In the wake of a recent ruling that Kazaa is subject to U.S. copyright laws, its parent Sharman Networks, Ltd., has launched a lawsuit against the 800-pound gorilla known collectively as the multinational entertainment-media complex.

In their suit -- a counterclaim to a lawsuit brought by members of the RIAA and MPAA charging that Kazaa infringed on U.S. copyrights -- Sharman maintains that the industry has, in effect, used its power as a de facto billy club (or rubber hose, for those of you who've been around in those times). A quote from Sharman / Kazaa: "In seeking to simultaneously stop illegal copying and to maintain their dominant position in the distribution of musical and movie content, the industry plaintiffs have obscenely overreached." (That's an understatement and a half.) They also maintain that the multinational entertainment-media complex is "behind the times" technologically (surprise, surprise!) and has used its power in a monopolistic, anti-competitive fashion; and seeks a "permanent injunction" against these entertainment-media Goliaths.

Not surprisingly, the RIAA haughtily and arrogantly dismissed Kazaa's challenge out of hand, calling it "laughable" and likened the file-sharing entity to a "thief who plunders Fort Knox." Although it could be said in some circles that the RIAA's attitude is more like the mugger who claims that his victim ran into his knife (or, the victim's face hit his fist, or whatever) 17 times.

Analysis:  Especially in the climate of today, where the consumer is among the most loathed and despised individuals on the planet, and where not only politicians but also judges have become little more than (for lack of a better word) lapdogs of the privileged and powerful, Kazaa's challenge has about as much chance as pigs or cows being able to fly.

I would love to see Kazaa win this fight but I think we all know they might not. There is to much money in the politicians pockets and the pockets of the judges to let Kazaa win. The RIAA will have their way and we will go to some other network. I'm an avid Kazaa user, in fact it's running right now sharing out on 4 pc's the one at work and 3 at home. When does the jurisdiction of the RIAA stop?, will they attempt to take down companies and servers outside of America. Or will they setup and world wide internet police (big brother) force to take care of all piracy. I could be wrong but I recall hearing of a law that promoted technological advancement. Maybe I’m wrong or maybe the RIAA should stop trying to destroy our future. These old farts and bags don’t understand what’s out today and definitely what’s coming tomorrow but all they are concerned about is protecting their pocket inflating monopoly. These idiots got it all figured out put money in the pockets of the people in power and take money from the people trying to make it to the top. They will fight till the end to keep this racket going. We should attack them individually, attack their assets and their financial lives and most of all them directly. These people wont stop their fight so they need to go. 6 Feet under.

for the effort and idea.

for the expected result.

FTI.

I hope kazaa gets a jury trial..hopefully maybe someone the riaa goes after might have some legit sharing files and not copyrighted stuff and then can sue them big time in civil court with a lawyer for buku bucks...Hey riaa sell me a new cd for $5 and I'll never burn another unauthorized cd copy again...(there must be some sort of stupidity affect from bentleys and rolls...).. Hey if the industry is really hurting so bad when am I going to see somebody from the industry living in a trailer on cribs... lol... show it promote it and then burn the kids who can't afford what your pushing...wow sounds like drug dealers...lol...can't wait for riaa monopoly game...pass kazaa pay $200...land on epic pay $1000 download and unauthorized copy goto jail....lol.....Hey and stop calling it piracy...it is unauthorized coping...I own the cd I share....someone takes it from me and creates an unauthorized copy from the copyright holder and from me.oh well i'm not my brothers keeper......Idiots. If someone robs my house cause I leave the door open it's not really my fault I don't get in trouble but the guy who stole the stuff does..now the riaa wants to put me jail for leaving my door open...idiots.. Yeah and while all you drug'd up media people commit your crimes. we won't bug you so don't bug us..you want more money give us better product and cheaper..we are sick of the crap you are pushing..and just cause we aren't buying it anymore means you need to get some new crap...Hey while your at it I think that congress made a mistake the copyrights should be extended to 100years after an artists death because you know the average life span is increasing and some of us might want to listen to a nirvana song in 70 years...
Man I just Hate these corporate fat cats how much millions are eneough.. cause at mikkid's we are getting $6 an hour.. aaaaarrrrrggggghhhhh!!!!!

