*ALERT* Downloading Music and vids Isn't Safe Anymore!!

[ElsewheresDaughter]

HR4279 Passes House. RIAA Can Take Your Home For Downloading Music


friend of a freind just got a letter from their ISP to cease all copyright violation for torrenting the Sopranos. SHE WASN'T EVEN FINISHED DOWNLOADING and she got the letter from her ISP, COX Cable, about the copyright infringement. They said if she didn't cease they would deny her internet access. This is it folks, unless we get creative, it's no longer safe..

Glen sez....
I was just alerted that the House of Reps has passed HR 4279, with the lovely name, PRO-IP (Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008). Like the doublespeak PATRIOT Act and Peacekeeper missiles, PRO-IP puts local law enforcement in a position to demand the forfeiture in criminal proceedings of stuff used to violate copyright..

Which means that instead of the RIAA simply trying to collect fines, they can also incite local authorities to collect all the computers and related gear that was used to pirate
This isn't a judgment on my part as to whether piracy is good or bad (I think copyright deserves to be protected through reasonable methods), but I am always horrified when civil enforcement morphs into criminal enforcement..

Conservatives and liberals should be up in arms alike that local prosecutors and/or police could intervene as they desire in essentially a private affair arranged by the RIAA, and permanently seize thousands or tens of thousands of dollars in private property in addition to any civil penalties.

If this bill is passed in its present form by the Senate and signed, that means there's no more pro forma RIAA lawsuit payoffs, because if you wind up settling with the RIAA, you could still lose all your stuff in addition to any fee you paid them

This is particularly irksome in light of the MSN Music shutdown, about which the EFF has written a strong and powerful letter..

It is increasingly likely a normal person could have purchased music legally from an online site, burned it to an ordinary audio CD, and in the right set of circumstances be branded a pirate because the original "granting" authority no longer exists to prove that the consumer was a legitimate purchasers
The more the law is constructed to sweep in folks who are absolutely observant of it, the more we need broader protections
Link
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/05/09/house-passes-bill-th.html

[angrycarpenter]

1. Go to the internet archive

http://www.archive.org/index.php
Internet Archive

they have live performances by hundreds of groups and artists, download all you want and tell the recording industry to kiss your ass. I do not intend to purchase one more CD until they stop treating the general public like criminals.

All of the people I like are dying of old age anyway.

[Bluebear]

4. 'All of the people I like are dying of old age anyway.'

You said it.

[Pab Sungenis]

2. You know, it IS still illegal.

If you want to violate copyright law, then you face the penalties.

Work to change the law (it IS draconian in some aspects), but don't complain about the consequences.

[northzax]

6. no, it's sharing

The music industry is really rich, they should be giving up money anyway.

At least that's what people will tell you.

[liberal N proud]

3. Damn,

There goes my porn.

What they are really after, is a way to keep people from posting/downloading information that could help keep the public informed as to what they are really doing to us.

All in the name of protecting the only think that matters in this 8 year old nation, the corporations

[cynatnite]

Proof that Cox Cable will sell you out in a heartbeat....

Tell your friend to switch to a provider who refuses to hand over private information to whoever asks for it.

[Yael]

5. The Russian sites are still up and running

No jurisdiction there.

Good luck RIAA.

:hi: