Daily Nonsense

The proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement hopes to crackdown on pirating of music and DVDs and the counterfeit labeling of goods by enacting draconian laws in the member states.  The Australian government  seems to be looking at a plan to start searching MP3 players at airport security checkpoints. The reason?  To seek out and destroy illegally pirated music.

I was under the impression that having to submit to the TSA and two hour wait times at the airport was to protect us from weapons or explosives or even, (god forbid), crazed terrorists with a Google map printout and some iconic landmark that has offended them in some way.  But to even consider using the already incompetent and inept TSA security rabble to search through my electronic devices seems like a guaranteed plan to add hours to my my airport ‘check-in’ times.

And how are these otherwise unemployable high school graduates going to determine if any one particular song has been pirated?  What criteria will that use to cull the legal from the illegal?

Australian Government Proposes Checking MP3 Players at Airports
By Brian X. Chen – July 30, 2008 | 6:23:36 PM

Walking through the airport-security checkpoint could get even more annoying if guards start checking travelers’ MP3 players for pirated music.

News Digital Media sheds light on a leaked document containing the Australian government’s plans to search music devices in airports in the effort to combat illegal-music downloads. The proposal is also being considered in an international treaty, which includes the United States. If the proposal goes through, anybody caught with illegal music would be subject to fines or even jail time.

Before you freak out and toss your iPod into a lake, keep in mind this is just a proposal. It would need to be thoroughly discussed and agreed upon before it would be implemented. I can’t imagine this even working logistically: Airports are crowded (and inefficient) enough, and it would take forever to scan someone’s MP3 playlist. And how would they determine which songs are pirated anyway?

Some reports have speculated that the RIAA has a hand in this proposal, which wouldn’t be a surprise. Scanning our service providers isn’t enough; now they want airport employees to dig into our pockets. Classy.

[Thanks, Wired]

Ray Beckerman, well known for his selfless defense of individuals sued by the Music And Film Industry Association of America otherwise known as the MAFIAA (doesn’t that seem fitting??), has published a paper in the American Bar Association’s Judge’s Journal that describes how the RIAA intimidates pursues it’s questionable legal actions against supposed file sharers.

Intended to educate, Beckerman discusses the legal and technical challenges in dealing with this type of suit.  I think that there are going to be tougher venues in the very near future where the RIAA will not be allowed the same kind of free rein and classic strong-arm tactics it has become vilified for in the past.

Judges warned about RIAA antics
The jaws that bite the teeth that gnash

By Nick Farrell: Wednesday, 30 July 2008, 8:33 AM

AMERICA’S TOP JUDGES have been briefed on the antics of the Recording Industry Association of America.

New York attorney Ray Beckerman has written a paper for the American Bar Association’s Judge’s Journal’s bumper summer issue.

Beckerman, who defends people sued by the MAFIAA, told judges about the finer points of case law relating to the wave of P2P cases.

Called Large Recording Companies v The Defenseless, the article explains RIAA lawyers’ method of working, which he thinks are getting dodgier as time wears on.

The bulk of the article looks at legal matters concerning venue, jurisdiction, dismissal, discovery, confidentiality, legal fees and default judgments.

One of the central issues which judges have faced in deciding on P2P cases are the huge amounts of case law and a lack of knowledge of the technical problems.

If the robed but not wigged ones read the missive they are certainly going to get a perspective that the music industry would not like.

L’Inq
Beckermanlegal.com

That link above leads to a copy of the article.

[Thanks, The Inquirer]

Piracy exists, we all know that.  Whether we’re talking about music, movies, Gucci bags, or Rolex watches, it’s a world wide issue.

The MPAA, the evil twin brother of the much loathed RIAA, has admitted that a study commissioned in 2005 is rife with errors.  Citing "human error", the number they choose to claim this go-around is one third less than the original lies figure.

The vice president of the American Council on Education, Terry Hartle, the representative of higher education in Washington, said the lies mistakes have shown that the entertainment industry is unfairly targeting college campuses.

My question is how this will affect the proposed legislation that could force our colleges and universities to filter P2P traffic?  If it’s not as bad as originally ‘reported’, do we need another stupid law?

MPAA Admits Mistake on Downloading Study

By JUSTIN POPE – 17 hours ago

Hollywood laid much of the blame for illegal movie downloading on college students. Now, it says its math was wrong.

In a 2005 study it commissioned, the Motion Picture Association of America claimed that 44 percent of the industry’s domestic losses came from illegal downloading of movies by college students, who often have access to high-bandwidth networks on campus.

The MPAA has used the study to pressure colleges to take tougher steps to prevent illegal file-sharing and to back legislation currently before the House of Representatives that would force them to do so.

But now the MPAA, which represents the U.S. motion picture industry, has told education groups a "human error" in that survey caused it to get the number wrong. It now blames college students for about 15 percent of revenue loss.

The MPAA says that’s still significant, and justifies a major effort by colleges and universities to crack down on illegal file-sharing. But Mark Luker, vice president of campus IT group Educause, says it doesn’t account for the fact that more than 80 percent of college students live off campus and aren’t necessarily using college networks. He says 3 percent is a more reasonable estimate for the percentage of revenue that might be at stake on campus networks.

"The 44 percent figure was used to show that if college campuses could somehow solve this problem on this campus, then it would make a tremendous difference in the business of the motion picture industry," Luker said. The new figures prove "any solution on campus will have only a small impact on the industry itself."

The original report, by research firm LEK, claims the U.S. motion picture industry lost $6.1 billion to piracy worldwide, with most of the losses overseas. It identified the typical movie pirate as a male aged 16-24. MPAA said in a statement that no errors had been found in the study besides the percentage of revenue losses that could be attributed to college students, but that it would hire a third party to validate the numbers.

"We take this error very seriously and have taken strong and immediate action to both investigate the root cause of this problem as well as substantiate the accuracy of the latest report," the group said in a statement.

Terry Hartle, vice president of the American Council on Education, which represents higher education in Washington, said the mistakes showed the entertainment industry has unfairly targeted college campuses.

"Illegal peer-to-peer file-sharing is a society-wide problem. Some of it occurs at college s and universities but it is a small portion of the total," he said, adding colleges will continue to take the problem seriously, but more regulation isn’t necessary.

[Thanks, AP]

Related stories:

• The Movie Industry That Cried Wolf: MPAA Admits Piracy Numbers …
• Movie Industry Admits It Overstated Piracy on Campus
• MPAA Taken to School on Faulty Movie Pirating Data
• MPAA: ‘Oops, College Students Illegally Download Less than We Thought.‘