[Froggie]

Can anyone explain to me how the record industry can identify those who download songs on servers such as Kaaza. My understanding is that they are downloading songs from another private parties computer, not some central computer....How do the recording industries "cops" know which IP address is downloading what songs without committing some internet snooping crime themselves?

[ConservativeMan55]

In other words they have to committ the supposed "Crime" in order to catch the supposed "criminals"

[Izzy Dunne]

Can anyone explain to me how the record industry can identify those who download songs on servers such as Kaaza.

Not sure I can totally answer your question, but the downloading is not the crime, it's the 'making available' for download that is the crime.
In other words, if you make a copyrighted work available for download from your machine, it is YOU who have committed the crime.
And those addresses are available without illegal snooping, that's how the sharing thing works.

I use 'crime' only in the way the allegations make it - I myself and not convinced one way or the other.

[Froggie]

OK, sorry I posted it for the 10th time !!
I'll do better research next time!

[LanPB01]

There was an article in some magazine I read last week about how the RIAA knows who is allowing downloads. As I understand it, they basically do searches for songs they're protecting to see how many Kazaa users are sharing it. Basically, they're just compiling a big list of people who are sharing certain songs. I'm not technologically adept, but somehow, they can get your "address" as well. Then, they complain to your ISP, who is the one that has to give up your actual physical address. I think some ISP's recently lost a lawsuit trying to resist giving out the names and addresses of their customers.

[visualops]

Well, there you have some thin ice, and one of many reasons the RIAA and the rest of the entertainment industry loves the DMCA. There also you have the motivation behind trying to get criminal penalties waived if crimes are committed in the name of "stopping" copyright theft.
They want to be able to throw away all your rights, including fair use, to hoard them to themselves. They didn't even want to be held liable if they "accidentally" trashed the wrong machine.