It was reported yesterday in The Register, a UK tabloid, that the RIAA has filed 1,000 lawsuites naming file-sharers in what will become an unprecedented spate of expensive litigations that could bankrupt and imprison individuals and tie up the courts as well as flood the prisons with ordinary citizens. Remember this is to counter what the record industry is claiming are decreased sales which they blame on file sharing. In Congressional hearings the RIAA refused to provide sales figures from the "Napster period" which could derail their argument, potentially showing that it was their own actions (or any number of other factors) which caused the decrease in sales. With a government that makes laws to protect corporate profits at the expense of individual rights (privacy for one) it's no wonder (though outrageously alarming) that US Senator Orin Hatch (sponsor of the demented Digital Millenium Copyright Act) was advocating physically destroying thousands of families' computers to try to supress internet file sharing. Although Hatch's evil plan has not yet been approved, the Supreme Court has given the RIAA the right to force ISP's to turn over data on users to facillitate the filing of legal action against potentially millions of US citizens.
The Register article: http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/31833.html
RIAA nails 1,000 music-lovers in 'new Prohibition' jihad
"On Friday the lobby group that works on behalf of the large, mostly foreign-owned, music conglomerates that own the music copyrights and distribution channels confirmed that it was serving subpoenas at the rate of 75 a day on US citizens for the crime of sharing the music they love.
This signals a change of tactics for the RIAA: as now each individual file sharer is potentially responsible for thousands of dollars in damages. Once they were shielded by ISPs, but in the wake of the Verizon case, individuals are now exposed to direct intimidation. The RIAA is beside itself with glee: and boasted that a thousand music-lovers had already been busted.
The escalation in violence threatens to bring the US criminal justice system to an impasse: although the prison industry is already full to the brim, the RIAA's actions make new criminals out of tens of millions of ordinary US citizens."
some relevant news links:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/938385.asp "RIAA to sue users..." MSNBC July 15th
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/6335275.htm "RIAA nearing 1,000 subpoenas..." Miami Herald July 19th
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14148-2003Jul18.html "Subpoena Onslaught..." Washington Post July 19th
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-981449.html "Federal judge sides with the RIAA's effort..." the fateful Federal Court decision against Verizon - CNET.com news
Boycott-RIAA.com http://www.boycott-riaa.com/
Janis Ian - An alternative view http://www.janisian.com/article-internet_debacle.html
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