engadget.com — Okay, so we've done some digging into the RIAA's lawsuit against Jeffery Howell, in which the industry is claiming that ripped MP3s are "unauthorized copies," and it turns out that Jeffery isn't actually being sued for ripping CDs, like the Washington Post and several other sources have reported, but for plain old illegal downloading.
Dec 30, 2007 View in Crawl 4
jcountermanDec 30, 2007
Here's the problem. The RIAA is suing this guy for illegally sharing music. However, whenever they mention the music he was sharing, they call it "unauthorized copies".I think that the RIAA is hoping to bust this guy in court on sharing charges and use this as a precedent for future cases to nail people who ripped music in the future.
dominatusDec 31, 2007
if the CD has no DRM, it is not against the DMCA to rip MP3s from it.
Closed AccountDec 31, 2007
Done.
mr_goneDec 31, 2007
I whole heartedly agree, but the downloading that you speak of is the vast minority. There are several artists that offer up tracks for free to promote their bands, but I feel safe in estimating that 80% of music downloads are done illegally. I have very little faith in the self policing skills of your average human.
Closed AccountDec 31, 2007
Engadget will do anything for a few diggs, their articles aren't even the same anymore. Your comment was much more helpful that the engadget story iself.
Closed AccountDec 31, 2007
Even assuming you're right (and in many, if not most, cases of what you described you are not), denying them profit != theft. If it did, it would be theft for me to try a sweater on in a store, decide I didn't like it, then leave.