Once again the Recording Industry Ass of America (representing foreign owned record companies) has announced that they will be suing folks for spreading their advertisements via p2p file-sharing. Nothing new in all this same old song and dance, but the total of unfortunate consumers being extorted is now approaching nearly 10,000 in number.

The RIAA knows that file-sharing does not hurt them, in fact, there is evidence to suggest that the contrary is probably more true. I have long suspected that the only true reason the RIAA attacks their potential consumer is to raise a stink in order to gain complete control over the entire p2p phenomena. They want the fools on the Hill to believe that the music biz is harmed by an avenue of distribution that is not completely in the hands of the RIAA companies. They continually attack the file-sharers, making as much noise about "pirates" and "illegal downloading" as possible in order to convince Congress to crack down on open communications between the people. It is the ultimate goal of the RIAA (& MPAA, etc.) to turn the entire Internet into nothing more than a glorified pay as you go jukebox/radio/tv with their "top-down" structure firmly in place.

The RIAA sometimes will even grudgingly admit that p2p has "legitimate" uses... but they certainly don't want anyone to focus any thought on that issue too long because in truth it is those "legit" uses the RIAA want to see eradicated. Those "legit" uses are their competition that until p2p and the Internet came along, they had held firmly in check by dominating all other pipelines between the artist and fan. Via myriad unfair and un-American monopolization practices the content industry had kept the independent music from the playing field.

The RIAA could actually care less (and actually, they jump for joy) when folks share their tunes. It not only promotes their wares, it gives them more ammunition in their war against Fair Use and your freedom to choose the music YOU want. If you think you are thumbing your nose at the industry by sharing that industry's advertisements, you are being a patsy.

STOP SHARING RIAA MUSIC!

Shmoo, of Electric Gypsy
Support Local and Independent Music!

"MPAA officials won't say how many lawsuits they've filed, or where. Nor will they say if any of the pirated movies in question originated with Academy Award "screeners," copies of nominated films that are sent to Academy voters so they can view them at home.

A report from AT&T Labs' Secure Systems Research program says that of 285 underground movies sampled, 77 percent were leaked by industry insiders."

...just some quick C&P evidence of the sort of thing I am talking about.

Source

maybe it's all a smoke screen. they've never filed any suits. It's physcological warfare. make everyone think they're filing suit without having to spend the money.

or they are filing the suits but don't want to have grandmas and little girls paraded in front of the cameras.

"Russell Sprague, the man who acquired more than 130 screeners of Hollywood features including "The Last Samurai" and "Mystic River" and then posted them on the p2p networks, was found dead in a Los Angeles prison cell."

...he got the screeners from inside sources. Now he won't be able to say much on the how and why.

(things that make ya go hmm...)

what the problem

well Schmoo maybe they are going back to the old tridition of silencing witnesses. How many of the cops were bought off??

Every month RIAA sues people. The MPAA follows suit. But nobody ever REALLY gets sued. Really, every month a bunch are *threatened* with a suit. And boycott-RIAA runs a news item. Then the peanut gallery makes the appropriate grunts of disapproval.

How long is this going to continue before a defense fund is established so that some brave soul can actually take the buggers to court and make them show their hand? As income-poor as I am, I would be willing to donate to a fund, if I was certain it wasn't a sham like the fund to defend Lokitorrent may have been. If a reputable org like the EFF were to set one up, I'd be pleased to contribute. (I sent an individual contribution to one of the four students sued a couple years back for operating a campus P2P network and were shaken down for about $10,000 apiece.)

This sham goes on and on. All threats, all settlements, no suits. Or maybe, just maybe, some people have refused to settle, but the RIAA has never actually bothered to sue them. Is that a possibility? If so, the RIAA would not like that news to get out. No matter. I still say it needs to be taken to court, and to do so, lawyers must be hired. Who is going to stand up for the people being persecuted?

It is one thing to stop buying RIAA CDs. We should encourage everyone we know to do that. But I wish we could be proactive too -- engage them directly in the courts.

