Comments on: Sources: AT&T, Comcast may help RIAA foil piracy

Two of the nation's largest Internet service providers are indicating that they would penalize chronic illegal file sharers. The RIAA has been working to enlist their help.

[Earl Benzar]

This news should send a chill through anyone who uses the net, regardless of whether you download copyrighted works. Basically this is a move to censor the internet and to silence people and monitor every thing you say. AT&T has already proven their willingness to spy on you, so they cannot and should not be trusted. This is corporate abuse of power. Period.

Solution: bust them up into a thousand little pieces. Boycott every RIAA and MPAA product. Put these people out of business.

[jharrisofkansas]

I am no fan of record companies as they have screwed over artists forever and still get away with it....I also do not think any ISP should be involved with this.I have been considering changing my business services to AT&T but they have made up my mind to stay with a company not involved with this crap.

[cohaver]

This why AT&T down 23% no like Idea that AT&T is probing Data for RIAA or anyone else.
These tools end up in the hands of Foreign Governments to Probe the Data of US government computers and Companies for Secret data to use against them in Contract Negotiations. Or Steal Research Data. RIAA need to build Format controls in their media not Probe personal data This is a type of Wire tapping with out a warrant . Fair use All customers Should be notified before any such activity take place for RIAA . There are so Many Macros that turn on and Off sharing it crazy . Internet is Feeling a Little like the Outer Limits They are in Control.

[nihouma]

Hah, I remember a while back that there was some company that was selling mp3s for like 10 cents per song. The RIAA did not watn them to sell at this price, and so they got them shut down. But the sad thing was people were actually buying songs. I'm sorry, but 99 cents for a song limits me in what I can listen to. I am but a poor college student. I can spare 99 cents for 10 songs, but not for one. They need to learn that the model they are following alienates the consumer base. It is the fault of the music industry that piracy is so popular. People used to buy music, but the RIAA makes sure if you do buy music it is a miserable experience...

[Lerianis]

Exactly right. The fact is that the RIAA/MPAA are overcharging for their products and trying to squeeze blood out of a stone here. If they would lower their prices, more and more people would buy things legally and they would get MORE money in the long run than when they were staying with those high prices.

[Jonnygthedrummer]

YAYA , finally , a good thing,

if your a musician, or someone lke that , you know how long it takes to make music,

an lets say your selling, a new phone, one guys buys your phone, then he offers it to everyone else for free , stealing it from you, (using a clone machine lol)

you wouldnt like that, you would lose sales , money , an eventally go out of bizz,

so im glad ,

i think you should pay for music, movies, or whatever,

but as long as people dont get blamed for downloading legal stuff that is not copywrited

[xconomicron]

well even if this did work out-it wouldnt help the musicians out that much, (well the bands that are not popular yet)...but really-musicians get 90% of all money from their fanbase from concerts and merch....the musicians would probably make only 5 cents off the whole album-the rest of the money goes to the label for corporate use/(the people who run the RIAA)-in actuality, no one really knows how much artists make on albums...it depends on the label and how popular you are at the time of signing... but I would bet most of the money from album sales go to the people who run the show at the RIAA...

I have a friend who is in a band and is quite popular down here in texas-they will not sign on to a label just for this reason...even tho they were offered one by Epic(about 3 months ago) and Victory(about a year ago)-they release all their content via web and bittorrent only....and they're doing pretty well for themselves i would say...lol, heck I even get paid from them sometimes to upload their songs/albums through torrent sites....

but no-I dont think a musician will lose money and go out of business if they release their content via web for FREE...in fact, I think it does the opposite of this...it gives the consumer the idea that "hey this band is good" and "look we should buy their concert tickets and merchandise and PROMOTE this band to the world" - ha, I was just ramblin, but yea, you get the picture...

and even if the ISPs and the RIAA have it their way, then let them, lets just see how far they get when they get here...but im betting 99.9% that this will backlash and the ISPs will lose a lot of money...Im even considering about changing my ISP(ATT) to someone else, because this whole "seize and desist" stuff just isn't gonna cut it for me...

as for the music industry-IT will NOT go out of business

[palolo68]

xconomicron, yes bands/artists who write their own music make a lot of their money from concerts/merchandise, but you have pure songwriters like Craig Wiseman ("Live like you were dying") who are terrible singers, but fnatastic songwriters. Usually the very best songwriters do not perform (like legend Diane Warren). It takes two different talents to sing and to write music, it's totally different. Some singers, no matter how hard they and practice try will never be a GREAT songwriter, and some songwriters , no matter how hard they try will never be a GREAT singer. There's only a very tiny handful who can be be both a top tier songwriter like Diane Warren and also a top tier singer. Check that, there is no one like Diane Warren, but she can't sing to save her life. But my point is, how about the pure songwriters that don't/can't sing or perform, their money comes from CD sales/downloads and ASCAP/BMI

[Reflautas]

Once the technology gets to where it needs to be for this to work, and can be implemented cost-effectively, STEP 1 will be to get the majors to chip in a service fee (since those new CISCO routers that make it all happen aren't free), STEP 2 will be to get the majors to do the anti-net-neutrality bidding in Congress, on the notion that net neutrality would prevent ISPs from blocking illegal downloads, STEP 3 will be to get the majors to pony up to "white list" p2p file sharing of licensed reproductions, which they will gladly do in response to market share growth from indies, and STEP 4 will be to drop the hammer -- the ISPs become the new distributors, with a pricey toll-gate the majors must pay for to get their packets through as unlicensed packets are filtered out, and non-neutral bandwidth going to the highest bidder. A "licensed download" will not mean just that the consumer got permission from the copyright owner, but that the copyright owner also got permission from the ISP. Indies and garage bands would get lost in this new "pay to play" fake-Internet environment. AT&T and Comcast are quite clever to act as though they lack enthusiasm. They hope, eventually, to look like cats that swallowed the copyright industry canary.

