The music industry's virulent sue 'em all subpoena campaign is taking on interesting new dimensions.

The RIAA has the US sewn up tight, its Dutch look-alike, BREIN, has announced plans to sue independent file sharers in The Netherlands, and now the CRIA (Canadian Recording Industry Association) has jumped on the American bandwagon.

Sadly, however, it isn't able to sue anyone, or swamp the country with subpoenas, unlike its counterpart across the border.

Instead, it's going to 'send warnings' to people engaged in p2p activities.

The CRIA (which no one in Canada has ever heard of) maintains a full time anti-piracy unit which among other things, monitors the Net. "This is a very active section that is currently addressing the challenges of escalating internet piracy," says CRIA president Brian Robertson.

Precisely what its warnings will achieve is anyone's guess. That's because, contrary to RIAA belief, Canada isn't part of America and the DMCA doesn't apply here, a situation the CRIA and its industry supporters in Canada are trying desperately to remedy. Until they do, however, things couldn't be clearer: Canadians can safely copy music, as long as it's for personal use and not for redistribution.

BUT ... the CRIA's outburst gives the appearance that it's in the game and looks good on paper - or, rather, in a paper.

Globe & Mail reporter Jack Kapika states in Can it happen here?:

"[...] in Canada, the [music] industry is collecting a levy on recordable CDs. (It now wants to extend this to MP3 players, flash memory and blank DVDs. Ordinary PC hard drives could be next on their list, but the industry fears wrath of the giant computer hardware industry, and has held back on demanding a levy on hard drives).

"All Canadian file-sharers — in fact all those who buy recordable CDs, even if not for recording music — have for several years paid for the privilege of downloading songs via peer-to-peer programs.

"The Canadian Copyright Copying Collective, which pushed for and administers the levy, has already hauled in close to $80-million over the past several years for losses supposedly due to sharing music files.

"So the industry is already being compensated, and it would be very difficult, under current legislation, to persuade a court to salve the wounds of the record companies and their related organizations by suing individuals for even more money. The levy was the result of an industry demand, and if the industry feels it is still not being properly compensated, then it must address itself to the Copyright Board, which sets the rates, and not file-sharing individuals. (The CPCC has been trying to get the Copyright Board to raise the rates dramatically. A decision is due soon.)"

I'm Canadian and I live on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, just up the road from Seattle.

A while back I did a story for a local paper and in it said, "Downloading music (and playing online) is what 57% of our children like best," states Canada's Media Awareness Network in 'Young Canadians in a Wired World: The Students' View 2001,' a nationwide survey of internet use among Canadian youth.

But, "only 6 per cent of parents are aware that their kids download".

And, "around four percent of users on file sharing networks are Canadian, meaning roughly 200,000 Canadians are typically logged on to a p2p service at any given time," Redshift Research's Matt Bailey told me for the same story.

The owner of a computer service near where I live sees at least 30 computers every month and, "85% have p2p software," he told me. "It's automatic. If there's a teenager in the house, Kazaa is on the machine."

In another G&M story here, Jack Kapika says the Canadian instant-message program is, "designed to inform Canadian users of file-sharing systems of the damage they are inflicting upon the thousands of people involved in the creation of music, as well as to warn them of the legal implications they might face," according to a statement from Robertson a statement.

In the meanwhile, the CRIA message reads: "Warning - It appears that you are offering copyrighted music to others from your computer. While we appreciate your love of music, please be aware that sharing copyrighted music on the Internet without permission from the copyright owner is illegal. When you do so, you hurt the artists, songwriters and musicians who create the music and the other talented individuals who are involved in bringing you the music.

"More than 40,000 Canadians work hard producing and supporting the music you appear to enjoy, including producers, engineers, retailers, music publishers, distributors, manufacturers, record companies, concert promoters and broadcasters.

"When you break the law, you risk legal penalties. There is a simple way to avoid that risk: Don¹t distribute music to others on a file-sharing system like this. For further information, please go to www.cria.ca.

"Remember that you need music and music needs you."

That should do it, eh?

It doesn't matter what the CRIA or the RIAA do. They will not be able to stop file sharing. They couldn't ban VCRs or tape recorders and they will fail in this as well. Their campaign of intimidation is going to bring a tidal wave of consumer backlash. There will be a day of reckoning.