Theres an artical in Wired about Kazaa. It seems as though there company is spread out in soooo many different companies that it seems near impossible to shut them down. And if you do shut them down, they can just close down shop and open up in another country.

That's one reason why file-sharing will never die, there's no worldwide Internet court and probably never will be because of every country wanting their own soverign state and court system... LONG LIVE FILE-SHARING!

from http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.02/kazaa.html

The Race to Kill Kazaa


The servers are in Denmark. The software is in Estonia. The domain is registered Down Under, the corporation on a tiny island in the South Pacific. The users - 60 million of them - are everywhere around the world. The next Napster? Think bigger. And pity the poor copyright cops trying to pull the plug.

**(T)here's no worldwide Internet court and probably never will be because of every country wanting their own soverign state and court system...** -- chrisbacke

Er . . . hate to break your balloon, but I predict that a few years down the road, there will indeed be a World Internet Court, formed along the lines of the International Criminal Court. And as for national sovereignty: That is systematically being thrown out the window in favor of the so-called, no-borders-oriented "New World Order." (Just ask those countries that today constitute the European Union.) Again, I don't want to see this happen, but the way the multinational elites run things in this world, it may very well.

You go, KaZaa. I hope they win this. I actually read the complaint, and it appears to hit labels hard with their unfair practices. I hope this actually goes to trial, or better yet a summary judgement against all the labels and studios.

I don't think their case has a chance in hell either, but it is true that the company is spread out all over the world and because of that I don't see how the big wigs at RIAA/MPAA can shut it down anytime soon.

Hello from montréal,
Si ceux qui peuvent ce payer un disque le ferait, l'accès a des services tel que Kazaa serait amplement justifiés et utilisées a des fins de culture, ce que nous, petit monde, avons de la misère a y acceder...

personally, the EU sucks. and i am stuck here for now.

I posted a similar article on my website, here is my reply to someone who wondered if the lawsuit would do any good.

-=-=-
Yes, and I'll tell you why.

1. Judges cannot afford to blow off controversial topics. You'd have to be dead or living under a rock not to know about the huge debate between "piracy" and the existing raping by the big labels. Every move judges make in cases like these are extremely public, extremely touchy, and as a result, whether they want to or not, the judges have to cover their ass and will take the utmost caution to protect the constitution, the people and ultimately their JOBS.

2. America was built on the little guy fighting against the big guy. We've always been underdogs, even though the rest of the world sees us as the big fish. So when a "human nature" story comes rolling through, the sins of piracy are overlooked when crimes have been committed in the FIRST place by businessmen. Businessmen are expected, as a rule, to be more worldly than the consumer (perhaps because they have so much experience fucking us) and judges are quick to slap their hands. Enron, Worldnet, etc.

3. America doesn't like monopolies. And that's what is currently happening in the network sector. We are run by a small few. Like Bill Gates' tragic empire, so too will big labels crumble and become decentralized. Clear Channel will become public property and you are going to see MUSIC LOVERS becoming the CDJs and playing what's good, what THEY love, not what they're paid to play.

It's such an exciting time. Napster took it for the team - I am pretty confident that Kazaa is now bringing more light to the subject. If Kazaa fails this time, it won't be because the lawmen aren't ready to serve the will of the people - it's that the will of the people isn't yet loud enough to be heard.

You've seen how horrendously politically correct the States have become. One person cries "Racist!" and an entire international inquiry is launched. One person cries "Oppression" and we see the same results.

PS - and let's face it, America's pretty fired up about being free, especially in light of the political situation and our pep rally/State of the Union address last night. We're more sensitive now, than ever, to protecting our rights, and the monopoly held in media is next to crumble.

Also, Bill Gates has decided to cross the picket line. Microsoft, so amazingly anal with their coding and protecting their own monopoly, has begun using Sharman to distribute their new Windows Media player. Bill has had his ass handed to him in public, and now he seems to be coming around and actively working towards a solution that profits copyright holders AND takes advantage of the current state of technology.

