IRMA To Sue Filesharers For Clawing Back Profits From Greedy Exploitative Corporations

by on the lam Tue Apr 12, 2005 21:11

Artists 'not concerned' about file sharing

A survey of artists and musicians in the US has revealed that a large majority have embraced the internet and consider it to be a helpful tool to their careers.

[....]

Whilst the survey revealed that musicians agree that file-sharing should be illegal, they do not seem to be overly concerned about it, with 66 percent of musicians citing it as just a minor threat or no threat at all.

[....]

There is general agreement amongst artists and musicians on the issue of what is permissible and what is not in terms of copying digital music or material. Selling material without the creator's permission is broadly regarded as wrong while copying material for private use is seen as acceptable.

by Paul Wed Apr 13, 2005 04:21

have they realeased the names of those they're after?

by nervous indymedia editor Wed Apr 13, 2005 12:51

aaaahhhh

by barry Wed Apr 13, 2005 14:44

Ive been a big fan of Tony Christie for years. I downloaded the definitive collection, but the version of "Avenues and Alleyways" was both lacklustre and woeful. Not an ounce of "oomph" in it.

Just managed to get the original videos of "Amarillo" and "I did what I did for Maria" downloaded from Win MX.

Jimmy Saville was still introducing Top of the Pops , in a suit. Excellent stuff.

IRMA can eat my shorts. And anyone who downloads Westlife deserves to be prosecuted.

by Auntie IRMA Wed Apr 13, 2005 19:20

No, they have not yet released the names of the 17. Becasue they don't yet have the names. At this point they have only IP adresses and usernames. They are asking the ISPs to release the account details. According to RTE News last night, one (unnamed) ISP has refused to reveal them under the Data Protection Act (or whatever its called). However, the same thing happened in England, and the ISPs were brought to the High Court and made reveal them.

The result was an average fine of £3,000.

by jsr Wed Apr 13, 2005 19:30

There have been a group of people in the Uk who were fined £2000 each for the same thing. The US music industry is going to target stundents in its round of sweeps and is also taking legal action against file share software producers.
In short my friend the Jig Is up.

by jack white Wed Apr 13, 2005 20:22

"The US music industry is going to target stundents in its round of sweeps and is also taking legal action against file share software producers. "

Most of the software producers wil be fine, just like the home taping 'crisis' in the 80's (anyone remember that one? when the record companies wanted to put a huge tax on all blank tapes because "HOME TAPING IS DESTROYING THE MUSIC INDUSTRY!!!!!) software producers can show that there is a 'legitimate ' use for their product i.e distributing free software (most linux suites can be downloaded on bittorrent s for example) or copyright free media (the kind of thing you see linked to from indymedia).

They have managed to shut down some sites, like suprnova for example but others have just taken their place.

What they might be able to do is prosecute a few individuals, but even thats just a maybe, they'll never be able to touch the vast majority of us. they'll also find it impossible to prosecute anyone if isp's refuse to release the information. Personally I would immediatly switch from any internet service provider who had such a low level of respect for my privacy that they'd pass on all of my internet records to commerial companies.


"In short my friend the Jig Is up."

The jig my friend is only starting.

by jsr Wed Apr 13, 2005 20:43

Lets hope the jig never ends and everyone should get their dancing shoes on.(ok I just about streached that one as far as it can go)
Anyway we always have the betamax rule to fall back on if things go against file sharing software. everyone say a big thanks to sony

by Mick Thu Apr 14, 2005 01:25

Whats the Betamax rule?

by Auntie IRMA Thu Apr 14, 2005 01:43

As I recall, the Betamax Principle stems from a court case brought in the early 1980s by the Movie and TV industry against the Betamax, the makers of the first (?) video machine that could record onto videotape.

In a nutshell, courts in the US found that the makers of the technology (the VCR) could not be held liable for illegal acts carried with said technology (such as taping off the TV, or video to video). The precendet has stood for some 20 years. The 'entertainment' industry has also tired to stop companies from making Dual Deck tape recorders, CD Burners and presumably DVD burners - but always failed.

Of course, the Betamax Principle only applies to the manufacturers of the technologies, not to people who fileshare.

Of course, once again the misnamed Entertainment Industry are attempting to have the rule overturned. And one of their cheerleaders is none other than 'progressive activist' Sheryl Crow. But Sheryl, all we wanna do si have some fun!

http://www.macnewsworld.com/story/40054.html

Its kinda funny, no, that capitalists always seem to be looking for deregulation of this and deregulation of that - except for what they don't want deregulated, like copyright law.

by Paul Baynes Thu Apr 14, 2005 12:49 Fairview

There is another argument out there.

