The RIAA subpoena campaign could force ISPs to hike their prices, says the NetCoalition.

Calling for the RIAA to produce information on its drive against alleged Internet file sharers, NetCoalition executive director Kevin McGuiness says in an August 11 letter to RIAA president Cary-Sue Sherman, there's, "a real potential for abuse with what the RIAA is doing.

NetCoalition is a public policy voice for ISPs on key legislative and administrative proposals affecting the online world.

"Handling a single subpoena request is costly for Internet companies," says McGuiness. "They are not equipped, nor should they be, to assess the legality or validity of these claims, especially when the privacy rights of their subscribers are at risk.

"This initiative could force providers to raise the price of Internet access simply to fund the RIAA’s legal fishing expedition."

McGuiness goes on to outline NetCoalition concerns about the "the critical precedent-setting nature of the RIAA campaign' and points out, "Others are already beginning to copy the strategy, with no guarantee of the legitimacy or accuracy of the claims, setting the stage for a virtual deluge of subpoenas from anyone and everyone claiming copyright infringement."

The coalition says it believes some of the concerns could be addressed if the RIAA were willing to share the "substance and intent" of the campaign, much of which remains a mystery.

"Very little is known or understood about this initiative, how individuals are being targeted, what’s being done with the information, who pays for compliance, or how this information is protected," McGuiness said. "ISPs and their subscribers, whose privacy they are committed and contracted to protect, deserve to know the truth about what is happening to them."

The letter points out there already have been examples of mistakes in the RIAA’s subpoena requests, and that there is no judicial oversight for the subpoena demands.

"There has to be a better answer than litigation," adds McGuiness.

ISPs should be sending the RIAA the bill for all the extra labor costs incurred & refuse to provide action on subpoenas until the bill is paid. Oh, maybe the price of $150,000 per subpoena served should be the appropriate fee.

Yes $150,000 sounds about right, we will use RIAA math.

((e^number of downloads)*(infinity/-1))/0 = approximately $150,000

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/entertainment/stories.nsf/Entertainment/Music/9A78E6BD94A9FFF386256D7D007A159B?OpenDocument&Headline=Downloaders+may+face+the+music&highlight=2%2Cdownloaders%2Cmay%2Cface%2Cmusic

Or search for "Downloaders may face the music" at http://www.stltoday.com

The RIAA business made the front page. Unfortunately, it's sympathetic to the poor record companies.

I posted this in a previous article, but I wanted to do it again at the top so everybody could see it.

This was at the very top of the front page in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

I'll keep my comments to a minimum. I hate the Post-Dispatch.

What about those people whose names have been turned over to the riaa?? They may turn around and sue the isp for violation of privacy.

Remember that investigation Sen. Norm Coleman launched a few weeks back?

Well, by my watch, the RIAA only has 3 more days to produce all of the info Sen. Coleman requested...

It should be interesting to see how they try and BS their way out of that one

Just in case you haven't heard about Sen. Coleman's investigation, he sent a letter to Cary-Sue Sherman, which gave the RIAA until 8/14 (this thursday) to submit copies of all the subpoenas filed, as well as how they were being filed, how alleged infringers were being found, and what they are doing to protect against errorneous subpeonas...

Thursday is DEFINATELY going to be interesting, imho...

hellz yeah,i hope that makes the fucking front page and they take them down.

man some one just needs to use exploite 215 and then just behead the riaa....put there heads on pikes in the town square so that i can download more shit to keep my self from being bored...laalalalalalalalalalallalala

man some one just needs to use exploit 215 and then just behead the riaa....put there heads on pikes in the town square so that i can download more shit to keep my self from being bored...laalalalalalalalalalallalala

BIG NEWS!
AOL TIME WARNER MAY BE CHANGING THERE NAME TO: TIME WARNER to avoid the reference to AOL. What great sneaky business men the world has.

damn posted twice kill one of them

Quote:
"The piracy, the RIAA argues, has cost the industry billions and has hampered its ability to find new artists, requiring the harsh crackdown. If the trend continues, it could limit the number of good songs written, as well as the number of CDs produced, and reduce the number of new artists discovered because of declining profits, according to record industry experts. "

I wuz raped by riaa.