As I recall, Americans are also being charged a fee on all CD-R's purchased to off set recording industry losses. If this is true (I havn't done the research) then it would be an interesting tact to take into court. The RIAA is sueing for losses but if they are being compensated then their losses are already covered. Somebody who has been supoenad might want to discuss this with their lawyer.

I'M NO LONGER SAFE

You know i'm getting a little tired of all the crying about the poor hard working music idustry loosing jobs & money!! Im in the manufacturing industry and after NAFTA (the so called free trade act )there have been thousands upon thousands of American factory workers dumped and left hanging in the last 10 years. To be exact over 3 million jobs since 1992!have been out sourced or moved overseas! And thats 1 in 10 tech jobs too! The next time you call J.C. Penny to place a catolog order you will be talking to someone in India. So that does'nt hold much water for me because i'm laid off as we speak... do to work cut backs. They will have to find another dead horse to beat! How bout the scum bag CEO's that sucked the life savings out of their employees and then went belly up? And how do you think all these people are going to feel when they start dragging their peers into court to face another money hungry Industry that has already been sued for overcharging!!!!uhha yea right on! I'll tell ya.... trust in big companies and high paid CEO"s are NOT very popular right now with the American public! Why do ya think the stock market has been so slow trying to come back? Its called NO TRUST!

Hmm, just thought of something.. how can the CRIA tell us not to share music when the RIAA owns the copyrights? It's not the CRIA's jurisdiction.

If you are sharing or downloading RIAA music... YOU ARE IN THE WRONG!

The way to win is to NOT download or share the RIAA tune.

You should seek and promote INDEPENDENT music and thereby end all your legal worries.

If I see one more post here from someone who wants to STILL keep downloading and sharing RIAA music I am gonna fucking scream!

Sheep, STOP FEEDING THE WOLVES!

Get a fucking clue about things and STOP BEING SHEEP!

The RIAA is in the wrong for charging us for something that should be free to all.

Gotta agree w/ independentm.
I say treat all products associated with these "ASSociations" like a pariah, something you want nothing to do with. They are upset with people downloading their music? I say let their CDs build up on them to the point that Madonna and Lars music is used for coasters like AOL free hours install disks.
Don't buy, don't download, don't upload, heck don't even listen on the radio. Go one step better, call your local radio station or email them, and tell them "We Want our Indie Music!"
RIAA...We don't want your stinkin' MUSIC!
~code

That website of theirs is LAME!
Check out the closing quote (Fair Use):
" More than anything it needs YOUR support. An artists’ career is a fragile commodity. Please support the music and artists you love while they are still here for you to enjoy."
WHILE TEHY ARE STILL HERE FOR YOU TO ENJOY???!!!!! What the heck does THAT mean? Are they going to get rid of live musicians and have robots create and play tunes? I know they have a fondness for bots...but geeeeez!
It is almost worded as a threat of some kind if you read it a couple of times. That site gave me the creeps~!
All they need to finish the tone is have some animated gifs of flying pumkins and Frankenstein stumbling across the screen. Booo, Totally Boo!!!!
~code

Gotta ,love this quote...

>>When you do so[download], you hurt the artists, songwriters and musicians who create the music and the other talented individuals who are involved in bringing you the music.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/east/08/12/china.copies/index.html

Now are these the real pirates or what?

I agree with independtm. I've stopped downloading/sharing files of RIAA-supported artists. However, I know that there are millions who continue to use P2P. It would be good if both CD sales and downloads dropped at the same time. That would make it obvious to everyone that file sharing is not the cause of falling CD sales. However, I'm afraid people are not going to stop sharing. It's an idea who's time has come and nothing can stop it, short of shutting down the internet. File sharing is THE killer app right now. Still we should try to get the word out. Boycott! Don't buy CDs, don't download MP3s!

sorry about that last message. If you get an error message click on technology and see article on right about china record haul?

I second your statement isp-privacy.

I'm in the same boat now also. With NAFTA, they are effectively making us the next third world country gradually. They are even bringing foreign workers into our country to take our jobs in the states too, with extended work visas. check out www.congress.org. Many people are complaining. Funny, I don't hear about it on the news??? Who owns the news?

