PhotoDude.com

Sat. Aug 17, 2002

Record Companies Sue Internet

Record Companies Sue Internet – The ”Gang of Five,” the Al Qaeda of the music industry, has made another heinous attack upon innocent civilians. One that is unprecedented. "The world’s largest record companies sued major Internet service and network providers on Friday, alleging their routing systems allow users to access the China-based Listen4ever.com Web site and unlawfully copy musical recordings."

"The copyright infringement suit, filed in Manhattan federal court, seeks a court order requiring the defendants to block Internet communications that travel through their systems to and from the Listen4ever site."

The Gang of Five has decided to sue the ”backbone” of the Internet, in the form of the companies that provide the major connectivity and routers that we all use. This is like the government going after the phone companies of the US because terrorist cells used their equipment to communicate. Or suing the US Postal Service because they delivered letters containing anthrax.

In America, we have legal precedents involving what’s called a ”common carrier.” For example, your ISP likely provides you access to Usenet. There, you will find tens of thousands of newsgroups on every topic imaginable, and many of which you’ve never dreamed. The vast majority of what you’ll find is entirely legal. But some of those newsgroups contain clearly copyrighted material that individuals have posted illegally. Others contain sexual images that surely violate many local laws around the country, whether they are copyrighted or not.

You ISP is not responsible, because they act as a common carrier. They provide the Usenet service unfiltered for content. Because the first time they block the first message for content, they become legally responsible for the content of each of the hundreds of thousands of messages posted daily in tens of thousands of newsgroups. It is, in essence, the same as the phone company. They are not responsible for the content of each call made, they cannot edit content that way. Therefore, they are not legally responsible for that content, even if is criminal.

No matter to the Gang of Five.

"The suit says the plaintiffs have not been able to determine who owns the Web site [...] The suit alleges that Listen4ever uses offshore servers located in the People’s Republic of China to host the Web site through which the illegal copying occurs. The plaintiffs allege that Listen4ever provides its services to Internet users in the United States through backbone routers owned and operated by the defendants."

They’ve encountered a case beyond their reach, and therefore are trying to expand their grasp to the actual equipment that transmits the bits. All the bits. They’ve already threatened "to go after Internet users who download unauthorized songs and other copyrighted material, raising the possibility of jail time for digital-music fans.” Next, they’ll claim patent on the electrons themselves. This is no longer about copyright, this is about total control of digital media of all types via the terrorism of multi-million dollar litigation.

Last September, a lot of people finally woke up to a cause that had declared war on us a long time before 9-11. As a long time customer of the music industry and proponent of the Internet, I’m now feeling the same way. This is an industry for which I personally helped generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales in my 5 years as a radio program director, and now, they are attacking me.

Their actions make it clear, I am no longer their friend. They no longer treat me as a valued customer. They threaten to attack me, or the resources I use (we all use), as an enemy of the record industry. And if you treat people that way long enough, they will often start acting accordingly. Or, they’ll load up for bear, and prepare to retaliate.

Baseball strike? Who cares if they kill they goose that feeds them golden eggs? Baseball will continue to be played around the world, just not for the profit of Major League Baseball. Me, I’m on a CD strike. I will buy my next CD when the recording industry stops treating me like a criminal, engaging in litigation with no legal basis other than intimidation, and lobbying for new laws that encroach upon the freedoms of their customers or the Internet itself.

I am the result of their self fulfilling prophecy. I am now an enemy of the record industry.