If you happen to be one of those "New Artists" they find, then the people they already have on thier rosters will completely rape you financially, artistically, and personally until you submit to them.

They don't care about civil rights, let alone human rights! =( And half the time they dont even know what do do with new talent! They seem to ruin the best potential.

It seems they will do anything to protect the moldy old crap artists they have on thier rosters to the point where they are destroying new talent and people's ability to develop themselves as they know best.

I know this from first-hand experience and my work is still getting raped by these moldy old artists to this date. =0~

Countless people in thier industry ended up with my work via computer hacking and espionage, and it's revolting to have never been paid for it and to watch as they attempt to now rape the American public and government.

These people are go around stealing work and spending lots of money to do it.

Then they turn around and fake it really badly.

The real reason they want to hack your computers people is so they can steal your personal information along with all your money and ideas.

I don't even download music and they hacked my computers and destroyed my life.

I had to move out of state because I was being stalked and sabotaged on the regular by industry people.

There's nothing legitimate to what they are doing or the way they are handling this form of expression. They want to monitor Americans online and have complete contol when they should really see they are completely out-of-control and should be regulating and taking a long hard look at none other than ... themselves!

And is it any wonder they are losing money?

As per Senator Coleman, I'm really glad there's one Senator out there who has the backbone to stand up to these shifty industry practices.

But I'm sure they will fabricate some kind of cockamame bull to justify those subpoenas.

Was all the sabotage and rape worth it? Is it because I am one of those "new artists" they so wishfully speak of?

In that case, it's better to not be one.

I seriously regret the day I ever talked to a major rapel or worked for a media company.

My life was ruined.

=/

The ISPs may be our best allies in fighting the RIAA. The ISPs have a financial stake in not seeing P2P shut down. If upcoming court cases give the ISPs some relief from having to be internet police, it could really put a damper on this supboena business.

i-ambzk

my grandmother, years ago i think in the 70's, wrote a song, produced it and everything and it was stolen by these theives in the industry. inwhich they sold it to another artist, who then in turn has sold it since. to this day my grandmother has not seen a dime from what she produced. unfortunatly my grandmother is dead and her family won't be seeing a dime of it.

so whose the real theif, the riaa or the p2p users?

btw, i demand compensation, from the RIAA.

The riaa can eat a big fat roasted dick on a platter.

i pay good money for my dsl service, which means i expect complete privacy of what i do online. whatever i do on a p2p network with other people that also pay money for their internet serice is completely our own business. we shouldnt have to be worried about being watched or getting sued. i agree with demon, if my isp gave my name to the riaa, id sue them too. pretty soon we are going to have cops breaking down our doors, confiscating our computers, and throwing us in the same jail cell as rapists and murderers. has anyone read 1984? 1984=2004. its closer than we think...

You may be on the right track xao216 there will be a day when everything you do is copied....logged .....tracked and monitored on big brothers server. have you ever seen the little chip embedded in your car key? when you slide it in your ignition the computer reads it (anti theft) its about the size of a pinhead! If we continue to loose our rights such as isp privacy one day we will all be forced to have chips imbedded in each of us under a false act labeled Government Security. they will be able to track everything you are doing every min of the day! Would'nt that be wonderful? Maybe the RIAA will become a new security company!

And the model number for these chips will be MS666.

i-ambzk -- Without dropping names, I gave one of my CDs to someone this weekend who offered to put it in the hands of someone in the business who could do something with it. This person was someone who I know for a fact has serious connections because the last band he was involved with played at the Concert for New York after 9/11.

A year ago, I would have thought this was the chance of a lifetime. But that was a year ago. I told him it was just for him to listen to and to please not give it to the vultures.