And they better do something fast to work with P2P...Sony's numbers just came out. They doubled their profit over all, but their music has sucked serious wang.

The music business stumbled as record sales plunged in many regions worldwide, underlining a troubled industry, Sony said. Albums that did relatively well were Jennifer Lopez's "This is Me... Then" and Dixie Chicks' "Home." (ha ha! who the hell spent money on that? Jennifer and the Chicks' families?)

Operating income in Sony Music Entertainment dipped 9.5 percent to 21 billion yen ($178 million) from 23 billion yen on 199 billion yen ($1.7 billion) sales, down 3.3 percent from 205.5 billion yen.

Article: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20030129/ap_on_bi_ge/earns_sony&e=1

See...one more reason everyone here should use SOULSEEK. That's right; Soulseek is there for your every P2P/music need!

But seriously, it's great that Kazaa is fighting back, but in all honesty, this seems to be more symbolic than anything else. Like Kate said, when the will of the people is loud enough to be heard, the people will prevail. Unfortunately, I don't think the will is loud enough yet. But do not fret, my friends, for in good time, our voices will resonate through the ears of all those willing or unwilling to listen.

The government hasn't done jack-shit to protect our Constitutional rights on this matter. They basically just sit quietly, sucking in bribes, pay-offs, etc. from these huge monopolies. The consumer is basically out to defend itself on this one. You may be right, Jkate, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Very intresting news, but not of any long term importance. The result is predictable. Kazaa will lose both cases. The fasttrack network isn't the easiest to shut down, but it can be done. Users will simply move to other networks, and a few more networks will appear as well. This could even be a good thing: Those users are never going to buy another CD

Exactly, golden - either way, win or lose, the fact that it's OUT there is lethal to Big Industry.

People who are unlucky enough to have heard be bitching about this topic before know that I equate label tactics to that fo Big Tobacco.

Now, Big Tobacco has been exposed, all their plots have been exposed, too. And yes Nortlander, the government still allows this poison to exist and they haven't banned it, protecting the people, because let's face it -- Tobacco is much wampum.

The music industry bullshit is now being exposed. And I think the government will take a back seat and let the consumer vs the industry duke it out. And we're going to win, because we have hackers on our side AND technology that the RIAA cannot keep up with. End of story! Either way, we'll starve those money grubbing bastards out by NOT GIVING THEM ANY MONEY

jkate - Amen.

I find the best way to win the battle is to tell everyone I know and meet to start sharing files. I have a 73-year old family friend totally into it! He just bought a 15G e.Digital portable to store all the downloaded stuff. It amazes me how many people are still clueless to file sharing and P2P, so let's get everyone on board!

A good outcome of the Kazaa suit will be publicity. More people will know what P2P means, and hopefully will get involved to protect their personal rights. Of course, once the corps get their spin doctors to work, who knows what the slobbering masses will think.

itz gonna hafta to be a lower government level "grassrootz" battle, tha higher levelz of tha government have bigger problemz to solve right now, (impending war, an economy in tha shitter) than worrying about a couple of greedy businessman pissing and money about not having enough money to buy their fifth Bentley. i know tha supreme court haz handled some of these cases, but im talking about gettin tha attention of tha congressman and other legislatorz...
settle in alice, this rabbit hole will be deep

HEY !!!

to quote:
"Analysis: Especially in the climate of today, where the consumer is among the most loathed and despised individuals on the planet, and where not only politicians but also judges have become little more than (for lack of a better word) lapdogs of the privileged and powerful, Kazaa's challenge has about as much chance as pigs or cows being able to fly."

WE MAY NEVER - I repeat, NEVER - lose our hope. As Samwise Gamgee used to talk "There is always hope, Mr. Frodo; always". It's exactly what RIAA wants: to see us frightened, resigned, giving up. And We must NOT appear so to them (even if some of y'all feel so, then you should BLUFF.

Furthermore, THEY HAVE BEEN ATTACKED. I don't mean: hacked by some individuals (though I find it really funny and cool), but: SUED BY Sharman Networks. Yes, they were attacked with their own weapon; it's a good lesson that was given to them: treat others as you want they treated yourself. To teach them the Golden Rule ...

