AfterDawn: News

RIAA sues another 717 P2P users

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has filed another 717 lawsuits against P2P users in the United States it alleges to distribute copyrighted music for free on P2P networks. These users include 68 university students that used 23 university networks to trade music online the trade group stated. The RIAA said it is stepping up enforcement of copyright violations on college campuses. Among the universities targeted in this latest round of RIAA lawsuits are Georgetown University, Harvard University Medical School, Old Dominion University, Ohio State University, the University of Kentucky, Michigan State University and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

As usual the suits were filed mainly against the users of Kazaa, eDonkey2000 and Limewire. The total number of lawsuits from the RIAA is not over 8,400 P2P users. Defending themselves, the RIAA claimed that Internet users now have over 230 online music sellers to choose from. However, they forgot to mention that a lot of kids don't have credit cards or don't use PayPal accounts etc. and find it very hard to pay for music downloads. The RIAA and MPAA believe that if they keep up a steady lawsuit campaign they will crush P2P networks. However, this is not the case as studies have shown increases in the number of people using P2P networks for their music and movies.



Source:
InfoWorld

Written by: James Delahunty @ 28 Jan 2005 10:16

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• 17 comments

• Pop_Smith

  The sue happy RIAA stikes again!! This is a pointless battle. I believe this will NEVER end. The RIAA WILL lose in the end, just keep sharing and they will eventually stop sue people (hopefully!) also, people will start creating P2P programs such as Ants and IP routers that make it IMPOSSIBLE to track down the offenders.
  
  Just my two cents,
  Peace.
  Pop Smith

  28.1.2005 10:54 #1

• punx777

  i dont see why they are trying to stop piracy, they are making all the money in the world

  28.1.2005 11:56 #2

• ddrhazy

  When people can make more money, they will try to, it doesn't confuse me in the least bit.
  
  I know this has made me and a few of my friends stop downloading movies and albums from bittorent. A friend of mine received a letter from his cable broadband company saying that his IP was recorded downloading a movie off a torrent and that he was asked in the letter to delete it. What would you do if you were in that situation? Keep on doing what you were doing? Probably not.
  
  It's really hard to make anonymous P2P networks, heck, it's even hard to mask your IP when you're surfing a website, and at the very least, it slows down all your surfing to the point where you don't even want to use a proxy.

  28.1.2005 12:31 #3

• brother

  download all u want in canada (got to love that)
  moving to canada lol

  28.1.2005 12:34 #4

• hmerrick

  Download ALL YOU WANT in the U.S. !!!!!!!!!
  Fact -- NOT ILLEGAL to download music, movies, etc. in the U.S.............only illegal to DISTRIBUTE. I'm seeing a lot of confusion about the laws and it's simple..........d/l all you want but move the files so that you aren't sharing all your music and movies that you have. SHARE YOUR PORN INSTEAD. I can't agree more that they are fighting an uphill battle. P2P will never stop.
  
  *unnecessary hate crap removed by webmster*

  28.1.2005 12:48 #5

• ddp

  you'll only make it worst with that idea. an atomic bomb has been used against another nation, that was japan & the 2nd world war & not used since by any nation, so let's keep it that way

  28.1.2005 13:00 #6

• Pop_Smith

  @hmerrick, I don't mean to sound mean (sorry!) But, I quote: Quote:Fact -- NOT ILLEGAL to download music, movies, etc. in the U.S.............only illegal to DISTRIBUTE. I know the pirated files can come from elsewhere but, if you don't distribute then NO ONE can download. This would kill P2P all togeather. Which is what the four-letter (ironic isn't it, most four letter words are bad) words are trying to do.
  

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  28.1.2005 20:37 #7

• daemonzx6

  He's right. and so is ddp on what he said. that comment on using the a-bomb on the middle east was completely out of line. and your comment about middle eastern people..i didn't even get it.

  28.1.2005 22:01 #8

• dRD

  hmerrick: We don't tolerate political b.s. or racistic comments on our site. Banned.

