Going too far…
In an article published on CNN, Findlaw columnist Marci A. Hamilton tells why she believes that RIAA’s lawsuits against students are the right thing to do. Her arguments center around “ the enduring value of copyright” and she argues that all of the commercial art that exists today would vanish if there were not copyrights to protect them. As a writer, a web publisher, and videographer, I am sensitive to copyright issues and protecting the rights of individual artists. Still, I believe her argument that commercial art would not exist without copyright is simplistic and overstated, the kind of argument to be expected from anyone associated with our legal system. What she is not addressing is this question: Is RIAA going too far?
Indeed, CNN reported that in one case RIAA stated that they had examined the files on a young woman’s computer but did not explicitly state how and when. If they did it online before they had obtained a subpoena, then RIAA has broken into the woman’s machine and invaded her privacy. In respect for private rights under our Constitution, we do not even allow our police to take such action without obtaining a search warrant. At least from what’s being reported in the news, it appears that this situation is out of control. What’s worse is we’re allowing it to happen.
RIAA is acting boldly because dollars are at stake, or so they claim, and because they have powerful allies in Congress and in the legal establishment, all of whom tend to line their pockets by looking the other way. Can someone explain to me how Senator Orin Hatch can chair the Senate committee that oversees this matter when he is earning money as a songwriter? That’s in clear violation of Senate ethics rules, yet no Senator I’ve contacted via e-mail has responded to me about the matter. In any case, it is clear that the people involved in this will do almost anything to secure what they see as their rights, Constitution be damned.
When it became apparent that RIAA would begin taking these kind of actions, some analysts stated that this could backfire and that RIAA was placing the blame for declining sales where they didn’t belong. Indeed, since RIAA began these actions, the sales decline of CD’s has accelerated.
On the other side of the coin, the unauthorized copying is happening because new digital technologies, and I include the Internet in those, have made copying data in electronic form easy and convenient. For example, anything posted on this site is copyrighted by law. Yet, I found one of the “G4, G5, and AMD Shoot-out” charts posted on a forum by someone who did not give me any credit for the chart at all. Technically, that was a copyright violation, not to mention just flat out rude. However, I feel that legally it falls under “fair use” copyright provisions. The person’s use of the chart fell within the use it was posted on the Net for and, more importantly, they were not making any profit off of it. Would I go after someone who was making money off of material posted on this site? It would all depend. But, for the most part, I’m smart enough not to post material here that, if stolen, would cause me large financial harm.
Of course, we’re talking about this situation because what it has illustrated, most of all, is the real problem. Too many people don’t have a good set of boundaries and feel like anything posted out in the Internet wilds belongs to them. They don’t recognize dishonesty when they see it, especially when they are practicing it. That’s where the real problem lies, and that’s also why legal means of approaching it is only a temporary solution and why technological barriers ultimately will be defeated.
Indeed, CNN reported that in one case RIAA stated that they had examined the files on a young woman’s computer but did not explicitly state how and when. If they did it online before they had obtained a subpoena, then RIAA has broken into the woman’s machine and invaded her privacy. In respect for private rights under our Constitution, we do not even allow our police to take such action without obtaining a search warrant. At least from what’s being reported in the news, it appears that this situation is out of control. What’s worse is we’re allowing it to happen.
RIAA is acting boldly because dollars are at stake, or so they claim, and because they have powerful allies in Congress and in the legal establishment, all of whom tend to line their pockets by looking the other way. Can someone explain to me how Senator Orin Hatch can chair the Senate committee that oversees this matter when he is earning money as a songwriter? That’s in clear violation of Senate ethics rules, yet no Senator I’ve contacted via e-mail has responded to me about the matter. In any case, it is clear that the people involved in this will do almost anything to secure what they see as their rights, Constitution be damned.
When it became apparent that RIAA would begin taking these kind of actions, some analysts stated that this could backfire and that RIAA was placing the blame for declining sales where they didn’t belong. Indeed, since RIAA began these actions, the sales decline of CD’s has accelerated.
On the other side of the coin, the unauthorized copying is happening because new digital technologies, and I include the Internet in those, have made copying data in electronic form easy and convenient. For example, anything posted on this site is copyrighted by law. Yet, I found one of the “G4, G5, and AMD Shoot-out” charts posted on a forum by someone who did not give me any credit for the chart at all. Technically, that was a copyright violation, not to mention just flat out rude. However, I feel that legally it falls under “fair use” copyright provisions. The person’s use of the chart fell within the use it was posted on the Net for and, more importantly, they were not making any profit off of it. Would I go after someone who was making money off of material posted on this site? It would all depend. But, for the most part, I’m smart enough not to post material here that, if stolen, would cause me large financial harm.
Of course, we’re talking about this situation because what it has illustrated, most of all, is the real problem. Too many people don’t have a good set of boundaries and feel like anything posted out in the Internet wilds belongs to them. They don’t recognize dishonesty when they see it, especially when they are practicing it. That’s where the real problem lies, and that’s also why legal means of approaching it is only a temporary solution and why technological barriers ultimately will be defeated.
posted by Andy Foster at
3:24 AM
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