RIAA IP sniffing method flawed


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just a snippet from the article of a 66yo retired teacher sued by the RIAA

Not only does nobody else use her computer in more than a passing way, the computer, an Apple Macintosh, is not even capable of running the KaZaA file-swapping program. And though the lawsuit against her said that she was heavily into the works of hip-hop artists like Snoop Dogg, Ms. Ward says her musical tastes run to Celtic and folk.

New York Times

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LOL

What ever happened to that company that said it can disable anyones computers using P2P Sharing programs? Cant remember the name of the company but had a good kick outa it anyway.

RIAA is struggling, fighting for air atmo but soon will drown.

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hmm, none that i can think of, i think it's a times exclusive. i forget you have to register, i haven't had to logon to the site in so long that i froget you have to do it.

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i read this in the ny daily news this morning. couldn't stop laughing. Stupid RIAA, can even get the finger point right. I wonder how many more mac users they are going to go after :s

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:yes:

Aww... It wants me to register! Any different links?

Dnsbehind, here is the text of the article. :omg: this seems ridiculous. cant they not accept their mistake and apologize to the lady? how many more innocent people were/are persecuted by the RIAA?

On Friday, the industry group dropped its suit against Mrs. Ward, but reserved the right to sue again. An industry spokeswoman denied that any mistake had been made.
Sarah Ward was stunned when the record industry sued her for being a music pirate.

Mrs. Ward, a 66-year-old sculptor and retired schoolteacher, received notice on Sept. 11 from the Recording Industry Association of America that she was being accused of engaging in millions of dollars worth of copyright infringement, downloading thousands of songs and sharing them with the world through a popular file-sharing program called KaZaA.

Mrs. Ward was deeply confused by the accusations, which have disrupted her gentle life in the suburbs of Boston. She does not trade music, she says, does not have any younger music-loving relatives living with her, and does not use her computer for much more than sending e-mail and checking the tides. Even then, her husband does the typing.

"I'm a very much dyslexic person who has not actually engaged using the computer as a tool yet," she explained in her first interview about the case.

On Friday, the industry group dropped its suit against Mrs. Ward, but reserved the right to sue again. An industry spokeswoman denied that any mistake had been made.

"We have chosen to give her the benefit of the doubt and are continuing to look into the facts," said Amy Weiss, a spokeswoman for the music industry association. She also denied that there were serious disputes about the facts of any other suits. "This is the only case of its kind," Ms. Weiss said.

But those opposed to the recording industry's legal tactics say that the case suggests that the methods used to track down music pirates are flawed. They argue that Mrs. Ward is probably not the only mistaken case in the recording industry dragnet.

Cindy Cohn, the legal director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an advocacy group concerned with civil liberties in the digital age, said that her organization was talking with dozens of people who say they have been sued but do not trade files.

In a number of the 261 lawsuits the industry has filed so far, members of the household other than the named defendant might have had access to the machines, she said. But some of those being sued, she added, are contending that their cases are purely ones of mistaken identity.

That is exactly what Mrs. Ward says happened to her. Not only does nobody else use her computer in more than a passing way, the computer, an Apple Macintosh, is not even capable of running the KaZaA file-swapping program. And though the lawsuit against her said that she was heavily into the works of hip-hop artists like Snoop Dogg, Ms. Ward says her musical tastes run to Celtic and folk.

Ms. Ward said that she was fortunate to have several lawyers in her family, and a son-in-law, Dan Levy, who is knowledgeable about the Internet and the file-trading wars. He put her in touch with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which is based in San Francisco.

"They picked the wrong little old lady to sue," Mr. Levy said. "This case alone should put the record companies on notice that their method of associating KaZaA user names with addresses is flawed."

An official of Mrs. Ward's Internet service provider, Comcast, said that the company had investigated the case and that it gave the right name associated with the Internet identifier, known as an I.P. number, that the industry lawyers demanded. But like many service providers, Comcast issues its I.P. numbers "dynamically," with the numbers shifting each time a user goes online. Both Comcast and the recording industry group say they can accurately trace the I.P. number back to a single user; nonetheless, identifying a particular user can be tricky.

Although Ms. Ward's identity may have been mistaken, the strategy of suing people of all ages and musical tastes is intentional, said Mike Godwin, a lawyer with Public Knowledge, a policy group seeking a middle ground in the piracy fight.

The idea, he said, is to make average people understand that they, too, could be hit with a suit for sharing songs. "If they target `Tattoo Guy,' who's out of a job but has access to an M.I.T. online account and is downloading songs and selling bootleg CD's out of the trunk of his car, nobody identifies with him," he said.

Ms. Weiss of the recording industry association said that the strategy was, in fact, working as planned. "This is a campaign of deterrence," she said, "and we want to send a strong message that this activity is illegal and there are consequences." Therefore, she said, "we are casting a wide net."

Groups like Public Knowledge and another Washington policy group, the Center for Democracy and Technology, agree with the industry claim that it has a right to pursue copyright infringers and say that suing individuals is a valid strategy so long as the most egregious violators are made the target. But these groups say that the industry must use its newly granted subpoena powers with care, and they suggest that both more judicial oversight and better warnings for those being investigated are needed.

Ms. Ward says she has been shaken by the accusation and threat of heavy penalties, which left her unable to sleep. She says she worries about people less equipped to fight. "We had emotional support and very skilled resources to turn to," she said. "What happens to people who don't have that in their life to clear their names or defend themselves?"

