dmcowen674
No Lifer
5-27-2004 RIAA Sues single Mom making $12 Hr for $540,000 but will accept $4,000, she doesn't have the money
4-28-2004 Record industry sues 477 more U.S. file-sharers
The RIAA has filed 2,454 lawsuits since September, including suits filed before the "John Doe" method became mandatory. It has settled about 437 cases for about $3,000 each
3-23-2004 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=528&ncid=528&e=1&u=/ap/20040323/ap_on_hi_te/downloading_music_7">1,977 Americans sued by RIAA, 532 sued today</a>
It will cost you 88 cent to get 50 cent:
3-23-2004 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=&e=5&u=/afp/20040323/bs_afp/us_internet_music">Wal-Mart formally launches 88-cent music download service</a>
3-17-2004 The latest RIAA/MPAA tactic has been the #1 Story over at BroadBandReports.com since Wednesday.
The new Law drawn up and pushed by these Organizations and being introduced in their home State of California first is that everyone will be required to attached their full name on all files they transfer over the Internet or face Jail time.
<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/40944">Identify Yourself! Or spend up to a year in jail</a>
"These California anti-anonymity bills would force everyone - including children - to put their real names and addresses on all the files they trade, regardless of whether the files actually infringe copyrights," says EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn. "Because the bills require Internet users to post personally identifying information, they fly directly in the face of policy goals and laws that prevent identity theft and spam and protect children and domestic violence victims."
See copies of both Assembly Bill 2735 and California Senate Bill 1506.
<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Anonymity/20040317_eff_pr.php">California Bill Backed by Hollywood Attacks Internet Privacy</a>
"This bill creates criminal liability for sharing a single song or even a portion of a song or movie, but leaves no space for fair uses such as commentary, criticism, parody or educational uses of works," said EFF Activist Ren Bucholz. "This bill is supposed to stop piracy, but it may be the most ineffective and harmful method yet proposed."
2-20-2004<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=569&ncid=738&e=1&u=/nm/20040220/tc_nm/media_321_dc">Federal Court Rules Making Backups Illegal, orders stop to all Software</a>
LOS ANGELES - A federal court has ruled that privately held 321 Studios must stop making software that allows users to copy DVDs, handing Hollywood's major movie studios a victory in their ongoing battle against copyright piracy.
"This court enjoins plaintiff 321 Studios from manufacturing, distributing, or otherwise trafficking" in the software, Judge Susan Illston of U.S. District Court in San Francisco, wrote in her ruling.
At stake in the legal battle between 321 and Hollywood's studios were potentially billions of dollars in lost revenue if DVD copying software such as 321's DVD Copy Plus and DVD X Copy were allowed to be sold, the studios had argued.
321 Studios had argued its software protected DVD owners because it gave them the ability to make copies in case their original DVDs were destroyed and the company claimed the DMCA allowed the copying DVDs if copies were designed for the sole use of the owners.
The studios had countered that 321's software circumvented special software encryption codes that protected the DVDs from being copied and therefore violated the DMCA.
2-19-2004 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=569&ncid=738&e=1&u=/nm/20040219/tc_nm/media_copyright_dc">Movies, CDs, Games to Carry FBI Copyright Warning</a>
The new and more prominently displayed warning will read: "The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000."
2-18-2004 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-5161209.html">NJ Woman sued by RIAA Countersues and Sues RIAA under Gang Racketeering Laws</a>
A New Jersey woman, one of the hundreds of people accused of copyright infringement by the Recording Industry Association of America, has countersued the big record labels, charging them with extortion and violations of the federal antiracketeering act.
Through her attorneys, Michele Scimeca contends that by suing file-swappers for copyright infringement, and then offering to settle instead of pursuing a case where liability could reach into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, the RIAA is violating the same laws that are more typically applied to gangsters and organized crime.
Scimeca is one of a growing number of people fighting the record industry's copyright infringement campaign against file-swappers, although few have used such creative legal strategies.
2-17-2004 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=&e=5&u=/washpost/20040217/tc_washpost/a48299_2004feb17">RIAA Sues 531 Suspected Music Download Pirates in Atlanta, Orlando and NJ</a>
The recording industry continued its legal assault on online music piracy today, suing an additional 531 people it suspects of illegally trading copyrighted music on the Internet.
The lawsuits filed in federal courts in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Orlando, Fla. and Trenton, N.J. bring to 1,000 the number of people the RIAA has sued this year.
The campaign is designed to send the message that the "sue-the-customer" strategy is here to stay, said Cindy Cohn, legal director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
2-13-2004 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1076683398081_54/?hub=SciTech">Canadian Royal Mounties Hunt down P2P Music File Swapper for RIAA</a>
The CRIA's search follows the lead of the Recording Industry Association of America, which has sued some 400 individuals in the United States. On both sides of the border, the recording industry is targeting computer users who upload musical files, not those who download songs.