To make it short, folks - COUNTER-ATTACK is always a good tactic in such cases. Ever played in Warcraft II ?? (I did ...) When I was were on defensive, concentrating forces on defending my own bases (ok, villages), the enemy ALWAYS had beaten me. Always. But once I stormed him, sending my troops against his villages ... I WON. ALWAYS. It's a bit similiar here ... And remember of the "shark repelling rule" - as you know, the shark is the most dangerous sea beast in the world. So, it can't come to his brain that somebody may attack him; and so, if somebody does it, the shark quickly withdraws, even if it was attacking the person. RIAA is similiar to such a shark: it attacks everybody it considers the easy victim; but when the victim picks emself up, and turns against the attacker, RIAA is at least 'confused' and, probably, going into a deep trouble ... (anyway it will eventually LOSE against P2Ps as such; even Hitlery Rosen admitted it as I remember ...)
Critto, http://www.libertaryzm.prv.pl

I would love to see the faces of the RIAA execs when they got slapped with the Kazaa lawsuit. I bet that was hilarious.

Or Hilary-ous?

Legally, the RIAA is big, powerful and very angry. We have no hope of winning on the legal front. We must win on the technical front, and this is what I think we must do:

1. More p2p networks, must keep making them faster than they can be sued. Networks should impliment technologys to complicate filtering, throttleing or blocking attempts such as push/pull requests, transfer using HTTP (or a modified HTTP/P2P with support for p2p features) protocol (what ISP would throttle that?), user-defined ports which are set randomly when the program is run, decentralised topologys, etc.

2. To lessen the impact of sharer-scarer tactics, more programs requireing sharing of partials in the way edonkey2000 does.

3. Extension of this boycott into the real world. Tell people who dont use the internet.

4. Rapid cracks for all DRM systems, packeged into easy-to-use utilities to lower confidence in DRM technology.

I completly agree with you "goldenpi"

We are not going to win a legal battle, there's no way there is to much money in the legal system to allows Kazaa or any other company to win. I also think that once more people move over to a Linux environment that a lot of these issues will not be a problem. I havent even upgraded to WinXP for what? Linux is the way and it will become the answer. We need to have more Linux based technology in our P2P music and data shareing networks.

As mentioned in the Analysis portion of the article, Kazaa's chances are equivalent to flying cows or pigs. There are many farms near where i live and i'm completely willing to "liberate" one of said quadrupeds and loose it from a plane to hand Kazaa the legal victory. Can someone supply the plane?

(Only notes of serious inquiry will be answered!)

remember in america money can buy u the law....Just ask OJ?..new copyright laws(disney? bono?)..But hey let the riaa win and then let them go after my library because they have thousands of cd's that can be lended and then just ripped.. for no money...hey riaa go get my library...Off of that topic though I read where these book companies are licensing to libraries not selling so that they can control library content.. say goodbye to independent thought...At least the kind that doesn't cost money to read.. Hey wait in two years when you can copy a dvd you get at the video store onto a 2sided dvd-r in 10 minutes the mpaa will be worse..They have hundreds of spokespeople on everytalk show in the world...liberals on politics conservatives on money

hey folks,
while I don't share your despair,
I think there is a brand new idea:

COMBINE Jabber (or sth like that; another communicator maybe) with a WWW server (eg. Apache)

know what?? The domains, not just files, will become UNSHUTABLE!!

It goes like this: everybody holds his/her own website on his/her own computer ... And ey can be found in the catalogue, if somebody submits of course (well, you can not submit and just give your ID to friends). When you click on somebody's address, you have an option to: (a) chat textually (b) chat voiceably (c) see www page stored on sb's local computer ... And what do you think ??? NO MORE NEED for big servers with "free" homepages ...