Its very sad that organisations like RIAA keep on harrasing our peeps when the musicians donot benefit that much. They are angry coz this reduces their profit margins but does not add that much value to the pple that aught to benefit from their work. I'm in South Africa and when I look at the profit percentages that the musicians get here I feel angry that these capitalist will go sue ordinary pple just coz they wanna keep the pay cheaqes fat.Isn't there a way to help the rightfull pple get their monies. I won't mind buynig a CD at 150 Rands about $25 if that money will benefit the musicians
Surely what RIAA is doing is being a bully and I fill for u guys coz In South Africa we haven't had such bulllies. They once tried but with little success .LETS KEEP ON WITH THE FIGHT AGAINST BULLIES.

First post, Sibanda?

"This sham goes on and on. All threats, all settlements, no suits. Or maybe, just maybe, some people have refused to settle, but the RIAA has never actually bothered to sue them. Is that a possibility?"

NO! I have close relationships with numerous people who have been sued. They sue 90% of those people. 99.9% settle.

Well...isn't this interesting. I did a Google search of the news for "RIAA lawsuits" and the only news items I find for the Feb. 28th lawsuits are:

RIAA fires off fresh suits against file-sharers
PC Pro, UK - 3 hours ago
As before, the RIAA has initiated John Doe lawsuits in which the sued individuals are known only by their IP addresses and the times and dates that they were ...



For The Record: Quick News On Coldplay, Dinosaur Jr., Jennifer ...
MTV.com - 16 hours ago
... of copyright-infringement lawsuits on Monday, targeting 753 people it suspects of illegally distributing songs online. Since September 2003, the RIAA has sued ...



Industry sues 753 more people for music swapping
Australian Financial Review, Australia - 22 hours ago
... "The lawsuits are a critical deterrent," RIAA president Cary Sherman said in a statement. They had helped "arrest the extraordinary ...

Except for MTV, no media in the US seems to have reported this yet...and MTV isn't media. On the RIAA's website, however, is a press release.

http://www.riaa.com/news/newsletter/022805.asp
February 28, 2005
Copyright Infringement Lawsuits Brought Against 753 Additional Illegal File Sharers


Included are these little nuggets of information.

Among those sued today are users of computer networks at 11 universities and colleges, including: Hamilton College; Louisiana State University; Louisiana Tech. University; Loyola University Chicago; Ohio University; Old Dominion University; Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute; Texas A&M University; University of Southern California; Vanderbilt University; and Wright State University.

As a partial reflection of the positive trends in the online music marketplace, Sherman pointed to new independent research, including a February study (http://www.ipsos-insight.com/pressrelease.aspx?id=2550) from Ipsos-Insight. According to that study, “nearly half (47%) of American downloaders aged 12 and older had paid a fee to download music or MP3 files off of the Internet. This represents a leap in activity roughly double the 22% witnessed in December 2003, and over five times the activity in December 2002.”

I may be wrong, but I thought the sue-'em-all campaign was mostly to deter copyright infringement by scaring the daylights out of consumers. If no major media outlets even want to cover the story anymore, I guess the purpose of the lawsuits has changed.

Well, when you run the same story on the last Monday of every month, it gets old after a while. Perhaps 18 months is the limit.

"Sherman pointed to new independent research..."
...which says...
"The page you tried was not found. You may have used an outdated link or may have typed the address (URL) incorrectly."

Ignoring that,

“nearly half (47%) of American downloaders aged 12 and older had paid a fee to download music or MP3 files off of the Internet. This represents a leap in activity roughly double the 22% witnessed in December 2003, and over five times the activity in December 2002.”

Witnessed by whom?

And what's with the 12-year-olds? The first time around, when they were trying to prove how rampant "piracy" was, the 12-year-olds counted.

When they wanted to show how effective their "education" campaign was going, the 12 to 17 age group was ignored, showing that the overall percentage of file sharers had dropped dramatically.

Today they count, yesterday they didn't. Tomorrow...?

I just wish they had the balls to sue one of us, but they won't because I am sure by now they are well aware of the fact that our 'hardcore' members are deliberately NOT sharing their stuff.

...but maybe, just maybe, they will go after one of the folks over at Downhill Battle.

Wouldn't that be a hoot!

(Luv them guys, but many of them still encourage the file-sharing of RIAA tunes as an act of civil disobedience... Boycott-Riaa's position is that doing so is NOT helpful to the cause ...we simply must agree to disagree with them on that issue.)

The following read "stolen" from p2pnet:
--

p2pnet.net News View:

- Almost on the eve of the hearing in which the members of the Big Four record label cartel will once again try to browbeat a panel of US judges into overturning a ruling they don’t like, their misnomered RIAA is victimizing another 753 people.

But consider these five points:

I The cartel is using its Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to bamboozle the media into thinking it's hard-pressed because of p2p file sharing, and trying to use the American legal system to blackmail people into buying 'product,' as it calls the music it's trying to sell. Yet only one member of the cartel (Warner) is actually American. The others are based in France (UMG), Britain (EMI), Japan and Germany (Sony BMG).

2 Not one of the 9,176 American men, women and children so far ‘sued’ by the cartel has ever had his or her case tried in an open court. Those being hammered under Big Music's terror tactics are all ordinary people. There's no way on earth any of them can even begin to meet the financial and legal resources of the multi-billion-dollar music industry. The cartel knows this, which is why it always makes its victims an offer they can’t refuse: 'Settle out of court and we’ll go away". Settlement sums average out to around $3,000. That's chump-change to the industry, but a fortune to many of the families forced to pay it. But it buys the labels the means to imply they've successfully sued thousands of people for sharing music online when in reality, no one has yet been before a judge.

3 Big Music has never been able to show how 1, or 10 or even 1,000 downloads equal a single lost sale. In fact, in The Effect of File Sharing on Record Sales, Felix Oberholzer-Gee of the Harvard Business School and Koleman S. Strumpf of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill say even under a worst-case scenario, "it would take 5,000 downloads to reduce the sales of an album by one copy".

4 The RIAA says it's fighting the good fight in the 'war' against p2p and file sharers. But p2p is here to stay and the 'war' is all in the minds of the many and various components of the software and entertainment industries. New technologies always threaten the old, established ones whose owners do everything they can to maintain the status quo. As Cherry Lane Digital ceo Jim Griffin said recently, the labels, "cling to their pursuit of this notion of control and calling those who do not comply thieves, and in doing so they leave billions on the table that should be divided fairly amongst creators and rights holders." Moreover, consumers are customers again, and thanks to the Net and p2p communications, they have options never open to them before. They, and not the corporations, have the power of control. It's called freedom of choice.

5 According to the RIAA, its sue 'em all campaign is making a significant impact on file sharing. That is, however, nonsense and various academic and other studies (including a recent Organization for Economic Development and Co-operation (OEDC) report) prove the contrary is true. Far from being intimidated by the RIAA, more and more people are sharing files every day. Big Champagne is a research firm specializing in p2p network activities. Its statistics say that globally, on average, in February last year, 6,831,366 people were logged onto the p2p networks at any given moment, and that in the US, the figure was 4,039,989. The same figures for February, 2005, show this has risen substantially to 8,524,938 globally, and 6,183,636 for the US.

---

Good points.

Can you believe it? There are now at least 60,442,655 websites online!

More

dont share riaa music??
oh please that sounds like riaa propaghanda to me...
i think someones playing double agent on this site...
wanna know how tor eally piss the riaa off.
dont buy their crap.....period.....
and share the shit outta it
fuck the riaa and their double agent crap
fuck the riaa i hope true bootleggers sell their shit and the riaa dont get crap
fuck em both

Heh, there are quire a few double-agents around here. I honestly believe agencies like the RIAA and corporations like Microsoft, as well as the Skull and Bones (remember THEM? Guess what ELSE they own now? RIAA much? Presidency? BOTH candidates last election? Richest companies in the world? List goes on...) are standing AGAINST freedom. Hell, so is the American government now, which is part of why I'm glad I'm not American. The people need to make a stand, let their voices be heard! No more oppression!

