and did something instead of just giving in and complaining all the time about it.

So if you're being throttled and you have a choice to use another ISP, then do it (and hopefully they don't throttle too). If enough people do this, the ISP's who throttle will loose money and they'll change their ways.

[protagonistic]

I, for one, no longer buy any music that is controlled by the RIAA. There are plenty of independent artists out there than put out better music anyway. And the artist makes much more than the pittance the RIAA offers to their artists.

[MSSlayer]

The RIAA no longer has any legitimate purpose, they are merely a criminal enterprise that rips off musicians and fans.

The sooner more acts move to a model similar to what nine inch nails is doing, the sooner everyone will be better off.

[mattjanz]

I agree... give more content to the fans and more money to the artists that create the intellectual property.

[berlioz2009]

Here's a novel idea: All RIAA member record labels might start producing music which teens and adults care enough about to pay for...that is, the music has enough personal value that the listeners will gladly pay for it. A big problem is the throw-away mentality of the music business. If it ain' worth much, with no lasting value, why should anyone pay for it?

[shades_is_here_now]

Where are the people that quoets free speach, for that is what it is for if thr riaa does thsi then they will have to go too all of the public libraries and have themm pull all of the music off there shelves with all videos and every book in there for I think of the internet as on big library where you can find any info and listen to any music and video you want to and learn from it and if riaa does not see it that way then they will have a fight on there hands for they might as burn all of the librariesdown and have all computers and the internet turned off.

[brandonmrv93]

I'm not happy with this now i have leagly download music and I have also used I p2p service to download music okay. now I am happy that there music sales are dropping because maybe they we will have real artist in the industry not these idiots who have no talent at all and they become popular because a big label pushes them into the spot light. hay if your a talented artist I will download your music for free and if I like you I might go out spend a lot of money on your concert when you go out on tour and you'll be able to make a well amount of money that way. to me these services aren't about the money and that bull but about getting talented people discovered and terrible people down and out of the way. This should not be about the money it should be about the talent

[cmpbllman9]

ITS CRAPTASTIC!

[J0hnSmith]

Considering Comcast just sent me a "notice of copyright infringement" email the other day it does look like they (at least Comcrap it seems) is really ramping up sending out these DMCA-type violation notices.

[sethnw]

Just because the RIAA is fighting a losing battle against technology doesn't mean we need to pity them at all. And if they think they can bully ISPs for enforcing their jackboot policies, they're in for a rude awakening. You can't fight file sharing any more than you can fight the internets. The RIAA needs to learn that no one is buying tapes from them anymore. It's time to pull their heads out of the sand and start thinking. Youtube and itunes and Hulu and XM and Pandora all found ways to do it. If the RIAA is gonna try to use horse and buggy business methods and attempt to sue the pants off everyone who wants to move on, well then they're screwed. So it looks like they finally took a baby step forward in realizing their millions dumped into frivolous and mean-spirited lawsuits didn't intimidate anyone. They now need to take another step forward and realize they can't expect the ISPs to become their IT Blackwater mercenaries. And if they don't realize that and come up with a business model that actually works they'll see file-sharing getting more and more popular.

[bvdon]

Will the MPAA follow suit and stop the silly war against guitar tabs? Talk about alienating your best customers -- musicians live for music and buy all sorts of gear, CD's, concerts, etc. Make them mad and they will be less inclined to spend.

[mattjanz]

While this may seem to be a more successful way for the RIAA to squander money out of anyone that they catch, I believe that the writing has long been on the wall. The record companies will never recover from the digital age of music; their revenue stream was severely disrupted, and is on the brink of running out. Taking this course of action is going to further alienate the record industry from fans.

[grayfrier]

What did everyone expect that they will tel the truth just look how far they go to further their ajunda
Filing a lawsuit against a dead woman that not only had no computer but also hated them and a 12 year old girl that had copies of her favorite program in MP3 format on her computer a TV show what the heck has that to do with music?
They have gone after people that because they have DSL and are always on line but do not belong to any file sharing service how did they know these people had music on their computers unless they hacked them!
Don't believe me Google RIAA secret programs and RIAA Bullet and see for your self they are trying and developing all kinds of programs to see inside our computers we are told we can not break the laws but its ok for them.

[kwarren84]

"Music fans own the music industry and the artists"

Wow. So we're you're personal slaves, and we don't even get any money to eat with. You're awesome. Actually, the artists are the ones who own the soul that fills the void in your meaningless life. And if you want to keep b*tching about how the quality of movies and music has declined as you "share" it all onto your hard drive for free, come to the realization that P2P has helped to lessen the financial incentive of pursuing a career in the creative arts, and that makes the big industries less willing to take risks on anything other than surefire crap that they know mainstream America will eat up.

[Spyers]

The anti social side of me is showing...

Flood your ISP with fake notices. One for each IP address in their range. See if they'll terminate all their users.

[kboy667]

wait wait wait! soo does this mean that you can download limewire and stuff and not have as big a chance of getting caught or no chance of getting caught?

[sting7k]

So when is the funeral for the RIAA going to be? How long until DRM follows?