Subpoenas Sent to File-Sharers Prompt Anger and Remorse

"The Recording Industry Association of America has obtained close to 1,000 such subpoenas over the last four weeks to more than a dozen Internet service providers, including Verizon, Comcast and Time Warner Cable, and several universities, including Boston College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, demanding the names of file swappers. Most Internet providers are notifying the unlucky subscribers by mail that they are legally required to turn over their contact information.

Those on alert include several college students, the parents of a 14-year-old boy in the Southwest, a 41-year-old Colorado health care worker and a Brooklyn woman who works in the fashion industry....

A spoof cartoon was widely circulated, set to the tune of the 1980's hit 'We Are the World' and with the lyrics, 'Sue all the world/Sue all the children.' On sites like Zeropaid.com, a hub of information for file-sharing, discussion board participants vowed to boycott major record labels and called on people outside the United States — and the restrictions of United States copyright law — to share more files....

He said there was no obvious historical analogue to the scattershot subpoenaing of individuals in copyright law enforcement, which has traditionally been aimed at businesses or people who are profiting from illegally copied material. He likened it instead to raids during Prohibition, or red-light cameras that catch drivers disobeying traffic laws when they think they are unobserved. Both have given rise to social outcry, Mr. Zittrain said, even though they were used simply to enforce the law....

But a Colorado man said he knew what he was doing was illegal; he had just not seriously considered the consequences.

'I used the program,' said the man, 41, who used KaZaA to find songs that included the words 'happy birthday' to play for his young daughter when she woke up on her birthday, among other times." [New York Times]

This new RIAA tactic is getting a lot of play, and rightfully so because it is so damn absurd. How absurd? Let's gaze into the future and see how the RIAA's actions could be used by other industries concerned about freefalling profits:

• The publishing industry begins suing customers who buy a book and then lend it to a friend. Leave your book on a plane or train and go to jail. (Let's not even get into the library angle here....)
• Television networks start suing viewers who leave the room or change channels during commercials. Oops, I guess this one isn't so far off after all....
• The automobile industry sues the entire rental industry out of existence. After all, if you can rent a car when you need one, why would you want to buy one? They sure don't see any profits from those subsequent rentals, and their numbers keep going down as fewer and fewer people buy new cars every year.
• Snack manufacturers implement fingerprint technology in their packaging in order to prevent anyone but the original buyer from consuming the contents. After all, once a potato chip is consumed, it's gone forever and the company can no longer make a profit on it. If someone is giving away the chips for free, how can the company possibly hope to maintain its profit margin?
• The clothing industry sees an opening and convinces Congress to enact new legislation that prevents people from sharing clothes. Thinking about giving your hand-me-downs to your sister's kids? Considering selling your old clothes at a garage sale or resale shop? Donating old clothes to a local charity? Want to wear your boyfriend's sweater? Think again - all of these actions are now felonies punishable by both jail time and a hefty fine.

There are many ways to go about fixing the music industry's problems. The RIAA's latest attack on its customers is not one of them.

A reminder that the EFF is on our side and is fighting the good fight.

Landowski Library Lends Life to eBooks

"Since May 2003, Landowski library in Boulogne-Billancourt has been running an experiment in lending eBooks for PDAs, Smartphones and Tablet PCs. The publishing company Mobipocket is the partner for this 12-month-long test which enables any registered reader of the library equipped with a compatible device to load various selected eBooks from an infra-red station located in the library. The works delete with time and include reference books like dictionaries and tourist guides. Readers will be able to access the works directly from home thanks to a web site specially adapted for the library." [infoSync]

I finally found a page from the site describing this project, but of course it's in French. Here's the translation from Google, although it doesn't really provide any further information. I'd be interested to see how the Library's patrons feel about the project along with usage statistics.

We're back from vacation, and yes I'm having trouble adjusting back to the real world because it was so wonderful. When we returned home, we found some water in the basement due to flash floods on Sunday, so we've been dealing with the fallout from that. However, I have put this in perspective and I am lighting candles in thanks that the homecoming was not as bad as last year's. So far, no computers or electronic equipment have died, hallelujah, so I guess I'm no longer the digital Job! (And yes, I know I probably just jinxed myself.)

Two anecdotes, though:

1. We were driving to the beach one day last week when the CD I made Kailee from Rhapsody's service started playing Avril Lavigne's song "Complicated." She loves this song, as does Brent, and they both sing along to it (and to her song "Sk8er Boi"). Sheree said, "This is Avril Lavigne? I didn't know that. I actually like this song. I don't like her, though. She's always sneering - what's up with that?" To which Kailee stopped singing long enough to respond, "Avril's style is 'angry chick.' That's why she always looks that way." Sheree and I burst out laughing, and maybe you had to be there to realize just how funny it was, but later when I asked Kailee how she knew Avril's "style" was "angry chick," she said she had read the genre listing on Rhapsody. So not only has she figured out how to use the online music service already, she's actually reading the screens for clues and context. That's pretty scary to me since I didn't even know there was a genre called "angry chick."
    
2. After dealing with the flooding issues, we did what every family does when returning from vacation - we went grocery shopping. In the cereal aisle, Brent grabbed a box of Fruity Pebbles and put it in the cart. When we got home, I was dumbstruck to read the "prize" offer on the back. If you mail two proofs of purchase and $1 for shipping and handling, Post will send you a free PDA. It actually says that on the box... a "free PDA." If you read the text carefully, the "actual size" picture puts it at just under five inches tall, but it includes the following "exciting PDA features:"
   • Scheduler
   • Web & Telephone Addresses
   • Birthdays
   • Phone Numbers
   • Calculator...and much more!
     AND
   • BONUS memory game AND exclusive codes to use on Postopia.com."

   Okay, it's just a toy with a little bit of memory in it, but the box says it's for "ages 5 and up," and it freaking says "PDA" on it! So if you're looking for a cheap one, here you go! Get one for each of your kids, as well as yourself!

   I guess we'll be buying a lot of Fruity Pebbles cereal in the near future....