  29.1.2005 03:21 #9

• ddp

  and another one bites the dust

  29.1.2005 06:11 #10

• smackfrog

  When will the RIAA learn? They may have sued thousands but they will never stop p2p it is too great an invention. Just goes to show that greed for money and power is the source of all evil. I personally have used p2p less, but still do occasionally log on. I also think that it is sad that it is college students getting in trouble, people with probably the least amount of money. I once got caught when I was on campus and had to have my computer taken in and the directories deleted. But, like I said, hasn't completely stopped me.

  29.1.2005 10:55 #11

• cuteperv

  I don't think the RIAA should focus on sueing ppl, but instead focusing on making record label better in terms of content as well as quality of the music. I say this because i do download music, but if a cd sounds so great, i actually go out and buy it. Why would buy a piece of junk cd that has like 1 or 2 songs that i can listen to? RIAA are so scared of ppl having another way to get away from trying their music except buying it.

  29.1.2005 19:31 #12

• jacsac

  Its stupid for them to sue. Before the days of cd's everybody recorded radio onto tapes. It wont ever stop. I think file sharing helps sell more cd's and dvd's. I download stuff that I normally wouldn't even think about looking at when I go to the store. Sometimes I buy something I d/l'd and sometimes I don't.I think it is just a ploy to control what you have access to. They don't want you to have a selection they want you to listen to Ashlee Simpson and the "newest" cookie cutter crap that got churned out. Fuk MPAA and RIAA cause you can't bite the hand that feeds you or you are gonna starve. The United States government is also to blame because you can purchase any official and get a favorable outcome as long as your contribution check doesn't bounce.

  29.1.2005 20:22 #13

• adam2005

  As previously mentioned download as much as you want but share moderately. It seems the RIAA attack the most prolific sharers or the easy targets. For example newbies who download loads and loads but dont realise they are sharing to others and the consequences of this. By using such programs as protowall alongside firewalls your no longer an easy target, also by sharing your files moderatly and over multiple networks such as ed2k or gnutella or whatever floats your boat you reduce your chances of getting caught in my opinion as they cant filter through the millions of i.p's on each network to locate you. Sort of like safety in numbers idea. But for heavens sake dont stop sharing, keep p2p alive.
  

  Liquid Nitrogen Cooling: WELCOME TO THE FUTURE!

  1.2.2005 01:46 #14

• int3gr4

  I am fed up with these lawsuits mainly because I feel it is a violation of our rights for them to sit around and monitor what everyone is doing on their pc. It would be a different story if someone from the RIAA was walking by and sees someone in the act of downloading copyrighted music and wants to file a lawsuit. But, the fact that they passed a law to force cable companies to keep tabs on what you download and to submit that information to the RIAA is rediculous. I dont understand why they havent been countersued for violation of personal rights. Not to mention, they dont even know what you are doing. If I buy a record at the store and make mp3 backups of it and transfer it via p2p to my pc at work this is perfectly legal but they will still be logging it and putting my name somewhere in their lawsuit queue. People need to stand up for their personal rights here. In the future I would really like to see some people counter-sueing the RIAA and ISP's for violating our right and not giving us the privacy we deserve. I agree with Pop_Smith that some type of program needs to be distributed that will make it impossible for these greedy bastards to keep tabs on what we download and upload to our friends.

  1.2.2005 05:53 #15

• rondack

  When are these greedy bastards going to learn they are pissing in the wind if they think thry're going to do away with P2P networks. I have read reports that CD sales are up, what the hell more do they want? When they(RIAA)stops their BULLSHIT I'll start buying recorded music again!!!

  1.2.2005 14:10 #16

• darkmetal

  How are THE MPA/MPAA,RIAA AND OTHER CORP THAT WANT TO STOP IT. I don't see how cuz there companys that make ip blockers like methlabs.org and bluetack.co.uk. methlabs just lately made a knewer blocker PeerGardian 2. What are they goin to do now?? Bluetack.co.uk made a GOOD ass app called Protowall. I watch the thousands of company that get blocked everyday. I wonder What the corp are Thinking now P2P WILL NEVER STOP CUZ IT IS ENDLESS. The WILL just find a better techonoly.
  
  

  http://mathlabs.org

  1.3.2005 06:58 #17