RIAA subpoenas force schools and ISPs to turn the names of people said to have been involved in file sharing over to the Big Five so they can file civil lawsuits against them.

That's their sole purpose.

RIAA president Cary-Sue Sherman: "The RIAA's president, Cary Sherman, said he hoped to work with educators to combat music piracy, and he stressed that the group did not intend to alienate colleges by issuing them the subpoenas. 'We're not looking for colleges to turn over information to us, but for them to educate their students, to take technical measures to prevent piracy'."

Amy Weiss, RIAA senior vice president of communications: "Filing information subpoenas is part of the evidence-gathering process that we announced a few weeks ago, in anticipation of the lawsuits that we will be filing against people who illegally make copyrighted music available on peer-to-peer networks. We're doing exactly what we said we'd do."

"We're doing exactly what we said we'd do." Yeah Amy? You are? Guess what, you don't have the copyright on being good on your word. You need to read this page>? We are going to bankrupt your little terrorist organization. We are going to quit buying the toejam your artists and labels exude into the public consciousness. Yeah, do what you say AMY, we will too!
BOYCOTT THE RIAA/INVESTIGATE THE RIAA
THE RECORD GATE...HAS A RING DOESN'T IT
(RECORD GATE phrase copyright (c) 2003
by CodeWarrior. All rights reserved.
Unauthorized reproduction without express written permission is prohibited.
Express written permission hereby authorized this date to Boycott-Riaa.com , Bill Evans and Jon Newton to reproduce and use the phrase in all online communications.
~code

This sounds like communism. Rat on your own people? For what reason? Let me rat on them. Pay up RIAA you owe me money. Money you stole when you over-priced every LP, cassette, 8track and CD. Now who is the pirate? who is stealing who? Not me! Efing rats.

I appologize to every member of this commuinty for every dollar I've paid to the RIAA in the last 20 years. I'm sorry for all the hard drives I've been through, and all the cd-recorders, and any and all blank media I've bought. I'm more sorry for all the blank media, and mediums I've suggested over the years to my friends. I'm sorry for the concerts I've been to and the beer I drank there.

I'm trying very hard to back peddle 20 years of empowerment that I've given/suggested to the RIAA.

I'm sorry!!!

We forgive you Hermit, you have repented and been saved. Now rise up and stand tall. Let's take these bastards down!

i too appologize for supporting these pieces of filth in the past by buying cds. infact i appologize for wasting harddrive space with songs from these mf's.

I know all of us are guilty of having supported this outdated business model and all crimes linked to it in the past. The upshoot is, we are more educated now, and thanks to the rise of p2p networks, there is a way AROUND these monsters. This article simply shows that the RIAA doesn't care about people or education, it only cares about MONEY. Thanks to sites like this, p2p, and all those out there working hard with boycotts and the like, we are finally able to strike back at a monster that has been on the loose long enough.

The RIAA tactics are backfiring and they're having to backpedal. Not only that, but the latest data indicates the numbers on filesharing networks are holding steady:

http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=211

It seems that the RIAA campaign of intimidation isn't working very well at all!

Maybe piracy wouldn't be so bad if the industy spies didn't upload unreleased albums before their release date to taint file-sharing and blame it on users...Oops, I think I've said too much.

CNN won't report on our lawful boycott..but here is their take on this issue on their site today:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/08/02/downloading.music.ap/index.html
here is a fair use sample of thir extremely biased article
"Survey: Downloaders don't think of copyright laws
Saturday, August 2, 2003 Posted: 11:41 AM EDT (1541 GMT)



Bob Barnes, 50, has been targeted to be subpoenaed for downloading music off the Internet. He said he used the Internet to download hard-to-find European artists.

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Story Tools



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VIDEO
The recording industry is finding new ways to market their products to offset losses incurred by music piracy. CNN's Jim Boulden reports.

PLAY VIDEO

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The music industry is threatening to sue hundreds of people who illegally share music files online. CNN's Jen Rogers reports.

