In other words we should ignore the law because we don't like it?
I assume this comment was directed at the earlier comment by sholling who was disparaging certain laws enacted by lobbyist and other corporate interest for the Recording and Movie Industries.
The MPAA, the RIAA, and others who hire the likes of MediaDefender and their ilk are also ignoring the law.
While downloading copyrighted material is illegal s
o is taking the law into your own hands as the MPAA and the RIAA have done by hiring this company to apply justice for them. I thought I had made this abundantly clear, but perhaps not.
In the abstraction of cyberspace, they have hired mercenaries to go and conduct raids to disrupt operation, plant spying devices, decoys, etcetera. So what is next, the MPAA hires their own paramilitary police force to conduct raids on the supposed criminal’s homes, confiscate their computers for pirated files?
The difference is only in degree, not in kind.
The Internet Architecture Board, an international public entity that grew out of a US Department of Defense program called Defense Advanced Research Projects Agancy, Internet Configuration Control Board, defines the actions consistent with the actions of MediaDefender as unethical and unacceptable.
Most countries, including our own, prosecute hackers for doing what MediaDefender does. Should MediaDefender be treated differently because they are incorporated and do this at the behest of other corporations? No.
For those who have not put two and two together, MediaDefenders efforts to bog down P2P sites doesn’t just affect file sharers engaged in illegal activity.
All that bandwidth that MediaDefender uses has to pass through the information superhighway to get there. It bogs down the entire internet, perhaps not much across the whole system, but it uses capacity up none the less. Ever wonder why sometimes one’s broadband connection seems slower than other times, web pages seem to take a longer to load? MediaDefender affects every server and connection between them and their target, perhaps crossing your path.
Who is the MPAA to decide who is criminal and who is not, even if they do have some sort of evidence? Every citizen of the US is entitled to Due Process of the Law, not punishment at the hands of vigilantes who think such persons have committed a crime.
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution:
No person shall be ... deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ....
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution:
No State shall ... deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ...
I have never seen it stated anywhere that Due Process includes the action of vigilantes. If file sharing is deemed illegal, it is a legal matter and up to the legally designated authorities to handle.
For that matter, is MediaDefender properly and legally licensed as a private investigator as required in most states?
Sholling is correct in his statements about the historical intent of the provisions for copyright and patents as intended by the founding fathers as careful study of American history and the constitution would reveal.
The Music Industry has long existed by means of legalizing theft by making artist sign over rights to the music label who owns the work, not the artist.
No file downloader is stealing from any artist who works for the traditional record industry because the label, not the artist, owns they copyright.
Robert Fripp of King Crimson, tired of what the labels were doing to him and with his work began the Discipline Global Mobile label to run contrary to the Music Industry and their common practices. All of the following is from DGM’s web site:
DGM Copyright Statement (1994).
The phonographic copyright in these performances is operated by Discipline Global Mobile on behalf of the artist and compositor, with whom it resides, contrary to common practice in the record industry. Discipline accepts no reason for artists to assign the copyright interests in their work to either record company or management by virtue of a "common practice" which was always questionable, often improper, and is now indefensible.
Members of the public not familiar with the norm might not know this common practice: the artist pays to record the album, generally on an advance provided by the record company. This advance is then recouped from artist royalties (which are subject to limitations in accordance with "company policy") and the album is owned by the record company. The record company owns the artist's work, for which the artist paid. If the record company, or owner of the company, sells the catalogue or the company itself, the artist receives nothing for their work, even though the artist paid for it to be made.
The copyrights of the compositions rest with the performer and post-performance compositor. Crimson Music recognizes no valid or ethical reason to assign them to publisher or manager as an inevitable, necessary or useful part of the business of collecting publishing royalties.
The artists affirm their moral rights to be acknowledged the authors of these works, subject always to the operation of grace.
Let us sadly acknowledge, in the spirit of preparing the future and repairing the past, that the publishing industry and music industry has often and repeatedly failed to treat its artists honourably, equitably and with common decency. There are too many instances of abuse, exploitation and the betrayal of trust for us to view this world with equanimity, confidence or ease.
Actions from the past which we now view with regret, including our own, may yet be addressed: they are reparable, they are forgivable; they are not excusable, they are not acceptable. To do otherwise is to place ourselves outside the natural circle of healing. This is truly terrifying.
Cynicism and bitterness are natural, reasonable and likely responses for anyone, whether performer or audient, who knows a close relationship with those who control money flows within the music industry; music can be a gate to Paradise, but cynicism holds us at the threshold.
Incidentally, Frank Zappa’s second album is named ‘Absolutely Free’, not for any hippie reference current with the times, but because his first album did not make enough money to pay off the record label so he effectively made the album for them for
absolutely free.
About DGM
The fifth aim of DGM is to be a model of ethical business in an industry founded on exploitation, oiled by deceit, riven with theft and fueled by greed.
If a small company, which aims to be true, can succeed in the music industry there is hope for others. We each support each other without necessarily seeing or knowing how this might be, or when it occurs. But on the level where things are true, this is true.
Any business will be successful if it provides its customers with either what they want or what they need. If the public needs what it wants, or wants what it needs, the business will be very successful. In this sense public taste can redirect and reconstitute our business culture. There is hope in this.
The formal view of Crimson Music and DGM is that business practices, although widespread and "common practice", which seek to deprive the creative element of its authority, and artists of the benefit of their work, are short-sighted and immoral.
Any culture whose artists are directed or controlled by commercial interests is in mortal danger. Any artist directed or controlled by commercial interests is in mortal danger. Any artist willingly directed or controlled by commercial interests is not to be trusted.
The history of the music industry is a history of exploitation and theft.
There are legitimate uses for P2P networks, damaging them for supposed illegal activity becomes collateral to legal use, but I am sure the labels don’t care if an independent is impeded collaterally:
About DGM Live
DGM Live utilizes the latest in peer-to-peer technologies to deliver large music files across the internet. Files are distributed using BitTorrent, a file distribution utility that can dramatically increase the speed of your download by retrieving your content not only from DGM's servers but from fellow downloaders simultaneously. Download it now.
In addition to BitTorrent downloads, you may also download your files directly from your web browser.
I don’t advocate stealing anything, but the record labels can eat s***, the same s*** they have served to artists for decades.
