Just to provide some clarity here ...

I was recently once again asked about why we're boycotting the RIAA when what we should be doing is boycotting the membership of the RIAA.

In fact, that's exactly what we are doing: we're boycotting the RIAA membership, and a quick look at the RIAA directory will tell you who the member labels are and, consequenlty, who's behind the lawsuits and attitude of the RIAA.

The RIAA is a lobbying group dressed up as a 'trade' organization that acts as a lightning rod to take the heat for the major labels.

The RIAA acts in behalf of the major labels, not itself, and put even more bluntly, it's nothing but a puppet organization whose strings are pulled by its members. Going after the RIAA is a waste of energy. Going after their members is the way to get their attention.

If you want to express your displeasure, write the labels and NOT the RIAA, because they don't care ... but the labels DO ! ! !

Now take a look below to see who gives the marching orders ...

The Board of Directors of the RIAA is:
• Mitch Bainwol, RIAA
• Thomas Stein, BMG Entertainment
• Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, BMG Entertainment
• Val Azzoli, The Atlantic Group
• Bob Cavallo, Buena Vista Music Group
• Clive Davis, RCA Music Group
• Tracey Edmonds, Edmonds Record Group
• Dick Griffey, Solar Records/J.Hines Co.
• Don Ienner, Sony Music U.S.
• Michele Anthony, Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
• Tom Tyrrell, Sony Music Entertainment, Inc
• Andy Slater, Capitol Records
• Alain Levy, EMI Recorded Music
• David Munns, EMI Recorded Music Worldwide
• Roy Lott, Virgin Records
• Antonio Reid, Arista Records Inc.
• Sylvia Rhone, Elektra Entertainment Group
• Jose Behar, Univision Music Group
• Tom Silverman, Tommy Boy Music
• Roger Ames, Warner Music Group
• David Johnson, Warner Music Group
• Ronnie Dashev, Maverick Recording Company
• Zach Horowitz, Universal Music Group
• Lawrence Kenswil, Universal Music Group
• Mel Lewinter, Universal Music Group

These people care? About who?

About their pocketbooks. That's about all they care about.

I'm sure someone would care if I went in their office shooting... talk about customer satisfaction!

There is a chance they would care if you just happened to inform them that their sales will plummet because of a boycott.

Oh yeah,I'm thinking of making an email message for people to forward...what do you guys think it should be?(if I should even do it at all)

I'm a 46 year old father of three teens (one is 21)and is nostalgic for the music I grew up with but have a hard time finding. I have stopped downloading it However. I've been downloading and listening to Indie music lately and have found a couple of groups who's sound I enjoy. I am going to support them. what is the latest effects of the boycott? and has any main stream media acknowledged it yet? I have turned back on my Kaza Lite and am filling the shared folder with Indie music and watching my firewall to see if anyone is trying to see what I have. If they find any copywrighted music on my computer it won't be in the shared folder and they would've found it illegally.

well said all.
Compmore...great post man!
And, as a PS...make sure you keep a list of your logs for future reference should any RIAA toadies try to hack in.
~code

thanks code. Now the real task is making sure my kids do the same. so far they've complied. I've written some letters to the major media networks and newspapers about the boycott. do you know if any of it's gotten out yet? I haven't seen it

So really we are putting pressure on these labels groups to say something to the RIAA? And what about the artist coalition grouphttp://www.recordingartistscoalition.com/

Is there any hope of contacting them, or is it a waste of time?

Im not sure, I've been on the site but can make much out of what they are trying to do.

I would think it would be a waste of time.

This is what it says on the RAC website. Its about the earlier lawsuites but I would assume they still feel the same way now as they did then then.


The industry's lawsuit has drawn the support of two prominent artist-community groups, the Recording Artists' Coalition (RAC) and the recording artist division of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA).

This what other artist groups say though.

