The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) today unanimously upheld charges that Vivendi Universal subsidiaries violated antitrust laws by illegally agreeing with Warner Communications Inc to, "restrict competition for audio and video products featuring 'The Three Tenors' – Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti".

Chairman Timothy J. Muris said the FTC ruled 5-0 that, "PolyGram Holding, Inc. (a predecessor to Vivendi) improperly agreed with Warner to curb discounting and advertising to boost sales of recordings that the two companies jointly had distributed based on the tenors' concert in Paris during the 1998 soccer World Cup. The Commission's order bars PolyGram from agreeing with competitors to fix the prices or restrict the advertising of products they have produced independently."

Muris emphasized, "[n]o analytical exercise is more important to U.S. competition policy than defining the bounds of acceptable cooperation between direct rivals."

Check this out!

http://www.openp2p.com/pub/a/p2p/2003/06/10/musician_pov.html

This is yet another reason to BOYCOTT the RIAA, even if they deny it.

They have been walking all over us for years, why buy another CD from them?

w00t can of worms open bad

The RIAA must be paying a king's ransom in lawyers fees. Together with a boycott of CDs, maybe it'll bankrupt them.

All i can say is that the 40 billion dollar industry they once had, is probably not going to be even worth half of that in five years.

The 20 billion will probably go to independent artists or just get spent elsewhere

The 20 billion will probably go to independent artists or just get spent elsewhere

This is great stuff. Keep it coming!

Tip of the hat,
Captain C

good job by the FTC. glad to see theres some sanity left inthe gov't.

they just don't get it. the people are fighting because we are tired of the riaa running over us. i have no sympathy for the RIAA.

How many time does it have to be proven that the RIAA and the entire record industry is a monpolistic bunch of greed whores before the government shuts them down??? DOWN WITH THE RIAA, DOWN WITH THE RIAA, DOWN WITH THE RIAA!!!!!!!!!!!

While there is no longer a market for mass produced cookie cutter music, I hear there is a lot of profit in suing people.

http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,59131,00.html
"Verizon's Deutsch said the recording industry seems to be using the case "to teach Verizon and all the service providers in the future that we shouldn't dare challenge one of these subpoenas."

As evidence, she pointed to the recording industry's demand for $350,000 in legal fees. "
That's not far from 1/2 million legal fees on ONE case against Verizon, that is still under appeal...so, if they are planning thousands of cases...geez, is this a feeding frenzy for lawyers or what.

And as I said earlier, Cary Sherman, the head of the RIAA is a LAWYER, so is it any surprise his approach was to sue the shit out of his own customer base?

http://www.zeropaid.com/news/articles/auto/08012003a.php
It's spreading to spain now...
"Legal services giant Landwell says it will prosecute 4,000 peer-to-peer file-traders in Spain because they have been identified as "serious" unauthorized downloaders of copyrighted songs, films and software.

If it goes ahead, the action will be the largest crackdown on P2P users in Europe to date.

Landwell, the legal arm of PricewaterhouseCoopers, earlier this month issued the threat on behalf of clients that have remained unnamed to avoid a backlash by consumers. The company said it had gathered data such as IP addresses on 95,000 file-traders by tapping into P2P systems with older versions of the P2P clients, which don't encrypt such information.

Landwell said it is working with Spain's Technological Investigation Brigade (BIT) on the prosecutions and expects the case to appear in court next month. The action mimics a large-scale assault on alleged file-swappers in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which is in the process of filing several hundred lawsuits against them."

has anyone seen this story yet? http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/washpost/20030801/tc_washpost/a11905_2003aug1&e=1

So a Senator was using Napster and ADMITTED it? Where is the lawsuit against him for publicly admitting to a crime, at $150,000 per song and jail time? What makes the senator different from me? He commited a crime and ADMITTED it, so he should get the punishment the RIAA wants the rest of us to get!! Oh and I'm in college, WHERE IS MY FREE MUSIC FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS?? AND WHO THE FUCK IS GOING TO FOOT THE BILL FOR THE RIAA TO GIVE AWAY FREE MUSIC??? They'll probably just rip off the artist more, and they say downloading is hurting sales, SO IS GIVING AWAY YOUR PRODUCT FOR FREE YA BUNCH OF FUCK HOLES!! JESUS CHRIST IN A CARTOON!!!!!!!!!

the-question:

Interesting article. More RIAA double-dealing. Here's the key quote:

The RIAA, "which represents the major music labels, is aware that it could be scaring off potential customers, considering that college-age students are a sweet spot demographic for music sales. With that in mind, the RIAA is working on a backup plan to appease college students, The Los Angeles Times reported today. 'Record-industry executives and online music companies are quietly working with colleges and universities to offer legitimate sources of free or deeply discounted music to students if the schools agree to take steps to deter piracy on campus networks. The goal is to give students a carrot to go along with the stick being waved by the Recording Industry Assn. of America, which has been attacking piracy with lawsuits. An online music service picked by a university would let students play an array of songs at little or no cost, potentially curtailing the use of hotbeds of unauthorized file-sharing such as Kazaa. The fledgling online music services involved in the talks are eager to boost their profile among college students and see discounts as a way to attract new customers who eventually will pay full fare,' the newspaper said."

Very crafty. Get the students used to pay a greatly reduced rate for downloading music. Then, when they graduate, they discover the real world doesn't work that way and they have to pay full price, 79 - 99 cents per track. By that time they've been weaned from free P2P. I don't think it'll work though. College students are pretty smart.

Ein-Tier:

I commend the senator for his honesty. Of course, he knows damn well the RIAA would never think of suing him or his kids. In fact, the RIAA won't even criticize him. He can hurt them. I'm just glad he's attacking the RIAA. We need all the help we can get.

the-question...great link...
and here is something from the LA times article they reference
http://www.latimes.com/la-fi-music1aug01225417,0,4114495.story
"The record companies have been prodding colleges and universities for more than a year to do more to discourage file sharing, but that won't be easy. A study released Thursday by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 80% of the full-time students surveyed who had downloaded or shared music online didn't care whether it was copyrighted.

The RIAA and Hollywood studios are exploring technologies that universities could use to deter unauthorized downloading. RIAA President Cary Sherman stressed that the university jukebox initiative is a separate endeavor."
and here is something from that link you posted:
"But the trade group, which represents the major music labels, is aware that it could be scaring off potential customers, considering that college-age students are a sweet spot demographic for music sales. With that in mind, the RIAA is working on a backup plan to appease college students". This last deal about a "backup plan" to appease college students...How out of touch are these arseholes? They don't realize that if you sue people for hundreds of thousands of dollars and accuse them of committing felonious behavior, that they are gonna hate your f*cking guts?

I know that people think that the United States citizens have very short memories...but, I think this issue is not going away that quickly. I know for one, I am not buying any CDs from now on. I've been a big concert goer, but if I go to any now, I'm gonna be wearing a BOYCOTT RIAA t-shirt! And, if the band is on a label associated with the RIAA, I'm not going period!

I bought two used music cassette tapes from a used book store today. Got em for 98 cents a piece. They sound great, songs I haven't heard before, major group ...saving money Rocks!

"...and the people battled on even through times when hope was nowhere to be found, and then one morning, the battle was over, and they had won...the RIAA was no more..."
~code

In related news, Vivendi's first half sales for 2003 are down 29%.

We're starting to cut them deep. Time to twist the knife and cut more arteries. Make them bleed red ink so badly that they have no recourse but to embrace file sharing or die.

Oh fuck it. Just let the French bastards die. It's too late to care.

Agree, Z-man. Screw the French. They can be the first ones we take down. The others can watch the feeding frenzy as this picks up speed.

If the RIAA gets too weird on us, congress will have no choice but to step in. As long as the RIAA was keeping a relatively low profile, they were cool. But now, if they start to turn all of us into criminals, it will be embarrassing for congress, and they'll need to take some action. We've seen stranger things.

I think the RIAA will overstep their bounds, and they'll get nailed. One too many FTC rulings on price fixing, and it can't be ignored. They are so full of themselves, it isn't even funny.

That's right you RIAA pissants, that giant sucking sound you hear is the internet equivalent of pissed off villagers with torches.

Only what happened to frankensteins castle ain't NOTHIN compared to what we're gonna do to you.

You'll be lucky to be harvesting sugar cane in south america when we're done with you.

Squeal like the bitches you are.

-user

user-well put. time for a dmusic rentamob!

oh yeah, fuck the french, i hope there the first that go down.

Hey screw you i'm french and i got nothing to do with vivendi and i hate the riaa as much as you all do

well, SOMETHING is going on. A year ago, a lot of people I knew had never HEARD of the RIAA, even tho they knew the labels. Well, now it seems that almost every day (at the least every OTHER day) there's a story in the NYT or some other newspaper, print or digital. We're doing it ffolks! Lots of kudos to all who have stepped up and said "we will NOT be called pirates for using our rights". I for one am very glad to be a part of this fight. Gotta go now, have to get my fliers ready for Coconuts Records at the local strip mall!
ttmmm

I applaud Sen. Coleman for his position against the RIAA's tactics.

0DarkWanderer0..L'ami bienvenu, et pardonnent les postings contre le Français. Nous avons besoin de personnes nous combattant le long du côté de tous les pays.
J'apprécie votre aide contre le RIAA.
Veuillez faire ce que vous pouvez défaire ces bâtards, et bienvenue à bord de!
~code

We need an international coalition against the RIAA. I welcome folks who agree with our mission from every country. The internet is making this a global problem. Spain is now talking about suing 4000 people for P2P, and they have collecting IP addresses on over 90,000. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. The French people shouldn't be castigated for what some people there do, anymore than everyone should hate Americans because the f'ing RIAA is here!

International efforts to defeat attacks on freedom should be encouraged, not discourage. The RIAA would love to contain this fight to just our country. They sure as shit don't want the resistance spreading to every other country.
Liberté, Égalité, Confrérie
Freiheit, Gleichheit, Bruderschaft
Libertà, Uguaglianza, Fratellanza
自由、平等z89;同業組合
자유, 평등, 형제애
Liberdade, Igualdade, Brotherhood
Libertad, Igualdad, Fraternidad

WELL WELL, I see someone got caught in with their dirty hands in the cookie jar. Amputate so they won't steal again!

International? Humm? let's see...
!Creo que la hora de atacar y acabar con la pendejada que RIAA ha comenzado ha llegado ya! Los maricones esos creen que el publico va a quedarse con las nalgas al aire y servirse como si etuviesen en su casa, pues estan equivocados. Pa el carajo con todos ellos!
Translation:
The time to finish the bull.. that RIAA has started is already here. The asswipe RIAA thinks they can have the public with their bare asses hanging and help themselves as if they were in their own home, well they are wrong! To hell with them!

btw, my comments are not directed at the french people, my comments are directed at vivendi.

just to clear that up.