Recently, 23 ASU students received pre-litigation letters from everyone's favorite multi-billion dollar industry interest group and legal terrorism squad, the insane Recording Industry Association of America.
The RIAA will cheerfully tell you that you are evil and threaten to ruin your life because you shared or distributed music without paying for its plastic copy.
But you are not evil, and you don't deserve to have your life ruined.
Doesn't the law say downloading music is illegal? Yes, but there's a problem with the law.
Everyone knows the arguments for and against file sharing, and in the end, the RIAA is right for the wrong reasons, and file sharers are wrong for the right reasons.
The hands controlling music are changing with the Internet. The raging controversies over copyright in all walks of content-based media are the groans of a culture confronting a new possibility: free access to all information, from anywhere, for anyone.
They'd like you to believe it's just about the good guys. "Don't download, or artists will get discouraged and all your music will dry up and disappear!" they whine.
This braying about the artist is malarkey, pure and simple. The RIAA are looking to save their own necks and make themselves money. They know, but pretend not to, that the music industry will soon be irrelevant.
Why? Because the Internet will eliminate the need for them. Hence the violent legal crimes they perpetrate on their victims, like cowardly fat cats aboard a sinking ship who stab their neighbors for a lifeboat.
Here's an explanation of how RIAA litigation works, as researched by Ray Beckerman of the "Recording Industry vs. the People" web log.
The RIAA hires technicians who search for files on a peer-to-peer network. They find a cache of files, pinpoint the host's IP address, and then take a screenshot of these along with the host's username.
They take these screenshots to the state court of the users' Internet Service Provider and subpoena the ISP for actual names and addresses. The John and Jane Does receive letters informing them that their names are about to be handed over.
They have few days to figure out what's going on, hire a lawyer, and stop the motion that was made in their absence (known as an "ex parte" motion).
This is really legally shady. The ex parte motion always proceeds on very thin evidence -simply a username and an IP address - and could be easily dismissed, were the defendants present. But they usually aren't, they're never informed in time, so the motion is approved, the names and addresses are granted, and the RIAA drops the initial lawsuit.
Next, the users receive "pre-litigation" letters from the RIAA asking for a settlement.
Ah, the settlement letters. If you reject or fail to answer the RIAA's offer (around $3000 to $4000, by most accounts), they'll take you to court where their top-notch legal muscle can wring a minimum of $750 per song from your numb, trembling hands.
If you accept the settlement, you admit copyright infringement, admit that you owe the RIAA all that money, and open yourself to lawsuits from the actual artists - who actually get nothing from any of the RIAA's suits.
If you've received a letter from these extortionists par excellence, speak to a lawyer ASAP. In Arizona, Macheledt, Bales & Heidmiller, LLP. have experience with RIAA lawsuits, and can help you.
Boycott the RIAA. Go to RIAAradar.com to identify which albums fund the RIAA, and avoid buying them. Support the artists in every other way you can, especially through concerts and merchandise.
And don't ever believe that sharing music is truly wrong. It may take a long, long time, but one day our system will adapt to the possibilities rather than oppress those people who embrace them.
Matthew Neff is an English literature senior, and can be reached at:
