Revealed: How RIAA tracks downloads

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2003-08-28 12:38pm

Revealed: How RIAA tracks downloaders
Thursday, August 28, 2003 Posted: 9:45 AM EDT (1345 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The recording industry is providing its most detailed glimpse into some of the detective-style techniques it has employed as part of its secretive campaign against online music swappers.

The disclosures were included in court papers filed against a Brooklyn woman fighting efforts to identify her for allegedly sharing nearly 1,000 songs over the Internet. The recording industry disputed her defense that songs on her family's computer were from compact discs she had legally purchased.

According to the documents, the Recording Industry Association of America examined song files on the woman's computer and traced their digital fingerprints back to the former Napster file-sharing service, which shut down in 2001 after a court ruled it violated copyright laws.

Compared to shoplifting
The RIAA, the trade group for the largest record labels, said it also found other evidence inside the woman's music files suggesting the songs were recorded by other people and distributed across the Internet.

Comparing the Brooklyn woman to a shoplifter, the RIAA told U.S. Magistrate John M. Facciola that she was "not an innocent or accidental infringer" and described her lawyer's claims otherwise as "shockingly misleading."

The RIAA papers were filed Tuesday night in Washington and made available by the court Wednesday.

The woman's lawyer, Daniel N. Ballard, of Sacramento, California, said the music industry's latest argument was "merely a smokescreen to divert attention" from the related issue of whether her Internet provider, Verizon Internet Services Inc., must turn over her identity under a copyright subpoena.

"You cannot bypass people's constitutional rights to privacy, due process and anonymous association to identify an alleged infringer," Ballard said.

Using forensics
Ballard has asked the court to delay any ruling for two weeks while he prepares his arguments, and he noted that his client identified only as "nycfashiongirl" -- has already removed the file-sharing software from her family's computer.

The RIAA accused "nycfashiongirl" of offering more than 900 songs by the Rolling Stones, U2, Michael Jackson and others for illegal download, along with 200 other computer files that included at least one full-length movie, "Pretty Woman."

The RIAA's latest court papers describe in unprecedented detail some sophisticated forensic techniques used by its investigators.

For example, the industry disclosed its use of a library of digital fingerprints, called "hashes," that it said can uniquely identify MP3 music files that had been traded on the Napster service as far back as May 2000. Examining hashes is commonly used by the FBI and other computer investigators in hacker cases.

You cannot bypass people's constitutional rights to privacy, due process and anonymous association to identify an alleged infringer.
-- Daniel N. Ballard, lawyer for accused file sharer

By comparing the fingerprints of music files on a person's computer against its library, the RIAA believes it can determine in some cases whether someone recorded a song from a legally purchased CD or downloaded it from someone else over the Internet.

Copyright lawyers said it remains unresolved whether consumers can legally download copies of songs on a CD they purchased rather than making digital copies themselves. But finding MP3 music files that precisely match copies that have been traded online could be evidence a person participated in file-sharing services.

"The source for nycfashiongirl's sound recordings was not her own personal CDs," the RIAA's lawyers wrote.

The recording industry also disclosed that it is examining so-called "metadata" tags, hidden snippets of information embedded within many MP3 music files. In this case, lawyers wrote, they found evidence that others had recorded the music files and that some songs had been downloaded from known pirate Web sites.

Congressional hearings promised
The industry has won approval for more than 1,300 subpoenas compelling Internet providers to identify computer users suspected of illegally sharing music files on the Internet.

Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minnesota, chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs' Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, has promised hearings on the industry's use of copyright subpoenas to track downloaders.

The RIAA has said it expects to file at least several hundred lawsuits seeking financial damages as early as next month. U.S. copyright laws allow for damages of $750 to $150,000 for each song offered illegally on a person's computer, but the RIAA has said it would be open to settlement proposals from defendants.

The campaign comes just weeks after U.S. appeals court rulings requiring Internet providers to readily identify subscribers suspected of illegally sharing music and movie files.

Nathan F · Post by **Nathan F** » 2003-08-28 12:43pm

Oy, the more I hear about the RIAA, the more I am sold on the idea that they are desperatly looking for a scapegoat for their decreasing album sales. Heck, I am not going to go pay 15 bucks for a CD when I could go pay 15 bucks for a DVD and get a heckuva lot more for my money. You also gotta take into effect the fact that music is becoming crappier and crappier every day.

Post by **Vympel** » 2003-08-28 12:44pm

Bah, I don't download MP3s ... much- luckily, they are all MP3s from my friend's indie music that sucks ass and would never be associated with the RIAA, so they can get bent.

Come and get me you RIAA cunts.

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2003-08-28 01:05pm

Vympel wrote:Bah, I don't download MP3s ... much- luckily, they are all MP3s from my friend's indie music that sucks ass and would never be associated with the RIAA, so they can get bent.