-- Critto, http://www.libertaryzm.prv.pl

Critto, that's exactly what Gnute does.

iH8RIAA,
quite this, but NOT exactly. Gnute allows you to share the files (and FILEZ, too). I mean PERSONAL HOMEPAGES - the ones you can just go and find by finding a person, but residing on this person's computer. Is't not about the 'file-sharing', through file-sharing is possible that way, too. It's about making NEW way of the personal internet; everything you wanty - the porn sites, the crackers' sites, the fan sites (sometimes persecuted by the stupid copyright owners who want to get rid of fans, as Paramount/Viacom does to Star Trek fans; or at least it did; I have no fresh info; does anybody have?), the anti-government sites (prohibited in some countries as China), the anti-something sites, and so on. But, get it: when I say *site* I mean something _fixed_, that you can find. I mean: let's escape from the BIG website servers and put our own websites on our own machines; and make them even better achievable (easier to achieve). The SITES without not only BIG servers, but without URLs; instead of an URL, you will have a person in a contact list.I imagine:

- you have my contact onto your contact list
- I have some website on my computer
- you contact me as you did when willing to chat with me, but you click on 'show the website' instead - and you get there.

It will be the DECENTRALIZATION of webbing. Complete decentralization - if I'm allowed to compare, it will be for websites what Gnutella is for FTPs - a chance to 'atomize', to decentralize, and to vanish if needed.

I'm dedicated to this idea. I'm planning to write something by myself (I'm a programmer, anyway), if there is NOT such a product (open source of course) available. Maybe it would be easier to make an Apache plug to Jabber (or vice versa), I dunno. If you (anybody on the forum) want to share your ideas with me, PLEASE mail me on the one of the following addresses:

critto@wp.pl
critto@o2.pl
liberter@poczta.wp.pl


Yours in Liberty,
Critto, http://www.libertaryzm.prv.pl

cool idea Critto. but back to the article i thought it was funney that the RIAA rfered to themselves as "Fort Knox." shows what they think of themselves.

one more thing relating to the LEGAL matters:

- who's there to say that we have NO CHANCE to win ? Well, look at this: Sklyarov and his company, Elcomsoft, were acquitted (maybe Russian govt have helped him, I dunno);
- EFF has stopped a 90% of all censorship bills, and even lead to abolition of the censorship acts as CDA (Comm. Decency Act - do you remeber?) and is on a good way to win a victory against DMCA
- DMCA is being more and more blocked, cornered; the California precedent has been set (Texan man not under jurisdiction; as well as few hundred other people who are SAFE now; he (thge Texan) is FREE now to publish DeCSS also.
- Jon Johansen ("DVD Jon") has been found NOT GUILTY (I know, that's Norway, there's no DMCA, but anyway it rocks)
- we, in Europe, are bravely resisting to and blocking the plague of software patents and keeping it away off our gates.
- 2 (literally: TWO) people in California have passed the Proposition 209 into law; I know, some of you may support the affirmative action (which 209 denies), but please think of the chances: TWO PEOPLE. Two brave young men (well, maybe the "racist bastards" for someone; not for me anyway). WE are more than TWO, My Friends.
- CBPDTA (or how this devilism is called; I call it KGBDTA, after "KGB" secret and totalitarian police of USSR) has NO chance to pass; even BSA has turned against it (and, again, EFF, http://www.eff.org leads the crowd against this tyranny)

I've heard that USA has become a country where laws are simply *bought* - however, they are bought if nobody resists. As with DMCA.

Even in Poland - a country which has thrown away the yoke of communism 13 years ago, there ARE chances for good folks to win. Examples? OK: the porn-banning bill has been STOPPED; the evil 'asset declaration' bill has been STOPPED (both by our President, who has been advised and lobbied by many, many people, some of them considered as 'good authorities' (in the meaning 'authority' - somebody wise and important, not a ruler; authority as Einstein was). The next bill, pending, forcing every car driver in Poland to drive only on "Bio" fuel (with min. 4,5 %ethanol) is being delayed, maybe even blocked ...
- we have NO cataster tax yet, and I hope it will be blocked forever

- if you can't destroy The Ring, you may at least stop Sauron from finding it ...

I think about some legal strategies. Must a Polish guy tell Americans NOT to let themselves get into enslavement? Well, maybe it's a karma: you have saved us from communism, now some of us may save YOU from lawsuitism (the next totalitarianism) and RIAAism (the related one). So, here are the proposals:

- LET'S SUE RIAA if you only have an opportunity (occasion I mean); SHOW THEM, that we are BITING !!! JUST BITING !! Even if we are the bassets, and they are a bear - you know that hunters use bassets against bears (on hunting), too?