I would imagine that the 17 people being targeted by IRMA have already spent more than most on recorded music. Anybody who downloads a large amount of music clearly has a serious interest in music, and probably has a larger CD collection than most people. They probably attend more concerts than most people. I would consider these kind of people to be among the most supportive of the Irish music industry that IRMA claims to be trying to defend. With the advent of accessible downloadable music on the internet, it certainly may be the case that there are some people who have made a conscious decision to stop paying for music altogether. But it seems likely to me that there are plenty of people who will continue to buy CDs as well as downloading music. Many people like to have a CD in its commercial format, for the album artwork and sleeve notes. The internet is just another format for getting music: it does not necessarily follow that people who download music illegally will stop buying CDs altogether. It seems more likely to me that people will continue to buy CDs, but will also download music, and thus they will have access to a much larger library of music to listen to. And surely, in the long term, the more music people listen to, and the more music gets out there, the better it is for the music industry in the long term.

by Auntie IRMA Thu Apr 14, 2005 17:05

While agree with your point (most definatley) - the IRMA aren't actually targetting donwloaders as such. They are targetting what they call 'serial file-sharers' - the people who -upload- music to others. This is, seems to me, the central plank of their argument. The people who make the music available are the 'bigger criminals' than those who downlaod it. At the press conference, they compared it to drug dealing!

But on your point, its definatley true for people I know. I've got 300+ plus CDs and the last albums I bought were Pony Club (a great Irish band who I would NEVER have heard of without the Internet) and Bloc Party (ditto, except they're not Irish). I've even gone to see Bloc Party twice.

Another example is Kaiser Cheifs, another mate did me a copy of their album, and while its not all that great - last month they played in the Ambassador in Dublin, it was €14 so I went. I'd never have gone without the copy, and would never have bought the album on the strength of it. I also bought a T-shirt inside, because I know they get money from those sales. So the Kaiser Cheifs made money out of me that they would not have made if I didn't get the copy in the first place! Not to mention the amount of money the Ambo (which I assume is part of the 'Music Industry') made on the drinks I bought.

In researching the orginal article, I came across a really novel idea that I forgot to inculde in the piece. That is - if you download an album and like it, send the band some money. Even if it's only a fiver, its still more than they'd make off a 'legal' copy - you are supporting the -artist- and the criminals in the record industry get nothing. (Not necessarily a strategy for the independent labels, but certainly one for circumventing the big four).

I found the Courtney Love article very interesting too, thanks to whoever made this a feature and put that there. I'd recommend everyone reads it - and I'm not particularly a fan of Ms. Love.

Another article, this time about Wilco's success following being dropped by their label can be read here:

http://gnn.tv/headlines/2082/Exploring_the_Right_to_Share_Mix_and_Burn

by redjade Thu Apr 14, 2005 17:22

This Saturday in Dublin at the IFI...

Proposal for a EFF Ireland
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=69374

by Phuq Hedd Thu Apr 14, 2005 18:45

Buy direct from artists, make your own culture, boycott commercialism.
http://ccmixter.org/contests/wired/winners
http://ccmixter.org/
http://www.soundclick.com/
http://magnatune.com/
http://www.dmusic.com/
http://www.chumba.com/

by Auntie IRMA Fri Apr 15, 2005 01:12

Given yesterday's (Wed) shockingly bad, pro-record industry article in Daily Ireland, I was pleasantly surprised to see their editorial had a more rational tone.

=======================================

Robbers policing internet piracy?

Editorial from Daily Ireland

Right across Europe, record companies this week launched a new offensive against file-sharing — where one music fan shares a track or an album with another on the Internet. They promise legal action against those they catch.

In Ireland, the campaign is being led by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA), which says the practice usually breaks copyright law, is responsible for a drop in record sales of 19 per cent, and is “effectively stealing the livelihood of the creators of music". These are sound arguments, to a point.

Many music fans, however, feel the same record companies have been over-charging them for decades. CDs cost far more here than elsewhere, and the record companies do all in their power to prevent Irish consumers from buying perfectly legal recordings from cheaper markets, such as Hong Kong, by mail.

A particularly cynical arrangements exists in the world of DVDs, where people buying movies or music videos abroad find the globe has been carved into “regions" to help maximise profits.
Technology has been used to ensure that DVDs from, say North America or Australia, simply do not work in European players.

Indeed, in the past, every new technology was greeted by the industry as a heaven-sent opportunity to gouge their customers.
When cassettes arrived, record companies re-released their catalogues, and charged full price. When CDs emerged, music lovers again had to pay dearly for recordings they often had already bought on vinyl or cassette.

