The Big Five labels now have the identities of two students suspected of using the computer network at Chicago's Loyola University for file-sharing.

Their names were handed over to the RIAA by school authorities.

This represents shot three in the Big Five record labels' all-out war against file-sharers.

Shot two came yesterday (July 16) when Hollywood stalwart rep Howard Berman and another democrat, rep John Conyers, introduced a bill cited as the Author, Consumer, and Computer Owner Protection and Security (ACCOPS) Act of 2003 which in effect says anyone nailed for file sharing could be jailed.

However, the first salvo came when four students at Massachusetts' Bentley College were apparently subpoenaed by the RIAA, as reported exclusively by dmusic. "... it would be inappropriate for a college to comment on legal matters involving students or other members of our community," Janet Mendelsohn, the college's director of public affairs, said when we asked for details.

In this latest incident, Loyola's authorities readily complied with an RIAA supbpoena.

"We take these things seriously," the Rev Richard Salmi, vice president of student affairs, is quoted as saying in a Chicago Tribune story. "We let the students know that from time to time."

Salmi said the two students are in summer school and were told they have 24 hours to respond to the RIAA claims.

Berman & Conyers
Berman's fief is California's San Fernando Valley, next to LA and the homes of the major movie companies.
His top contributors during the 2002 election cycle were: Walt Disney Co - $32,000; AOL Time Warner - $29,050; Vivendi Universal - $27,341; Viacom Inc - $15,000; News Corp - $11,750; and, DreamWorks - $11,000. In 1999-2000 (as of December 1, 2000) Berman pulled down close to $100,000 in PAC contributions from the communications and electronics sector which includes, of course, the movie and music folks.

Conyer is the the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee and his 2002 Hollywood incomings were: AOL Time Warner - $9,000; Walt Disney - $6,000; Viacom - $5,000; and, MCI (WorldCom) Inc - $5,000.

Both sets of figure are as per opensecrets.org.

In the meanwhile, chairman of the Judiciary Committee on which Conyers sits is Jim Sensenbrenner of HR 5469 fame which, to the great satisfaction of the Big Five labels, effectively scuppered members of the small online radio community.

The Berman/Conyers Bill, introduced yesterday (July 16), would operate under the assumption that each copyrighted work made available through a computer network was copied by others at least 10 times for a total retail value of $2,500, says a July 16 Reuters/VNU report, going on:

"That would bump the activity from a misdemeanor to a felony, carrying a sentence of up to five years in jail. It would also outlaw the practice of videotaping a movie in the theater, a favorite illicit method of copying movies."

they are good at nabbing college students on established networks but
they still havent leveled any suits against the regular home downloader(other than that guy verizon had to give up but he downloaded 600 songs in a 24 period that kind of volume cant help but to be noticed)...is it because
there are certain liability issues that would have to be broached before you can run out wily nily charging people when you dont know who really has control of that computer and at what time?

If the RIAA keeps this up, I'm just waiting for the time they go after some kid who's a family member of a senator or some high government official. That'll be the RIAA's undoing. And trying to make downloading of music a felony? It won't pass, but even the attempt shows just how desparate and ruthless they are. The music industry as we know it is dying and we're witnessing it's death pangs. They're dinosaurs who couldn't adapt to change.

I find this hilarious...

5 years prison for what? 30 million americans? I mean, if you're going to enforce such a law, that's what you're looking at, right? Or maybe 50 million. Do you honestly think that people will stand by as 1/5th of the country not in jail is put there?

And remember, we're not talking about poor inner city kids, we're talking about kids with wealthy parents who are in college, and those 20-something and 30-something people who actually do have disposable income. I honestly hope that they do pass this law, so that it can be challenged.

In criminal cases, unlike civil cases, if you do random enforcement you can claim the law invalid, so it would let people finally stomp on this idea.