- LET'S TURN AGAINST the RIAA legal dogs. Against their legal firms. let's unleash the B&o - Boycott & Ostracize - campaign against ANY LEGAL FIRM THAT STANDS FOR or represents RIAA OR MPAA. Calling them anti-freedom, unAmerican, unpatriotic, pro-totalitarian MAY HELP. Let's scare other people from making business with those wraiths. It applies to ANY OTHER anti-freedom law firm, too, as for example the one that accepts the defamation or political correctness-related suits.

- let's form the ANTI-LAWSUIT LEAGUE; the society, the association, the clan of the people AGAINST SUING; of the people, who will SOLEMNLY PLEDGE NOT TO sue each other in any anti-freedom cause (it's natural that one may sue the unloyal or unreliable business partner, or a rapist, or a thief; but NOT a 'defamator' or 'DMCA-breaker' or so)

- organizing the DEFENSE FUND against any 'cease-and-desits' corporate TYRANT (incl. RIAA). They KNOW that most of the 'little folks' are ALONE; but if unitd ... Well, you know how ACLU works, don't you ?? They will even NOT try to send such the threatening letter if they would know that they have the ORGANIZED OPPOSITION, willing ready and prepared to PAY for their friends, tu support them medially and financially; and to boycott, ostracize and ridicule the 'plaintiffs'.

There are just the PROPOSALS; given to YOU, My Honorable Friends, by a little (not in natural size guy from a country far, far away ... From Poland. My parents and their parents fought against COMMUNISM; do you realize this; against the Evil Empire. There you could not just be SUED; jou could be KILLED, murdered in secrecy, subjected to torture, arrested and jailed for years and decades without a trial, sentenced to death or to forcible transport to Siberia (in the winter - 50 Celsius below; in spring and autumn - 30; in summer - 0 to 15 above; sorry for Centigrades, I hope you will translate them to the lovely Fahrenheits . WHAT do you risk here ??

PS. By the way: if you have any contact with the stupid Pets Warehouse and its chief Novak, tell him that he's an idiot. Do you know what he did ? He sued the people criticizing his business online, demanding 15 MILLION DOLLARS (!!!) in damages ... he seems to be paranoid. And I hate the fact that he bears the POLISH name, because I am PROUD to be Polish, and don't like if some fools give example to the others about 'stupid Pollacks' or so. MOre info is here: http://www.chillingefffects.org

So, pick up our swords, bows and shields; and GO ON, FREE PEOPLE !!!
(sorry if you don't like such a rhetoric; I'm just reading Lord of The Rings; it's the most inspirational pro-freedom book).

Well, I hope that you have the guts ...

Yours in Liberty,
Critto
http://www.libertaryzm.prv.pl

PS. You can find me also on the forums of http://anti-state.com - the free-market (that means: anti-patent and anti-DMCA, too) anarchist site ... Where I've met some really good liberty-devoted folks (as you; I'm glad I've met most of y'all, guys and gals)

* Price of Liberty is eternal vigilance*

jmweirick,
" Date: January 30, 2003 @ 8:14 PM
cool idea Critto."
Thanx pal. Do you have any ideas 'bout application ?? Or do you know anybody who has ?? I will be very,very grateful for any information from you (ya know my email, right) ??

" but back to the article i thought it was funney that the RIAA rfered to themselves as "Fort Knox." shows what they think of themselves. "

Yes And remember how was Fort Knox founded: by stealing the gold from brave, private owners, gentle American citizens, and gathering it there. Just a pretty example, isn't it ?? RIAA is even a bigger thief. ..

Well, I too think that working technically is the best way out. But the legal matters are NOT to be left alone. By paralleling to Lord of The Rings: the fact that you should empower Gondor doesn't mean that the Ring mustn't be destroyed; it MUST. Why this parallel? technical matters are like empowering Gondor; legal matters (the whole universe I've described here) - as the quest to destroy the ring ...