But spokespersons for two other artist-related groups, the Future of Music Coalition and the Music Managers Forum (MMF), say the industry's litigation effort against the allegedly infringing student "consumers" or music fans takes the wrong tack and does nothing to remedy a major complaint by artists and listeners that much music of today and yesterday—including out-of-print albums and tracks—cannot currently be found by using legitimate services on the Internet.

sorry im not good with computers how do you check your firewall to see if some1 tryied to break in???

and can u give me links to software i can download to protect my computer. thanks

Hey pacmandudarlin, I'm pretty sure some of those folks on that LIST above (and that's one long, long list) are not to far from my location, so if ya can get a letter started for me and we'll bounce it back and forth until we've got it right. I'll be glad to go there and deliver what I can in person. I'd like to hear what they have to say in person anyway, if they'll meet me. I can only speak to them as a concerned MOTHER!!!!!

I dont know what type of firewall you use OldSchoolHipHop, but the one I use (ontrack system suite) keeps logs for Security,Traffic and Packets. With the one I use I can right click on the Firewall icon in the system tray and retrieve all the information. Plus it allows me to back trace anyone who attempts to access my comp.

TORTURING A 12 YEAR OLD HONOR STUDENT AND HER POOR MOTHER! I THINK I'M GOING TO GIVE "MAD MOTHERS" A WHOLE NEW MEANING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

is there a site where i can download a good firewall??? or something to protect my comp

OLDSCHOOL...
there are two free ones...
primedius
and zone alarm...
zone alarm is best...
www.zonelabs.com

OldSchoolHipHop,, I would buy a good Firewall instead of downloading one. Like I said I use ontrack system suite and have had it check on a site, I think it was shields up or something like that and thay said they were impressed with how secure my comp was. If I can find the link to that site I will post it. They can tell you how secure your comp is and what to do to make even more secure.

Yes I used Zone Alarm for about a year or so,But I was doing alot of online gaming and Zone Alarm wouldnt let you Host the games I played, I could only join games. Other than that it was a Great Program.

I agree with NiteRider52 that if you CAN afford to buy a full edition, it's best, but if ya gotta have free, ZA is pretty good. If you are running XP, there is a built in firewall, but it isn't as good as ZA

Just remember If someone wants into your comp bad enough and they are smart enough to do it, It wont matter if you have a Firewall or not. Firewalls can make it harder but not impossible to hack if they want to bad enough.

I've tried several times to e-mail this sight with regard to getting some clarity about the boycott, but every time I hit send, I get a message that I've "come from the wrong place." So I guess my e-mail is not getting sent. So, I'll just post it here.

E-mail:
I'm e-mailing with regard to CDBaby.com. I recently purchased a CD from them, but I had to turn around and cancel the order the very next day. As it turned out, the artist whose CD that I purchased was not quite as independent as I thought. He (Grant-Lee Phillips) is listed on CDBaby as the owner of the copyright to the CD, and he very well may be; however, I found out that he is also signed under Zoe Records, a subsidiary of Rounder Records. Both of these labels are on the boycott list. The only reason that I know that he is under Zoe Records is that I had decided to look him up on Amazon.com to see if they were also selling the CD there. His label is listed there as Zoe Records. After doing a little searching, I found out that Zoe Records was under Rounder Records. I went to the Rounder Records' Website, and sure enough, Grant-Lee Phillips is listed as one of their artists. The CD that I was going to purchase is listed as one of two of his CDs offered in their catalogue.

I'm mentioning this because I think that many potential customers, like myself, are assuming that when we buy a CD from CDBaby.com that the CD will be from an artist or band with no ties to the RIAA. That is the assumption when one sees the term "independent artist". However, there are apparently a lot of smaller labels under the jurisdiction of the RIAA that still list themselves as independent labels, despite being a member company of the RIAA. I suppose the implication is that they are independent of the mega companies like Sony; however, that causes confusion for someone, like myself, trying to avoid all RIAA sponsored music. This should be something that is clarified on your website. Afterall, you are sending supporters of this boycott to a sight that is potentially selling RIAA catalogued material. Granted not all of it is; however, it would make it easier for the consumer to be aware of which ones are actually independent artists and which artists are simply lesser known artists on so-called "independent" labels which still fall under the RIAA jurisdiction. In this way we can make an informed choice regarding whose music to support or not support with our dollars. You may want to talk to CDBaby.com about this.