Not to belabour the point, the major artists are not all bad and as hard as I have fought against the RIAA in the past 9 months, I've always had a soft spot for the contracturally obligated. They know what's happening, too. The industry is dividing into the good and the evil.

Very, very soon, it will be very easy to tell who is on which side.

And by the way, Norm Coleman is not the only one with a Thursday deadline. Big secret, but big news is about to erupt. The RIAA is about to get nuked by lawyers.

It's going to be so much fun to watch them fry.

http://www.petitiononline.com/riaawar/petition-sign.html? why dont everybody just sign this petition???

gdZiemann, I pray that you are right.
I'll be watching with a smile.

If they get nuked with lawyers, then perhaps we could nicely time some more protests with the newfound negative attention they will be getting.

Well boys and girls I guess I'll have to go back to mirrors, smoke and flags to communicate if the Internet goes up. $30 is too much as it is, imagine going up and you are still restricted because someone is watching every key stroke you make or see what sites you have visited. What ever happened to PRIVACY??? I don't recalled seeing a sign saying "Warning, you must check in your 1st Amendment rights when sign in to the Web" "You are on your own and we'll grab you by the cruttons if you step out of line" The first time I wore Uncle Sam's green machine I remember raising my hand and I solemny swore that "I will support and defend the Constitution of the U.S. against all enemies foreign and domestic" And I emphasize SUPPORT and DEFEND! No one will make me give up that right because I put my life in jeopardy for 21 years, always believing that my flag and my country will protect me as long as I do the same for her. If you suckers don't want the might of the U.S. Veterans on your ass, stop messing with the American people. March along sing our song with the Army of the free. Count the brave,count the true who have fought to victory. We are the Army and proudly procaim...

Speaking of chips and tracking...

Transponders have been put (covertly or otherwise) in passenger vehicles since, what, '94 or so? It's simple matter, really. Look at your typical GPS. How hard would it be to place a tiny chip in amongst all the other crap in a car? Privacy? Forget it. It doesn't exist anymore. DL Spybot and see how many tracking cookies are put on your computer. Next time you drive down a city street, or go inside a business, look up and count the cameras. Satellites have been able to read license plates from a hundred miles up for years now (ladies, next time you sunbathe topless in your own backyard, remember this!). Look at the magnetic strip on the back of your driver's license, which, in Texas anyway, you must electronically submit a fingerprint when you renew it (been going on for a while now). Privacy? Ain't no such thing.

They may raise fees, or they may install p2p blockers. Since most ISPs are also suffering from serious network overload because of p2p, I suspect many will try the latter.

scayf understates our lack of privacy, sadly.

And those satellites are more than a hundred miles up. They can read the time on your wrist watch. Don't forget about infared technology, just when you think you're out of the camera's eye, the Patriot Act lets 'em watch you from outside. Wrap yourself in ice in a closet, and you're safe. Just don't use the phone. They can tap it virtually without reason.

And don't forget about Total Information Awareness. Oops, I mean "Terrorist" Information Awareness as it's now called. All that info out on the internet and everywhere else is being collected and organized.

We've always known that people can track our purchases with credit cards. Our web surfing with cookies. Remember when the question was: Where does it all go? What if it gets into the wrong hands? What happens if someone decides to put it all together?

Well it's happening. And it's not someone. It's our "democratic" government. They take the fact that there's no "right" to privacy, and they rape it severely.

http://open-gov.media.mit.edu/
Here. This was created by a citizen, inspired by TIA. Aimed at the government instead.

TIA gathers information from all over the world. Tens of thousands of phone lines are tapped, internet traffic is monitored and the slightest hint of suspicious activity, plane and ship passanger lists are gathered. A torrent of information flows constantly towards the TIA headquarters....


....where it all goes in a giant in tray until someone gets round to sorting it a few years later.

Driving up fees is probably one of the RIAA's and the conservative right's underlying plans. They see this as a great opportunity to steal more from the working class to supplement corporate welfare. Anyway you look at it we have been losing since Bush and the repukes have taken control....let this be a lesson..