For Liberty !!!
Critto, http://www.libertaryzm.prv.pl

What a bunch of crap ... RIAA SUCKS ...

Besides all this shit them claiming to have lost 5 Billion last year ... i don't see where ... Any artist worth something is making $$$ look at eminem ... he has had 3 CD's on the billboard top 200 HipHop three weeks ago ... as far as i remember a week befor the CD came out it was all over news that people were selling the Marshal Mathers LP for as low as $5 come on now ... ? If they lost so much $$$$$ why are artist like Em Selling in the Millions a year after the cd released ... ???

Only one question ... The statement " we want to ensure that artists will be paid for their music ... ?"

Are you sure that that is wat you want or is it that you want to make money off those artists ... ??? because when you sell a CD for $20.00 but the artists get $1.20 per cd and if they get lucky $3.00 ... ??? come on now ... ??? YOU ARE A BUNCH OF CUPCAKES THAT WANT TO ENSURE A LOT OF CASH FLOW INTO YOUR POCKETS ... !!!

I think all this speaks for itself ... !!!

I think we need to take a page out of Dr. MLK Jr. page and seriously not promote not buying a single CD from anywhere ... I want to see how they will fight off P2P without $$$$$ ... !!!

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA ...

[Evil_1e! - Was here] once again

Critto, I see what you mean - Install a http-controlled p2p client that is created and upgraded by one source - it will have the instant message capability, file sharing capability, voice/video, and a catalogue of worldwide users.

I dig.

jkate,
grateful thanx for thy help. Could you please provide me with a link, or a project name ?? Is there such a p2p client to download?? Is it possible, with it's use, for an Internet user to get to my webpage stored on my own computer ?? can the other users of the service see my pages, or is it just about me being able to upgrade info via http ??

Well, there's also a question of transparency ... Contacting users (and seeing their pages) by a communicator program is good, but is there a possibility to make use of browsers(Netscape, Konqueror, Mozilla, IE, Opera, and so) ?? are there any plugins to the browsers or making the following possible:
http://acme-p2p.org/users/critto/webpage
- to see my webpage (which is NOT stored on acme-p2p.org server anyway; they only redirect users to my HOME computer
http://acme-p2p.org/users/critto/msg - to communicate with me instantly (as with Jabber for example)
http://acme-p2p.org/users/critto/mail - to write me e-mail ...

it's all to do, of course .. but maybe there is a ready-to-use project??

Yours Truly,
Critto, http://www.libertaryzm.prv.pl

There is, its called Freenet and is very similar to what you described. Run a search. Its slow and unreliable at the moment, but its working and would improve if it grew.

Here's something for all you file-sharers out there: another way to stick it the RIAA. Ironically, I heard about this on the radio. I'm sure everyone on here knows the story, but I'm going to tell it anyway. To make a long story short, a few years ago the music industry conspired to inflate CD prices. There is now a class-action lawsuit against them. If you go to http://www.musiccdsettlement.com/english/default.htm and fill out their survey, you will become part of the settlement. It claims to pay from 5-20 dollars, which individually isn't much, but it will add up. Long live P2P!

A victory (however improbable) for Sharman would be a precedent-setting event that would have global implications. From a foreign standpoint, I personally believe that this issue (p2p and corresponding rights)is not getting enough publicity. Most people outside the US, even those in the I.T. field, don't even now what a file-sharing app is.

**From a foreign standpoint, I personally believe that this issue (p2p and corresponding rights)is not getting enough publicity. Most people outside the US, even those in the I.T. field, don't even [k]now what a file-sharing app is.** -- 'verbl-kint'

And that is no accident or coincidence, insofar as it is in the multinational entertainment-media complex's selfish interests to keep as many people as possible in the dark about this issue, all the better to brainwash the masses into unquestioningly accepting their anti-consumer, anti-technology vendetta that has been disguised as an 'anti-piracy' initiative.