"dont share riaa music??
oh please that sounds like riaa propaghanda to me...
i think someones playing double agent on this site...
wanna know how tor eally piss the riaa off.
dont buy their crap.....period.....
and share the shit outta it
fuck the riaa and their double agent crap
fuck the riaa i hope true bootleggers sell their shit and the riaa dont get crap
fuck em both"


OFFICIALLY as Boycott-Riaa site policy I MUST disagree with you!

SHARING the RIAA advertisements is JUST AS BAD (or worse) that BUYING the RIAA product.

DON'T be a patsy! The RIAA has been employing something called "double-think" all along with regards to file sharing and etc.

Do you not GROK that yet?

"So it goes."
-Kurt Vonnegut

Gee, your right ShadowMom.
The RIAA lawsuits are just not important anymore.

they never were otech, never were...

can you say "smokescreen?"

(NOT to belittle the poor folks who got sued or anything... but, as a biz tactic, was it wise of the RIAA to go that route?)

hey riaa/mpaa if your reading this.. NICE TRY FUCKERS YOU LOSE WE KNOW YOUR POSTING LAMER SHIT TO FUCK WITH US..
besides we public already paid for it so its not riaas music
IT BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE WHO BOUGHT IT AND THOSE THE PAYEES CHOOSE TO SHARE IT WITH SO TAKE YOUR COMMIE FACSIST CRAP AND GO BLOW DOGS FOR DOLLARS BITCHES..
Fucking riaa they jsut dont wanna stop do they.. i hope filesahring and the boycott weedsout the sellouts like metallica and all we get is true musicians that deserve our money... fuck the riaa they are like the goauld of stargate.. take away the jaffaa and the goauld are powerless.. the riaa is the same way

we the people take away our money from riaa by not buying and the riaa become helpless saps
fuckers will never learn.. that we the people are the very source of power the riaa have.. we can choose not to pay for crap the riaa puts out anyway.. shit
besides music the past 3 years sucks balls..
maroon 5 back street boys...
they all suck major riaa balls and are riaa puppets
so fuck you riaa. i hope a hannibal lecter type eats your rotting hearts out

the riaa must think we are as retarded as they are.. man by the way,, how does the riaa know whos really sharing i have 3 billion proxy addys.. how the fuck they gonna get a real isp in the first place.. i say all sharers use proxy.. if you use poroxy teyll never get a single one of your origional isps.. thast what you get for being a fucking asshole greed gets ya broke bitch

here ill post a few links of some proxies thata re fast reliable and free to use.. so teh riaa willwaste mroe and more of their mopney and die out faster wasting time trying to come after us so called infringers...
shit since when is sharing freely infringing.. they riaas definition of theft is soo vague i doubt that they even know the meaning of the word theft....
so riaa if you see this GOOD LUCK TRYIN TO FIND MY ASS YOU BUNCH OF JOCK DUDE FAGS HAHAHA
youll only lose by hurting the ones that are your financial income
inn any case heres the proxy list i told ya about.. oh and they can be ghosted and host masked too
so the riaa can get the ips all they want but still will never get em all
http://www.aliveproxy.com/web-ssl-vpn/

dubbsakk

Either grow up or get a life. You just don't get it do you? Sharing RIAA music only PROMOTES it. Who cares about what you have the right to do with the music you own. If you want to break a monopoly, oligopoly or cartel, you can't be doing exactly what they want you to do.