I compare this whole mess to living in a neighborhood where there's a $10 dollar fine for cutting across people's yards. I happen to be fairly well off, and got mad at people cutting through my yard, so I go pay (donate) money to the local government to make it a felony to cross my yard without permission as well as charge $150,000 per incident. Someone should arrest the RIAA for bribery, as this is about as close to quid pro quo I've ever seen.

They have to arrest 500 people a day to even come close to breaking even. This is a losing proposition for the RIAA.

Indie music is litigation-free.

The charges against the RIAA shouldn't be bribery, they should be extortion, racketeering and restraint of trade.

So nice to see Big Brother (aka RIAA) trying desperately to regain lost profits by suing everyone. Brilliant strategy. Makes me wonder how long before they go after senior citizens, baby boomers, etc.

It's frightening to see how many communists hold public office in this country.They are worse than the "old" country commies in that they are for sale to the highest bidder.

Wellcome to america, leave your freedom at the door.

George, i sure do love your words

idiots.

If the RIAA did accidentially go after someone famous, we wouldn't know. A few phone calls from one high up to another and the charges will be droped. Everyone will then act as through it never happened.

Those figures dont add up. 10 copies for a total retail value of $2,500? That would imply the copyrighted file has a retail value of $250. Even hillary at her best would have a hard time getting that number

The ACCOPS bill (should we call it Berman2 for convenience?) will probably fail, but just to tilt the odds in our favor a little more we should once again start the letter writeing campaign. I know its boring, but its nessicary. Paper letters please, everyone knows polititions never read their email.

send all the college kids to jail!

good thinkin' fella's

I think it's time we storm RIAA headquarters like the way they riot on those "RIOTS: Caught on video" shows. You know, like when some hack city like Montreal loses the cup and the fans go ape-shit? Maybe not realistic, but it's a pleasant thought.

5 years in jail??? For being caught with downloaded music?? What a crock! People from all walks of life stand to be arrested, just for having songs of an artist downloaded onto their PC's. Most of the artists complaining don't even release consistently "great" albums and as I have stated before in response to another article, what do I care if there is never another artist who goes platinum. Most of them don't deserve it anyway...and some older musical acts are just now attaining "platinum" status. People like Marvin Gaye, Barry White, and countless other musical pioneers never had the "bling bling" during their heydays...and people like who, Mary J. Blige and Nelly (?) have the nerve to be pushing this drive to stop downloads?? **shaking my head**

Again, I predict that the next push by these 'One World' elitists who run the multinational entertainment-media complex will be to prescribe the death penalty for such victims of their vengeful vendetta. Once one starts down this slippery slope, unfortunately, there's no stopping it. Only when people stand up to these crypto-imperialist bullies in a BIG way will there be any semblance of hope -- however slight.

who will pay the taxes if we're all in jail??

The sheer volume of peer-to-peer users makes any law against music sharing unenforceable. Just like the fact that there are 30 million marajauna smokers and no matter how hard they try to make it illigal, it will never go away.

I take that back. Maybe it is a good idea to attack RIAA headquarters. With a 5 year jail sentence for Mp3 trading, what more would you have to lose?

Think of the costs to do this...$50,000 a year per prison cell is the cost to us, the taxpayers, to house MILLIONS OF PEOPLE for up to five years! Staggering!
VOTE...VOTE...VOTE...THIS NOVEMBER!!
ARE YOU REGISTERED AND READY?

Screw Nelly and Mary J Bilge . I going to run amok over artist fan club sites letting them know how much their gasseous emissions suck.

I have not bought any new CD's in the last three years, and I will NEVER buy another CD that the RIAA represents.

Message to RIAA: ITS OVER! ITS BEEN OVER FOR A WHILE.

Put us in jail.. take our money.. then let's see where the economy goes..

Plus, just think of the money that the industry will get from all this.. and the artist won't even see a penny...

