the heats on for swappers
Heat on swapping
In a legal decision that could make it easier for the music industry to crack down on file swapping, a federal judge ordered Verizon Communications to disclose the identity of an alleged peer-to-peer pirate. The judge said the wording of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) requires Verizon to give the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) the name of a Kazaa subscriber who allegedly has shared hundreds of music recordings.
The dispute is not about whether the RIAA will be able to force Verizon to reveal the identity of a suspected copyright infringer, but about what legal mechanism copyright holders may use. The RIAA would prefer to rely on the DMCA's turbocharged procedures because they are cheaper and faster than other methods are, but Verizon and civil liberties groups have said the DMCA does not apply and that it does not adequately protect privacy.
File swappers shed few tears as Hilary Rosen announced that she would step down as CEO of the RIAA at the end of 2003. Hilary Rosen has presided over a transformation of the organization that has matched the turmoil of the music industry since 1998.
Once a trade organization little known outside music and policy circles, the RIAA has become a household word known for its vigorous prosecution of online piracy, and its role as the nemesis of file-swapping services from Napster to Kazaa. During the past several years, Rosen has served as a focal point for all the criticism and complaints levied by advocates of unfettered technology. Indeed, she was featured in the most recent issue of Wired magazine as "The Most Hated Name in Music."
The digital copyrights debate entered a new phase as technology groups went on the offensive against Hollywood in a bitter dispute over a call for government-mandated copy protection. A coalition of companies including Apple, Microsoft, Dell, Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard and Intel have united to oppose legislation backed by the movie studios that would allow the U.S. government to set antipiracy standards for PCs and consumer-electronics devices.
Their specific target is an antipiracy bill that was introduced last year but has yet to be introduced to the 108th Congress, which began its session this month. By demonstrating broad opposition to the idea, and by enlisting libertarian and conservative advocacy groups in their coalition, the companies hope to bottle up any similar proposal this year.
Now from what i read i think they just said to all of us who swap files, "check, your move". Taken from http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-981954.html
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"Just because i don't know something, don't assume that i can't understand it" -me