I guess that Bush even pissed off alot of programmers by saying that the reason was Americans programmers were not good enough. Yeah right. Really, it's because they come over and work for near minimum wage. It doesn't even pay to go to College under these conditions. This will force Americans with educations to take low paid crap jobs.

I guess once they turn the whole world into low paid slave labor, the corporate UN government will reap a larger profit margin. There will be corporate government and slaves.

Thats just my opinion. I could be wrong. Why hasn't someone come out and said they would abolish NAFTA. Well Bush Sr started it... Clinton signed the deal. Both parties are for it, so we are screwed.

The RIAA is just another arm of the corporate fascists.

Is it true that I've been paying the RIAA for blank cds? If so, I need a refund..... I've got a huge stack of "bad" cd's that I'm not able to record on.

Has anyone thought of emailing the artists directly and telling them flat out... HEY! We like your music, but we're not gonna buy, dl, or listen to it because your label and the RIAA are screwing you.

CodeWarrior.. another quote from William O. Douglas just for you... "It was against a background poignant with memories of evil procedures that our Constitution was drawn"

Going through P2P withdrawals....

BadGuin

Thank you wethepeople i'll check that site out......but you are sooooo right!!!brother!

An artist's career sure IS a fragile commodity. To achieve success means you must have a major label contract, which means you've signed away all your copyrights to the vultures at the labels, who decide if it is marketable. You must pay for the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion, only to find out that a 30% royalty on a $10 whoesale price adds up to $1.85 and that if you sell 7 million copies at that $1.85 rate you haven't made enough money to pay back a $4 million advance.

So the only way to achieve commercial success is to bend over and ask to be financially raped.

Clearly, the only position any artist can expect to achieve in the music industry could best be classified as "buns up, kneeling".

As for the royalty on blank CDs, it is supposed to be redistributed to the artists. Find one that ever got a dime.

Corruption,corruption,corruption
losing freedom every day,the way It looks every time we do something, we will go to jail or get sued, Really
who gives a crap about the RICH corrupt entertainment industry and its corrupt
ASSociations like RIAA,CRIA and Jackie's
MPAA, ok lets worry about Sadam and
Bin-Laden I think thats more important
come on now, if they come over to us and Canada and drop the big one, all of us will be dead altogether . then we won't have to worry about this crap going on here. So please keep boycotting
RIAA,CRIA,MPAA and any other corrupted unorganizations sooner or later they will get the message. I hope.

With all the anti-file sharing action taken around the globe one would think that the entertainment buisness is more importaint than anything else in the world.
Its like a sickness spreading around the world. People no longer mater. All that maters is the RIAA gets what it wants.
Shouldn't entertainment be the first thing to go during tough times? If every other industry is seeing profit losses how can they expect and demand the right to keep profits up? Peoples personal entertainment fund is one of the first things to go. Its crazy to think that at a time like this that there would not be a profit loss.
Yet here we have it. The world is baning together to stop something that hardly qualifys as a crime. Its comeing at great cost to the consumer.
They say music need us and we need it. Truth is we don't need music to live. Only they need us to live. Only now its come to the point where they are sueing people to keep profit up and to survive. They are killing us and nobody cares.

There goes America Junior trying to copy us again!

I am not sure If everyone has seen it but I saw a post on someone wanting to know what senator coleman had decided...well there is a story update on USATODAY.COM. Most likely what is going on is hes got a money offer from the RIAA for his cooperation and hes considering it over his votes I Have quit buying cds and downloading for the mean time till something comes out of this!!

Just the fact that you need to pay the RIAA for CDs, music players, etc, makes it seem like you're a sucker if you dont download music. It's like you bought the right. How do they expect it to die down when they're collecting to "make up for lost profits?"

Good point consumersAbyss. I agree music sharing should not be considered a crime and that we also don't need muxic to survive.

~DM~

Sorry, that X should have been an S.

Here's a better link to the USAToday story on Senator Coleman:

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2003-08-14-piracy-hearings_x.htm

Unfortunately, it sounds like the senator is getting all his input from the RIAA. You can just imagine what a pile of propaganda and outright lies that is. The article did say that "A Senate panel will hold hearings on the recording industry's crackdown against online music swappers..". I'm wondering, who gets to participate in that hearing? If it's just industry people it'll be a whitewash. Let's not get our hopes too high.