Stop sharing RIAA music. If you are so desparate to share what you buy, why not find independent music that is authorized to be shared by the music's copyright holders? Then you can satisfy that "sharing" desire you seem so fixated on.

you know what fuck you
fuck k you ineedalover you are a riaa commie puppet..a nd as a matter of fact .. i will continue to share my music that i rightfully paid for and you know what else..
i think your a riaa puppet too
and one more thing.. i haven't bought a CD in 10 years because you fags are greedy...
your already billionaire's what the fuck are you suing people for.. you know it will just accelerate file sharing to a all time high.. I'm telling ya you will fail in your double think tactics..
..
and dling only doesn't promote any riaa..
it takes the money out of their pockets.. the money i spend on music.. goes to the concerts because at least your greedy ass riaas hands don't get their hands on that either so fuck you INeedAlover you need to stop playing both sides.. this forum allows replies of both natures but commie propaganda
wont fool people here..
you can take your selfish greedy and shitty tactic somewhere else.. i can see right through your deceptions...
i hope the riaa goes as bank rupt and as dead as enronn
oh and guess s what else i have 400 GB of dled music and its on remote servers on 10 ftp accounts all over the world just to enforce the boycott even more..
and I'm not promoting or infringing.. I'm giving access(sorry find it yourself) for free.. just search any torrent exeem or any dc++ search and there will be fast servers there..
so fuck you riaa and all those who play double agent....
and INeedAlover
your anger gave you away....
so fuck you. i hope file sharing costs you your job.. if you support suing 12year olds and old and dead people..
you don't deserve you job.. i hope filehsaring puts your ass in the poor house like you did those innocent kids and those old people you sued...
if you sue for profit.. you don't deserve your job in my opinion.. so fuck you i hope your serving burgers after file sharing kills you...
thats what you get for making enemies out of your very profit base,, you commie bush loving fags
fuck you and your lawsuits.. i proxy so all you'll be doing is suing servers in Switzerland and Sweden where its legal to file share oh and don't for get Canada too
good luck as swipes.. thats what you get for suing Americans.. its time to collapse the communists in Hollywood too...
LET THE REAL LIBERALS DECIDE WHO DESERVES OUR HARD EARNED MONEY...
not fucked up riaa dicks who suck more horse cock than a redneck thats drunk on hooch on a farm...
i decide what i spend my money on.. not you riaa .. if i feel like sharing or dling music..its my god given right to do so..
oh and get your ass back in school... you need to redefine your understanding of the word theft..fucking as swipes.. we made you rich.. now,,, for your betrayal... we shall make you as poor as us..
never EVER strike the source of your financial power,,,,,, US PEOPLE....
now we the people collective ly will make you suffer by not buying any of your music.... call dling promoting all you want.. at lease we aren't paying for it ,,, so you don't get shit....
so fuck you...
get a life.. probate lawyers are nicer than you and we people are catching on fast....go ahead and sue more and More you'll just be making it harder on your selves....
fuckers.. FUCK THE RIAA/MPAA..

The RIAA is not Fighting the Good Fight !!!! All they know how to do is Cheat!!!!!

There is one thing that I AM NOT, and that is an RIAA Puppet. Sounds to me like that fits your description dubbsakk. Who cares if you haven't purchased one of their CD's?? As long as you continue to promote their music, you might as well be working for them as a paid employee.

I'm just as mad as you at the RIAA and MPAA for their suing of 12 year-old girls or dead 83 year-old women for listening to music. But sharing their music, thereby promoting it, will do nothing to eliminate the RIAA/MPAA. Cutting them off completely will.

It's great you have'nt paid them a dime for their crappy music. Take the next step and grow.

Don't buy RIAA music.

Don't share RIAA music.

Don't have anything to do with the RIAA.

Protest their evil and despicable tactics as often as possible.

Visit DMusic often. Support independent artists.

end of story.

:-:~ Phantom

You folks do realize that this is going to end bloody. Most likely on there side. The wrong RIAA lawyer is eventually going to knock on the wrong door. There are alot of unhappy gun nuts in this country that are just waiting for a corporate/government slob to approach them with threats. It ain't gonna be pretty.