Relating to the Verizon file sharing supoena...

[Kirnwaffen]

The company seems to be appealing on the basis that the media in question is not hosted on their servers.

My question: why not appeal on the basis that the RIAA had no legal authority to be monitoring the IP address in question? I mean, they require a warrant to tap a phone, so shouldn't the same go for your computer? Any precedent for this?

[Asher]

IP addresses are publically visible.

[Kirnwaffen]

But monitoring the activity from them would require some effort, would it not?

[Asher]

But since the information is public, it'd be more like overhearing a conversation in a public park rather than tapping someone's private phone.

[Kirnwaffen]

But you're recording the conversation word for word...

[Asher]

Is it illegal to record the conversation when two people are shouting at eachother in a public park?

[Asher]

The problems are simple
1) The users are willingly making their files public on a trading network
2) Their IP addresses are inherently public, for the internet to work
3) Since both the address and the files are public, it would not be feasable to go after the RIAA on legal grounds saying they had no right to look at the IP addresses or the public contents

[monkspider]

I still think the best way for Verizon to go is the "common carrier route", ergo telephone companies can't be responsible for what people talk about, etc.

[Kirnwaffen]

Alright, so there's no legal argument in that regard. So, short of encrypting the connection, the only way to stop this is to challenge the method that the record companies use to obtain the user's information, correct?

[TCO]

Or stop stealing.

[Seeker]

Stopped beating your wife yet?

[Ned]

I have had personal conversations with Verizon lawyers on this issue. It turns out that the RIAA has "agents" that download, inspect people's hard drives for illegal content, and report back. (Corporations and government agenicies are alarmed over RIAA's spyware.)

Now, if that is not an invasion of privacy, I don't know what is.

Also, the IP addresses for Verizon are dynamically assigned to most users. Verizion actually may not be able to answer the question of who had so and so IP address on so and so date at so and so time.

[optimus2861]

^ I'd be more troubled by RIAA's definition of "illegal content". If I've bought & paid for the CDs/tapes/LPs of the music that I have on my hard drive in MP3 format, then I do not possess illegal content. If another user downloads content that he legally owns on another form of media, he has not broken any laws. It's only in the case of the user who hasn't purchased the media, that one can build a case on law-breaking. But, of course, there's no feasible way to make that distinction (short of a warrant to search your home for what music you do and don't own, which I'm thinking would be near-impossible to get, and RIAA knows it), so to RIAA, everyone is guilty until proven innocent. Some "free society"

[BustaMike]

I've seen firsthand what these RIAA 'agents' do. Lately they have mostly been targeting college dorms where users have easily traceable static IP's. My sister got a message from UA res life saying they had been contacted by the RIAA antipiracy unit and unless she stopped sharing files her internet access would be terminated.

I think it's important to note that the RIAA doesn't seem to care what you download (mostly because they have no way to track it). They seem to target people based on what they're sharing. This is easy to do. Someone could just create a Kazaa login and look at what some user is sharing. If they find copyrighted stuff, they track the IP and report it.

The freakin' RIAA Nazis are so crazy though, that my sister got this notice when she was only sharing 10 files. That is ridiculous. They went after her because her IP was easily traceable instead of going after someone like oh... I dunno... me who shares thousands of files but regularly turns on and of the cable modem to get a new IP.

And as far as that 'stealing' crap, I will argue to the bitter end that filesharing increases record sales. There is a large amount of evidence to support this.

[Dinner]

The on off trick is a new one to me; I always assumed a cable modem had the same IP designated by the provider. Is that true?

Also is there a way to use a mirrior IP address while using Kaaza or Morpheus? That aught to stop the Nazis butt cold.