I think we are able to react a little more strongly than to just scoff at this proposed legislation. As a voting and contributing Democrat,I made phonecalls to the Democratic National Committee, as well as those local offices in Michigan and California and in my own state. I've noted that my funding and vote goes south if this bill is pushed. Those Representatives have a lot of yarbles to propose such legislation with an upcoming election year, and I think it's important to make these committees aware that the bill is not to our liking. Make a phone call.

In the words of Bill and Ted: Bogus.

I'm only buying used and indie CDs here on out--after all, the RIAA doesn't get a cut on the second sale. Reeheehee.

One really can't fault a private University for turning ovver student information to the RIAA. In any criminal investigation a University always cooperates with law enforcement, and I think we all understand that. If a student engages in illegal activity, it is not the role of the University to shield them from consequences.

HOWEVER, a couple of issues around the RIAA subpoenas trouble me. First of all, the RIAA is a private, non-governmental institution requesting information pertaining to a student's personal record (IP address-Name correlation) and secondly this is a civil, not criminal matter.

Universities clearly do not wish to be singled out in a lawsuit as aiding illegal activity, so they gladly place responsibility on the students then step aside. The idea that someone (the RIAA) is scanning the institutions networks, networks that typically represent the pinnacle of free speech and idea exchanges, however, should trouble some universities.

It is my hope that some of the more prestigous, technology oriented schools (Berkley, MIT, Stanfor, UPENN, etc) will recognize the contentious nature and dangerous technological precedent of turning over student records to a pivate organization without demanding the same legal safeguards they ensure in all other aspects of a student's privacy.

Given the extreme interest with which most college-age and under people are watching this issue, I think that those Universities that recognize some of the inherent problems with the RIAA tactics will gain immediate stature (and thus increased inrollment) from the tech-oriented community a large. Berkley's politically charged protest movement of the 70's still resounds today when one hears the school's name. Here is a chance for a new generation of schools to take a similar stance with an issue that affects so many of today's youth.

I apologize for the frequent run-on sentences.

History seems to be repeating itself here. How many of you guys remember that notorious "Communist" witch hunt we had in our country back in the 1950s? This entire RIAA business sounds the same. Infringement on our privacy and money-taking politicians taking business' side--what's next!? I hate this whole thing--seems like money is everything here! What do we have to do to fight this thing? With the advent of the internet, everybody needs to redefine the parameters of society and civilization. (Geez, I sound like a teach or something here.) What I wanna say is that 20th century capitalism gotta go and make way to 21st century new order. Do we need a "REVOLUTION" to fight against these archaic capitalists?

Of course we need a revolution. I suggest we raid the posh Hollywood homes of these Execs. Then it's off to DC to tar and feather Orin Hatch. I can't think of anything else right now. I'll let you know if I have any more of my ideas.

umm, ince when does anyone on a p2p network upload anything to the network itself? teh files are sent directly from one person to another. This is proof that these morons REALLY have no clue what theyre talking about.

Anyone else reading this a college student?

AdmiralSinep discussed the dangers inherant in a university network being scanned by a private organization like the RIAA. Does anyone have any idea what the process is for this type of investigation?

In a related area, I've been reading up on cyberSLAPP cases on EFF.net. It seems to me that using frivolous subpoenas, the RIAA would not actually need any evidence to reveal the identity of a prospective "media pirate". The combination of old laws, scared students and bad business hold the prospect for untold abuse.

I've contacted my University about its subpoena notification policies, but I'm afraid that's an uphill battle.

Actually, if this bill were to pass, our country would probably fail.

The fact is, we're looking at a cycle. When you jail 1/5 of the population, your losing 1/5 of your tax money. In fact, you lose even more since you have to pay for the person. So, for every jailed person, the commonwealth has to pay 2x his tax extra. I dont think you'd wanna (Mandark's Dad's Voice) give more money to the government (End Voice). Since taxes are imposed on everything, prices of goods will go up while paychecks will go down due to increased taxation. Thus, MORE filesharers will go out there. MORE people will be jailed, and so on and so forth until the government collapses under trillions of dollars of debt.

Of course, i'm sure that this bill wont go through, i dont think that congress is THAT stupid... or is it?

And I am reminded from another post on this site, AdmiralSinep, that four of the five major-label members of the RIAA are NOT AMERICAN. How do we let foreign-owned companies do this? I sweaar that if they were "those arab terrorists," we would have guns drawn in a heartbeat!!

Is this the only thing the RIAA know how to do anymore? Picking on kids and collage students? How lame can you be???

Killers can get off scott free in America. But God fobid you should get caught downloading music as you'll be put in jail for 5 years. I really hate being an American these days so sad really.

Jailed for donwloading..hummmm....they gonna need bigger jails!

The RIAA are committing online terror, plain and simple. If KaZaa and the rest declare their services off limits to the RIAA and the copyright bots,
they can invoke USC TITLE 18,Part 1, Chapter 121, Sec. 2701, since the RIAA would be accessing the network of users without permission and this is a violation, to access stored electonic communications without authorization.
There is the assumption in law that only people with "clean hands" should sue. Violation of federal law by them and their minions would dirty their hands!
BOYCOTT THE BASTARDS! BAN THE BASTARDS!

Absolutely sick! They are going to give those kids a five year jail sentence for downloading MP3's? This is not the America I know. We should start e-mail bombing on all the RIAA members and destroy their sites for starters before going on hard with these guys. Let's hurt them the way they deserve.

Here's the law about my earlier post
"Section 2701. Unlawful access to stored communications

(a) Offense. - Except as provided in subsection (c) of this
section whoever -
(1) intentionally accesses without authorization a facility
through which an electronic communication service is provided; or
(2) intentionally exceeds an authorization to access that
facility;
and thereby obtains, alters, or prevents authorized access to a
wire or electronic communication while it is in electronic storage
in such system shall be punished as provided in subsection (b) of
this section.
(b) Punishment. - The punishment for an offense under subsection
(a) of this section is -
(1) if the offense is committed for purposes of commercial
advantage, malicious destruction or damage, or private commercial
gain -
(A) a fine under this title or imprisonment for not more than
one year, or both, in the case of a first offense under this
subparagraph; and
(B) a fine under this title or imprisonment for not more than
two years, or both, for any subsequent offense under this
subparagraph; and
(2) a fine under this title or imprisonment for not more than
six months, or both, in any other case.
(c) Exceptions. - Subsection (a) of this section does not apply
with respect to conduct authorized -
(1) by the person or entity providing a wire or electronic
communications service;
(2) by a user of that service with respect to a communication
of or intended for that user; or
(3) in section 2703, 2704 or 2518 of this title."

Let them sue..me.. they will be in the wrong..because..i have cd's store bought for everything i have downloaded.. ..so they better know there shit before jacking with me..

People still don't get it. The law is on the side of the RIAA, whether we like it or not. No one is going to charge the RIAA with violating the aforementioned code.

Those college students must live in a cave somewhere. It's been all over the news that the RIAA is going to be aggressive.

Anyone sharing files now takes the risk.

I don't like the law, you don't like the law, but it's still the law.

We need to strengthen the boycott. A COMPLETE boycott. Yep, I sound like a friggin' broken record, but that's what it will take.

Boycott (aka passive aggression) of ALL mainstream music is the best way, but it just takes longer.

You break the law, you take the consequences. The only real power we have is the power to keep our money, and not to consume *ANY* RIAA product.

They only enjoy popularity and success because we give it to them. Our interest in the industry is still ours to give or withhold.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, CodeBreaker, but the RIAA always seems to find some legal loophole to seemingly ironclad laws. I suspect this will be the case for this one, as well.

For example - look at the Verizon vs. RIAA case.

(http://newscenter.verizon.com/kit/riaa/vz.vtml)

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the very bedrock of this mess, was never desgined to allow the RIAA to have the ability to subpoena ISPs for information pertaining to individual copyright infringers, unless said infringers were doing so directly on the ISP's network.

Both Verizon and the EFF pointed this crucial fact out, and to this day, the decision has yet to be reversed.

To my knowledge, Verizon is going to appeal this decision at the supreme court level in September...

Furthermore, as another example, when KaZaA's parent company, Sharman Networks tried to (rightfully, imho) sue the RIAA for monopolistic behavior in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust act, the RIAA managed to get the case dismissed, mainly due to a lack of a specific monetary amount the RIAA could be held liable for.

By all stretches of the imagination, this should not have been dismissed - unlike the RIAA's slander, most if not all of Sharman's Allegations (primarilly those of anti-competitive behavior) were true.

For example, the RIAA controls at least 90% of all american recorded music - and has admitted to doing so. 90% of all american recordings is absolutely staggering...

And what about market share? If the RIAA controls that immense a figure of the recordings, one can only imagine the ratio of sales from RIAA backed recordings as compared to Indie recordings (very high on the RIAA's side, I suspect).

Don't even get me started about the CD price fixing business (I can buy a legal CD Quality digital album, with rights to burn to 2 CDs for $7, yet if I was to buy the same album at a record store, it would be $16+ with no mp3/CD burning rights?)

The RIAA has CLEARLY violated the Sherman Anti-Trust act, and got off scott free.

Regardless, my point is this - between the RIAA's legal eagles and frequent government sweethearting, they will find (and exploit) every possible loophole.

So, when a law such as this surfaces -
know that the RIAA may very well still have the upper hand.

Money and power are a lethal cobination, and I'm sorry to say the RIAA has both.

To da-gimp

Don't you get it? The RIAA are the ones who are breaking the law. File trading is not copyright violation and it certainly is not piracy. The media has had a good job of lumping the two. There is a HUGE difference between some regular Joe downloading a tune from a kid in Sri Lanka and another guy who makes 300,000 conterfeit CD's in his garage. By all accounts, the RIAA is violating EVERYTHING. When this is all over heads are going to roll. Organizations like the ACLU are going to be all over this shit when it eventually blows up on the news. There are a GUH-BILLION lawyers out there who are going to go into a feeding frenzy when "everyone" starts getting arrested. You see, money is always the motivator. Once violation of civil rights becomes a "trend" on News station, they will run with it. And you will never hear the end of it. Think about it. Evertime some loser in Hollywood kills his annoying wife, You never hear the Goddamn end to it! When all is said and done the RIAA will be in deep shit for jailing people. This is a desperate move on their part. Becuase they know their time is up. By pulling this stupid move, they have dug their grave ALOT deeper.

fEDERAL CRIMINAL LAW IS FEDERAL CRIMINAL LAW. IT'S AN ANTI-HACKER LEGISTLATION. LET 'EM HAVE TO HIRE CRIMINAL ATTYS. A GOOD OFFENSE IS THE BEST DEFFENSE.
BOYCOTT THE BASTARDS/BAN THE BASTARDS!

I AM WITH YOU CodeWarrior..

BOYCOTT...THEM.. BASTARDS...

hrosen@riaa.com, sdonofrio@riaa.com, fcreighton@riaa.com, jbetts@riaa.com, sfabrizio@riaa.com, jflatow@riaa.com, dincorvaia@riaa.com, jbendall@riaa.com, clawhorn@riaa.com, jhenkel@riaa.com, lpelliccia@riaa.com, jberman@riaa.com, csherman@riaa.com, nashby@riaa.com, lbocchi@riaa.com, pbrooks@riaa.com, jegas@riaa.com, jfleming@riaa.com, jganoe@riaa.com, hkim@riaa.com, smarks@riaa.com, hmccaffrey@riaa.com, jmilbauer@riaa.com, rmorgan@riaa.com, moppenheim@riaa.com, mpetersen@riaa.com, brobinson@riaa.com, lsalet@riaa.com, msimcik@riaa.com, tsites@riaa.com, dstebbings@riaa.com, btenor@riaa.com, nturkewitz@riaa.com, dvaldez@riaa.com, awalsh@riaa.com, fwalters@riaa.com, jwhitehead@riaa.com, wyascur@riaa.com

Or send to:
Recording Industry Association Of America
1330 Connecticut Ave. NW
Suite 300
Washington DC 20036


RIAA fax: 202 775-7233
RIAA phone: 202-775- 0101


Let the f**kers know how you feel!!