Also, given those grass-roots efforts in various parts of the country as had been brought up by others who subscribe to the forums (efforts which, no surprise, have been pretty much blacked out and covered up by the major media), it is all the more imperative that the General Public make themselves heard on this issue -- ESPECIALLY with the deck so stacked against them not only in the media, but in the courts and "guvmint" -- and not just roll over and play dead when the RIAA's rabid mad-dog shyster lawyers come a-callin'. Yes, there are people who have risen up -- but that figure should be in the MILLIONS, not 'only' in the thousands.

Critto: I don't know of any such clients. I agree with your idea!

I cannot concur more. The environmentalists had the same problems back in the mid-70's when they were up aginst industrial giants like esso and the pro-big business stance most govenments in the planet can't help but subscribe to. All it took was the slow (but consistent) rise of public consciousness regarding environmental issues such as the ozone hole and forest depletion. Of course, it helped that certain mavericks like greenpeace made enough of a stir to overcome all the money that multinatoinal was stuffing into the media's pockets.

A little publicity every now and then certainly wouldn't hurt.

Greenpeace might be a little extreme, but they got the publicity. Perhaps we need a publicity stunt. Any ideas?

I think really its time to do what should have been freakin done a couple of years ago. GO BACK UNDERGROUND!!

I mean for god sakes I see WINMX in freakin news stories on TV now. Your not gonna beat city hall. Develop the software on the sly, spread the word via IRC and email...enough with THEM knowing what WE are doing.

Knowledge is power..the less they have of whats goin on, the better.

News spreads fast in this day and age. The odds of the establishment not knowing what our activities are would be close to nil I believe. We can always try, of course.

Some networks are still underground. I run an invite-only FTP server.

KaZaA can win this fight if they learned from Napster's mistakes.

No. In the legal arena the combined power of the entertainment industry is invinceable. If you try to fight them on their own ground you lose. Kazaa may be able to buy itsself time, and if whoever runs it is sensible they will continue to buy all the time they can so they can relocate again, thus buying a lot more time. But to win the entertainment industry must be seriously damaged.

In a recent interview Jack Valenti, president of the MPAA, sais he thought the music industry is going to collapse. I dont think it is, but its certinly going to suffer. There are still many people clinging to last-generation morals or media propaganda who are convinced that downloading is theft. I met one today, but unfortunatly didn't have enough time to convince them about the Evil Empire or even the destinction between theft and copyright infringement.

To defeat the entertainment industry, which I always think of as the Enemy, they must be confronted on ground where we have the advantage. Not a battle of lawyers, espicially in the US civil legal system where cases frequently last until one party runs out of cash. A battle of simple economics. Will people be willing to pay $20 for a clear concience when they can get the same film on the internet? Some, but once we control the majority and income for the industry falls they will collapse under their own weight. Giant conglamorates can only survive on a diet of vast quantities of money, deprived of their income they will quickly shrink to a more manageable size.

We must confront them on the battlefield of Technology. While they work on new and more paranoid forms of copy protection, we must break them and work on new and more convienient ways to distribute their media. While they make sneaky agreements with CE and computer companys to include DRM in hardware, we must find ways round that protection and protest to the manufacturers.

And most importantly, as they attack p2p networks we must continue to set up more and better networks, and make ours harder to throttle, harder to sue and harder to stop!

We can always try the publicity angle. Why don't we all set a date and time where all of us will send an email to a common recipient (to be discussed later)? And I do mean all of us (and we should get as many other guys as possible on the bandwagon). The emails should be free of any virii, profanity, useless attachments and the like in order that the people who read it take it seriously and not accuse us of trying to flood their servers with garbage.

We then repeat the same thing to a different recipient (Fox's O'Reilly? CNN maybe?) at another appointed date and time and again we send it to another; and again and again and again, all simultaneously. By then, I'm hoping that our stunt will be able to get some media attention, some interviews maybe and other stuff as well.

Well here is another person for the fight for Kazaa even though Kazaa is not the best p2p I use it alot and would hate to see it shut down. The way me and my fellow classmates see it is if I can put a tape in the radio and record a song off the air and play it anywhere I want or give it to another person and let them listen to it, isn't that the same thing as downloading a song off kazaa? We all hope that Kazaa gets a good jury, but we all know that there will be no fair jury here. So I say down with our judicial system.

Shit. I'm All Over Kazaa.