Although I am generally a fan of the EFF, I find myself unsympathetic to those on the receiving end of the 260-odd lawsuits that have been filed by the RIAA so far. Consider for a moment that those sued were making over a thousand songs EACH available for download by others. The settlement reached by the parents of the little girl who's made the news-some $2,000-thus comes to a "penalty" of about $2 a song, assuming that she's in the lower range of the violators.
Frankly, after the huge flap with Napster a few years ago, anybody who continued to think that their music downloads were NOT copyright violations were either living under a rock or intentionally ignorant. I am not a big fan of the RIAA, and I personally think that it really missed the boat with the internet-a cross company platform like iTunes is welcome but about 3 or 4 years too late. That said, they've spent millions of dollars on educational advertising to no apparent effect, and it appears the only way to make an impression on the average consumer/file-sharer is to smack a few of the most egregious offenders around, hoping to scare the rest into compliance (and it does appear to be working, at least based on anecdotal evidence that traffic on the P2P networks has decreased since the suits started). Suing your customers is never a good idea, but if they're stealing from you, do you really have much of a choice? My two cents, Kevin Grierson Kevin W. Grierson Willcox & Savage, P.C. One Commercial Place, Ste. 1800 Norfolk, Virginia 23510 mailto:kgrier...@wilsav.com ph: 757/628-5603 fx: 757/628-5566 http://wilsav.com Sign up for our E-Commerce Newsletter at http://wilsav.com/nep/news_signup.html >>> <mcn-l@mcn.edu> 09/16/03 03:14AM >>> -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Sign our Petition to Stop the RIAA Lawsuits! Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 17:57:42 -0700 (PDT) Dear EFF Supporter: This is astounding - in the first 24 hours, over 6,000 people have signed our petition to stop the Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) nationwide rampage against average Americans. Rather than working to create a rational, legal means by which its customers can take advantage of file-sharing technology and pay a fair price for the music they love, it has chosen to sue people like Brianna LaHara, a 12 year-old girl living in New York City public housing. Take a stand against the RIAA's tactics by signing our petition: http://www.eff.org/share/petition/ Brianna, and hundreds of other music fans like her, are being forced to pay thousands of dollars they do not have to settle RIAA-member lawsuits -- supporting a business model that is anything but rational. This crusade is generating thousands of subpoenas and hundreds of lawsuits, but not a single penny for the artists that the RIAA claims to protect. Copyright law shouldn't make criminals out of 60 million Americans, and it's time for a change. Congress is going to hold hearings; we need our help to make sure that the public's voice is heard. Tell Congress that it's time to stop the madness: http://www.eff.org/share/petition/ We'll deliver the petition to Congress once we've hit 10,000 signatures. This is a grassroots campaign - please take the time to tell your friends and family about this issue. Thanks for support! Sincerely, Ren Bucholz EFF Activist --- You are currently subscribed to mcn_mcn-l as: kgrier...@wilsav.com To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-mcn_mcn-l-29556...@listserver.americaneagle.com --- You are currently subscribed to mcn_mcn-l as: rlancefi...@mail.wesleyan.edu To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-mcn_mcn-l-12800...@listserver.americaneagle.com
