I'm waiting for the day when a judge finally says "ENOUGH" and puts the final nail in the coffin of the RIAA and their cronies. From what I've been seeing as of late online as I follow the sordid tale of so called copy write infringement for downloading music that the RIAA has deemed we the consumer shouldn't be allow access to because it costs them money.

I see a trend appearing as more and more holes are shot in their "so called" evidence provided by their "so called" non-investigative company, Media Sentry, who uses tactics like hacking into private computers, impersonating family members, threatening schools and universities with broad brush "john doe" warrants and then threatening to have the school pay millions in fines if they don't co-operate.

The day is coming when a major class action lawsuit will be set before the court by all those so called infringers that the RIAA has made claim to their monies. Their idea of awards is simply ludicrous and should and more than likely is giving the courts a true picture of just who the thief is here.

The RIAA and the MPAA both insist that evidence is not needed to prove file sharing, and the courts are laughing them out of the building, much to the dismay of their lawyers. The "experts" that are presenting their proof to the courts cannot tell the courts if there IS any type of music or video file ensconced there because they aren't trained in those matters.

Look at the case of the billionaire who bought a DVD of "MEET THE FOKKERS" and then received a phone call from the MPAA's lawyers stating that he had downloaded it off the net and they wanted him to settle for $5,000.00 which he refused stating he had the receipt from the store and wasn't going to pay them a thing. Despite that they called again offering to settle for 10,000.00 this time, and again they were told to get lost and that his lawyers would be in touch with them.
Their answer," We can hardly wait to get him into court because HE knows he downloaded it."

His reply, " I'll spend up to 100,000.00 in attorney fees if I have to, because I'm sick and tired of how the RIAA and the MPAA treat the consumer, their customers."

Sorry for the long dissertation, but my point is, they are losing and beginning to realize that their threats and scare tactics aren't working anymore, which is one of the main reasons, to my mind, why they are throwing in the towel in more and more cases.

Here in Canada, our Prime Minister has just passed a law making downloading illegal and subject to fines of 500.00 and up for doing so. I'm also told that the ISP's are being forced to monitor our usage of the net and the forward that information to a company in the States, where it's stored until needed for court cases, if need be.

I believe I can make an argument against that as they are recording all data, that includes programs we buy including our credit card numbers, etc, which is an invasion of privacy and a huge security risk if the information is ever hacked.

Just my two cents, for those interested.

this is not good enough. we need to reverse the trend started by the RIAA & MPAA and there painfully obvious illegal companies.

We need a label created by the artists for the artists, and put the bullet through the Media Mafia's Head in other words wipe the slate clean and start again. its the only true way to get rid of this nonsense.

Where there is money, there is power, where there is power, there is greed, where there is greed, there is Politicians, where there is Politicians, there is no hope for Change.

its just like Cigarette Companies getting away with poisoning the Tobacco, to make it addicting. They new if they let this pass the government would see major profit increase across the board. they did
and here we are are fathers are dying because of the poison they smoke
every day up too one pack a day, who's fault is it, its the very men we follow the rules they set, we abide.

Tobacco by itself is not harmful, grow your own roll your own and live long.

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Tobacco by itself is not harmful, grow your own roll your own and live long.

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That's until you are busted by the G men. Cultivating your own chemical and tax free tobacco plants is just as illegal as growing marijuana. Pot is just more profitable and grows outside of that regional North Carolinaand Tennessee farm belt...

Good news to hear.

I mean if the Riaa wants to stop people from illegally downloading music then go after the networks or the manufactures of the software that allows this kind of distrubution.

Problem with this most of these p2p networks are located in countrys where the Riaa should have Zero rights.

The riaa is based in the us this doesn't give them the right to search and with hold machines in the u.k and other countrys it is called the right to a fair trial not we are the riaa and we dont have to listen to anyone.

Originally posted by susieqbbb:

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Problem with this most of these p2p networks are located in countrys where the Riaa should have Zero rights.

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We can only hope it will stay that way...

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its just like Cigarette Companies getting away with poisoning the Tobacco, to make it addicting... and here we are are fathers are dying because of the poison they smoke...

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We're way off-topic here... But,do you know that nicotine is found naturally in tobacco? Where do you think they get the nicotine for nicotine gum and nicotine patches? Do you know that people were “addicted” to tobacco long before cigarettes were commercially manufactured?

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Tobacco by itself is not harmful

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That's the most ignorant thing I've read on this forum! That's what the tobacco companies used to say!

Sure, its not harmful till you smoke or chew it! Do you know that companies used to market “healthy’ cigarettes before lawsuits and the government put a stop to those false marketing claims? Do you know that you can buy "natural" cigarettes, but they still carry the required health warnings (here in the US).

People have known that smoking was “harmful” long before it was scientifically proven to cause cancer. They used to tell kids that it would “stunt your growth”, and athletes knew it would "take away your wind". Common sense (and your body's initial reaction) tells you that “breathing smoke” is bad for you!

If you live in the US, I’m sure you heard the required warning – “There is no such thing as a safe cigarette”. It’s true!

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That's until you are busted by the G men. Cultivating your own chemical and tax free tobacco plants is just as illegal as growing marijuana.

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According to this source it is legal to grow your own tobacco.

I dont know anyone who grows tobacco in their garden, But you are not taxed (in the USA) when you grow fruits & vegetables for your own consumption (or if you fix your own car or do your own plumbing). And, there are no taxes due if you give-away your fruits, vegetables, or labor. Technically, you do owe taxes if you barter (trade) with your neighbors.

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Pot is just more profitable and grows outside of that regional North Carolinaand Tennessee farm belt...

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Illegal businesses are almost always more profitable (for a given amount of invested capital & effort) than legal businesses. That's economics 101... You don't take more risk unless there is more potential reward. Some illegal activities like theft and extortion are pure profit!