RIAA attacks continue: now Usenet
The Recording Industry Association of America’s litigation strategy is taking a detour into the internet’s Precambrian layer, suing a company that distributes the ancient decentralized message board known as Usenet. Fargo, North Dakota-based Usenet.com is the target of the lawsuit (.pdf) filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, in which 14 recording companies allege the service “enables and encourages its customers to reproduce and distribute millions of infringing copies of Plaintiff’s valuable copyrighted sound recordings.” The suit, filed Friday, is something of a throwback in the RIAA’s recent litigation strategy. It targets an alleged facilitator of copyright theft instead of an individual pirate.
In the past four years, the RIAA has sued more than 20,000 people on allegations of copyright infringement. Two weeks ago, the association won a $222,000 judgment in the first such case to go to trial. But Usenet’s decentralized architecture means RIAA gumshoes can’t easily trace uploaders, as they can on peer-to-peer services like Kazaa. That may have prompted the RIAA to focus on feed provider Usenet.com, which boasts about the anonymity it provides users. RIAA spokeswoman Cara Duckworth say that Usenet.com is no different from the peer-to-peer sites the RIAA has litigated against in the past. Go do some joga Cara and read few articles about Usenet meanwhile, that’s getting ridiculous.
Source: Wired
Comments(47)
well how far are they going to go, its a fight they can’t win. Its going to be like having a car crash you get caught or you don’t I would really like to know how safe your are when you mostly use private torrent sites, are you safe from them?
So, let’s sue ISPs for providing internet to users who share files.Dumbasses.
@2:
HA! True that, mate
One question though: Decentralized Usenet structure accounts for the people uploading, but don’t usenet providers HOST the files themselves? If so, it is about time somebody sues them as it is always the easiest to sue the HOSTER compared to the uploader (that’s my rapidshare.de moved its business out of Germany).
Given that many Usenet providers openly advertise themselves as safe havens for piracy, it’s kind of surprising that they haven’t been sued out of business already. Talk about fish in a barrel, they can hardly claim they aren’t facilitating piracy when their own adverts claim otherwise. It would kind of be like RSLog complaining about people stealing their material when most of it — excepting the incomprehensible intro and exit sentences, of course — is naught save a cut-and-paste job.
Oh… Wait…
Logic cannot penetrate the foul mists of the pirateverse.
YO MARTIN
anything new on Football Manager 08, the football game of all time?
and yeah, its football, because u kick it with ur feet, and has the shape of a BALL, eurostyle.
usenet should have alot of money… i don’t think it’ll be an easy fight lol
Peer-to-Peer F.T.W
“It would kind of be like RSLog complaining about people stealing their material when most of it — excepting the incomprehensible intro and exit sentences, of course — is naught save a cut-and-paste job.
Oh… Wait…”
- LOL!
usenet ftw, why dont they try and close the internet while there at it, lol
btw Football.Manager.2008.CloneCD-NETSHOW
VOTE RON PAUL and this wont happen
i download by usenet but u don’t need usenet.org something to down or upload ur own provider will do fine so do should stop ppl 2 use internet if they want to stop piracy.
It sounds like they are getting really desperate. People want to remain anonymous for all kinds of reasons, not just so they can steal from the greedy corporations that want to suck us dry. Orgs like the IRRA may be a necessary evil. What if Pirating were left unchecked? No one would be afraid to steal in turn the entertainment, and software companies won’t have the budget to put out a quality product.
However, if it weren’t for us companies like blockbuster.com, gamefly, or netflicks would have been unnecessary. Comcast wouldn’t need on demand, and we wouldn’t be able to watch “heroes” the day after it aired on it’s home website. So really the good cannot exist with out the evil and vise versa. It is a fight that will never be won, it will only change, but at the same time, bring on change.
it’s funny i like downloading things directly from my isp. it’s nice, lol. i had a friend who got a law suit by the riaa over usenet, he worte a letter saying it was on the isp’s server and sent it to the lawyer and never heard from the RIAA again. but i say they just shut down the internet too. see how well the worlds economy will do then. No Internet FTW!!!!