There are also doubts about whether lawsuits against file sharers will be successful here, since Canadian laws on reproducing music for personal use differ from those in the United States.
For example, it has been legal in Canada since 1998 to make a single copy of a recording for personal use, such as copying a CD onto your hard drive or MP3 player. But the practice is illegal in the U.S.
2-6-2004 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/business/0,39023166,39116016,00.htm">RIAA raids Sharman Networks, Brilliant Digital Entertainment</a>
UPDATE:Music Industry Piracy Investigations this morning raided the offices of P2P companies Sharman Networks and Brilliant Digital Entertainment, along with the homes of key executives and several ISPs.
MIPI obtained an Anton Pilar order ? which allows a copyright holder to enter a premises to search for and seize material that breaches copyright without alerting the target through court proceedings
1-31-2004 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=529&ncid=529&e=4&u=/ap/20040131/ap_en_tv/pepsi_itunes_ad">14 Yr old sued by RIAA stars in Super Bowl Ad for iTunes</a>
Downloading music online from rogue file-sharing networks got 14-year-old Annie Leith sued for thousands of dollars. Now it has landed her a leading spot on a national ad that will debut during the Super Bowl.
Her sister and 14 other teens whom Pepsi identifies as recipients of copyright lawsuits for illegally downloading songs appear in the ad with Leith.
1-21-04<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/washpost/20040121/tc_washpost/a35281_2004jan21">RIAA Sues 532 Song-Swapping Suspects</a>
The lawsuits filed today make good on the RIAA's promise last month to continue going after alleged music pirates despite a loss in the Verizon case. Unlike the lawsuits it filed last fall against individual Internet users, the RIAA filed a handful of "John Doe" lawsuits targeting 532 unique "Internet protocol" numbers of Internet customers believed to be sharing music online. The RIAA plans to subpoena respective Internet service providers to obtain the names of people using those IP numbers.
Online Jukebox half empty, Artist's refuse to allow singles sales only, want entire Album only and higher commissions for online Sales:
1-18-2004 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1804&ncid=738&e=6&u=/washpost/20040119/tc_washpost/a27954_2004jan18">Music Fans Find Online Jukebox Half-Empty</a>
<blockquote>Quote
Originally posted by: Red Dawn
<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3402349.stm">US illegal downloads on the rise</a>[/quote]
Thanks RD.
Possibly because of intimidation factor nuetured some:
1-17-2004 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/3300211">ISPs Ignore RIAA's New P2P Ploy</a>
After an appeals court ruled that Internet service providers (ISPs) do not have to hand over names of suspected music pirates to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), ISPs are showing no interest in the RIAA's latest effort to enlist them in its fight against music piracy.
1-11-04 Took them long enough but as reported here nearly a year ago and most said it would not happen, the:
<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.laweekly.com/ink/04/07/news-sullivan.php">RIAA finally hits the Streets, rounds up counterfeit CD's FBI style</a>
Even as it suffers setbacks in the courtroom, the RIAA has over the last 18 months built up a national staff of ex-cops to crack down on people making and selling illegal CDs in the hood.
Borrayo attends to a parking lot next to the landmark El 7 Mares fish-taco stand on Sunset Boulevard. To supplement his buck-a-car income, he began, in 2003, selling records and videos from a makeshift stand in front of the lot.
In a good week, Borrayo said, he might unload five or 10 albums and a couple DVDs at $5 apiece. Paying a distributor about half that up-front, he thought he?d lucked into a nice side business.
The RIAA saw it differently. Figuring the discs were bootlegs, a four-man RIAA squad descended on his stand a few days before Christmas and persuaded the 4-foot-11 Borrayo to hand over voluntarily a total of 78 discs.
"They said they were police from the recording industry or something, and next time they?d take me away in handcuffs," he said through an interpreter. Borrayo says he has no way of knowing if the records, with titles like Como Te Extraño Vol. IV ? Musica de los 70?s y 80?s, are illegal, but he thought better of arguing the point.
The RIAA acknowledges it all ? except the notion that its staff presents itself as police. Yes, they may all be ex-P.D. Yes, they wear cop-style clothes and carry official-looking IDs. But if they leave people like Borrayo with the impression that they?re actual law enforcement, that?s a mistake.
With all the trappings of a police team, including pink incident reports that, among other things, record a vendor?s height, weight, hair and eye color, the RIAA squad can give those busted the distinct impression they?re tangling with minions of Johnny Law instead of David Geffen. And that raises some potential legal questions.
On its face, the move looks like a shift toward even more in-your-face enforcement. But don?t expect all RIAA critics to rally to the side of Borrayo and other sellers.
