There is an argument to be made that she was simply archiving music, and likewise there is an argument that she did not copy the music, rather those who downloaded it did. If I archive CD’s that I purchased at the store in an MP3 format on my computer, do I now have a LEAGAL or contractual obligation to insure that they are not accessible via the internet? I really think the issue here is the intent to profit and that is why Napster failed. Napster was making money off the sharing. The latest round of file sharing does not follow that model at all.
Copyright infringement is not theft. If it was theft the police would be arresting these people and RIAA would not be filing civil suits. I’m not saying it’s a-ok and good for society to infringe on another’s copy rights, but it’s not theft.
I see the RIAA could
1) Adapt their business model and attempt to stop the COMMERCIAL theft of music over the internet. Perhaps start by selling CD’s that are customizable, or at least not forcing the 11 crap songs and one good song on a 25.00 CD on the consumer.
This is the only viable option in my mind.
2) Attempt to force the public to respect copyright laws through threats of litigation. Without press coverage (which won’t last forever) this will not work. Can they really use this method on 4 million people? That is a whole lot of civil suits, even if on suit cost just $10.00, it would add up fast!
“If you're one of the 4 million people connected to the KaZaA network at any given time, you were about as likely to be hit by lightning today as by one of the 261 lawsuits from the record industry.” (
http://slate.msn.com/id/2088066/)
Won’t the public just use technology to make the process anonymous?
Go see
http://www.earthstation5.com/
I didn’t even know to steal music using Kazaa prior to the suits and ensuing publicity.
3) Attempt to use technology to thwart technology. The best case scenario is to shut down the swapping for a few weeks as the community develops the counter technology. Does RIAA have the resources to keep up this fight for years and years?
RIAA is in big trouble, just like ALPA is in big trouble. Big organizations don’t evolve over time, rather they stagnate to the point of crisis and then do a radical re-invention that is marginally successful at best. I would bet one million dollars we will see exactly that from RIAA and ALPA any day now.