Unfortunately some isps only allow so many mbs a day to download from newsgroups. The difference when paying for a server is its unlimited. Wish mine adopted the idea of unlimited downloading from newsgroups.
RIAA is another one of these company that likes to make money off someone’s expense
They still have such an uphill climb when it comes to stopping illegal downloads because the sources are forever becoming more frequent. Even if they were to stop every news server site there is plenty more ways to obtain media.
I want a car plate that says “MPAA SUX ASS”. Wish I were living in USA :/
I still really think it is way too funny that the RIAA spends so much money to stop it and receives so little in return, as was posted in an earlier article here a week or 2 ago. I know it is mainly just to make threats and help curb the illegal downloading. but i agree with the general consensus here and saying they can never win. I say they give up, save money, and still people will buy the stuff they make. If you like enough you will buy it. i know i do. Give Up RIAA and you too MPAA i hate you even more.
Oh I wouldn’t download movies if the damn companys weren’t that greedy. 8-10€ everytime I just want to watch a nice movie with friends and maybe drink a beer and simply have a good time.
Ah well I could wait and buy the dvd of course… 20€ again.
Actually I DO buy DVDs, when they are old and affordable. Almost everything brought to us is crap anyway. Spiderman3 for example. I made the mistake going to cinema and I had all but a good time -.- THEY should pay us for (re)viewing their stuff.
I want my time and my money back. Should have downloaded first. Won’t happen again xD
pdf lawsuit exhibit appendixes contains some cool info compilation about ways of downloading from usenet.
))
I think the one reason the usenet has been “safe” for now is because the files are not actually stored in a file form. Usenet is a 7bit text post message board service, impossible of holding the files we know and love. We use 8bit to 7bit conversion techniques (UUenc and Yenc mainly now) to convert a regular binary file into text. If that wasn’t encrypted enough, most files need to be spread over multiple postings.
Its like a manual form of packet assembling, although many new Usenet readers attempt to handle all of this in an automated fashion. Still the files are no longer files, but gibberish text on usenet. Trying to stop usenet would be like trying to stop ATT from passing internet traffic over its network lines, even though ATT has no idea what the gibberish going over its lines is.
That said..usenet is not usenet.com. One thing I have wondered is the legality of such services like easynews that actually decode everything and store it on local servers, and you browse and download everything through a webbrowser.
How is attacking Usenet possible? I mean, there’s millions of news groups and Usenet services. And I mean, there’s a lot of stuff for free in it as well, so they can’t really sue all Usenet members.
What’s next? Megaupload and Rapidshare gets sued?
I believe that the RIAA is trying to slow down piracy by attempting to sue different groups/people just so there will be news articles like this one which may scare users from downloading.
If you want to fight the RIAA, ignore any news headlines from them. If no one cares, then they’ll go away.
my 2cents – I don’t exactly know what to make of it yet…
Seems that well financed big boys always get their way sooner or later. They have won an initial battle that focused on the end user … its only a matter of time before they can manipulate the system upward the chain, within legal grounds – of which I guess can be influenced by the blokes who finance them etc
The system has failed all of us before – whose to say it won’t again? It is only a matter of time. Of course the warez communities will evolve, but then perhaps reserved for the privileged few in comparison to the current ease of accessibility by the masses.
jeffd October 17th, 2007 | 15:32
“I think the one reason the usenet has been “safe” for now is because the files are not actually stored in a file form. ”
Why would you think that?
Why don’t you think the same thing about every torrent that requires you to unRar it after download? You know, like 100% of the torrents linked to from here.
Sure the torrent name tells you what it is, but so do the headers on usenet posts.
There’s a pretty simple formula involved here. Either nobody uses usenet because nobody can find any files, or if they can, then everyone can.
