RIAA Targets "Shared Folders" and CD Ripping
A court case involving the Recording Industry Association of America and and an alleged illegal file swapper has re-sparked an old debate and raised new concerns over what consumers are legally allowed to do with the music they own.
At issue in the Arizona court case of Atlantic v. Howell is whether or not consumers are breaking copyright laws if they rip a music CD and save the digital files to a "shared folder." Shared folders are the folders that peer-to-peer file swapping programs such as Kazaa use to download and upload files from.
What many find controversial in the Atlantic v. Howell case is a legal assertion by the RIAA that if a "sound recording" is ripped to a computer and stored in any kind of a shared folder, that sound recording becomes "unauthorized." Many in the blogosphere interpret this to mean that ripping CDs is seen as "unauthorized" by the RIAA. Others argue that the RIAA is just putting a fine point on the fact that ripping CDs to a shared folder -- used by a peer-to-peer program -- is tantamount to swapping the files illegally.
One point is made clear throughout documents filed by the plaintiff in the court case Atlantic v. Howell and that is the RIAA believes that the act of making copyrighted material available via a "shared folder" is enough to constitute the "right of distribution." In other words, putting copyrighted material in a shared folder is just as bad as actually sharing it with another individual.
Because I'm not a lawyer I will wait for the RIAA to un-parse its ripping position before I claim to completely understand what its' exact position is on "shared folders." But if the RIAA is set on defending this statement absolutely then serious questions are raised.
"Shared folders" means one thing in the peer-to-peer world when you are talking about programs such as BitTorrent, KaZaA and Limewire. But if the RIAA is referring to any "shared folder" than that is an entirely different story.
Everything from home storage devices such as the HP MediaSmart Server allows you to put files in a shared folder. So also do network management programs such as Network Magic have shared folders as does online storage services such as Windows Live SkyDrive service. Heck, with both Windows XP and Vista you can create shared folders that are either accessible via a network (home, school, or work) or to anyone on the Internet.
If the RIAA is going to define these types of "shared folders" as off limits for our music libraries it could be in for some intense criticism.
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Well, glory be, somebody actually read the brief! The hysteria around this has been huge, considering that what's in the brief is ambiguous at worst.
Now why doesn't some enterprising reporter take the next step here and call up either the RIAA or Atlantic (which I think is the plaintiff in this case; the RIAA doesn't sue anybody), and actually ask if "ripping is illegal" is now their position?
I love p2p and filesharing and all that, I do it all of the time. But i'm also aware of the policies and rules. What is so ambiguous about "sharing files". "If putting a file in the 'shared folder' is the same thing as actually sharing..." what has our society come to that even the most simple communication can be debated to death so that its original meaning is lost in translation. IF YOU PUT SOMETHING IN THE SHARED FOLDER, THAT MEANS YOU ARE SHARING. WHICH IS ILLEGAL. there is a difference between ripping to a shared folder or ripping to say, ANY OTHER FOLDER!
It is incorrect to say that puting something in a shared folder means that it is being shared illegally. I use shared folders that are accesable on the local network of computers I have at home for my family's use. I do not make my shared folders accesable to the Internet so nobody else can use them. I don't give anyone copies of my music I have ripped. I also own the original for every single movie and music CD I have. So please don't say that shared folders by themselves are supporting any sort of illegal activity. Personally I am sick of criminals and dishonest people removing my abilities to enjoy my media that I have purchased. Some of those criminals and dishonest people are those that rip music and movies and distribute it to others without license and some are found among the Hollywood movie and music producers that are trying to remove reasonable usage from honest people.
Our society has come to a pretty pass indeed, and it is precisely because of thoughtless individuals like you Guryon. Since you seem to like shouting: I MAY PUT MY LEGAL POSESSIONS ANYWHERE I LIKE, AS LONG AS I AM NOT TRESPASSING. A SHARED FOLDER ON *MY* COMPUTER? NO TRESPASSING THERE. IF ANOTHER MAKES A COPY OF THAT FILE AND USES IT WITHOUT THE RIGHT TO, THAT INDIVIDUAL HAS BROKEN THE LAW, NOT ME. HELLO?