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05-09-2008, 05:34 PM
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The internet never forgets.
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Pirate Music or Movies? RIAA would like to take your house.
House passes bill that will let the RIAA take away your home for downloading music - Boing Boing
Bill (PDF): http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-...4279rh.txt.pdf
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House passes bill that will let the RIAA take away your home for downloading music
I was just alerted that the House of Reps has passed HR 4279, with the lovely name, PRO-IP (Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008). Like the doublespeak PATRIOT Act and Peacekeeper missiles, PRO-IP puts local law enforcement in a position to demand the forfeiture in criminal proceedings of stuff used to violate copyright. Which means that instead of the RIAA simply trying to collect fines, they can also incite local authorities to collect all the computers and related gear that was used to pirate.
This isn't a judgment on my part as to whether piracy is good or bad (I think copyright deserves to be protected through reasonable methods), but I am always horrified when civil enforcement morphs into criminal enforcement. Conservatives and liberals should be up in arms alike that local prosecutors and/or police could intervene as they desire in essentially a private affair arranged by the RIAA, and permanently seize thousands or tens of thousands of dollars in private property in addition to any civil penalties.
If this bill is passed in its present form by the Senate and signed, that means there's no more pro forma RIAA lawsuit payoffs, because if you wind up settling with the RIAA, you could still lose all your stuff in addition to any fee you paid them.
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05-09-2008, 07:07 PM
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The Lone Shenanigan
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Another crappy law pushed through because of scumbag RIAA lobbyists BUT the bloggers commentary is a bit overblown.
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05-09-2008, 07:54 PM
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steeler-buckeye fan
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That sucks! My friend has a dance studio & just to play music for these kids to listen & learn to she has to pay something like $1200 a year to ASCAP another one.
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05-09-2008, 07:57 PM
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like a 40-degree day
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good god  . Is there anyone championing the cause of freedom in this country?
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Ron Zook has a special ability to treat people from all walks of life equally and with respect. He is especially beloved by minorities who can recognize disingenuous phoneys a mile away. Since a large number of the best football players are minorities, Coach Zook has an advantage in recruiting.
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- Illinisports
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05-09-2008, 08:08 PM
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Watson, Crick & A Twist
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DaytonBuck
good god . Is there anyone championing the cause of freedom in this country? |
Freedom to fine count?
Torrent Spy hit with $110 Million Fine - Lawyers say they will refuse to pay.
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A day after a U.S. judge dinged TorrentSpy with one of the largest fines in copyright history, the lawyer for the torrent-tracking search engine said Thursday the $111 million judgment won't get paid.
Nevis-based Valence Media, the owner of TorrentSpy, filed for bankruptcy protection in England last week "and has no appreciable assets," attorney Ira Rothken said. "This was a Hollywood publicity stunt."
The Motion Picture Association of America sued the search engine in Los Angeles federal court, alleging the site facilitated copyright infringement of Hollywood movies. The MPAA won a default judgment last year after TorrentSpy refused to turn over internal documents, and a federal judge levied the $111 million penalty and ordered the site never to return online.
"It certainly is not a lesson for other search engines to look at what the rules are as they relate to dot-torrent files," Rothken said. "There was no analysis of the copyright."
Elizabeth Kaltman, an MPAA spokeswoman, said "We will pursue enforcement of the judgment."
The legality of torrent-tracking services has never been litigated on the merits in the United States, said Charles Baker, a Houston IP lawyer who defended Grokster and is Limewire's attorney in a case accusing the peer-to-peer software maker of facilitating copyright infringement.
The MPAA, he said, wants "other torrent owners and operators to look at the $111 million figure and say, 'I'm getting out of the business.'"
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"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not half so bad as a lot of ignorance." - Terry Pratchett
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05-09-2008, 10:51 PM
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Cognoscente of Omphaloskepsis
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Granted, copyrights deserve some protection. And if I were a musician I would probably look at it differently.
BUT - everybody from Megadeath to Garth Brooks ought to be on their knees every night thanking the God of music they were born when they were. 100 years ago if a musician wanted to get paid he had to play some music. And if he wanted to get paid the next night he had to play again. Today you store it in binary and watch the cash flow in while you are snorting coke in the pool.
Damn government can't take a mansion from a crook in Florida to help destitute ENRON retirees, but they can knock down my door to make sure Britney Spears gets everything that is rightfully hers (I have a huuuuuuge Britney collection).
(And these laws don't have a damn thing to do with the marginal musicians who are just trying to support their families.)
Fug 'em.
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05-09-2008, 11:05 PM
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The Lone Shenanigan
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