"The process of confiscating bootleg CDs from street vendors is exactly what the RIAA should be doing," said Jason Schultz, a staff attorney for the San Francisco?based Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The more time the association spends rousting vendors, the thinking goes, the less it will spend subpoenaing KaZaa and BearShare aficionados.
Meanwhile, Borrayo will have to keep his eyes open for another source of income. Though he says he still sees nothing wrong with what he did, the guy who once supplied him records hasn?t been around in a couple months.
"They tried to scare me," Borrayo said. "They told me, ?You?re a pirate!? I said, ?C?mon, guys, pirates are all at sea. I just work in a parking lot.? "
12-5-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=569&ncid=738&e=1&u=/nm/20040105/tc_nm/media_music_dc">European Watchdog Group Sues RIAA Over Copy-Protected CDs that don't work</a>
LONDON - A European consumer watchdog body is suing the world's largest music companies for selling copy-protected compact discs that won't play on car stereos and computers, the Belgium-based organization said on Monday.
1-4-2004 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=569&ncid=738&e=1&u=/nm/20040104/tc_nm/tech_music_dc">Music Downloads Fall After RIAA Lawsuits-Study</a>
The steepest drops in usage were found among women, people with some college education and parents with children living at home. Students and broadband users also showed large drops in downloading.
In addition, the research showed that the use of peer-to-peer file sharing programs, which allow users to swap music for free, fell significantly in November from the year earlier.
With free file downloading curbed, comScore said music lovers flocked to Web sites that provide downloads for a fee of around 99 cents per song.
Among the most popular of the paid services are Napster.com and Apple's iTunes.
12-19-03 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http:// to do if you're sued by the RIAA: updated [ip</a>
Federal Appeals Court strikes down RIAA use of DMCA to get ISP's to turn over names of subscribers without a Court Order.
12-19-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=528&ncid=528&e=1&u=/ap/20031219/ap_on_en_mu/downloading_music">Record Industry May Not Subpoena Providers </a>
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act "betrays no awareness whatsoever that Internet users might be able directly to exchange files containing copyrighted works," the court wrote.
12-19-2003 WalMart launches Music Download service takes aim at ITunes
<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://musicdownloads.walmart.com/catalog/servlet/MainServlet">88 cents Every Song Every Day only At WalMart</a>
12-16-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=4743e674-8b8a-40a3-9f73-a856c5abebe5">3.5 Million Canadians prepare to bend over, RIAA says will sue just like U.S.</a>
12-12-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1071097810065&call_pageid=968350072197&col=969048863851">Canadians to pay 20 percent more for CD-R Discs & Electronics, money to go to RIAA</a>
That 20-gigabyte MP3 player going under the Christmas tree this season could soon cost 20 per cent more if the Copyright Board approves a proposed levy tomorrow on the sale of digital music devices. It could also mean new levies on recordable DVDs, removable flash memory and micro hard drives.
Under the proposed levies, a pack of 50 recordable CDs that have 700 megabytes of capacity will have a 49-cent levy on each disc. Today, that pack costs $29.99, but the levy would impose an additional financial burden of $24.50 if approved.
The Copyright Board decision comes as the Supreme Court of Canada begins a landmark copyright case that will determine whether Internet service providers must pay a tariff for being a conduit for the rampant downloading of free music.
12-7-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-5/107077895367240.xml">New Jersey Mother Vows to not Cave In to RIAA</a>
"You can't watch them 24 hours a day. By the same token, if they are able to access a site, how are they to know it's wrong?"
Though aware of past controversies surrounding the Napster file-sharing service, Scimeca said she was "oblivious" to KaZaA and Morpheus, another service she said her daughter used and that now resists deletion from their computer.
The music industry should focus on shutting those services, she said.
"How can you blame a 13-year-old child for doing something they didn't know was illegal?" Scimeca said. "I'll start a petition to never buy another record again. It's bull. They need to work on cutting off the sites and shutting down the supply. Kids will always look for free stuff."
"It's not like she murdered someone," Scimeca said of her daughter, whose name she withheld. "When we were kids, we sat with tape recorders and taped songs off the radio. Was that illegal, too?"
She insisted the labels will have a hard time squeezing any money from her.
"I'd have to pay them a dollar a month," Scimeca said.
12-9-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=711&ncid=711&e=2&u=/usatoday/20031208/tc_usatoday/12060360">Universal betting on $9.99 CD's to lure Consumers back</a>
12-8-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/business/technology/7435555.htm">Death of the VCR</a>
No recording
But for all the possibilities, PCCW's service is burdened by some of the most stringent control-freakery I've seen in the TV world. If you want to tape one of the TV programs to watch later, forget it. You can't. Period.
