[Air-l] music 'piracy' groups query

Thu Feb 8 12:11:35 PST 2007

As you know these groups are very secretive for good reason. Law
enforcement is cracking down hard internationally on these groups but
these groups are more educated and mobile than their pursuers. Also look
at the Center for Digital Democracy and The Benson Foundation for some
studies. You can also look at The Pew Institute for some studies on
piracy. There are several groups supporting fair usage like the Center
for Digital Democracy. Are you ready for this one: the RIAA, the MPAA
are in a fight with the electronics manufacturers group because they
keep inventing devices that enable people to rip, copy and transfer
digital content. Good Morning Silicon Valley had a recently piece on its
newsletter/blog. The rhetoric was quite heated, and this controversy
looks like it will not end any time soon. In fact I am predicting it
will become more combustible. My rationale is the article on Apple's
website (hot news) by no other than Steve Jobs who directly pointed the
finger at the labels for forcing Apple and Microsoft to bundle their
downloads with DRM. Jobs listed three scenarios: keep the status quo
because its working, creating an open version of iTunes that could be
licensed to other digital store so that the Apple DRM could be shared
across different online stores or eliminating DRM all together and
having open downloads without DRM. Jobs stated that he favored
eliminating DRM because there are smart people who figure out how to
compromise DRM all the time and it is just too expensive anyway. Jobs
also makes the point that the big four music labels reside mostly in
Europe: SonyBMG, EMI and Universal. Many European countries are now
passing anti-iPod and iTunes laws even though it is the music labels who
hold the true power and they resent Apple's ability to control the
online market and sell iPods without the industry getting a piece of
iPod sales (see Warner Music Group head E. Bronfman). This is why the
Zune player is giving some of the proceeds of its sales to the music
industry.

See an article on 2/7 by Shel Holtz at shel at holtz.com - Labels? We don't
need no stinkin' labels

-----Original Message-----
From: air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org
[mailto:air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Andrew Whelan
Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 1:44 PM
To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
Subject: Re: [Air-l] music 'piracy' groups query

Hi Chris,
Many thanks for these leads, I am vaguely familiar with some Lessig
stuff and the EFF but the rest are new to me (indeed, I didn't know the
EFF made an argument supprting ripping in terms of fair use). I am
especially interested in how 'rippers' relate to the p2p 'masses', as it
were, and therefore I'm as yet undecided on whether or not to contact
rip groups directly - they are anyway notoriously cagey. However, I have
amassed a significant number of group-produced '.nfo' files, a very
small number of which include contact details (usually for IRC
channels). I would of course probably need an 'invite', but may, if
needs be, be able to secure one through p2p contacts.
Thanks again,
Andrew

On 2/8/07, Heidelberg, Chris <Chris.Heidelberg at ssa.gov> wrote:
>
> Andrew:
>
> Good luck! You will have to know someone and have that person vouch 
> for you because this has really gone underground thanks to the MPAA 
> and RIAA series of international raids and successful lawsuits all 
> over the globe. They may think you are a narc, so be careful. However,

> the RIAA and MPAA have plenty of stories, position papers, and 
> releases on these groups and how they caught them. The most recent 
> group that I have found as an ancillary part of my research for my 
> upcoming defense was in Russia. Lessig has written several good books 
> that can give you the legal history of technology disruption and 
> intellectual property lawsuits. Consider the history of Napster, 
> Morpheus, eDonkey, Limewire and more when looking for articles.The 
> lawsuits are interesting too. You can actually Google them and it will

> lead you to articles. I would look at Good Morning Silicon Valley 
> which has done a lot of articles and commentary on the subject. Look 
> at Lawrence Lessig's website. Also, you can try Fisher who wrote the 
> book Promises to Keep on this subject in 2004. He's a Harvard 
> researcher.Also look at the software trade group site for their 
> positions on piracy.That's how I found some things. Also, look at the 
> EFF site. Check out the Electronic Frontier Foundation and similar
groups are defenders of fair usage through ripping.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org
> [mailto:air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Andrew Whelan
> Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 10:13 AM
> To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
> Subject: [Air-l] music 'piracy' groups query
>
> Dear all,
>
> I am researching the groups who 'rip' commercial CDs and vinyl for 
> peer-to-peer distribution and wondered if anyone had come across any 
> reading on this phenomena. The only article I have been able to find 
> addressing this subject specifically is:
>
>
>
> Cooper, Jon, and Daniel Harrison. 2001. "The social organization of 
> audio piracy on the Internet." *Media, Culture and Society* vol. 23,
no.
> 1, pp.
> 71-89.
>
>
>
> Any suggestions as to material, especially on audio, or film 
> 'rippers', or indeed software 'cracker' groups, would be very much
appreciated.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Andrew Whelan
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