They want to push the scene back to the private ftp servers as it would be not so evident in the eye of the world.This fight not just about their money, it is about their mafia-principles too.They just wont let “legally” stealing.No matter what, the WWW will always provide other solutions for poor soul like us.- also condsider this:1967 i watched a movie in theatre for $4 -later bought it for $30 on Beat,then $30 for Vhs,then on Laser-disc,then on DVD,the, on BLUEray! So how many f…times i should have pay for these? Same goes of course with music.Find me ,Fine me,i will still fight.Control us,but once we will gain back OUR control,than they better run fast!
IS RIAA and MPAA going to be suing them self soon ?
Time Warner the owner of the Road Runner provides usenet servisis to it’s users no different then Usenet.com dose. So what’s next RIAA or MPAA will be suing Warner Brother’s (Time Warner) with is probably is one of the 14 recording companies that is suing Usenet.com right now. Mast Up
If they want to stop piracy at it’s root they need to stop their artists from making music! After all that is the beginning of facilitating piracy.
So Step 1 – chase uploaders
Step 2- Chase sites hosting nothing but links
Step 3 – Chase Usenet
Step 4 – Chase ISPs
Step 4a – Chase Microsoft, Apple and any company doing Linux Distros.
Step 5 – Chase AMD and Intel for making the chips that allow us to use our PCs and which in turn allows people the opportunity of downloading files…May as well do the mobo manufacturers and hard drive makers and the RAM makers too…
Step 6 – Sue the various Telecoms providers in every country
Step 7 – Sue the Artists for making music
Step 8 – implode the world in some ubber weird paradox!
Sharing is NOT evil, as what the RIAA and MPAA wants you to think.
Sharing our culture, is actually benefitual, only NOT to a monopoly.
RIAA only wants to insure it can distribute our culture and then sell it back to us, the people. For this, they get rich, and is why they are willing to cheat society out of their culture works, to make a buck…
Isn’t it time, we the people, make our own rules and laws instead of a special greedy group of selfish bastards, only caring to profit at our expense?
The RIAA does not create, does not innovate, does NOT program or has anything at all to do with artist only than to DISTRIBUTE our works, by mass producing as the world’s biggest pirates of our society, to profit!
It’s our society, our culture, we the people decided what we want, NOT some corrupt, selfish monopoly, right?
Can’t wait for the reply to this from USENET.com, I hape they don’t use EFF.org for there lawyers and get a top law firm based in NY or LA
This won’t even have an impact, no one even uses Usenet anymore. This RIAA doesn’t even understand the game they are losing.
They could shut Usenet totally down tomorrow, and it wouldnt’ even be a blip on internet sharing.
Lol @
LittleLarry
you don’t really know how distribution of new appz/moviez.. etc works, right?
95% of all new releases are first available through usenet, then downloaded, unpacked and then shared as torrents or on other p2p systems / rapidshare..
Why? Bacause no RLS-Grp or ppl that transfer from RLS-Grps to the public share a torrent or upload directly to Rapidshare.
The Way is always through Usenet first: Upload once, and it’s available for a looot of people and with virtually unlimited bandwith.
(Btw. That’s the Reason why some torrents contain single .zip/.rar Files about 10-15mb each)
Shutting down the Usenet would have an MAYOR impact on the p2p scene as it is today.
But they technically will not be able to shut Usenet down because its decentralized and spread across thousands of servers, not only in USA but also Europe and some Asia, so it is virtually impossible for them to shut Usenet down.
Newsproviders such as Giganews and other are vulnerable of course but I doubt that they will succeed.
This lawsuit is just against Usenet.com, who deserve everything they get with their stupid advertising like “gives you access to millions of MP3 files and also enables you to post your own files the same way and share them with the whole world”.
This is not a lawsuit against the Usenet, just against Usenet.com, who will hopefully just file bankruptcy and disappear, and leave the real Usenet to people who know how to use it.
Yeah seriously who freaking advertises that kind of stuff, millions MP3’s! LOL! Welcome to the real world Usenet.com! Still hopefully they gain the upper hand over the RIAA!