The set-top boxes, based on DVD technology (many contain DVD players), have digital and analog outputs. But because the providers of the programming have been so paranoid about copying, PCCW has turned off customers' ability to make even personal copies, whether digital or analog, of anything on any of the channels.
PCCW's lockdown prompted a letter of complaint to the editor of the South China Morning Post. The correspondent wrote: ``Recording is essential to many viewers as it is generally difficult for busy Hong Kong citizens to watch TV according to broadcast schedules.''
I'm with the letter writer. Denying customers the flexibility to make even a lower-quality analog recording of shows takes away much of the value of the a la carte programming model.
But this is the way Hollywood and the copyright robber barons want the future to work. We'll get to watch what they produce on their terms, or not at all. To imagine that analog copies from Hong Kong TV systems are anything remotely like the threat of DVD factories stamping out thousands of counterfeit disks per day is absurd, but Hollywood puts them on the same plane, and the little guy loses what should be routine.
So, one and a half cheers for PCCW's broadband television experiment. It's a breakthrough technologically, and offering programming in more thinly sliced ways is a win for customers. Too bad their freedom ends there. If this really is the way digital-age TV will work, we may end up losing as much as we gain.
12-3-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=1212&e=1&u=/afp/20031203/tc_afp/us_internet_music&sid=96001018">RIAA launches new wave of online piracy suits against individuals</a>
"These lawsuits help to foster an environment that provides a level playing field for the growing number of legitimate online music services to thrive," the RIAA said in a statement.
12-2-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=569&ncid=738&e=1&u=/nm/20031202/tc_nm/tech_norway_dvd_dc">Norwegian DVD 'Hacker' Pleads Not Guilty in Piracy Appeal</a>
Canadian version of RIAA (SOCAN) looks to charge ISP's Royalties on a per subscriber and per song basis:
12-1-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1069987965274_65397165///?hub=SciTech">Canadian Music group aims to charge Internet users through ISP's</a>
A group representing Canada's songwriters will ask the Supreme Court of Canada to force Internet service providers to pay them royalties for the millions of digital music files downloaded each year by Canadians.
11-26-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/34191.html">MPAA, RIAA seek permanent antitrust exemption</a>
The proposal seeks to extend the exemption to anything covering mechanical copyright: a sweeping extension of the copyright cartel's immunity.
It's buried away in a piece of legislation co-sponsored by Senator Orrin Hatch called the EnFORCE Act, or the Enhancing Federal Obscenity Reporting and Copyright Enforcement Act of 2003.
11-25-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.msnbc.com/news/997960.asp?0si=-&cp1=1">DVD Hacker Hacks iTunes</a>
Johansen?s latest program, which works only for the Windows version of iTunes, is just the most recent move in the ongoing game of cat and mouse being played by digital rights management technology creators and hackers, who see the copy locks as a challenge.
11-20-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.komotv.com/stories/28363.htm">RIAA Sues 15 yr old Seattle girl for $825,000</a>
Megan's mother Becca doesn't know what to do. "It's unfathomable, I can't believe this is happening to us."
The lawsuit is demanding the family either pay a $3,500 settlement, or fight the suit and go to court. If they lose, they could have to pay $750 per song. Remember, Megan had 1,100 songs. That's $825,000.
More than 50 of the 260 people originally sued by the RIAA have already settled. The Dickinsons' still haven't decided what they're going to do.
Meanwhile, the music industry is moving ahead, and promising more lawsuits.
11-14-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1093&ncid=1093&e=1&u=/pcworld/20031114/tc_pcworld/113422">Senators Crack Down on Pirates</a>
$250,000 and 5 Years prison time just for having Movies on hard drive.
11-10-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=569&ncid=738&e=1&u=/nm/20031110/tc_nm/media_sonymusic_dc">Sony Music Sings New Copy-Protection Tune</a>
On Monday, Sony will release rhythm & blues group Naturally Seven's new CD in Germany with a so-called "second session." The disc can be played on almost any device conventionally, said Sony Music Chief Technology Officer Phil Wiser.
It also contains a compressed digital copy of the music that can be quickly copied onto any computer. From the computer, users can copy that music onto Sony portable digital music players.
There are several limitations. The digital files will only play on Sony-licensed digital music players. Wiser said Sony is working on "plug-in's" that will allow the files to be played on more popular players like Microsoft's Windows Media. He expects the plug-ins to be available early next year.
To copy the music to the Sony portable player, the technology requires an extra step to copy the files to a separate program to transfer the music to the portable player.
At this point, music can be transferred only to Sony portable players, although Sony executives note that Apple Computer's popular iTunes service works the same way with the Apple-branded iPod.
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So unless you pay Sony, Apple or Microsoft and on a monthly basis you cannot listen to music.
11-9-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.theregister.com/content/6/33850.html">Your 99c belong to the RIAA - Steve Jobs<
4-28-2004 Record industry sues 477 more U.S. file-sharers
The RIAA has filed 2,454 lawsuits since September, including suits filed before the "John Doe" method became mandatory. It has settled about 437 cases for about $3,000 each
3-23-2004 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=528&ncid=528&e=1&u=/ap/20040323/ap_on_hi_te/downloading_music_7">1,977 Americans sued by RIAA, 532 sued today</a>
It will cost you 88 cent to get 50 cent:
3-23-2004 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=&e=5&u=/afp/20040323/bs_afp/us_internet_music">Wal-Mart formally launches 88-cent music download service</a>
3-17-2004 The latest RIAA/MPAA tactic has been the #1 Story over at BroadBandReports.com since Wednesday.
The new Law drawn up and pushed by these Organizations and being introduced in their home State of California first is that everyone will be required to attached their full name on all files they transfer over the Internet or face Jail time.
<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/40944">Identify Yourself! Or spend up to a year in jail</a>
"These California anti-anonymity bills would force everyone - including children - to put their real names and addresses on all the files they trade, regardless of whether the files actually infringe copyrights," says EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn. "Because the bills require Internet users to post personally identifying information, they fly directly in the face of policy goals and laws that prevent identity theft and spam and protect children and domestic violence victims."
See copies of both Assembly Bill 2735 and California Senate Bill 1506.
<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Anonymity/20040317_eff_pr.php">California Bill Backed by Hollywood Attacks Internet Privacy</a>
"This bill creates criminal liability for sharing a single song or even a portion of a song or movie, but leaves no space for fair uses such as commentary, criticism, parody or educational uses of works," said EFF Activist Ren Bucholz. "This bill is supposed to stop piracy, but it may be the most ineffective and harmful method yet proposed."
2-20-2004<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=569&ncid=738&e=1&u=/nm/20040220/tc_nm/media_321_dc">Federal Court Rules Making Backups Illegal, orders stop to all Software</a>
LOS ANGELES - A federal court has ruled that privately held 321 Studios must stop making software that allows users to copy DVDs, handing Hollywood's major movie studios a victory in their ongoing battle against copyright piracy.
"This court enjoins plaintiff 321 Studios from manufacturing, distributing, or otherwise trafficking" in the software, Judge Susan Illston of U.S. District Court in San Francisco, wrote in her ruling.
At stake in the legal battle between 321 and Hollywood's studios were potentially billions of dollars in lost revenue if DVD copying software such as 321's DVD Copy Plus and DVD X Copy were allowed to be sold, the studios had argued.
321 Studios had argued its software protected DVD owners because it gave them the ability to make copies in case their original DVDs were destroyed and the company claimed the DMCA allowed the copying DVDs if copies were designed for the sole use of the owners.
The studios had countered that 321's software circumvented special software encryption codes that protected the DVDs from being copied and therefore violated the DMCA.
2-19-2004 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=569&ncid=738&e=1&u=/nm/20040219/tc_nm/media_copyright_dc">Movies, CDs, Games to Carry FBI Copyright Warning</a>
The new and more prominently displayed warning will read: "The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000."
2-18-2004 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-5161209.html">NJ Woman sued by RIAA Countersues and Sues RIAA under Gang Racketeering Laws</a>
A New Jersey woman, one of the hundreds of people accused of copyright infringement by the Recording Industry Association of America, has countersued the big record labels, charging them with extortion and violations of the federal antiracketeering act.
Through her attorneys, Michele Scimeca contends that by suing file-swappers for copyright infringement, and then offering to settle instead of pursuing a case where liability could reach into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, the RIAA is violating the same laws that are more typically applied to gangsters and organized crime.
Scimeca is one of a growing number of people fighting the record industry's copyright infringement campaign against file-swappers, although few have used such creative legal strategies.
2-17-2004 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=&e=5&u=/washpost/20040217/tc_washpost/a48299_2004feb17">RIAA Sues 531 Suspected Music Download Pirates in Atlanta, Orlando and NJ</a>
The recording industry continued its legal assault on online music piracy today, suing an additional 531 people it suspects of illegally trading copyrighted music on the Internet.
The lawsuits filed in federal courts in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Orlando, Fla. and Trenton, N.J. bring to 1,000 the number of people the RIAA has sued this year.
The campaign is designed to send the message that the "sue-the-customer" strategy is here to stay, said Cindy Cohn, legal director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
2-13-2004 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1076683398081_54/?hub=SciTech">Canadian Royal Mounties Hunt down P2P Music File Swapper for RIAA</a>
The CRIA's search follows the lead of the Recording Industry Association of America, which has sued some 400 individuals in the United States. On both sides of the border, the recording industry is targeting computer users who upload musical files, not those who download songs.