To Ms. Cohn, the case shows that the industry does not recognize the effect that its tactics are having on average people. To corporations, "litigation is just the cost of doing business," she said. "But it isn't just the cost of doing business with the people who they've targeted here."

Though the possibility of a revived lawsuit worries her, Ms. Ward said that the most troubling issue that remains for her is the absence of an apology from the industry group.

"When we can't make human amends to things," she said, "then we don't have a way forward."

Edited by bonobozoot
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lol

doesnt really concern me because I only use kazaa for porn... maybe I should put my 60gb of mp3s on kazaa just to mess with them? They cant sue or do anything to me because Im in sweden :p

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Bro...actually the 12 year old girl was guilty...and admitted to downloading songs. However, the girl and the mother paid for that 29.95 Kazaa thing and I am guessing in the little girls mind that she could download all she wanted.

RIAA is evil and I am grateful for bands that allow free recordings and distribution of their concerts (Phish, Grateful Dead, etc). If not my life would be without music. All the crap out there today sounds like yesterdays crap.

I do not engage in illegal downloads of songs and I rarely buy CDs. The RIAA is flawed and its practices of hunting down and pressing legal action on peer to peer users are wrong. Suing the 12 year old girl who lives in a housing project (if I am not mistaken)...then going after a 66 year old teacher...is low. I believe a warning would have sufficed...especially in the 12 year olds case. Then you find out that the 66 year old teacher probably did not engage in the activities the RIAA said it did. If that is the case...then does it mean that all of the cases can be thrown out due to technicalities? I hope so.

Lastly...screw the RIAA! :D

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does it mean that all of the cases can be thrown out due to technicalities? I hope so.

i dont think the RIAA admits even making a mistake. see my earlier post for that. it looks as if the RIAA will continue to persecute these people and will continue to make such mistakes. one hopes that the EFF will take up their cause by fighting these battles as they have done with the lady. also i dont think that the RIAA will make mistakes like that. the other people accused havent come forward and denied that they have not downloaded any songs. so, i guess the RIAA will go after them.

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Bro...actually the 12 year old girl was guilty...and admitted to downloading songs. However, the girl and the mother paid for that 29.95 Kazaa thing and I am guessing in the little girls mind that she could download all she wanted.

RIAA is evil and I am grateful for bands that allow free recordings and distribution of their concerts (Phish, Grateful Dead, etc). If not my life would be without music. All the crap out there today sounds like yesterdays crap.

I do not engage in illegal downloads of songs and I rarely buy CDs. The RIAA is flawed and its practices of hunting down and pressing legal action on peer to peer users are wrong. Suing the 12 year old girl who lives in a housing project (if I am not mistaken)...then going after a 66 year old teacher...is low. I believe a warning would have sufficed...especially in the 12 year olds case. Then you find out that the 66 year old teacher probably did not engage in the activities the RIAA said it did. If that is the case...then does it mean that all of the cases can be thrown out due to technicalities? I hope so.

Lastly...screw the RIAA! :D

i understand the girl was guilty, but what if she wasn't? she woulda paid the fee anyways b/c they were too poor to afford legal protection. and you know there will be mistakes by the riaa, tons of them, someone needs to stop this out of control behaviour by them...

what are they gonna do? print out a piece of paper with my ip on it? i can do the same, and threaten they were trying to hack me. how does a few numbers on a piece of paper prove anything? it doesn't. i just want there to be fair legal procedings, whether the person is guilty or not.

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I agree with you 110% Bro. If it turns out that the RIAA was mistaken with the 66-year-old grandmother downloading Snoop Dogg then I believe this points out a fundamental flaw in how the RIAA is suing P-to-P users and therefore, legally, the RIAA has no grounds for their lawsuits. I do fear though, as bono pointed out, that the RIAA would never admit that they are wrong.

What is one to do? I believe that we have to trust the legal system and unfortunately (as you mentioned in the girls case in which she settled) that majority of us could not afford lawyers to match the RIAA legal representation. Fairly disheartening especially to those that are falsely targeted.

:argh:

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I agree with you 110% Bro. If it turns out that the RIAA was mistaken with the 66-year-old grandmother downloading Snoop Dogg then I believe this points out a fundamental flaw in how the RIAA is suing P-to-P users and therefore, legally, the RIAA has no grounds for their lawsuits. I do fear though, as bono pointed out, that the RIAA would never admit that they are wrong.

What is one to do? I believe that we have to trust the legal system and unfortunately (as you mentioned in the girls case in which she settled) that majority of us could not afford lawyers to match the RIAA legal representation. Fairly disheartening especially to those that are falsely targeted.

:argh:

Trust the legal system? :happy:

My impression from your post is that you use P2P programs, to download illegal files..... You shouldn't be so trusting :)

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My impression from your post is that you use P2P programs, to download illegal files..... You shouldn't be so trusting?

They aren?t suing the people who download the music, only the people who share it to be downloaded.

From my interpretation of it all (I do not know if i am right or not) ....Technically it is illegal to distribute copyrighted music, but it is not illegal to download and listen to it. It is "morally" wrong (don't take that the wrong way, I am not for the RIAA), but I do not think that there is a law on receiving the illegal distributed files. Again, I am not stating this as a fact.

And just for the record.... I don't download music..... I listen to the rad:) :)

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it is illegal to have in your possession music you don't own the license to. doesn't matter if it is being given or taken from you. isn't the download folder shared by default? so most people who download also share.

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