PLAY VIDEO

RELATED
Secret networks protect music swappers


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Why I've stopped sharing music


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Business 2.0: How labels, artists divvy up your MP3 dollar


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• TIME.com: Special report gives you sound advice
• Pew Internet and American Life Project

WHO'S DOWNLOADING?
The Pew survey said about 26 million American adults allow others to download music and other data files from their computers. These computer users were equally as likely to be men or women, and equally as likely to be white, black or Hispanic. But they tended to be younger, most often between 18 and 29.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Two-thirds of Internet users who download music don't care whether they're violating copyright laws, according to a new survey that highlights the uphill enforcement battle facing the recording industry.

The survey published this week by the nonprofit Pew Internet and American Life Project estimated that roughly 35 million American adults use file-sharing software, about 29 percent of Internet users. Those figures were generally consistent with other estimates of 60 million American users across all age groups.

The Pew survey was completed before the Recording Industry Association of America announced its aggressive campaign to sue individual computer users who illegally share "substantial" collections of music, so it was unclear from the survey whether the campaign was discouraging online piracy.

"Our data shows significant numbers didn't care about copyrights," said Lee Rainie, the director for the Washington-based Pew project. "The (threatened) lawsuits maybe have gotten their attention." "

And just to demonstrate how biased they are, I e-mailed every address I could find at CNN to ask them why they were not covering the grassroots national and international protests on the net and in the streets against the RIAA Terrorist Network...they didn't answer the e-mails..but it seems like they did, by telling us just who really controls the Capitalist News Network..uh, does it have another name?
~code

CNN should say "Your News Source for all the news we want you to hear"
Aren't they owned by AOL/Time Warner or Clear Channel or one of the other assholes?
At least SLYCK.COM is interested..
http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=200
"Anti-RIAA Street Protest Planned
July 20, 2003
Ciarán Tannam





In response to the 'sue your own customer' strategy been pursued by the US music industry, a series of protests and other boycotts have been organized. Central to the series of protests is the group Boycott-RIAA and Bill Evans.

The street protests are been organized for August 2nd with a clear aim of getting a message across to the big 5 labels, the RIAA and congress. There are already street leaders planning protests in states including Texas, New Mexico and Georgia. A series of protests are been planed for various venues in California. The street protests have been gaining large momentum in recent days.

One person who plans to distribute anti-US music industry information on August 2 told Slyck that that he was doing it to show the music industry how much they have lost touch with their own consumer.

Boycott-RIAA are also, in line with the EFF, encouraging P2P users to pick up the phone and contact your Congress person and Senators on Friday August 1st to encourage them to hold hearings on p2p and file sharing.

Some other groups are attempting to organize an indefinite boycott of CD purchases from August 1."

to paraphrase Pink Floyd..
HEY
RIAA...
LEAVE THOSE KIDS ALONE!

Let me remind folks, part of this excercise by the RIAA is to eliminate the competition. After all, until the internet, they had exclusive control of the distribution of music. And they abused artists unmercifully in the persuit of profit. Now musicians have an outlet that they cannot control, you see, and so that, in their minds, needs elimination at any cost.. Know your enemy,folks, it helps you to fight better.

ARE YOU REGISTERED AND READY?

CNN -the communist news network or Crescent News Network or terrorist news network.

A lot of people are calling the RIAA communists and whatever else. There's no need to classify them with groups of people that are better than they are.

The RIAA's actual grouping is Corrupt United States Corporation.

I'd rather be called a communist. That's not a hard choice.

The meaning that phrase holds is bad. The more educated you are, the more negative meaning it holds. And the actions of corporations in the U.S. is multiplying the negativity that phrase holds at an astounding rate. A rate that is so fast, it would lead one to assume that many corporations are merely large groupings of complete and utter morons driven by some all powerful outside source. It's as if they all have a common cause, but stumble through the process of reaching their goal completely oblivious to any use of reason.