Go to grc.com and click on shields up to see how secure your computer is.

I wouldn't trade my NAT router for anything.
OT but, since we have so many great musicians, do we have an anti-RIAA theme song? I can just see us having our own copyrighted themesong and letting it loose on the P2P networks.

You actually have to click on shields up twice. I am running windows XP's firewall, and grc said I was running in total stealth mode. Good. But I don't know how to access any security logs. Anyone know?

I am checking all of my music to see which is on a major label or not. If it is, I won't share it or buy any more CD's from them.


---------------------------------------
http://www.cafepress.com/shirt_sarcasm/
The RIAA Killed Your Inner Child T-Shirt!

To view the security log file in Windows XP

Open Network Connections
Click the connection for which Internet Connection Firewall is enabled, and then, under Network Tasks, click Change settings of this connection.
On the Advanced tab, click Settings
On the Security Logging tab, under Log file options, under Name, click Browse.
Scroll to pfirewall.log, right-click pfirewall.log, and then click Open.
Double-click the log file to open it, and view the contents.


Notes
To open Network Connections, click Start, click Control Panel, click Network and Internet Connections, and then click Network Connections.
The default name for the firewall log is pfirewall.log and the location is in the Windows folder.
If the maximum allowable size for pfirewall.log is exceeded, the information that the log file contains is written to a new file and saved as pfirewall.log.1. The new information is saved in pfirewall.log.
Internet Connection Sharing, Internet Connection Firewall, Discovery and Control, and Network Bridge are not available on Windows XP 64-Bit Edition.

All I could find on it, Hope it helps.

I dont use the XP firewall and never have so I dont know what info it will give you. I have an uneasy feeling using a firewall that is built into an OS.

Dasymae........I had the same problem the other day...I got a little confused of what indies if any do belong to the major labels. Thanks for being so aware and determined! It will take people like you to win this BOYCOTT!
thanks ~isp

There's also a place on the web to see if your hard drive is exposed to "open" traffic, i.e. hackers or other snoopers can access it through a browser or through other means. I didn't see any of my drive as "open", but you might want to check this site to be sure at : http://www.astalavista.net/new/network.php.
It's supposed to be a security-related site.

Although freeware version of Zone Labs is good, the Pro version is much better. It keeps a log of all the people who've tried to access your computer. It also has trusted and blocked zones. Say, the firewall gives a warning message saying that an IP address has tried to access your computer. Then, you could immediately do a trace on the person who tried to access your computer, and also block that IP address from ever accessing your computer again.

Also, if you have Windows XP(xtra piece of crap), you can turn on your Internet Firewall which provides a little protection, although, not much since it cannot block outgoing connections if someone decides to install a trojan device on your machine.

I. TURNING ON XP FIREWALL

To Turn on Your Internet Firewall in XP go to
1)Go to the Start Menu.
2)Click on the Control Panel.
3)Select Network Connections.
4)Select your Connection for the Internet.
5)Highlight it then Right Click on the Mouse.
6) Select Properties.
7)Go to Advanced.
Make sure that the check box for the Internet Firewall is checked. Click OK. 9)Restart your Connection. Then the XP firewall should be on.

A Hardware firewall is much better than a software firewall, however. So, if you have the cash, then invest into a hardware firewall.

II. PROXIES
Also, if you have the cash, you should try to subscribe to a proxy, or find a proxy service. Proxy services supposedly protect your IP address by having another machine do your searching for you. I know the anonymizer is one such program available at www.anonymizer.com. There are free proxy services available on the web, however. You have to know where to look for them though.

III. REMOVE FILE AND PRINT SHARING
Also make sure that you disable File and Print Sharing on your connection to. File and Print Sharing usually broadcasts your NetBios Address (which isn't good) and allows others to possibly connect to your resources from the web. (Um, is not a computer expert..so if I'm wrong..just correct me heh.) But, here goes how to Uninstall File and Print Sharing on XP.

