Six Months And Still No ISPs Officially Signed Up On The RIAA's Program

from the so-now-what? dept

Thu, Jun 4th 2009 10:01am — Mike Masnick

Six months ago, you may recall, the RIAA announced that it was shifting its strategies away from suing individuals (though, it would and has continued to sue some) towards working with ISPs to kick file sharers off the internet via a three strikes policy (the industry prefers "graduated response"). However, no one could find any ISPs who had agreed to it, despite rumors that Comcast and AT&T were onboard. Yet, when later comments made people think that AT&T had agreed to such a plan, AT&T issued a denial, claiming that it was not working with the RIAA in that way. Now, Greg Sandoval points out that there still aren't any ISPs officially signed on. Among the interesting nuggets in the article is the report that the RIAA thought it could pressure ISPs into signing up by having NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo take their side. The only problem? The ISPs know that there's absolutely no legal angle that could force them into a 3 strikes policy, so Cuomo has no power to do anything. So, basically, for now not much has changed. The RIAA (post-layoffs) is still conducting lawsuits (though, fewer of them) and is hoping to push ISPs into agreeing to a plan most ISPs recognize would piss off most of their customers. But, of course, never count the RIAA out. For too long, they've shown that when they're stopped at one door, they've already been planning for many months to sneak in through one of many backdoors.

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Filed Under: isps, three strikes
Companies: riaa

18 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jun 2009 @ 10:30am

The RIAA parasites just want to force artists to use them as a means of advancement. They want to create an artificial need for themselves by manipulating laws and destroying the free market.
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Derek Kerton (profile), 4 Jun 2009 @ 10:32am

Spitzer Swallow
Great. So we had one guy who went after big corporations that were abusing rules and loopholes, went after shenanigans on wall street, and he gets the boot because he likes women too much, and as a society we've made that illegal.

And now we have a guy who goes after citizens at the behest of big business like RIAA. Who wants to put spyware on people's PCs, wants to grandstand for busting up porn on the web, and who believes in abusing his position of power to make threats on Internet companies (Craigslist) so that he can grandstand and get the photo ops...for the kids.

Great trade. Human sexuality is a subject of great shame, but corporate malfeasance is just OK.
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- Anonymous Coward, 4 Jun 2009 @ 10:40am
  
  Re: Spitzer Swallow
  Human sexuality is a subject of great shame, but corporate malfeasance is just OK.
  
  YES! PERFECT! I usually need a paragraph to say what you accomplish in 16 words!
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  - Anonymous Coward, 4 Jun 2009 @ 10:58am
    
    Re: Re: Spitzer Swallow
    "YES! PERFECT! I usually need a paragraph to say what you accomplish in 16 words!"
    
    Those words are copyright, don't you dare repeat them :).
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- Tgeigs (profile), 4 Jun 2009 @ 10:54am
  
  Re: Spitzer Swallow
  "So we had one guy who went after big corporations that were abusing rules and loopholes, went after shenanigans on wall street, and he gets the boot because he likes women too much, and as a society we've made that illegal."
  
  I'm mostly ok w/that statement, except for the sake of correctness, Spitzer wasn't given the boot, he resigned. He could have fought if he wanted to.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 4 Jun 2009 @ 11:00am
    
    Re: Re: Spitzer Swallow
    Only insane people get into politics and only more insane people stay in politics. That's why this world is ran by a bunch of psychopaths who belong in asylums.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 4 Jun 2009 @ 11:12am
    
    Re: Re: Spitzer Swallow
    Spitzer wasn't given the boot, he resigned. He could have fought if he wanted to.
    
    Perhaps, but I struggle with understanding the time line and the apparent high-level request to look into his private life leading up to his resignation. If you recall, prior to his resignation, the man had committed no crime, in fact the very opposite- he was a prosecutor. It seems someone went on a fishing expedition of his and his family's finances, looking for dirt that would stick to him.
    
    Remember, Spitzer wielded a lot of power particularly after his office headed up the USA vs Microsoft antitrust case. Why that was never reported by MSM was baffling.
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    - Mechwarrior, 4 Jun 2009 @ 11:15am
      
      Re: Re: Re: Spitzer Swallow
      I believe theres a word for this.
      
      realpolitik
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      - Matt Tate (profile), 4 Jun 2009 @ 4:02pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Spitzer Swallow
        I know what that means. If you're referring to people digging up dirt on Spitzer as realpolitik, I should point out that it's pretty tame by realpolitikal standards. Realpolitik as Otto Von Bismarck practiced it would include planting evidence of these romantic escapades, not just finding out about actual ones. Just the same, when politicians stopped being idealists and started practicing the politics of reality, the original aim of public office was lost forever. Now, concern for reelection has brought out people like Andrew Cuomo, while mass media borderline yellow-journalism-smear-campaigns have shooed out legitimately valuable public officers like Spitzer.
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    - Tgeigs (profile), 5 Jun 2009 @ 6:21am
      
      Re: Re: Re: Spitzer Swallow
      "If you recall, prior to his resignation, the man had committed no crime, in fact the very opposite- he was a prosecutor"
      
      Soliciting prostitution isn't a crime?
      
      "Remember, Spitzer wielded a lot of power particularly after his office headed up the USA vs Microsoft antitrust case."
      
      That IS interesting; I hadn't heard that before. The point I always here, and make, is that Spitzer was a vehement supporter of Hillary Clinton, and lost his Super Delegate vote due to the scandal.
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Ryan, 4 Jun 2009 @ 10:35am

For too long, they've shown that when they're stopped at one door, they've already been planning for many months to sneak in through one of many backdoors.

Doesn't this describe lascivious men in general?
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Killer_Tofu (profile), 4 Jun 2009 @ 11:02am

Eagerly awaiting
I eagerly await the death of the RIAA.
They needed to adapt or die.
They are continually choosing the death route, which I am happy they have chosen so far.
Hopefully with their waning power they cannot make things much worse before they are out.
Technology advances, and nobody should stop it.
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Annoyed in pa, 4 Jun 2009 @ 11:43am

CATV Services
CATV Services in PA has a 2 strike rule. If they are notified of alleged activity they will boot you off internet.
What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty. Or if you believe I actually did something wrong turn it over to police & da.
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Rob, 4 Jun 2009 @ 12:08pm

This has to have some serious ramifications with the First Amendment -- I mean the Internet is no longer an entertainment device like television, it has quickly become an essential tool for peoples' lives. Many people draw their entire livelihood from the Internet. Even more people use it as their sole source of information (as they should, with how slanted reporting in all other mediums seems to be today). For most under the age of 30, the Internet is an irreplaceable part of how we communicate to one another and stay connected. The RIAA feels that it is right to take all of this away from you? On the SUSPICION that you might be not even really stealing from them? It is things like this that make me want to give up on modern society and move to an uninhabited island in the South Pacific...
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- td_turf, 4 Jun 2009 @ 12:21pm
  
  Re:
  > It is things like this that make me want to give up on modern society and move to an uninhabited island in the South Pacific...
  
  Me too, as long as I can get email there.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 4 Jun 2009 @ 1:33pm
    
    Re: Re: Uninhabited Island
    Even better ... move the RIAA there ... to the Bikini atoll.
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    - Luci, 4 Jun 2009 @ 7:03pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: Uninhabited Island
      And restart the testing program? I could go for that!
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  - pferland, 4 Jun 2009 @ 1:37pm
    
    Re: Re:
    same here, every time I see a write up about the RIAA I just want to take my inter-tubes and live under the sea
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