In many cases, the musicians themselves received little or nothing extra -- but for the record companies each change heralded a bonanza.
So many fans, and some musicians, may see a delicious irony in the record companies now finding themselves, for once, on the receiving end of technological change.

All of this, however, is likely to prove a sideshow. With new ways to share files being invented every week, and more and more families getting broadband at home, there is little the record and movie industries can do to turn back the clock.
Instead of the current “bata fada" approach, they should figure out a way to make music and films even easier to download and far cheaper than they are now. Surely, that would make more sense in the long run, and enrich more than the lawyers who yesterday issued a blizzard of writs across the world on behalf of the music giants, than the present approach.

Were they to offer better and more transparent prices to Irish people for their wares, they might find the vast majority would happily pay up.

====================================

by Auntie IRMA Fri Apr 15, 2005 01:14

Didn't realise the url was -that- long.

Here's a tiny one, thanks to whatever Ed fixes ;-)

http://tinyurl.com/6xstw

by Phuq Hedd Sat Apr 16, 2005 22:10

Unfortunately it's in GarageBand (proprietary format). Still it's a good step.

by examiner Sun Apr 17, 2005 18:42

Then check out the following artists/sites

http://www.zearle.com/
Zearle makes revolutionary socialist hip hop, by a member of the US workers' International League (co-thinkers of the Socialist Appeal group in the UK)

http://www.ironsheik.biz/
The Iron Sheik, Palestinian-American activist hip hop. Top class stuff, be sure and check out the Neo-Con Luv Song and Conversations with Edward Said. Theres an interview with him at
http://www.radio4all.net/index.php?op=program-info&program_id=12004&nav=&

http://sonofnun.net/
Son of Nun - More Palestinian-American hip hop, this with an openly socialist slant.

http://www.euphrates.ca/
Euphrates - Canadian-Iraqi hip hop out of Montreal, no mp3s on the site, but there is a flash player. I love this group. Interview with one of the Mcs at
http://www.radio4all.net/index.php?op=program-info&program_id=11333&nav=&

http://www.thephilistines.com/
The Philistines - "Arab-American hip hop for the masses".

http://www.dam3rap.com/
Da Arabian MC's (DAM) - Hip hop from a crew of Israeli-Arabs. These guys are great. Also check out their other site Arab Rap [ http://www.arabrap.net ], which has a load of free mp3s too. Piece about DAM and the controversy in the Israeli hip hop scene at
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,11710,1434554,00.html

Also, be sure and check out Hard Knock Radio weekdays on Pacifica's KPFA [ http://www.kpfa.org ] http://www.hardknockradio.com/

by Auntie-IRMA Fri Apr 22, 2005 18:07

Looks like its a free hand to IRMA. Can't read the article because it's subscriber only.

"Coming Down On The Loaders
22 Apr 2005

The dramatic announcement last week that the Irish Record Music Assocation was planning to sue 17 individuals the association has identified as "serial file-sharers" sent shock waves through the industry. IRMA chief executive Dick Doyle explains the background to to the move. Report by Tanya Sweeney."

Anyone happen to have a subscription? Will they post the full article?

by Auntie-IRMA Sat Apr 23, 2005 22:38 Chillin' with the A-Team in the LA Underground

The good news is, or at least appears to be, that if you ain't on Kazaa or Gnutella then you are not one of the Magnificent 17.

The bad news is, if you are, then there's a chance you're fucked...

Perhaps the most important bit for use fretful filesharers - here we find out specifically which networks have been targetted - 15 on Kazaa and 2 on Gnutella

part 1

part 2

part 3

part 4

by Auntie-IRMA Sat Apr 23, 2005 22:42 In the back of a truck with Kit and Nightrider.

The final two parts of the article (I had to break it up becasue of the filesize.image width limits here)...

Also, thanks to the Indymedia media team for putting my article in Print Flare. Nice one!

part 5

part 6

by eeekkkkk Sun Feb 26, 2006 14:09

very interesting

by eeekkkkk Sun Feb 26, 2006 15:31

http://www.ctheory.net/articles.aspx?id=499

the same powerful argument in terms of a more general political economy

by eeekkkkk Sun Feb 26, 2006 15:33

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004261.php

by primroseblue Wed Nov 15, 2006 15:06

who died and made you king of taste culture?
do you seriously think theses bands you don't like give a care
what you think while they're checking the accounts?
all you're doing on here is whining.
you just want something for free
what you said is the way the industry is set up
if you don't like it, go someplace else or change it
people, stop whining because you have to shell out
some money to buy a CD