[Lerianis]

Excuse me, but no one would stand for that, and if it did happen... you would see a mass revolt of customers.

[Gerry S]

Well, after reading the first half of the comments, I can clearly see this is not an impressive move or attempt by ATT and Comcast, nor any other yet unknown ISPs. I dare say the open and free market place based on revenue and when greedy giants like ATT and Comcast are faced with the possibility of losing money, they will quickly change...their spokes people are already hedging on this simple announcement.

Of course what would you expect from other greedy entities, RIAA and the motion picture industry? And to the overly righteous few that have voiced contempt about it being theft, not bandwidth downloading.......taurus feces.....its about freedom of choice and fighting big brother and big brother wannabes like RIAA. What's next, blogs? anti-anything websites?

No, No, we have too many problems economically in this country today and the future looks rather dismal....allowing Orwell's prophesy to take hold now will never happen. Just beware of what causes and things are really about and not be sucked into it blindly and foolishly.

[xconomicron]

so what do we do now for the at&t customers? man I can see this working for the ISP's and the RIAA for about a 3 month period-and then it dissolve because of loss of revenue...lol, how can ISP's afford to lose any more money due to people getting cut off...THEY CAN'T-especially with this Ch#tty Economy...

so what do you think guys? should I leave ATT now and find a new ISP or just wait to get cut off? Because there is only one option for me-to download download and download!!! whether its legal or not- but lets just say I have bittorrent going every day or every other day. O and how are they going to distinguish between whats legal or not to download? Because u know that getting my linux distros from the store is not gonna happen....so if someone does a petition-show me where to sign up AGAINST this, because I would happily come and sign it personally.

o btw, what are some ISPs that you guys are using that would be an alternative-I maybe looking into Embarq if i get cut off-anybody use these guys?

[DJC1979]

AT&T would be so lucky to lose you as a customer. Hopefully your next ISP will accept your need to 'download download and download!!!'.

[jbelkin]

So, how do they know if your transferring your own Mp3 files from your house to your vacation house? Or an itunes movie from your hard drive to your AppleTV?

[unknown unknown]

The last thing the RIAA wants is any sort of meaningful review of their claims against file sharers. Instead they prefer a system where the person is guilty on accusation with a minimal standard of evidence.

We've seen the weak results produced by companies like Media Defender and BayTSP who's "evidence" has lead the RIAA to file suit against the elderly, dead, or people who don't even own computers.


As for content filters, encryption renders them useless and it will likely remove any ISP that implements from the Safe Harbor protection of the DMCA.

[MrWonderful1961]

Why is it that I don't have a fair-use license to any song that's been aired on any radio station that I have the ability to tune-in? I could have made my own original recording of it when it was on. I could have tuned-in just at the right time to miss the commercial before the song and turned the radio off just after the song finished. Why doesn't this apply to everyone?
Shouldn't the RIAA and the MPAA have to prove that the persons downloading the copyrighted material do not have a fair-use license to that material?

These are the kinds of questions that I've never heard mentioned yet in this aging debate.

[alfredwalsh]

You look over my shoulder and call me a pirate , look in a mirror if you want to watch pirate"s You
have some major nerve to be attacking your customers like this . It's none of your business what I download and i will not be affording the compost inter net police the opportunity to do this to me any longer Eye Matty

[epastrana]

No reason to worry folks, this is one of the last kicks that RIAA is making before die eternally. And I'm eager for that moment. My question here is what would be the benefit for AT&T and/or Comcast? They are business and when you are in it you definitely have to obtain a profit or benefit, so I don't see why these companies pay attention to this stupid proposal. ISPs are making business with customers, not business with RIAA. If RIAA wants to do business with us, LOWER THE PRICES!! 3 or 4 legally downloaded songs for a dollar would increase the sales like crazy but not, you are still keeping the same attitude. Well, good luck in another life. Why? ... because if you can hear it or see it, it can be copied, burned and shared for free AND NEVER EVER ANYBODY COULD STOP THIS, so think about it and reduce the price of songs, movies and oh!, ... the popcorn.

[Dalkorian]

Gasp! Say it ain't so! AT&T, already guilty of helping an illegal terrorist administration to violate out Constitution and spy on innocent civilians without cause or warrant, and Craptastic, already guilty of forging TCP_RESET packets to forcibly terminate any and all bit torrent traffic without cause or legal standing, are conspiring with the RIAA who feels it's their right - no, their responsibility, to accuse innocent civilians with piracy without any proof or evidence.
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Bring it. RIAA, you already lost. You are losers and only losers give you money. Keep chasing people to The Pirate Bay, I dare you! Oh, you think nazi illegal deals with a few ISP's will accomplish anything? HA!
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If you work for the RIAA (or MPAA for that matter), do the world a favor and kill yourself right now. The world will be *MUCH* better off without you.

[ATX256]

ISP's should stay in their lane and simply provide internet access to paying customers. RIAA needs to suck it up and force the 4 record labels they represent to come up with new innovative ways to maintain revenue and profit.

I hope the ISP boots all of their customers then sues the RIAA for compensation for their "little" plan to stop piracy...lol. Now thats entertainment....free entertainment at that!