There are also doubts about whether lawsuits against file sharers will be successful here, since Canadian laws on reproducing music for personal use differ from those in the United States.
For example, it has been legal in Canada since 1998 to make a single copy of a recording for personal use, such as copying a CD onto your hard drive or MP3 player. But the practice is illegal in the U.S.
2-6-2004 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/business/0,39023166,39116016,00.htm">RIAA raids Sharman Networks, Brilliant Digital Entertainment</a>
UPDATE:Music Industry Piracy Investigations this morning raided the offices of P2P companies Sharman Networks and Brilliant Digital Entertainment, along with the homes of key executives and several ISPs.
MIPI obtained an Anton Pilar order ? which allows a copyright holder to enter a premises to search for and seize material that breaches copyright without alerting the target through court proceedings
1-31-2004 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=529&ncid=529&e=4&u=/ap/20040131/ap_en_tv/pepsi_itunes_ad">14 Yr old sued by RIAA stars in Super Bowl Ad for iTunes</a>
Downloading music online from rogue file-sharing networks got 14-year-old Annie Leith sued for thousands of dollars. Now it has landed her a leading spot on a national ad that will debut during the Super Bowl.
Her sister and 14 other teens whom Pepsi identifies as recipients of copyright lawsuits for illegally downloading songs appear in the ad with Leith.
1-21-04<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/washpost/20040121/tc_washpost/a35281_2004jan21">RIAA Sues 532 Song-Swapping Suspects</a>
The lawsuits filed today make good on the RIAA's promise last month to continue going after alleged music pirates despite a loss in the Verizon case. Unlike the lawsuits it filed last fall against individual Internet users, the RIAA filed a handful of "John Doe" lawsuits targeting 532 unique "Internet protocol" numbers of Internet customers believed to be sharing music online. The RIAA plans to subpoena respective Internet service providers to obtain the names of people using those IP numbers.
Online Jukebox half empty, Artist's refuse to allow singles sales only, want entire Album only and higher commissions for online Sales:
1-18-2004 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1804&ncid=738&e=6&u=/washpost/20040119/tc_washpost/a27954_2004jan18">Music Fans Find Online Jukebox Half-Empty</a>
<blockquote>Quote
Originally posted by: Red Dawn
<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3402349.stm">US illegal downloads on the rise</a>[/quote]
Thanks RD.
Possibly because of intimidation factor nuetured some:
1-17-2004 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/3300211">ISPs Ignore RIAA's New P2P Ploy</a>
After an appeals court ruled that Internet service providers (ISPs) do not have to hand over names of suspected music pirates to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), ISPs are showing no interest in the RIAA's latest effort to enlist them in its fight against music piracy.
1-11-04 Took them long enough but as reported here nearly a year ago and most said it would not happen, the:
<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.laweekly.com/ink/04/07/news-sullivan.php">RIAA finally hits the Streets, rounds up counterfeit CD's FBI style</a>
Even as it suffers setbacks in the courtroom, the RIAA has over the last 18 months built up a national staff of ex-cops to crack down on people making and selling illegal CDs in the hood.
Borrayo attends to a parking lot next to the landmark El 7 Mares fish-taco stand on Sunset Boulevard. To supplement his buck-a-car income, he began, in 2003, selling records and videos from a makeshift stand in front of the lot.
In a good week, Borrayo said, he might unload five or 10 albums and a couple DVDs at $5 apiece. Paying a distributor about half that up-front, he thought he?d lucked into a nice side business.
The RIAA saw it differently. Figuring the discs were bootlegs, a four-man RIAA squad descended on his stand a few days before Christmas and persuaded the 4-foot-11 Borrayo to hand over voluntarily a total of 78 discs.
"They said they were police from the recording industry or something, and next time they?d take me away in handcuffs," he said through an interpreter. Borrayo says he has no way of knowing if the records, with titles like Como Te Extraño Vol. IV ? Musica de los 70?s y 80?s, are illegal, but he thought better of arguing the point.
The RIAA acknowledges it all ? except the notion that its staff presents itself as police. Yes, they may all be ex-P.D. Yes, they wear cop-style clothes and carry official-looking IDs. But if they leave people like Borrayo with the impression that they?re actual law enforcement, that?s a mistake.
With all the trappings of a police team, including pink incident reports that, among other things, record a vendor?s height, weight, hair and eye color, the RIAA squad can give those busted the distinct impression they?re tangling with minions of Johnny Law instead of David Geffen. And that raises some potential legal questions.
On its face, the move looks like a shift toward even more in-your-face enforcement. But don?t expect all RIAA critics to rally to the side of Borrayo and other sellers.