At least Canada is not demanding a bunch of their citizen's bloody heads on sticks when they march in, thinly veiled, under the Ecause banner to "save" p2p by offering their own goods through the colleges. No wonder Hillary said the Kazaa music was not high enough quality to legitimize the site. Some of the profits would have to be shared. Why worry about the sale of CDs when you can force generations of college students to support you? Has anyone mentioned this to Sen. Coleman(who I have not given up on yet.)? I have already written congress.org and suggest those who read this, their friends and family do the same. Keep it on top of the lists. Several brave souls listed it where it belongs.....under Terrorism!

I'm surprised to see Canada and West European countries jumping on the oppressive RIAA/DMCA bandwagon. They come across as being Liberal, open-minded, and non-judgemental about many things, and still they want to clamp down on file sharing and BTW also want to outlaw neo-Nazi and Holocaust-Revisionist websites and block those outside of Europe. Europe in particular can't seem to make up their minds as to whether they prefer the workers of the world marching arm-in-arm down city streets on May Day, or jack-booted SS types kicking in doors. Like many have said on this site, it all seems to be tied to ego, power, and self-image rather than sensible economics.

PLEASE DO NOT DLOAD, PURCHASE OR SHARE ANY RIAA MUSIC AT ALL. THIS BOYCOTT IS NOT A BOYCOTT IF WE KEEP USING THE COMPANY'S PRODUCT. VISIT THIS SITE AND NO MORE RIAA MUSIC PEOPLE
http://www.garageband.com

Ifeelfree im not sure im new to this site and stuff and im not sure what i did wrong on that link but yah thanks on that i thought i had copy pasted the link but i guess i didnt. I think this senator has a back bone but it also sounds like he has a piggy bank to fill sadly nuff...but hey on the bright side a senate inquriy will get some attention any inquiry into the riaa makes them look bad so i figure its all good one step at a time

Sorry this is off topic, but
has anyone read this (http://www.msnbc.com/news/952357.asp?0dm=C21BT) article? If so, what do you think about this Earthstation?

Ive not just read that, but I think earthstation is poorly programed and over-hyped, and spams all over fortumes includeing this one and usenet.

here is a better story about colman

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_339703,00030010.htm

---OFF TOPIC POST---

Does anyone have a link to the article from a few months back where a guy talks about the idea of starting a file-sharing corporation. I don't remember the exact details but is was something like this.

The corporation buys 300,000 different music CDs. The corportation is the sole owner of each CD. The memebers of the corporation become shareholders, so that would make each shareholder also an owner of each and every CD. Since the corporation owns each single copy of the CD, and each member is an owner, the allows members(owners) to download as many CDs as they want. Of course the guy had fees associated for this, all very low. Obviously start-up costs are involved to start the corportation. A very small per download fee would be for maintain/upkeep of the servers.

Anyone have a link to this article???

Although it may not help, it certainly won't hurt. Please go to congress.org,
go to US CONGRESS..then to Member Search, and enter "Coleman"..fairly simple from there on to email him (email is free). I encourage anyone on the board or anyone who is interested in this issue, who has not written, to write Sen. Coleman, and advise him of your concerns. Remember, there is a question about the lobbying money spent by the RIAA as a violation of their non-profit status. We need to flood his mailbox with emails against this RIAA terrorist association. Thanks in advance for everything you do to support the cause.
~code

" Please support the music and artists you love while they are still here for you to enjoy ."

So does that mean if the big 5 can't make the money they want off of these "artists" , they are going to dispose of them ?

POP ! right in the back of the skull with a 9mm . "sorry Lars , but you didn't make us as much money as you said you were worth ! NEXT !
WABBITMAN

Metal Man - I read that therory on the news boards - I did a Google search on RIAA and came across it - the thread may still be there.

I so agree with you all about the state of this country - I love this country but face it - it SUCKS!!!

Big business runs us and the country - our politicians pass laws that allow OUR big businesses to outsource OUR jobs because the Big businesses can't make DOUBLE DIDGET PROFITS!!!! I ask you whats wrong with keeping us employed and making single didget profits??? Fucking Big Business!!!!

haha, yeah wabbitman, when they drop artists from their label, they literally "drop" them.