1. Go to the Start Menu
2. Select Control Panel
3. Go to Network Connections
4. Go to the Connection you Use. Highlight it.
5. Right Click on the Connection and Select Properties.
6. Go to the General Section. Should be a number of things listed. If file and pring sharing is listed among the list, then highlight it.
7. Select uninstall. Then press okay. Restart your computer.


Also, if you can, try to convert your computer system from FAT to NTFS. NTFS is supposed to give a user added protection because you can choose which folders you want to share and which ones you want to remain private. Also, it has a higher rate of encryption. (Again, I might be mistaken..so computer gurus feel free to add anything.) NTFS' drawback, however is that you can't make boot disks for your computer in case of emergency.

Also, it is probably helpful that you have a program that removes malware code on your machine. Finjan software has one called SurfinGate. At the following address: system.http://www.finjan.com/products/surfingate.cfm

Also, in addition to your firewall, malware guard, etc; Make sure you have the freeware version of ADAWARE which removes ip cookies. Have a good trojan remover like Trojan Remover which checks for trojans on start up. (Trojan Devices are malware which enables users to connect to ports on your machine without permission.)

Make sure that you have Peer Guardian program which blocks some internet addresses of the major music corps and the mpaa. It has a database of BAD IP addies that you can prevent from looking into your computer. Although it's not perfect, it's better than nothing.

Shield's Up Address:
https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2
like hiker said.

very nice, Bill. Thanks for making things more clear.

I agree. The labels are behind the RIAA. They use it like a shield. Deflecting criticism and consumer attacks off of it. It's their armor. We need to reach right through the RIAA to the labels if we want to be effective. The RIAA is just a front organization for the five biggest audio recording companies in the world.

:-:~ PhantomGhost ~:-:

It is my understanding that BMG and EMI are the heavy-hitter RIAA members with the biggest proportion of their business in the actual music industry. If we focus the boycott on their products, maybe we can peel 'em off the RIAA corporate bandwagon. Not that I have anything against boycotting Warner and Universal, but hey, I still like to see the movies on the big screen.

NiteRider52 - Thanks for the info. When I click browse in the Security Logging Tab, pfirewall.log is not listed. I think I should just get a better firewall.

We need to make sure that no CD ever goes gold or platnium. There are many ways to do this. BURN and DROP

I use Norton Internet Security, which also contains Norton Anti-Virus. This gives me alerts when someone tries to hack into my computer. These alerts used to come up very frequently when I used to use Kazaa Lite. Don't use Norton System Works (or any other supposedly performance-enhancing software), though, it causes problems on some computers.

The Kid

Also Recommended is XP Anti-Spy V 3.72

George,

So far they have been relatively insulated from the outrage by letting the RIAA do their dirty work. But when you see the lawsuits filed it reads: Sony Music vs, Warner Music vs, Universal Music, etc. Rather than directing emails and letters to the RIAA, direct them to the major labels..is all I'm saying. So far they haven't had to "dirty" their hands and deal with the irrate citizens That is the RIAA's job.

thanks for the sites code

bills back and were starting tomarrow hopefilly....
i just had a mini vacation to focus on what needs to be done and im ready..

its hell to pay time,

chack out http://www.techfocus.org this week for updates!

thanks code and NiteRider52 now i feel a little safer, can i put as many of firewalls as i want or can i only have 1

They say to only run one. I know some people who use more than one and they dont seem to have any problems. You could ask the people at Techtv they would be able to give you more info on that.

ok thanks

your welcome OldSchoolHipHop

OK I am listening to the TV, and a compilation CD has come out by the name of "QUEENS OF COUNTRY" and it is being sold for 9.99. SO if these record companies are selling CD for 9.99 now then why in the HECK were you selling them for 20.00, you f***in thief's. The complete rip off of your customers is why we stopped buying to begin with, but with these law suits now it is personal a** wipes

I'm not sure if anyone noticed, but there's some big names on the list in the article... some I recognized were Bob Cavallo, Clive Davis, and David Silverman (who used to claim his tommy boy record group was NOT an RIAA member, to hell with him).

