"Honey, you
really need to delete those songs you have downloaded, I've been hearing
rumors
that people are getting arrested for it"
Sound
familiar? It
should, slightly like a broken record, definitely no pun
intended.
But you're
secretly
thinking, "this is no big deal, odds are I wont get caught". Truth is, you
could.
As of Monday,
September 8th, the RIAA, Recording Industry Association of
America,
sued 261 people holding and allegedly sharing music files. Since an
estimated
60 million people partake in this activity, the recent lawsuits wont be
the end
of this.
So, why the
sudden
uproar of the RIAA? Music
sharing
has become a big business on the internet, A lot of people are getting
their
tracks from music sharing programs rather then buying the actual C.D.
Bruce
Esser, Marian TAR supervisor and physics teacher said, "They're dinosaurs,
honestly, we won't need SONY- they're [music companies] realizing they're
out
business in 10 years, like calculators replacing slide rules, this is the
track
music is on".
How does this
exactly happen. In basic, non-computer extraordinaire terms, the company
hires
people to download music, they get the sharers screen name and email. They
then
contact the Internet Service Provider, or ISP, and demand the name and
address
of the subscriber. The RIAA then contacts the user and sues them. However
the
problem has been ended in settlement cases that range from $3,000 to
$17,000. And this is legal
due to
the RIAA subpoena request.
How far is to
far?
The RIAA has sued a 71-year-old man whose grandchildren downloaded the
music.
And according to Esser, "They [the RIAA] have made serious mistakes,
they've
filed suits against people who don't even have computers." The RIAA has
also
put schools in a tight spot. Esser said, "There is a school privacy act
which
doesn't allow is to give out information bout students. While the latest
Internet act requires us to give out student information to RIAA to see
who's
downloading music. So we're caught between two
laws."
There is a
company
Electronic Frontier Foundation, EFF, and their mission is to "defend
freedom in
the digital world". They have helped win cases against suits and are
fighting
this legal action. The EFF said "it's time to face the fact that the
copyright
law currently is broken. It is making criminals out of music lovers and
technologists."
EFF Legal
Director
Cindy Cohn said. " Hollywood sought to control what innovators can make
available to consumers." Her co-worker Executive director Shari Steel
however
said, "it's time we found a way to ensure that artists get paid without
killing
off this tremendous new technology.
The RIAA has a
point and they're definitely on the prowl because their businesses are
losing
money. They see the sharing music activity as illegal due to copyright
laws.
Junior Rachel Faulk agrees, "I feel bad for the music and movie
businesses,
since you can download movies online too. Getting the music and movies for
free
is taking money from people beyond the artist and the film, like the
recording
guy and the camera man". However the revenue is down because the number of
new
artist releases is significantly lower than in past
years.
Are you at
risk?
Technically you could be contacted, but right now the aim is at college
students and people who have over 5,000 songs downloaded on their
computer.
Should you delete your files? Not necessarily. If you never sign on to
your
music sharing software again and keep your music in a folder that's
inaccessible from other music-sharing people trying to download your
music, you
can keep all your files. It's when you step out into the internet program
where
there is a risk.
What can you
do?
Read up, know your facts, and be careful what you download. Go to www.eff.org and learn about the programs
they're
starting to go against this law. And remember, "Unless a computer is
turned off
law gives the RIAA the right to search computers for anything they deem
illegal'" Said Esser, and "quite frankly, that scares
me."