AfterDawn: News

RIAA wont offer amnesty anymore

Recording Industry Association of America has announced that they have withdrawn their amnesty offer for P2P pirates who confess their "sins".

RIAA announced the amnesty offer back in September, 2003. The deal offered an amnesty from RIAA's prosecution if P2P pirates confessed to the RIAA their copyright infringements and also signed a contract where they promised not to participate in illegal file sharing ever again. However, the offer raised quite lot criticism from various organizations, namely from the EFF, as it didn't grant a full amnesty -- individual record labels were still allowed to sue the person who signed an amnesty deal even that the RIAA itself wouldn't sue them. Organization was also sued in California over the amnesty offer -- California resident sued the organization, claiming that the offer consituted as a fraudulent business practice as RIAA can't have powers where it could offer an actual amnesty in the courtrooms for people who signed amnesty contracts.



"The RIAA has concluded that the program is no longer necessary or appropriate, and has voluntarily withdrawn it," the RIAA's lawyers told. According to the RIAA, 1108 people opted for the amnesty deal and it plans to honor their contracts.

Source: The Register

Written by: Petteri Pyyny @ 20 Apr 2004 5:54

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• 12 comments

• darthnip

  thats ok, go right ahead. I am going to voluntarily withdraw my right to go and purchase another cd, DVD or movie ticket (which I average around $200 a month on). If enough people simply get pissed off enough to boycott everything the RIAA "nazi's" protect, they will have nothing. how will your war be funded then? Who's with me? Rally around the flag boys, a revolution is afoot!

  20.4.2004 08:58 #1

• #afonic

  I agree with you. Stop buying CDs everyone! I don't buy CDs from the RIAA companies from last year. (some small ones are OK and we should support them).
  
  "offer amnesty"? Who the f**k do they think they are? Some people start to believe they are gods out there, we should show them that they wrong.

  20.4.2004 10:25 #2

• gotisos

  boycott RIAA cd's... support local indy artists, and underground artists!!!! Down with the recording industry, I haven't bought a RIAA cd since someone gave me a gift certificate to the Wherehouse almost three years ago!!!
  

  

  20.4.2004 12:59 #3

• Nephilim

  Like it was any sort of amnesty to begin with.
  
  I've bought most of my cds used for the last 15 years - same music at half the price. Lately I've been loving cdbaby.com - tons of outstanding indie to be had in almost every category imaginable. I've bought about 15 cds off them and lo and behold I all the songs on each album are great - try finding that with RIAA music nowadays. I like the fact that, when buying indie, the bands get a fair cut.
  
  I get the biggest laugh out of these big name artists like Sheryl Crow and LL Cool J who're stooges for the industry crying about getting ripped off when people download their music - RIAA shafts them ten times harder than downloading. It's like a rape victim being a defense team character witness for the rapist.

  20.4.2004 13:04 #4

• gotisos

  I know it saddens me that millionaires have to cry over spilt milk like that. Especially Metallica, and there whole episode, I have lost all respect for them!!! As for LL kewl J, he has no talent anyways, he should have stopped making records when Mc Hammer went bankrupt!!! yeah they have the nerve to call it amnesty, more like a trap, just give us ur name and information and we promise "we" won't sue you. I personally get more enjoyment listening to underground and indy artists anyways, not so much sex drugs and b!tch talk, I'm glad to see people here supporting there local indy artists!!!
  

  

  20.4.2004 14:03 #5

• seamonkey

  yup... blood suckers.. and their own fault.
  
  lack of innovative marketing schemes.. they should have been selling cd-burners and blank cd's when the tech came out.. or started to, and somehow labeled it RIAA approved.. but they dug their own grave...
  
  and they aren't losing money..
  we just have other things to spend money on such as dvds, video games, other gadgets and so on.. music isn't the only thing out there.. and the music at times is crap!
  haha..
  peace
  seamonkey420
  
  

  'knowledge is power, spread the power'
  -Athlon XP 2600+, 1GBMB DDR-SDRAM,HP DVD200i DVD+R/+RW, 100GB and 80GB WDSE HD
  -XBOX w/Matrix mod chip and 60GB HDD
  http://www.geocities.com/daseamonkey420 or
  http://www.geocities.com/seamonkeyguides

  20.4.2004 14:39 #6

• Cman

  Fck 'em. If waging economic war on their customers is the only way they think they can maintain control over distribution, fine. Lets them redistribute all those unsold DVD's and CD's to warehouses nationwide. Up until now, I was trying to keep an open mind about this issue but no longer. Congrats RIAA! You've just made another convert to the "darkside"..

  20.4.2004 14:39 #7

• GrayArea

  Cman, IMHO it's the RIAA that has joined the dark side (a long time ago...)

  21.4.2004 12:21 #8

• Toiletman

  Anger leads to Hate. And Hate leads to something... something leads to something. Whatever, at least it ends with jedi. That's all you need to know.
  
  Next thing you know, RIAA will claim to have force powers and real lightsabers...
  
  Anyway, on to the real point. If you were going to offer amnesty in the first place (Which is fucking insane in my opinion), why make a half arse attempt at trying to make it sound good? The RIAA aren't doing any favours here, and I bet the musicians that the RIAA are working for are probably on their last straws. I mean, from the news articles I've been seeing over the last few weeks or so, the RIAA aren't fareing very well. And even though I do boycott CDs now and then.... I must confess, I brought the William Hung CD. Sorry.. XD
  
  I Believe I Can Fly is a hell of a good laugh. Makes me crack up and fall off my chair everytime I listen to it.

  21.4.2004 20:07 #9

• dbminter

  I know it's an old thread, but, I had to reply to that last post.
  
  
  Don't feel too bad... William Hung's first CD is the LAST CD I've bought, too! LOL I bought it out of combination track wreck curiousity and partial thumb to the face of the big name record companies... although, of course, some corporate suits somewhere made money off Hung's CD.

  16.3.2005 09:56 #10

• venomX05

  LOLOLOLOL!!!!!
  
  Cd's what are those...
  
  The last cd I ever bought was Chingy...
  
  If you all are boycotting...I will definately join up.
  
  No offense to anyone who buys them, but buying cd's is like buying a Beta Player...sign of the times and totally useless.
  
  I got more songs from one night of "acquiring" *smirks* than EVER from buying a cd.
  
  Ah! All that wasted money...NOT ANYMORE! :)
  
  Wouldn't be surprised if someone made a website!
  
  

  "WE ARE....VENOM!"
  

  16.3.2005 10:29 #11

• dbminter

  And, before Hung's, the last CD I bought was Weird Al's Poodle Hat.

  16.3.2005 10:57 #12