As for the firewall thing, I agree with code, a hardware router provides the best protection in the business. The problem with firewalls is that they often interfere with the performance of p2p programs by blocking people from getting your files- a big problem if you're like me and share a lot of your own material. Still, though, with as many M$ Winblows worms as there are out on the web, a firewall is critical to the safety of your computer.

A little off-topic, but about firewalling, I use ZoneAlarm and XP's built-in firewall together with no problems. I also have Ad-Aware 6, Spybot Search & Destroy, SpywareBlaster, and XP-AntiSpy installed.

What, me, worry? No, I'm not paranoid...everyone really IS out to get me...LOL

sorry if i got off topic but i just wanted to know how to keep my comp safe and thanks to all for the help

thumbtack -- I understand your point, but these guys ARE the RIAA. Clive Davis doesn't care what we think. None of them do. All they care about is money.

Every name on that list is a greedy, evil person -- or they wouldn't be on that list.

There is no panacea for computer security. It is a combination of hardware, software, and most importantly, your own vigilance. Do not skimp on security measures. Bite the bullet and pay for them. All the answers have already been posted here. I'll just condense them and add a couple.

1. Get a good firewall. I recommend Zone Alarm Pro 4. All software firewall programs recommend only using one firewall.

2. Get a good router with NAT. I recommend Linksys BEFRSR1 (its the version that works with Zone Alarm). You can add-on a log viewer.

3. Get a good anti-virus software. I use Norton Anti-Virus, but there are other good ones too. Update frequently.

4. Use Spybot Search and Destroy with the SpywareBlaster Attachment. Update frequently.

5. Disable DCOM.

6. Disable Windows Messenger Service.

7. Disable Windows Universal Plug and Play.

8. Keep your registry clean & delete tracking cookies. I recommend VCOM's (formerly Ontrack) System Suite 5. Another good program is jv16PowerTools.

9. Use IM very cautiously. Only people on your buddy lists.

10. Don't open e-mail attachments unless you are 100% sure they are safe.

This list is a good start to safe computing but is by all means not all inclusive.

kyodylee, good list, and don't forget about patching, also for those of you with an nt baised OS *win nt, nt4.0, w2k, xp, or w2k3 server* rename the tftp file usualy in winnt/system32 or windows/system32 to something else that you won't forget, the blaster and varients used that file to d/l it's self, and 99% of people will never need this file...

now then i have to post this article again if you haven't read it yet i feel you should *bats eyelashes just before falling over laughing*
http://www.msnbc.com/news/966393.asp?0bl=-0

I don't even download a whole lot of music... if i do it's usually obscure and foreign.. i usually listen to streams on my winamp player.. The RIAA is producing a lot of crap anyhow... screw em!

ok folks my two cents i use panda platnum aint virus and keiro firewall there is a freeware open sorce of it out on the web some ware but when i went into there web site it whas the wrong place but look around it's the best not only will it protect you from in bound and out bound internet but it will also stop and ask you if u want any thing to run including microsofts bundled apps witch is a grate thing ;0)

http://www.kerio.com/kpf_home.html

Kerio Personal Firewall (KPF) is a software agent that builds a barrier between your personal computer and the Internet. KPF is designed to protect your PC against attacks from both the Internet, and other computers in the local network.
KPF controls all data flow in both directions – from the Internet to your computer and vice versa, and it can block all attempted communication allowing only what you choose to permit. This makes KPF an ideal solution for notebook computers that freely travel in and out of the corporate network, facing exposure to various risks as they connect from different locations.

Kerio Personal Firewall protects against
information theft, modification or destruction
Trojan horse applications
spyware
unauthorized access from within the local network
denial of service attacks to applications or services



Available FREE for home use. Business and institutional customers are encouraged to download this software for evaluation purposes.

For Windows 98, Me, NT, 2000 and XP.
NOTE: Windows 95 is no longer supported due to discontinued support by its producer.

Download the latest version!



