Reply to RIAA
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We all know that the RIAA is the behind-the-scenes guy trying to sue people using Sharman Network's KaZaA and a hacked-up version, KaZaA-Lite.
Why is this bad? You want to support the musicians? Well, did you know that the artist gets 10% out of a CD If they're lucky! For more information on how major label companies screw bands, visit this link.
Currently, the RIAA is targeting college students. They are holding them liable for up to $100,000 USD PER SONG. Still, the RIAA has an analysis (anal - ass, ysis - to pull numbers from) going that tries to prove that music distribution via P2P (peer-to-peer) software hurts the music industry. Interestingly enough, last year had the highest ever P2P activity AND music sales.
On the day of September 8 the major record labels sued 261 music fans and customers for using filesharing programs. These lawsuits are a desperate act by a failing industry. There is very little evidence that filesharing has anything to do with the decline in record sales over the past three years; the record industry's effort to eliminate filesharing has been a pathetic attempt to slow innovation so they can continue to force bad pecuniary deals on musicians and music fans. On Friday, October 17, the RIAA sent letters to 200 more families demanding that they fork over settlement costs or face lawsuits.
That's not cool, but what can I do? You can visit this website: and sign a petition which will be delivered to the US Senate when it reaches 100,000 signatures.
At the same time, there are things you can do to avoid getting a subpoena? (Sub - below, poena - rod: Below the rod or "by the balls".) The first thing you can do is sign the petition. Second, pay a visit to subpoenadefense.org for more information on your rights. Do note that the "amnesty" offer is completely bogus! Why? Three reasons:
1) While the RIAA claims that this is an amnesty program, it doesn't actually have the authority to grant real protections from civil lawsuits. In other words, it only applies to a lawsuit from the RIAA
2) Signing an RIAA affidavit may expose you to criminal liability: in addition to the civil suits, a signed admission of guilt could make you a target for criminal prosecution under the No Electronic Theft Act (NET Act). Any interested federal authority could use your signed admission to argue that you are a "willful infringer," and potentially pursue remedies from enormous fines to prison time.
3) Even this Affidavit May Not Save You from the RIAA. The RIAA's offer only applies to people who have not been sued or are not "under investigation." Unless you are 100% sure that you are not on the RIAA's hit list (and there is no way to be sure), it is extremely risky to send them a signed declaration when they could still sue you and use your own words against you.
(The above three reasons were stolen from this site)
Some of the artists who have made money from the 'Net without suing their fans (<cough>Metallica<cough> ) :
*Alanis Morissette
*The Beasty Boys
*Green Day
*Paula Cole
*Pearl Jam
*REM
*The Smashing Pumpkins
Just as Aristotle believed the four elements were Earth, Water, Fire, and Air, I believe that examples of shootty companies are the RIAA, Enron, and dot-com CEO's. So please, go sign that petition. Thank you for your support
Your Local RIAA-hater,
Merlin
Why is this bad? You want to support the musicians? Well, did you know that the artist gets 10% out of a CD If they're lucky! For more information on how major label companies screw bands, visit this link.
Currently, the RIAA is targeting college students. They are holding them liable for up to $100,000 USD PER SONG. Still, the RIAA has an analysis (anal - ass, ysis - to pull numbers from) going that tries to prove that music distribution via P2P (peer-to-peer) software hurts the music industry. Interestingly enough, last year had the highest ever P2P activity AND music sales.
On the day of September 8 the major record labels sued 261 music fans and customers for using filesharing programs. These lawsuits are a desperate act by a failing industry. There is very little evidence that filesharing has anything to do with the decline in record sales over the past three years; the record industry's effort to eliminate filesharing has been a pathetic attempt to slow innovation so they can continue to force bad pecuniary deals on musicians and music fans. On Friday, October 17, the RIAA sent letters to 200 more families demanding that they fork over settlement costs or face lawsuits.
That's not cool, but what can I do? You can visit this website: and sign a petition which will be delivered to the US Senate when it reaches 100,000 signatures.
At the same time, there are things you can do to avoid getting a subpoena? (Sub - below, poena - rod: Below the rod or "by the balls".) The first thing you can do is sign the petition. Second, pay a visit to subpoenadefense.org for more information on your rights. Do note that the "amnesty" offer is completely bogus! Why? Three reasons:
1) While the RIAA claims that this is an amnesty program, it doesn't actually have the authority to grant real protections from civil lawsuits. In other words, it only applies to a lawsuit from the RIAA
2) Signing an RIAA affidavit may expose you to criminal liability: in addition to the civil suits, a signed admission of guilt could make you a target for criminal prosecution under the No Electronic Theft Act (NET Act). Any interested federal authority could use your signed admission to argue that you are a "willful infringer," and potentially pursue remedies from enormous fines to prison time.
3) Even this Affidavit May Not Save You from the RIAA. The RIAA's offer only applies to people who have not been sued or are not "under investigation." Unless you are 100% sure that you are not on the RIAA's hit list (and there is no way to be sure), it is extremely risky to send them a signed declaration when they could still sue you and use your own words against you.
(The above three reasons were stolen from this site)
Some of the artists who have made money from the 'Net without suing their fans (<cough>Metallica<cough> ) :
*Alanis Morissette
*The Beasty Boys
*Green Day
*Paula Cole
*Pearl Jam
*REM
*The Smashing Pumpkins
Just as Aristotle believed the four elements were Earth, Water, Fire, and Air, I believe that examples of shootty companies are the RIAA, Enron, and dot-com CEO's. So please, go sign that petition. Thank you for your support
Your Local RIAA-hater,
Merlin