Like drunken zombies stumbling mindlessly toward an ultimate destination, these goons are tripping over themselves on their neverending quest for power.

I sure do hope that in atleast one of those schools one brave student will interrupt one of their "Don't Pirate Music" meetings they'll make the students attend. Just one kid with the balls to stand up and leave or maybe shout an obscenity. I know i will if they show up at my high school! And as soon as my band finishes recording i'll be sure to post about half of the songs online for download (including all live shows). AND i'll personally make sure our CDs don't cost more than $10! (they need to be that much because replication is $875 for 500 and we'll need to sell 83 to make our money back. sorry if the price is too high...) So if anyone is interested in punk music, check us out sometime. (killer slug invasion) Break down the gates!

The RIAA had been attacking the scholars and educators for years, so Sherman is lying through his teeth, as well as other bodily orifices.

If anything, he's afraid that the educational community might start educating everyone about the industry. A simple back step is not going to save these bastards now. They better turn and run.

They're just doing what they promised? What about Hilary Rosen's statement that they weren't going to sue downloaders, just uploaders?

More lies, more lies, more lies.

We're killing the record labels and we need to put their heads on a pike outside the Supreme Court to show them how real justice should be conducted according to old-fashioned English Common Law.

That's where the copyright laws came from, so let's use the same tactics.

Off with their heads!

I say we should not buy ANYTHING from any artists whom are affiliated with the RIAA, or who choose to "tow the company line" as they've done in their "Music United" website!!

I say, let's send a message to Missy Elliot, Madonna, Peter Gabriel, Eve, Eminem, Dr. Dre, Britney Spears, Mandy Moore, Glen Ballard, Shakira, and ALL OTHER RIAA-affiliated artists who "tow the company line" and tell them this...

WE WON'T BUY YOUR MUSIC IF YOU CONTINUE TO SIDE WITH THE RIAA TERRORISTS!!

I say, when MTV does return to their Times Square studios in September, I encourage ALL those who are against the RIAA's anti-file-trading bullshit to protest outside MTV's studios during TRL, and keep coming in waves...no matter how many times they try to get their security involved!!

BTW: How did the protests at Tower REcords in Torrence, California go?

And how did all the other protests go this weekend?

Please let all of us know!

DeanSB2000

Hey, how about this shout out to all the hip hop peeps who are slave to the RIAA...
"YO YO YO...
We ain't buying yo shit NO MO!

~code

**The Pew survey said about 26 million American adults allow others to download music and other data files from their computers. These computer users were equally as likely to be men or women, and equally as likely to be white, black or Hispanic. But they tended to be younger, most often between 18 and 29.**

In this context, how long will it be before we hear noises emanating from some corners (if at all) that the RIAA's vindictive extortion-through-litigation scheme is at least partially racially motivated, as well as obviously being a vicious, mean-spirited attack against the poor, the indigent, and the downtrodden?

To 'DeanSB2000': Besides the to-gag-on gaggle of useful idiots you mentioned, there is of course hip-hop / rap mogul Russell Simmons who on one hand is an RIAA puppet on this issue, and on the other hand thinks that drug dealers who sell poison to children should go free (although I have noticed that he does stand to be investigated for the way in which he lobbied to overturn New York State's so-called "Rockefeller drug laws"). Does he REALLY believe that P2P file-sharing is a worse offense than drug dealing? If so, we're in more trouble than we think . . .

Also . . . I've noticed at least some of these names also cited as being among a category called "Hollywood idiots" as listed by a certain syndicated radio talk-show host. I wonder . . .

Which came first- the chicken, or the egg? Every mp3 on the internet was converted from the wave format off of a cd that was once purchased in a store. First, there was the customer's money. Then came the cd, and then the lower quality mp3 copies of songs from that cd. People download these mp3's, like some of the music they hear, and go to stores to purchase full albums in their higher quality, better sounding cd(wave) format. So we have chickens that lay eggs, that become chickens that lay eggs again, in a never-ending cycle. Who the fuck should have a problem with this?

Hey peeps, I just turned Kazaa lite on after a few days "laying low" and got a pop-up from the RIAA saying I was violating copyrights, etc. and giving me a link to where I could find out (if I didn't know already) how to disable Kazaa uploads and/or uninstall Kazaa altogether. I was kinda freaked about it so I went ahead and disabled uplods. Anyone else get one of these scary things? Anyone know anything at all about this intrusion?

w-b, i know who you are referring to. i do listen to him and he is correct on one issue, we are in the middle of a cultural civil war. and the hollywood idiots, well they deserve the title, which is why i have there ass on boycott as well, as i won't spend a dime supporting artists that hate american and give aide and confort to the enemy.

RIAA is still down. I wonder why these hackers haven't hit the ones that are selling RIAA music. Is the Independent Artist In there listings. Just wondering.

What we need is a link to be able to mass mail those RIAA Robot"performers", telling them that "WE AS A FORCE" will NOY buy their crappy music as long as they suck the RIAA's bloated, festering, but barren tits.As DeanSB2000 syggests, I would love to tell Dr. Dre, that nothing he puts out would interest me in the least, and his videos which are comprised of nothing but snarling black faces, decrying how hard it is for a "zillionaire brother" to make it these days make we wanna puke. FU Dr Dre, and all those whiny ass friends of yours who are nothing but porch monkeys to the RIAA and the almighty Benjamin.I have tried voicing my ire at "stars"

Fan club sites, but there are no links to their email or anything.Is there SOME where I can write and tell Cheryl Crowsfeet, and Peter KNAVEriel, that they just don't sound worth a damn, and maybe getting on an INDIE label; might help? Oh well.......

LOL @ code

do whatever you can to stop the riaa. the mtv thing sounds great. any possible tv coverage

Hey I'm 16 and have a limited budget, but I was just wondering how I could aid in stoppin the RIAA, Thanks.

HOT DAMN CODE, I thought i went off the deep end? Im starting to feel ike i have some competition here for most hell bent on being an asshole. Nahh, just kidding, ya got a ways to go, but WOW, pop a couple downers man and relax, its just music. Dont buy it and voice your opinion, but RELAX, yer gonna give yourself a heart attack while sippin yer starbucks and wifi'n online. LOL

Everytime I read of an artist "having trouble" with his/her label Im glad I found Dmusic and Boycott-Riaa and wonder if the artists who signed need a link to here (and to Leflaw's legal site).
Im not sorry for enjoying Zeppelin, AC/DC, Tool and others, Im not sorry they got rich, Im not sorry there's an industry that records them, mass produces their music and gets it to every Kmart in the nation, I am sorry that the industry, Kmart and others made more cash then the artists, Im mad because the RIAA makes it almost impossable for great artists to make it big without one of the big five (they have locked out the indies), Im pissed because produced artists who get even less of a percentage get promoted more (shove britney down my throat cuz she makes more money for the industry), Im scarred because if the artist not owning his own work becomes the norm then all Americans will lose basic rights later on.
The norm should be the artists (if the band writes and preforms everything) owning the copyright and having the decision overs remixes, advertisements and content with the artist making the most percentage of reasonibly priced media. CDs should be less then $10 with the artists making more then the label, where's that link to Nirvana's producer's page?.... I passed on a contract years ago for many reasons, one being the rip-off, another being I cant write an album a year. lol
Keep up the good fight people

fight these words/phrases when they appear in the senate or the house of representatives:

legal ownership

piracy

use of copywritten...

surprise to the forum, that is all I have to say, here.

Long live filesharing! This whole country was built on a foundation of murder, theft, and so many other crimes. The RIAA has been robbing us for years and are mad that now we learned to play the same game. Screw 'em! This whole country is corrupt, and rather than spend my entire life on the receiving end, I'm going to get me some! Has anyone noticed that MSN has not shown up on the list of ISP's? Isn't that interesting. Seems like discrimination to me. Should be more fuel to the fire. I've got a whole closet full of CD's that I paid full price for and listened to them maybe once and got disinterested because of all the crap on them (instrumental version, extended version, remix, the totally brand new version, guest version, etc.). They can take some us, but they won't stop us all. You puritans who live life never commiting a crime - keep living under that illusion. Go see Matrix again and ask yourself if it's time to pop that pill!

Lots of great emotions and good ideas going on, and welcome to all new members. I wanted to especially make a comment on VampireMoon1369...which was a very heartfelt and articulate post.
This is something that the public has not understood, nor has the message gotten out to them. I grew up on groups like Hendrix, Joplin,Beatles,Johnny Winter, Santana, B.B King, Koko Taylor, Its a Beautiful Day, Bloodrock, Black Sabbath, Savoy Brown, Emerson Lake and Palmer...etc.
In the 60s and 70s, we didn't have the net or a lot of the cool things (people are thinking "this guy is ancient")..hell, that was back in 8-track land. Anyway, music defined our generation, that and our hair length. This was back during Nam, and older people would look at you like they hated you...they couldn't relate. You would crank up your tunes and try to isolate yourself from the world. As a result, you kinda developed an identification for Jim Morrison, Sabbath, Joplin, Hendrix and the rest. They spoke for you and you wanted them to suceed, because it was a slap in the face to the material minded straights, that here was a long haired, freaking looking kid that had more money than they would ever have working in a factory or as a cop or whatever. Most folks would never think of ripping off a record or tape. And, artists need to understand, artists that downloaders like, they like. Many probably respect the musicians that give their emotions voice and notes...But people like Dr Dre, Lars, and Madonna...what marooooons and losers.

I think it is great that Santana, AC/DC, KISS, and the rest have done great. I've been to more concerts in the last three years than ever in my life. The slimy bastards running the RIAA don't care if they ruin the career of the artists. And, if an artist of medium fame were to tell the RIAA, I want you to stop, this isn't cool...these are our fans..it would fall on deaf ears and the exec would just shoot them the finger when they left the room...Cary Sherman and a lot of these jerks are lawyers after all...
VampireMoon1369 really is saying the same thing I believe most of us want...we want the artists to be the copyright holders...and I honestly don't know why they couldn't just put up a website, with a secure server, offer up low quality samples of their latest tunes (say half the song) and let you buy the album online...either download the album, buy a hard copy through the mail, or download as MP3s...I would think they would rather sell it as a CD though. Also, for people who like older songs and CDs that never made it to CDs, how about issuing some of those..there are a lot of people that download MP3s of songs they can't find at stores, or they are the only song on a CD that they like.

Look, there's no easy answer to this problem, but one thing that is NOT the solution is a company to try to turn their customers into felons and sue them to hell.

The bands and artists I like that have released new albums on RIAA labels, I just have to sigh deeply and shake my head, and it's a shame for me, and a shame for the artist, because we both lose something. They lose my money and support, and I lose all their new music (I am not d/l-ing nor uploading anything...haven't even opened any file sharing progs in a while).

By the way, is this really something everyone is getting that logs on to KaZaa lite? I've read two reports about this now.

In closing, keep the fight rolling...
and VampireMoon1369, keep posting...great thoughts my friend!
~code

I just have a small question.
If these major name artists and labels learn and see the controlling works and actions of the RIAA, why then haven't they went and signed and take their business else where?
Do you realized what a huge impact that would make? Others would follower them once they seen they could be just as successful outside of labels the support the RIAA. Holy cow! Why haven't we seen this yet? As a musician(guitar player)I couldn't feel comfortable with myself knowing in some way I was affiliated/connected with the RIAA.
Maybe its just me, I don't know, but I just don't get it.
Is it becuase the resources of nonRIAA labels to produce, market CD's and to book and manage tours are limited? Theres something here I'm not getting?