The RIAA want's to hack into your PC's (1 Viewer)

[Mark E J]

According to The Digital Bits the RIAA tried to put a rider on the recent anti-terrorist Bill in Congress that would allow them to hack in to personel computer files and delete any personal files they feel you shouldn't have i.e. mp3's or any other media files that could in theory be pirated!
Even worse, the RIAA also wanted immunity from damages if they delete the wrong files or cause damage to your computer! In other words they were going to use the horrible tragedy of 9/11 to get the legal right to invade your home computer and delete any file they wanted, and if they screw it up and erase your whole hard drive or crash your system in the proccess you can't even sue them!
I don't know about you but I think this is going SO FAR OVER THE LINE that the RIAA should be up on invasion of privacy charges.

 

[John Thomas]

Ah. Vigilante justice. That's great. I wouldn't be surprised that if the RIAA gets the go-ahead for such a gross violation of civil rights, that they are retaliated against in some fashion. Here's the link: CLICK
The jackals start the push while everyone's attention is diverted on foreign issues. Scum.
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The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. -Franklin D. Roosevelt.
My Top 10 of 2000 My Top 10 of 2001

 

[Kevin P]

I was going to post to the thread in Software but it was closed. Oh well, let's do our best to keep politics out of this thread so it can stay open, ok?
My interpretation of this is that the RIAA wants to be able to shut down illegal public MP3 sites. I would expect (HOPE!?) that they wouldn't go so far as to hack into private computers and delete files. But they don't need this law passed to do the former. If they come across a site with pirated MP3s, they only need to fire off a letter to the ISP hosting the site, or take legal action against the ISP and the individuals hosting the site.
I envision a day in the future where I'll have all my CDs (that I own) encoded into MP3 and stored on a central server in my home, where it can be accessed from anywhere in the house where there is a computer or network MP3 player. If the RIAA attempts to break into my system and delete those MP3s, THEY are in essence burglarizing my home, and breaking existing laws in the process. They are the guilty party in this scenario, not me.
If this law actually goes through, I'll quit my job and make a living as a home networking consultant specializing in security and firewalls.
KJP

 

[AaronNWilson]

Well I think that the RIAA is kinda stupid, because if they manage to seriously halt mp3s, then people will just start create perfect copies in their cd rws of cds and then they will be just as worse off.
There will always be a program such as clone cd (nero does this too) which will allow perfect copies of music cds.
Aaron

 

[Iain Lambert]

It is of course a monumentally dumb idea to let their amendment get passed. It may cover them for attempting to wipe my mp3s in a belief that they might not be legitimate, self-ripped ones from my own vinyl, but it also covers Joe Script Kiddie who can claim a belief that the RIAA/MPAA/Microsoft/TargetOfChoice machine is using software they wrote to do this breaking and entering in the first place, and they would be allowed to 'accidentally' wreak as much havok as they liked once they were in as well.
There have been rumours floating around for years that Microsoft stole some of the code for Windows from GPL stuff. Therefore this would make it legal for Stallman to destroy any Windows server he wished. Not to suggest that RMS would do such a thing, but the RIAA need to remember that they aren't the only copyright holder in the world.
[Edited last by Iain Lambert on October 17, 2001 at 02:50 AM]

 

[NickSo]

This was featured on the SILICON SPIN last night.. i watched parts of it, but kept changing back and forth coz i was watching the Bruins/Ducks game...

 

[Iain Lambert]

I found a rather wonderful analogy over on the /. story about this: its like thinking the best way to kill the world's most deadly sharpshooters is by challenging them all to a duel.

While I don't believe in mass trading of music, there is little point in challenging crackers to a cracking contest.
[Edited last by Iain Lambert on October 19, 2001 at 08:47 AM]

 

[John Thomas]

Iain: Link Removed

 

[Thomas Newton]

This is completely over the line, as is the SSSCA, a bill proposed by Senator Hollings that would force anti-copying and access control devices chosen by industry cartels and Commerce Department bureaucrats into computers, software, etc. at the point of a felony gun. If that bill makes it into law, it will be the blueprint for the death of freedom -- starting with "minor" things like home recording rights, Open Source software like Linux, the part of the economy that depends on Open Source software, etc.
I don't want to stray too far into politics here, so I'll just mention another possible outcome that would become a LOT easier with the SSSCA and that is nearer and dearer to Home Theater Forum members. Namely, a forced transition from OpenDVD to DIVX-II. I'm sure everyone remembers that some studios exclusively supported Circuit City -- is it just coincidence that, according to Wired, one of them wrote part of the SSSCA? This whole progression from AHRA to DMCA to SSSCA to who knows what reminds me of the story about how to get a frog to stay in a pan and boil to death, by heating up the pan a little bit at a time.
By the way, I'm sure Ossama bin Laden has written or taped some works (even if they are only threats) that are implicitly copyrighted. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the anti-terrorist legislation had contained a provision like this one that would have made it legal for Ossama to conduct a cyber-terrorism campaign against U. S. computers, as long as he held up the fig leaf of looking for "infringing" copies of his works?
[Edited last by Thomas Newton on October 19, 2001 at 04:58 PM]

 

[Glenn Overholt]

Yes, that was a really evil bill. Slightly OT, but for the first time, I don't plan on upgrading to MS's next OS.
I did think that after a few more upgrades I would be stuck, and wouldn't be able to surf any more. So, I keep my PC but buy one more, just for the web.
When I am done collecting whatever I want off of the net, I'd turn the network/modem connection off and transfer what I wanted to save to my 'old' system. They wouldn't be able to touch it, ever!
Glenn

 

[JJR512]

Well, the recording industry is going to get what it deserves. Looks like this latest thing has stirred up some interest in the government:

New threat to record labels: the DOJ
By Jim Hu, John Borland, and Rachel Konrad
Special to ZDNet News
October 19, 2001 4:45 AM PT
A few months ago the big record labels finally seemed to have tamed their biggest Internet foes, from Napster to MP3.com. But a threat potentially greater than California start-ups lurks on the other side of the country.
The U.S. Department of Justice is growing suspicious of the labels' increasing power, and antitrust investigators are beginning to invite start-ups to closed-door discussions in Washington, D.C., to determine whether the labels are violating antitrust laws.
"We weren't surprised," said one Internet music executive who received an invitation to a private meeting with the DOJ. "Whether or not this pattern of behavior we've seen from record labels does or does not constitute antitrust, it's certainly (a concern) to us. I wasn't surprised it was (a concern) to others as well."
After years of tension between record labels and frustrated digital music companies, antitrust authorities jumped into the debate last week. The DOJ sent civil investigative demands to several parties as part of a preliminary antitrust investigation--a probe that could derail the recording industry's precarious foothold in online music distribution.

Read the full article at http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5098534,00.html?chkpt=zdnnp1tp02
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