[SecurityRatty] tag: riaa

RIAA Lawsuits May Be Unconstitutional

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:33:11 +0000

Harvard law professor Charles Nesson is arguing, in court, that the Digital Theft Deterrence and Copyright Damages Improvement Act of 1999 is unconstitutional:

He makes the argument that the Digital Theft Deterrence and Copyright Damages Improvement Act of 1999 is very much unconstitutional, in that its hefty fines for copyright infringement (misleadingly called "theft" in the title of the bill) show that the bill is effectively a criminal statute, yet for a civil crime. That's because it really focuses on punitive damages, rather than making private parties whole again. Even worse, it puts the act of enforcing the criminal statute in the hands of a private body (the RIAA) who uses it for profit motive in being able to get hefty fines.
Imagine a statute which, in the name of deterrence, provides for a $750 fine for each mile-per-hour that a driver exceeds the speed limit, with the fine escalating to $150,000 per mile over the limit if the driver knew he or she was speeding. Imagine that the fines are not publicized, and most drivers do not know they exist. Imagine that enforcement of the fines is put in the hands of a private, self-interested police force, that has no political accountability, that can pursue any defendant it chooses at its own whim, that can accept or reject payoffs in exchange for not prosecuting the tickets, and that pockets for itself all payoffs and fines. Imagine that a significant percentage of these fines were never contested, regardless of whether they had merit, because the individuals being fined have limited financial resources and little idea of whether they can prevail in front of an objective judicial body.

Another news story.

Harvard professor offers new challenge to RIAA anti-piracy campaign

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 01:00:00 +0000

A Harvard law professor is trying a new tack to challenge the RIAA's anti-piracy campaign. Charles Nesson claims that the law the music industry group is using in its lawsuits is unconstitutional.

RIAA seeks sanctions against defense lawyer in copyright case

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0000

The RIAA accused New York attorney Ray Beckerman of engaging in "vexatious litigation" in a case involving an alleged copyright violator.

MediaSentry defends work for RIAA in music piracy cases

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:00:00 +0000

MediaSentry, which gathers evidence for the Recording Industry Association of America to use in music piracy lawsuits, disputed accusations that it needs to obtain private investigator's licenses in order to legally do that work.

RIAA Scum Beaten Back in Court

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 07:25:00 +0000

Wow, this is impressive and kind of "against the tide." It looks like you CAN win against RIAA in court....

Security Briefing: June 13th

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:38:29 +0000

Friday the 13th.

Well, it was apparently worse than I thought at Infosecurity Canada. I spoke with eight people that attended and all of them gave it a unanimous thumbs down. Too bad. I guess if they were better organized it wouldn’t have sucked that badly.

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And now, the news… (better late than never)

Ameritrade Settling Hacking Lawsuit | Wired
McKinnon’s last ditch appeal to be heard by Lords | Heise Security
Third time’s the charm? RIAA tries end run around old case | Ars Technica
AG creates Cyber Crimes Unit division: Conway hopes to target Internet predators | Medical Leader News
Outsourcing contracts must offer personal data security | Computer Weekly
Windows Inspection Tool Set Helps You Troubleshoot Your System | AppScout
Web Application Security: Don’t Bolt It On; Build It In | IT Business Net
Opinion: Breach laws fail to protect anyone | InterGovWorld
Hacking: A story untold | Burlington Free Press

Tags: News, Daily Links, Security Blog, Information Security, Security News

Framing Computers Under the DMCA

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 02:47:47 +0000

Researchers from the University of Washington have demonstrated how lousy the MPAA/RIAA/etc tactics are by successfuly framing printers on their network. These printers, who can't download anything, received over 400 takedown notices:

The researchers rigged the software agents to implicate three laserjet printers, which were then accused in takedown letters by the M.P.A.A. of downloading copies of “Iron Man” and the latest Indiana Jones film.

Research, including the paper, here.

Framing Computers Under the DMCA

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 02:47:47 +0000

Researchers from the University of Washington have demonstrated how lousy the MPAA/RIAA/etc. tactics are by successfuly framing printers on their network. These printers, which can't download anything, received over 400 takedown notices:

The researchers rigged the software agents to implicate three laserjet printers, which were then accused in takedown letters by the M.P.A.A. of downloading copies of “Iron Man” and the latest Indiana Jones film.

Research, including the paper, here.

RIAA and Music Piracy

Thu, 15 May 2008 06:07:10 +0000

I wonder if RIAA employees get spam? Have you seen how many ways they are to spell (or mis-spell) Viagra? How many ways and how easily I can convey the meaning without actually saying it? 'Massive Pole', 'Make Her Happy', 'Top Rated Enlarger', '4 free pills' and 'Vi-Ag-Rah' got through one spam filter just in the last four hours. So if RIAA is looking for common file names of songs, it will only take a matter of minutes until all this content is relabeled and reformatted and become invisible to ‘Media Sentry’. This is a joke. I can only assume that this is a PR exercised to waste money and further blame the consumer for the music industry’s lack of commercial success. It will not stop piracy. It will not detect most piracy.

Lawsuit could force RIAA to reveal investigation techniques

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 10:00:00 +0000

A notorious RIAA case that involved the deposition of an eight-year-old girl could yet inflict major "sunshine" on the music industry's investigation of alleged file sharers.