It wasn’t too long ago that the RIAA compiled their list of the universities most infested by alleged music pirates, and now it seems the MPAA is following suit. The RIAA used their list to target universities, sending threatening letters to the school’s administration, insisting that they forward “settlement letters” to students who matched IP addresses the record companies had harvested from P2P sharing programs. Now the MPAA has a list of its own, compiled at the request of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary. Read the list inside…
The RIAA Wants To Interrogate Your 10 Year-Old
By March 26, 2007
Tanya Andersen, a 42 year-old mother on disability accused of downloading “gangster rap”, doesn’t want the RIAA to interrogate her 10 year-old. The RIAA says the 10 year-old is a material witness. Tanya’s motion to the court argues:
“Emphasizing whether they can subject this young girl to distress, plaintiffs ignore whether they should. The should aspect of this evaluation is easy: Mrs. Andersen and her daughter should not be subjected to any more abuse in this litigation whatsoever.”
Tanya’s motion goes on to say that the plaintiffs know she is not the kazaa user who downloaded and shared music files, and that “a 5 minute Google search is all that was necessary to establish this and avoid the stress and damages to Ms. Andersen and her daughter.”—MEGHANN MARCO
Purdue University Will Gladly Forward RIAA Letters To Students
By March 21, 2007
If an Internet user notified decides not to pay the settlement, the music association will ask the university for its computer logs so it can pursue legal action. University spokeswoman Jeanne Norberg said the university would comply with the requests.
NPR Bites Back: Files Motion Against RIAA Internet Rate Increase
By March 21, 2007
Today, on behalf of the public radio system, NPR filed a motion for rehearing with the Copyright Royalty Board in response to its March 2, 2007 decision on rates for streaming internet music. This action is the first step in NPR’s efforts to reverse the decision, and it will be followed by an appeal of the Board’s decision to be filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.
Yeah! They’re bringing the fight! According to Andi Sporkin, Vice President for Communications, NPR: “The Board’s decision to dramatically raise public radio stations’ rates was based on inaccurate assumptions and lack of understanding of the issues. The new rates inexplicably break with the longstanding tradition of recognizing public radio’s non-commercial, non-profit role, while the procedures we’re being asked to now undertake for measurement are non-existent, arbitrary and costly.” Read the filing inside.
RIAA Sues Stroke Victim Who Didn't Even Live In the Correct State
By March 14, 2007
RIAA Sues Stroke Victim in Michigan [Recording Industry vs The People via BoingBoing]
Explain DRM To Your Dad
By February 17, 2007
Ever try to explain why DRM is bad for consumers to someone who just didn’t get it? Wired’s Listening Post Blog has a bunch of good examples. We don’t know if they’d work on your Dad (does Dad give a crap about Linux and Region 2 DVDs?), but they are nice examples of ways that DRM gets in the way of consumer goals. —MEGHANN MARCO
RIAA Tries To Avoid Paying Expensive Lawyers By Bullying ISPs
By February 14, 2007
“The RIAA has sent out a letter to the ISPs telling them to stop making mistakes in identifying subscribers, and offering a ‘Pre-Doe settlement option’ — with a discount of ‘$1000 or more’ — to their subscribers, if and only if the ISP agrees to preserve its logs for 180 days. Other interesting points in the letter (PDF): the RIAA will be launching a web site for ‘early settlements,’ http://www.p2plawsuits.com”;
That’s cool, just bypass the legal system with a scary letter and a website. ISPs aren’t going to fall for this, are they? Comcast? Verizon? Are you there? —MEGHANN MARCO
Pottery Barn to Target: You Stole Our Stockings
By December 19, 2006
- “Williams-Sonoma, which operates Pottery Barn and other chains, claims in a federal lawsuit filed last week that a quilted Christmas stocking sold at Target stores contains “every distinctive element of Pottery Barn Christmas stockings,” right down to the snowflakes and blue sky.
Williams-Sonoma isn’t the first to sue Target over copyright infringement. “Lucky Brand Dungarees, which sells $100-plus jeans worn by the likes of Salma Hayek and Sandra Bullock, filed a lawsuit in federal court in New York, accusing Target of copying its distinctive floral design jeans and its rear-pocket stitching.” It seems like Target is taking their knock-off aesthetic a bit too far. They’d better get back to partnering with designers and stay away from ripping them off, lest lawsuits drive up prices.—MEGHANN MARCO
Unlock Your Cellphone Now
By November 28, 2006
The US Copyright office killed cellphone crippleware companies locking your phone to their sepecific service last week. We heard about this but didn’t post anything, as we didn’t see anything actually compelling cellphone companies to let you enjoy the full use of your phone. full phone portability.
Target Agrees To Stop Selling “Coach” Bags
By October 25, 2006
Today, Coach dropped a trademark infringement suit alleging Target sold counterfeit versions of a popular purse, the Python Signature Striped Demi.
Windows Media Player 11 is Big Brother?
By September 22, 2006
Watch out! Don’t burn that Shania Twain CD with Microsoft Windows Media Player 11, or it might encode whatever you rip with DRM.
Amazon Unboxed Is Also Unhinged
By September 18, 2006
Those copyfighters over at BoingBoing have uncovered some tasty tidbits in the user agreement of Amazon’s new Video-on-Demand service. The gist?
Reader Explains the Circuit City DMCA Disconnect
By August 7, 2006
Hey, we’re all for Circuit City flouting the DMCA. It’s a bogus law, as anti-consumer as they come. So we were a bit disappointed when Bill Cimino, director of corporate communications, clarified that the sign wasn’t the opening jab in a legal title fight between Circuit City and the RIAA/MPAA, but was instead a disconnect between the wishes of corporate and that particular Circuit City’s store manager.
Coke Stole Slogan, Claims Cricket-Cola
By April 21, 2006
A small soda company is suing Coca-Cola for trademark infringement. And they’re wrong.
Bush’s iPod Houses “Illegal” Songs
By April 17, 2006
The RIAA and the DRM Nazis could have a new target besides small families, single mothers and MIT students. How about the President of the United States? From BoingBoing:
YouTube Scares the Dickies off of Record Industries
By March 24, 2006
The music industry is getting ready to work itself into a lather over the salvation for modern human society, YouTube.