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April 24, 2003
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People take firewall advice and discussion to the forums...

George, the point was to make the labels uncomfortable, let them see the outrage there is..maybe they will start to change their tune a bit...(although I doubt it) but it certainly have the effect of the labels telling the RIAA "You're not doing your job, we're getting complaints." The labels and the RIAA are playing good cop, bad cop. It's the good cop that gets you every time...

sorry bill my bad i just swept up in the moment :0P but your right we should stay on track and leave the BS. for the bords and o yea good job exposeing them

Bah. Be serious. Letters to the labels? Not that I think it's not fun to do but let's be serious for a moment. IF you're really interested in more than providing comedic fodder for label conference calls, do the only serious thing you can do, which is not buy music from their retailers.

Tower is going down the hole along with a few of the other majors. Give them a really bad fourth quarter and trust me, the labels will get a message in a big way.

This is a long battle in some ways. Because it involves more than shrugging off an oppresive, avaricious and stupid system, it's developing a new paradigm as well.

Who here is ready to meet that challenge?

Bill - I accept the slap on the wrist. But, if I may be off topic just one more time... I was very glad to read your post about the redesign of this site. The current design is poor & contributes immensely to the OT posts.

I hear you can email these people

BMG
first.last@bmg.com
Universal
first.last@umusic.com
Sony
first_last@sonymusic.com

Back on topic. As far as I'm concerned, it's time to give the artists hell for putting up with this.

It's THEIR music we're alll fighting over. If they want to sit back and let the RIAA be the bad cop, fine, but they'll still suffer the fallout.

From now on, at least for me, the artists are guilty by association. They want to plead the fact their contracts won't allow them to commnent, fine by me, but they suffer the consequences of their silence. Serve the beast, then die with the beast.

I'm NOT going to forget any of them when this is all over and resolved. It's time for the artists to decide whose side they're on.

If they are not for us, they're against us. Period. Hide behind that damn contract all they want, but it won't do any good. Grow a set of stones and stand up for the fans. And if they think the fans are wrong, then go ahead and speak up.

Once the smoke clears, there may not be a music industry to work for anyway, so they may as well speak their conscience. They'll get more respect from me, whichever point of view they espouse.

Ice hit it on the head. Money.. or lack thereof.. talks. As for the artists.. The labels get 'em while they're young and naive.. A major label contract is a form of serious greed and music crack.. They get you hooked and then control EVERYTHING you are, you will be, and you thought you owned. RIAA artists are music sharecroppers.. they do the work, labels get the money, they end up in debt. Breaking free of this BS contract to slavery isn't easy. Just ask Janice Ian, the latest artist to break free. Just ask Courtney Love. IF you are an artist.. don't fall for the trap.. aahhh, but you know young kids. They swallow that glamor, money, and radio-play like crack addicts. So a lot of artists are stuck in the Riaa tar pits and like the dinosaurs of old, will sink with the quagmire.. Oh,well..

Check out this Firewall (Free for personal use) at

"http://smb.sygate.com/products/spf_standard.htm"
It has logs plus Backtrace.

I think the RIAA is just an attempt to create a monopoly to control all music and artist alike.
The main cost to producing a CD are the services they create amongst themselves to get there piece of the pie.
The only way they can ever be stopped is “Do Not Buy!”
I’ve been swapping songs with friends since they invented cassettes.
These days you have to buy almost $200.00 worth of CD’s just to get enough songs to make one good CD for yourself.
I’m not buying any more I’ve Had It!

AverageConsumer - I've never seen you so fired up! You express my sentiments exactly.

I've e-mailed several artists asking them to break their silence. No response, of course.

They collectively have the ability to put an end to this if they choose, but they choose to remain silent. Their heads are in the sand (I'm being polite here) and when they finally pull their heads out, they will see that they lost a huge segment of their fan base forever.

I will never buy RIAA product again.

The Laybols care? Hu? Did I miss something? They are the ruthless bakstards, that created the RIAA and run it, fund it, and support the evil orginisation.

P2P for ever RIAA never!