Check this out!

Next they will be trying to sue Google!
They might as well try and sue Microsoft too, but then again, Microsoft would probably kick their ass!

http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/archives/000 360.html

Hey guys I have created a new sticker/logo. Let me know if you want the psd file to send for printing.

http://www.psprint.com has great prices.



I am going to be printing some up and sticking them evry where I go!

BOYCOTT THE BASTARDS/BAN THE BASTARDS!

After reading this I'm thinking of moving to China and bootlegging CD's for a living.

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-1026715.html

Take a gander, fellas. Not only will there be 5 years, but up to 250,000 freakin dollars in fines to boot.

This is just like the money hungry bastards at the RIAA. Ya know why they don't sue people for ROMs? They think nobody cares about video games, they just want the music money. That's only what I think, no proof on it yet.

Well I guess they better arrest my whole fucking family, the only person in my immediate family who wouldn't be going to jail is my own mother out of a family of 6. These fuckers are going down, and we'll see to it.

OK folks. I understand the whole fuck-up, but let's bring it down to earth. The RIAA is an American organization (prolly with some foreign tentacles, but wtf). If you guys are gonna be serving 5 yrs for sharing music, well... don't share. There's lotsa folks around the globe willing to do the same, W/O the RIAA on our backs (for now). As far as I know, the RIAA is just after US folks for now, so let's make it INTERNATIONAL! And keep sharing your mp3's. I share my stuff on IRC, haven't seen a RIAA "cop" there lately.

How did they know he got 600 songs in 24 hrs?

I don't advocate breaking the law, but sometimes it takes acts of civil disobedience to change unjust laws. (DMCA, Sony Bono Copyright Extension Act anyone?) I say SHARE SHARE SHARE!
(Just share independent!)

And if you don't vote this time be ashamed of yourself.

This article is ridiculous. It is an excellent example of pork-barrel-politics and corporate america at it's best. The best part of all this bs is sheer amount of money these candidates recieved and the varying sources it came from. Hell, many of us have cable tv from time-warner. These "elected officials" are recieving support from business', corporations, labor unions, etc that many of us use daily. Keep in mind that these "elected officals" rely on our votes and their campaign contributors rely on us to create their revenue. We need to resort to guerilla-warfare and send our message to our political representatives AND their major supporters. I can live without cable tv, dvd's, seeing one of the 500 sequels in the theaters this summer, and many other things if it causes the RIAA, our "elected officails", and their supporters to relize how important the Amercan consumer/citzen is. Without us, they don't exist. I used to do political fundraising for Republican candidates years ago and I know that paper mail is just as ineffective as email is. There is one advantage to email: if enough people use email-bombers we can clog mail servers and routers all over the US. That will gain national news attention. The average american is unaware of the problem at hand and media exposure resulting from actions of this type would be priceless. Not sure if there is legal ramifications to this, but I am sure they can't be worse than what they are threatening us with now. Take a stand and at least vote for your rights!

Hey, I wonder if O.J. has ever pirated any RIAA music. I bet he couldn't get out of THAT so easily... Oh wait... Johnny Cochrane. Hey, why don't we get HIM on our side....

Oh, btw, i've been a lurker for a while. but i'm just so pi$$ed off at the RIAA horseshit, I just couldn't resist

If it smells like $hit, you must acquit!

Isnt there atleast 60 million swapping music over the internet? If the congressmen think that jail time would work for punishment, they should think about the cost. It would cost way too much to jail them. Plus, it would take up way too much space in the jails. We should show the government officials whos really boss in the elections; the bosses being us voters.