My daughter has been downloading from Kazza for a couple of years now. It isn't free so I don't see how they can hold anyone accountable except for Kazza since "your friend" is paying a fee for the music.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Joel Perry" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "'BamaFanForever'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "'RollTideFan'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, July 21, 2003 8:01 AM Subject: [RollTideFan] Music Downloads <non-bama, duh> > A 'friend' of mine sometimes downloads music from sites like Kazza. My > 'friend' is worried that he, I mean, she might get arrested and forced to > pay a HuGe fine. Does anyone have any comforting words I could tell my > 'friend'? > > Story: > Music Industry Wins 871 Subpoenas Against Internet Users > Saturday, July 19, 2003 > WASHINGTON - The music industry has won at least 871 federal subpoenas > against computer users suspected of illegally sharing music files (search) > on the Internet, with roughly 75 new subpoenas being approved each day, U.S. > court officials said Friday. > The effort represents early steps in the music industry's contentious plan > to file civil lawsuits aimed at crippling online piracy. > Subpoenas reviewed by The Associated Press show the industry compelling some > of the largest Internet providers, such as Verizon Communications Inc. and > Comcast Cable Communications Inc., and some universities to identify names > and mailing addresses for users on their networks known online by nicknames > such as "fox3j," "soccerdog33," "clover77" or "indepunk74." > The Recording Industry Association of America (search) has said it expects > to file at least several hundred lawsuits seeking financial damages within > the next eight weeks. U.S. copyright laws (search) allow for damages of $750 > to $150,000 for each song offered illegally on a person's computer, but the > RIAA has said it would be open to settlement proposals from defendants. > The campaign comes just weeks after U.S. appeals court rulings requiring > Internet providers to readily identify subscribers suspected of illegally > sharing music and movie files. The 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act > permits music companies to force Internet providers to turn over the names > of suspected music pirates upon subpoena from any U.S. District Court > clerk's office, without a judge's signature required. > In some cases, subpoenas cite as few as five songs as "representative > recordings" of music files available for downloading from these users. The > trade group for the largest music labels, the Washington-based RIAA, > previously indicated its lawyers would target Internet users who offer > substantial collections of MP3 song files but declined to say how many songs > might qualify for a lawsuit. > "We would have to look at historic trends, but that is a very high number," > said Alan Davidson of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a civil > liberties group that has argued against the subpoenas. "It doesn't sound > like they're just going after a few big fish." > Music fans are fighting back with technology, using new software designed > specifically to stymie monitoring of their online activities by the major > record labels. > A new version of "Kazaa Lite," free software that provides access to the > service operated by Sharman Networks Ltd., can prevent anyone from listing > all music files on an individual's machine and purports to block scans from > Internet addresses believed to be associated with the RIAA. > Many of the subpoenas reviewed by the AP identified songs from the same few > artists, including Avril Lavigne, Snoop Dogg and Michael Jackson. It was > impossible to determine whether industry lawyers were searching the Internet > specifically for songs by these artists or whether they were commonly > popular among the roughly 60 million users of file-sharing services. > The RIAA's subpoenas are so prolific that the U.S. District Court in > Washington, already suffering staff shortages, has been forced to reassign > employees from elsewhere in the clerk's office to help process paperwork, > said Angela Caesar-Mobley, the clerk's operations manager. > The RIAA declined to comment on the numbers of subpoenas it issued. > "We are identifying substantial infringers and we're going to whatever > entity is providing (Internet) service for that potential infringer," said > Matt Oppenheim, the group's senior vice president of business and legal > affairs. "From there we'll be in a position to begin bringing lawsuits." > A spokeswoman for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts said the > clerk's office here was "functioning more like a clearing house, issuing > subpoenas for all over the country." Any civil lawsuits would likely be > transferred to a different jurisdiction, spokeswoman Karen Redmond said. > Verizon, which has fought the RIAA over the subpoenas with continued legal > appeals, said it received at least 150 subpoenas during the last two weeks. > There were no subpoenas on file sent to AOL Time Warner Inc., the nation's > largest Internet provider and also parent company of Warner Music Group. > Earthlink Inc., another of the largest Internet providers, said it has > received only three new subpoenas. > Depaul University in Chicago was among the few colleges that received such > subpoenas; the RIAA asked Depaul on July 2 to track down a user known as > "anon39023" who was allegedly offering at least eight songs. > There was some evidence the threat of an expensive lawsuit was discouraging > online music sharing. Nielsen NetRatings, which monitors Internet usage, > earlier this week reported a decline for traffic on the Kazaa network of one > million users, with similarly large drops across other services. > > > > > ______________________________________________________ > RollTideFan - The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List > > "Welcome to RollTideFan! Wear a cup!" > > To join or leave the list or to make changes to your subscription visit http://listinfo.rolltidefan.net > ______________________________________________________ RollTideFan - The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List "Welcome to RollTideFan! Wear a cup!" To join or leave the list or to make changes to your subscription visit http://listinfo.rolltidefan.net