"The process of confiscating bootleg CDs from street vendors is exactly what the RIAA should be doing," said Jason Schultz, a staff attorney for the San Francisco?based Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The more time the association spends rousting vendors, the thinking goes, the less it will spend subpoenaing KaZaa and BearShare aficionados.
Meanwhile, Borrayo will have to keep his eyes open for another source of income. Though he says he still sees nothing wrong with what he did, the guy who once supplied him records hasn?t been around in a couple months.
"They tried to scare me," Borrayo said. "They told me, ?You?re a pirate!? I said, ?C?mon, guys, pirates are all at sea. I just work in a parking lot.? "
12-5-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=569&ncid=738&e=1&u=/nm/20040105/tc_nm/media_music_dc">European Watchdog Group Sues RIAA Over Copy-Protected CDs that don't work</a>
LONDON - A European consumer watchdog body is suing the world's largest music companies for selling copy-protected compact discs that won't play on car stereos and computers, the Belgium-based organization said on Monday.
1-4-2004 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=569&ncid=738&e=1&u=/nm/20040104/tc_nm/tech_music_dc">Music Downloads Fall After RIAA Lawsuits-Study</a>
The steepest drops in usage were found among women, people with some college education and parents with children living at home. Students and broadband users also showed large drops in downloading.
In addition, the research showed that the use of peer-to-peer file sharing programs, which allow users to swap music for free, fell significantly in November from the year earlier.
With free file downloading curbed, comScore said music lovers flocked to Web sites that provide downloads for a fee of around 99 cents per song.
Among the most popular of the paid services are Napster.com and Apple's iTunes.
12-19-03 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http:// to do if you're sued by the RIAA: updated [ip</a>
Federal Appeals Court strikes down RIAA use of DMCA to get ISP's to turn over names of subscribers without a Court Order.
12-19-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=528&ncid=528&e=1&u=/ap/20031219/ap_on_en_mu/downloading_music">Record Industry May Not Subpoena Providers </a>
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act "betrays no awareness whatsoever that Internet users might be able directly to exchange files containing copyrighted works," the court wrote.
12-19-2003 WalMart launches Music Download service takes aim at ITunes
<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://musicdownloads.walmart.com/catalog/servlet/MainServlet">88 cents Every Song Every Day only At WalMart</a>
12-16-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=4743e674-8b8a-40a3-9f73-a856c5abebe5">3.5 Million Canadians prepare to bend over, RIAA says will sue just like U.S.</a>
12-12-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1071097810065&call_pageid=968350072197&col=969048863851">Canadians to pay 20 percent more for CD-R Discs & Electronics, money to go to RIAA</a>
That 20-gigabyte MP3 player going under the Christmas tree this season could soon cost 20 per cent more if the Copyright Board approves a proposed levy tomorrow on the sale of digital music devices. It could also mean new levies on recordable DVDs, removable flash memory and micro hard drives.
Under the proposed levies, a pack of 50 recordable CDs that have 700 megabytes of capacity will have a 49-cent levy on each disc. Today, that pack costs $29.99, but the levy would impose an additional financial burden of $24.50 if approved.
The Copyright Board decision comes as the Supreme Court of Canada begins a landmark copyright case that will determine whether Internet service providers must pay a tariff for being a conduit for the rampant downloading of free music.
12-7-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-5/107077895367240.xml">New Jersey Mother Vows to not Cave In to RIAA</a>
"You can't watch them 24 hours a day. By the same token, if they are able to access a site, how are they to know it's wrong?"
Though aware of past controversies surrounding the Napster file-sharing service, Scimeca said she was "oblivious" to KaZaA and Morpheus, another service she said her daughter used and that now resists deletion from their computer.
The music industry should focus on shutting those services, she said.
"How can you blame a 13-year-old child for doing something they didn't know was illegal?" Scimeca said. "I'll start a petition to never buy another record again. It's bull. They need to work on cutting off the sites and shutting down the supply. Kids will always look for free stuff."
"It's not like she murdered someone," Scimeca said of her daughter, whose name she withheld. "When we were kids, we sat with tape recorders and taped songs off the radio. Was that illegal, too?"
She insisted the labels will have a hard time squeezing any money from her.
"I'd have to pay them a dollar a month," Scimeca said.
12-9-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=711&ncid=711&e=2&u=/usatoday/20031208/tc_usatoday/12060360">Universal betting on $9.99 CD's to lure Consumers back</a>
12-8-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/business/technology/7435555.htm">Death of the VCR</a>
No recording
But for all the possibilities, PCCW's service is burdened by some of the most stringent control-freakery I've seen in the TV world. If you want to tape one of the TV programs to watch later, forget it. You can't. Period.
The set-top boxes, based on DVD technology (many contain DVD players), have digital and analog outputs. But because the providers of the programming have been so paranoid about copying, PCCW has turned off customers' ability to make even personal copies, whether digital or analog, of anything on any of the channels.
PCCW's lockdown prompted a letter of complaint to the editor of the South China Morning Post. The correspondent wrote: ``Recording is essential to many viewers as it is generally difficult for busy Hong Kong citizens to watch TV according to broadcast schedules.''
I'm with the letter writer. Denying customers the flexibility to make even a lower-quality analog recording of shows takes away much of the value of the a la carte programming model.
But this is the way Hollywood and the copyright robber barons want the future to work. We'll get to watch what they produce on their terms, or not at all. To imagine that analog copies from Hong Kong TV systems are anything remotely like the threat of DVD factories stamping out thousands of counterfeit disks per day is absurd, but Hollywood puts them on the same plane, and the little guy loses what should be routine.
So, one and a half cheers for PCCW's broadband television experiment. It's a breakthrough technologically, and offering programming in more thinly sliced ways is a win for customers. Too bad their freedom ends there. If this really is the way digital-age TV will work, we may end up losing as much as we gain.
12-3-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=1212&e=1&u=/afp/20031203/tc_afp/us_internet_music&sid=96001018">RIAA launches new wave of online piracy suits against individuals</a>
"These lawsuits help to foster an environment that provides a level playing field for the growing number of legitimate online music services to thrive," the RIAA said in a statement.
12-2-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=569&ncid=738&e=1&u=/nm/20031202/tc_nm/tech_norway_dvd_dc">Norwegian DVD 'Hacker' Pleads Not Guilty in Piracy Appeal</a>
Canadian version of RIAA (SOCAN) looks to charge ISP's Royalties on a per subscriber and per song basis:
12-1-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1069987965274_65397165///?hub=SciTech">Canadian Music group aims to charge Internet users through ISP's</a>
A group representing Canada's songwriters will ask the Supreme Court of Canada to force Internet service providers to pay them royalties for the millions of digital music files downloaded each year by Canadians.
11-26-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/34191.html">MPAA, RIAA seek permanent antitrust exemption</a>
The proposal seeks to extend the exemption to anything covering mechanical copyright: a sweeping extension of the copyright cartel's immunity.
It's buried away in a piece of legislation co-sponsored by Senator Orrin Hatch called the EnFORCE Act, or the Enhancing Federal Obscenity Reporting and Copyright Enforcement Act of 2003.
11-25-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.msnbc.com/news/997960.asp?0si=-&cp1=1">DVD Hacker Hacks iTunes</a>
Johansen?s latest program, which works only for the Windows version of iTunes, is just the most recent move in the ongoing game of cat and mouse being played by digital rights management technology creators and hackers, who see the copy locks as a challenge.
11-20-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.komotv.com/stories/28363.htm">RIAA Sues 15 yr old Seattle girl for $825,000</a>
Megan's mother Becca doesn't know what to do. "It's unfathomable, I can't believe this is happening to us."
The lawsuit is demanding the family either pay a $3,500 settlement, or fight the suit and go to court. If they lose, they could have to pay $750 per song. Remember, Megan had 1,100 songs. That's $825,000.
More than 50 of the 260 people originally sued by the RIAA have already settled. The Dickinsons' still haven't decided what they're going to do.
Meanwhile, the music industry is moving ahead, and promising more lawsuits.
11-14-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1093&ncid=1093&e=1&u=/pcworld/20031114/tc_pcworld/113422">Senators Crack Down on Pirates</a>
$250,000 and 5 Years prison time just for having Movies on hard drive.
11-10-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=569&ncid=738&e=1&u=/nm/20031110/tc_nm/media_sonymusic_dc">Sony Music Sings New Copy-Protection Tune</a>
On Monday, Sony will release rhythm & blues group Naturally Seven's new CD in Germany with a so-called "second session." The disc can be played on almost any device conventionally, said Sony Music Chief Technology Officer Phil Wiser.
It also contains a compressed digital copy of the music that can be quickly copied onto any computer. From the computer, users can copy that music onto Sony portable digital music players.
There are several limitations. The digital files will only play on Sony-licensed digital music players. Wiser said Sony is working on "plug-in's" that will allow the files to be played on more popular players like Microsoft's Windows Media. He expects the plug-ins to be available early next year.
To copy the music to the Sony portable player, the technology requires an extra step to copy the files to a separate program to transfer the music to the portable player.
At this point, music can be transferred only to Sony portable players, although Sony executives note that Apple Computer's popular iTunes service works the same way with the Apple-branded iPod.
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So unless you pay Sony, Apple or Microsoft and on a monthly basis you cannot listen to music.
11-9-2003 <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.theregister.com/content/6/33850.html">Your 99c belong to the RIAA - Steve Jobs<
