Judge Deals Blow to RIAA in Music Piracy Case

PC World ^ | 4/30/08

[LibWhacker]

The Recording Industry Association of America suffered a legal setback this week in a music piracy case where a judge ruled that the sole act of making a music file available in a "shared folder" does not violate copyright laws.

In Atlantic v. Howell, the RIAA made the legal assertion that a "sound recording" that is ripped to a computer and stored in any kind of a shared folder is unauthorized. This was an interesting statement because a shared folder can be a very broad category that wasn't entirely made clear by the RIAA.

[kingu]

Nothing will reign in the RIAA until the insane infinite copyrights are rolled back and we're back to the constitutional statement of ‘limited time.’ If you can't make a profit off your recording within 12 to 20 years, get the heck out of the recording business.

[Jeff Chandler]

the RIAA made the legal assertion that a "sound recording" that is ripped to a computer and stored in any kind of a shared folder is unauthorized.

I sympathize with the recording artists, but geeze looeeze! Talk about stretching.

[gonzo]

I guess thepiratebay.com is outa business now ... or not ............ FRegards

[pnh102]

I sympathize with the recording artists, but geeze looeeze!

I don't. Most are loony leftists who side with those who want us to lose the war. To hell with them if they lose even more money.

[Wolfie]

I guess the bottom line is that if it’s really, really easy to steal, then it’s ok to steal it. Is this a great country or what?

[JoJo Gunn]

tech ping

[hoosierham]

Exactly;and the same for movies,books,computer programs.Wasn’t it originally 14 years plus the copyright holder’s option to renew once?28 years should be long enough!

[Shellback Chuck]

Buggy-whip makers.

[ShadowAce]

[Tribune7]

I sympathize with the recording artists

I dunno. I mean Imagine no possessions LOLOLOL

I mean Imagine all the people Sharing all the world

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

Gotta love the hippies. What's mine is mine and what's yours is mine.

[CharlesWayneCT]

All of mine are on a “shared folder” so I can get to them from any computer in the house.

Of course, my entire network is blocked from the rest of the world.

[The Great RJ]

Sony has long maintained that ripping a CD to your computer is in itself unauthorized copying even if it is not “shared”. Sony went so far as to install a “root kit” on some of its audio CDs that would inform Sony via the Internet if the CD was copied to any computer. Needless to say they lost that one in court and had to pay damages. The RIAA has also wanted computer CD drive manufacturers to add software to every CD drive that would make copying or even playing an audio CD on a computer impossible.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

I despise RIAA and its heavy-handed “sue-the-customer-and-their-grandparents” tactics, and am glad to see that it is finally getting beat back in the courts.

[martin_fierro]

lolz

[PetroniusMaximus]

40 years of “screw the man, break the rules”, music is having it’s intended effect.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

I guess the bottom line is that if it’s really, really easy to steal, then it’s ok to steal it. Is this a great country or what?

Well, I own the air above my property, and if I catch you breathing it I want to be paid!

Unfortunately for me, that air is really, really easy to steal. Never mind . . .

[antiRepublicrat]

Of course, my entire network is blocked from the rest of the world.

And if someone hacked in and opened it up, the RIAA thinks you're liable. Millions of people in this country use unsecured wireless routers, and they're technically "making available" if they share their music folder among their machines.

[LibWhacker]

THAT’S quotable, thanks! Snagged it and put it in my quotes file (properly credited, of course). You ought to make it your tagline, PM.