Let Usenet.com fall and be the scapegoat for the RIAA. They are one greedy company who tried to get rich off of Usenet. Their advertising was flying in the face of the RIAA. Just look at this crap of theirs: http://www.usenet.com/articles/free_download.htm
usenet dont get most things first these come from the scene….the scene is not usenet you n00b
Riaa must burn in hell
an uploader for eztvefnet gets the tv show and uploads through both usenet and torrent. people prefer torrents coz they’re free, while others prefer usenet coz its faster.
eg on tuesday early morning(i’m in UK) i D/L heroes on usenet (always 10mins coz i have a 6mb broadband,usenet D/Ls at the fastest speed) then use torrent to D/L prison break (around 40mins depening on connection)while i watch heroes
Quote
that’s getting ridiculous.
wait a minute here
i think they have the right to sue people uploader and usenet or torrent becaue they have the right to
if u wanna call it we are stealing, yes we are
because the people who works hard to release something they have to get paid for it… but when everybody (DOWNLOADS) then one day we wont see anything at all no games to play no movies to watch etc…
they are right and we are wrong
Uh Oh Spaghettio’s
Morons .
Usenet/Newsnet has been around as long as the internet it’s not a frikkin pirate program, they’re acting on behalf of frikking companys that need a buttplug for their $hit then go running to the peoples courtrooms “plzx mistarr judge gief us monayh ppl picked up our $hit on the intarwebb streetz.”
First the RIAA has NOT sued over 20,000 people in the past 4 years, well they tell you to pay $ ?000 or they will sue.
usenet.com deserves this for there advertising, they advertise in a way that this is the best way to get pirated software.
http://www.p2p-blog.com/item-389.html is the complete text, i like how at #24 they reprinted a story from slyck.com without permission as evidence, slyck should sue the riaa
If Usenet.com loses this case, Usenet itself is pretty much doomed. It doesn’t matter how guilty they might have been in encouraging people to download music and movies. If they lose, it will set a “precedent” which will make it that much easier to sue the next Usenet provider and win. Of course they’ll go after other easy targets. Once they have a few wins, it will pretty much become a given that Usenet providers will be considered guilty by default. Most will start dropping the mainstream binary groups for music and movies out of fear that they’ll be next. Without the lure of downloading movies and music, nobody is going to pay huge prices for unlimited monthly quotas. Their business will shrink and many of them won’t be able to keep operating. This will pretty much spell the end of Usenet as a means of distributing files.
With a good lawyer, Usenet.com should be able to beat this by claiming common carrier status, which means that they just provide the service, they don’t take an active role in deciding what to carry and what to filter out. Unfortunately, the RIAA will cherry-pick the jury with the most technologically illiterate people they can find, so that they’ll be easier to convince them that just giving people access to the newsgroups is the same as selling bootleg movies. No to mention, that judges of late have demonstrated a tendancy to ignore facts and let the RIAA/MPAA do pretty much what they want.
This case should worry anyone who uses the newsgroups for downloading files!
I’ve just read through all the comments on this thread and some do not have a clue what they are talking about!
Usenet.com is a company name, a logo, a slogan or probably a very expensive domain name at best.
USENET is USEr NETwork, not one specific thing, not thousands, more like a few million servers world wide by now! The RIAA as an association couldnt close THE USENET down by themselves unless the internet was practically pulled offline the world over! NEWSGROUPS back in the day was email/chat/communication. The Internet today is the evolution of USENET -> http://computer.howstuffworks.com/newsgroup.htm
If USENET is pulled from the internet, its users would plumet, BIG!
However Usenet.com WILL vanish within the next couple of months, their own stupid fault for having such a famous name and advertising the way they have!
Newservers may eventually drop binary groups… As soon as they do it, you bet all bin files will start to show up in ‘normal’ newsgroups… they will never have success in this… not to mention, newsservers aren’t like normal torrent sites, without enough money to pay for top attorneys… this guys are major cash flow enterprises…
RIAA must die !