A federal judge has handed a preliminary victory to the recording industry by granting its request to unmask anonymous file swappers accused of copyright infringement.
U.S. District Judge Denny Chin ruled Monday that Cablevision, which provides broadband Internet access in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, can be required to divulge the identities of its subscribers sued over copyright violations. Chin, in Manhattan, said that the implicit guarantee of anonymity in the Bill of Rights is an insufficient shield in this case: "Such a person's identity is not protected from disclosure by the First Amendment."
Lawyers following the case said it is significant because Chin's ruling is the most detailed so far in any of the many "John Doe" lawsuits brought by the Recording Industry Association of America. Chin said that while file swapping "qualifies as speech" to some degree, the RIAA's member companies had overcome the hurdle posed by the First Amendment and could compel "disclosure of the Doe defendants' identities."
News source: C|Net News.com
U.S. District Judge Denny Chin ruled Monday that Cablevision, which provides broadband Internet access in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, can be required to divulge the identities of its subscribers sued over copyright violations. Chin, in Manhattan, said that the implicit guarantee of anonymity in the Bill of Rights is an insufficient shield in this case: "Such a person's identity is not protected from disclosure by the First Amendment."
Lawyers following the case said it is significant because Chin's ruling is the most detailed so far in any of the many "John Doe" lawsuits brought by the Recording Industry Association of America. Chin said that while file swapping "qualifies as speech" to some degree, the RIAA's member companies had overcome the hurdle posed by the First Amendment and could compel "disclosure of the Doe defendants' identities."
News source: C|Net News.com
Key product features include:
Play as three different characters:
Alan - Youngest Tracy who dreams of joining his family's top-secret organization International Rescue. Although his intentions are always good, he tends to not think before he acts, which gets him into trouble at times.
Fermat - Alan's best friend and confidant. He's the brains -- not brawn -- in this group of heroic friends.
Tin Tin - The third member of their trio and an extremely adventurous girl who knows Tracy island like the back of her hand.
Visit International Rescue's secret island base, battle an oil well fire in Alaska, blast off to the Thunderbirds space station, explore the bottom of the sea, and more.
Race through dangerous terrain in Flight mode and complete missions and solve puzzles in Adventure mode.
Features the entire Thunderbirds fleet:
Thunderbird 1 - International Rescue's high-speed reconnaissance rocket designed to reach disaster zones quickly. This awesome silver gray spearhead craft is extremely maneuverable with top speeds exceeding 15,000 miles per hour.
Thunderbird 2 - Renowned for its power and strength, this massive green leviathan carries International Rescue's vital heavy-duty engineering and life-saving equipment, including the versatile mini-sub, Thunderbird 4.
Thunderbird 3 - This bright red inter-stellar rescue rocket of the International Rescue organization is used for extra-orbital missions and also transports supplies to Thunderbird 5.
Thunderbird 4 - The smallest of the International Rescue vehicles, this versatile mini-sub is primarily used for underwater emergencies and is discreetly carried aboard Thunderbird 2. Whether removing obstacles from the ocean floor or gathering deep sea eco-samples it's the ultimate underwater reconnaissance craft.
Thunderbird 5 - This Massive communications satellite in permanent geo-stationary orbit is vital to International Rescue's operations. The heart of the organization's communications network, it provides immediate data on all rescue situations and keeps constant vigil over the earth and all four remaining Thunderbirds.
Complete nine challenging levels packed with obstacles and enemies.
Availability and Pricing
Thunderbirds will be available in August 2004 on the Game Boy® Advance for a suggested retail price of $29.99, with an ESRB "E" rating. For sales and ordering information, customers can visit www.vugames.com.
*Watches the RIAA Commercial again*
The RIAA is a dying cause, seeing as many people are choosing to use iTunes, Napster, Connect and Wal-Mart now.
So in my opinion, the RIAA can shove a CD up every one of their asses.
...but...
Its about time somebody did something. Piracy is piracy and there are consequences to breaking the law. People need to stop whining because they are getting caught and start taking responsibility for their actions.
Am I wrong or is it still wrong to steal????
The RIAA may be the Sherrif of Nautingham, but pirates aren't the merry men of Robin the Hood. They are simply people out for their own interests. They have none of the concerns of others in mind, simply their own, which equates to "I personally am not going to pay for this".
If you want the music, turn on the radio. It's free. If your favorite band doesn't play on the radio, don't pirate them just to get the music for yourself... because if they aren't on the radio then the chances are that they aren't getting giant wads of cash in the first place and they need the record sales you can provide.
But back to the issue at hand, **** you RIAA. You have enough money already. As technology increases, so does your profit, not the other way around. The more you try to intimidate others into obeying you, the more people will flip you off and obtain music illegally. Why don't you try making money by dabbling in portable music devices? That way, the more people get music the ways you don't like, the more money you make.
Let's sum up this whole post : I hate pirates that try to escuse themselves with weak arguments. Shut up, you know you're wrong. I hate the RIAA even more. You suck, guys. Go buy a yacht and forget about your pursuit of greed for a month or so while you take vacation.
Last edited by 31461 on 27 Jul 2004 - 23:37
I begin to wonder just what these corporations will do for fun when they have every single penny is in their pockets and the world is in servitude.
(j/k)
If CD's weren't such a rip off, (specially in UK) maybe ppl would actually buy them.
But the fat cats want their fat wedge, so f**k 'em!
Most new releases are £8
I hope I'm allowed to say this: It's time for some one to do real damage to the RIAA's webserver
Seriously though, I used to buy CDs all the time. I quit buying CDs because I had to start pulling out more than a $20 bill to buy 1 CD. I don't go for that crap. Hell naw. There is a bright side to all this though. It aint much, but its something. That is they RIAA and it's cohorts may very well slow down or stop file sharing, but we all know that will never happen. Here's an anology for this situation. Trying to think of ways to completely shut down or outlaw file sharing is the same as trying to make a network 100% secure; IT"S IMPOSSIBLE. They will NEVER be able to completely stop file sharing just as NO ONE can make a network 100% secure.
Have you guys listened to the indy stuff? Some of it is extremely awesome. Now THAT music I buy. Listened to samples on CDBaby, bought the CD, emailed the artist and complemented on how talented she was - and she RESPONDED. We actually had a "conversation". Very cool.
So RIAA - Kiss my WASP butt
Ok, perhaps it wasn't the RIAA, but several record labels were found guilty of price fixing over a many year span, before the p2p networks were rampant. Maybe it wasn't the RIAA doing it, but perhaps the RIAA should have stepped in and told the companies not to price fix since they are soo huge on enforcing the law.
The mentallity of these companies is that you can do something illegal untill your caught, so i find it laughable that they expect the customers to follow all the laws themselves.
My suggestion to the RIAA....give up on retail sales. Take all the cds and throw them up on ebay or amazon marketplace for a few bucks off the outrageous price you *******s put on the new albums. It's incredibly sad when I buy a CD from the store with that plastic crap on it for 18-20 bucks and see the same CD on Amazon barely used for like 5.95. Is shrinkwrap really that much of an endangered resource?
OK, let's admit that it's illegal to share copyrighted material like this, but why is RIAA the company with the power here?
Is that everything's gonna be fine fine fine
I've got one judge in my pocket
And the other one is paying off a senator
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