RIAA's New Settlement Website Promoting P2P File Sharing Clients?
from the nice-work,-fellas dept
While lots of folks have been talking about the RIAA's latest attempt to pressure ISPs into handing over subscriber info, Eliot Van Buskirk over at Wired noticed something interesting. The domain name that the RIAA registered for their new "pre-lawsuit" settlement packages (where you get a discount for not pointing out that their evidence is flimsy), it appears that the RIAA has put up a parked page that is full of ads pointing to all sorts of file sharing programs, many that include adware and spyware. As Eliot notes: "does this mean the RIAA can be sued for contributory infringement?" Considering that the entertainment industry was just pissed off at the Google ads on a different site for similar reasons -- you'd think they might want to consider suing themselves here. Of course, it seems that someone over at the RIAA got wise to this and has now switched off the advertising on the domain. Still, I wonder how much money they made promoting P2P programs...
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
DUHHHHH
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
huh?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
RE: huh?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
They were using the page to find you
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: They were using the page to find you
I'm not entirely sure what to make of this move by the RIAA, though. My only guess is that they were trying to make back some of the money they were 'losing' to the P2P programs to begin with.
Actually, it would make sense if the RIAA created a search engine for P2P software that requires the P2P software developers to pay an 'advertising' fee to be included in the database.
...Then they could get a patent to protect the idea of displaying P2P software results from a search engine. [/sarcasm]...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: They were using the page to find you
also, would this be considered a liscencing fee for the content?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
windows masngeer
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
RIAA lawsuits ara joke
Let's look at it this way: I download music illegally. However, I do not share my music. According to the RIAA, this is stealing. Fine.
Let's say I stop downloading music, but instead do what id used to do in middle school, and create mix tapes off of the radio, and onto casettes. From there, I burn them onto CD's, and then upload them to my computer, for my own enjoyment, not for sharing or selling. Am I still a pirate?
Second point: Let's say the RIAA sues me over downloading an album from one artist, let's say Usher (which I haven't done, I actually bought his). Is Usher suing me, or the RIAA? If it is truly intellectual property theft, whose intellectual property am I stealing? If it belongs to Usher and his writers/producers, does the RIAA directly represent them? If not, who are they to sue in their stead?
Third point: Let's say I buy either a CD or a CD from itunes. If I paid for it, isn't it mine, the same way my house and car are mine? If so, doesn't my ownership of said property allow me to loan it to my friends/family, the same way I can loan my car or house to a buddy? I would love to know where the line is drawn.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
hotmail.com
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
iyg
[ link to this | view in chronology ]