Precisely, MP3slave. Capitalism with a free market might be designed to reward people who play dirty. The basic princible of the American economy is:

"Let people do whatever they want to make money. Allow them to cheat, manipulate, lie and steal in the name of the holy bottom line. Let hundreds of thousands of companies work like this, and hope it works."

This problem is worsened by the typical American value. Americans are constantly exposed to commercialism, which conditions people to consider money above all else as a measure of success.

Unfortunatly, the few attempts to design a better social and economic system have usually ended in disaster. Thats ok, because the period of history we are about to enter is going to destroy economies . I predict that the next century is going to be one of the most intresting periods. In three hundred years people will be writeing books about the "chaos years" from 2000-2100, when technology and growth far exceded the maturity of the civilisation using it. Im going to say we should have mass famine in almost every less devloped country from about 2030, the US will enter another serious depression in 2040 at the latest, possibly as early as 2020. Unemployment rises suddenly soon afterwards, resulting in the collapse of public services. Its going to be a fun period to watch

May we all live in intresting times.

I know this is off track (albeit slightly) but I can see a revolution taking place in this country. Look at what is transpiring - OUR "Elected" officials do not represent what WE want. They are spinless and to easily manipulated by $$$$. So you say vote them out - but what do you get but another spinless greed monger. Real people won't try for office even if they could get by the "Good Old Boys" cuz even if you were Christ you couldn't get Congress and the rest to agree so most people say fuck it to political ambitions. Face it OUR Constitution is getting to mean less and less and one day (hopefully) enough people are gonna get pissed off and over throw this democracy of ours. Maybe just maybe another one can be created to more reflect what our founding fathers had in mind. We are just faceless voiceless minions who pay taxes and tow the line. When was the last time anyone asked you what you thought we should do?????? I know that approach is not realistic but even when a group of people as big as we file sharers are we still can not be heard or properly represented. Have's vs. have not's will be the down fall of this once great country!!
SORRY FOR THE RANT - THIS JUST PISSES ME OFF!!!!!

MP3Slave:
I know exactly where you're coming from. WE THE LITTLE PEOPLE !

Wabbit, that's exactly what I thought and what Code said in another post. That line sounded really bizarre and yes, it sounded creepy
-bulk
"Making blanks out of 1s and zeros"

Is CodeWarrior still embarrased for what he said about Asians? Please don't be, come back, we enjoy your comments. I least I do.

Code's around, he has been busy offline. I think he's learning to develop a thicker skin as well. LOL

I'm glad to see more people are starting to understand the purpose of a boycott. That means no more downloading RIAA music or buying new RIAA CDs. Let them bury themselves in their unused "product."

Even if they "win" their legal actions, they've still lost. What will they do next, take legal action against people who refuse to use their "product"?

Screw them all, let them starve for all I care. It's time for them to live in the real world with the rest of us.

George, did we decide used CDs were OK? I would think so, since the RIAA doesn't make any money off them.

Back when I was younger, and only LPS were available to me, I would sometimes have to spend $30 bucks for an album I wanted. Most of the time here in Canada, I had to go to a special store to buy albums I wanted. I never had the chance to "pre listen" to anything I bought. I still bought, and took my lumps with the insanely shitty production and the garbage music I sometimes got stuck with. This was ok to me, until, at one point, on an album cover plain for me to see, was an advertisement that the album I was about to purchase contained "speed metal" music. Yes I'm a metal fan. I lustily grabbed this album up, took it home, and slapped it on my turntable. Suffice is to say, what was eminating from my speakers was no where near speed metal. Right then and there, I decided I was getting ripped off by the record makers. I still have the album, and if I am ever "made an example of" by these CRIA people, I intend to use that blatent false advertising as a defence. Oh yeah, I'm also going to point out that one of my favorite bands at the time, around 1984, Metallica, had stated on numerous occasions they would "never" make a video. Well, they did, and they sold out hard. To a metal fan like myself, what they did was blasphemy. In my opinion, they falsely created a "true metal" position, causing me to shell out thousands supporting thier band. I want my money back.
One more thing, how come these record companies push the LEAST talented musicians? You could never in a BILLION years convince me that SNOOP DOGGY DOG deserves a career in music more than Kyuss, or any other "garage band" that can play thier own instruments. Its a farce, and it always will be a farce. Hey cool on, I'm gonna go listen to the new album I just downloaded while writing this post.
Later Skater!!