Come and get me you RIAA cunts.

*smack!*

dumbass. draw attention to everyone why don't you.

Silence, peon- Vym

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-08-28 01:08pm

Hmmm. Seems they would still need to have enough evidence to get a warrant to search your computer.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-08-28 01:13pm

Vympel wrote:~edited by the secret anti-RIAA police~.

Watch as the black RIAA helicopters come to take you away.

They cannot trace my l33t mod skillz- Vym

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2003-08-28 01:47pm

Hm ... this is sitting on the border between N&P and G&C. Should I move it?

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-08-28 01:48pm

I think it's more a political issue. Not really talking about how they do it.

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2003-08-28 01:50pm

Not to mention that a Supermod thought it belonged here when he posted it in the first place.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2003-08-28 01:51pm

Vympel wrote: Come and get me you RIAA cunts.

My MP3s are all Imperial March, and Military Marches

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2003-08-28 01:56pm

When will these assholes get it through their heads that copyright violations and stealing are not, never have been and never will be the same thing?

From an ethical standpoint, all the music from the 60's, 70's, 80's and early 90's should be public domain by now. The Framers saw no need for massively extended copyrights, and neither do I. I see no ethical problems with pirating music from those eras. I see only a slight ethical problem with pirating current music, simply because of the RIAA's asinine business practices and charging exorbitant prices for inferior products. Frankly, I see larger ethical problems with buying CD's from the RIAA because supporting those assholes is a crime against civil rights.

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2003-08-28 01:57pm

Stravo wrote:Not to mention that a Supermod thought it belonged here when he posted it in the first place.

Don't bring yo' sorry ass all up in ma hood and be tellin' me what I needs be doin!

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2003-08-28 02:02pm

Vympel wrote:Bah, I don't download MP3s ... much- luckily, they are all MP3s from my friend's indie music that sucks ass and would never be associated with the RIAA, so they can get bent.

Come and get me you RIAA cunts.

nice recovery!

Peregrin Toker · Post by **Peregrin Toker** » 2003-08-28 02:47pm

MKSheppard wrote:
Vympel wrote: Come and get me you RIAA cunts.
My MP3s are all Imperial March, and Military Marches

I thought it still was possible for the authorities to track you down?

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2003-08-28 03:22pm

Recently I've noticed that my downloads tend to take a lot longer. Am I paranoid, or is another of the RIAA's cunningly devilish schemes?

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2003-08-28 03:26pm

Simon H.Johansen wrote: I thought it still was possible for the authorities to track you down?

Are they really going to track me down for having hundreds of MP3s
with titles like

GERMAN MARCH D Waffen SS Soldaten liebel - Horst Wessel lied.mp3
Civil War - Union - The Battle Cry of Freedom.mp3
artie shaw - it's a long way to tipperary.mp3
Hunt for Red October - Russian Red Army Choir - National Anthem(USSR).mp3
Russian Red Army Choir - Katiusha.mp3
Russian Red Army Choir - Moscow Nights.mp3
Songs Of The Civil War - U S Military Academy Band - When Johnny Comes Marching Home.mp3
tennessee ernie ford - God Bless America.mp3
The Bonny Blue Flag.MP3

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2003-08-28 03:28pm

HemlockGrey wrote:Recently I've noticed that my downloads tend to take a lot longer. Am I paranoid, or is another of the RIAA's cunningly devilish schemes?

You're probably just being paranoid.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-08-28 03:33pm

Durandal wrote:
HemlockGrey wrote:Recently I've noticed that my downloads tend to take a lot longer. Am I paranoid, or is another of the RIAA's cunningly devilish schemes?
You're probably just being paranoid.

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.

Faram · Post by **Faram** » 2003-08-28 04:13pm

Just change the id3v1 or v2 tag in the mp3 and wola no more md5checksum match

Solauren · Post by **Solauren** » 2003-08-28 04:22pm

Nice tip Faram, I'll have to write that down.

Here's the interesting question or point.

With the 'download vs make yourself', isn't charging someone for piracy if the own the source music, but downloaded it from someone else the same as trying to nail them for lack of knowledge?

All anyone would have to say is 'I don't know how' or 'I couldn't get a mp3 maker program that worked right'.

Now they are suing for stupidity.

That would set quite the nice president.

Oh well, glad I'm in Canada

I'm pretty sure if the RIAA tried something against a Canadian, they'd get told to fuck off by the Canadian Government. They may be jackasses, but they go all out protecting privacy.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2003-08-28 05:06pm

Leadbelly and Robert Johnson have both been dead for years, and my Burns are purely for the purposes of not fucking up my vinals and ceramics. besides I don't even have a 78rpm player I had to use someone elses to record the cerramic records in the first place....

Now I am sure they are going to accuse me of pirating that, but most people aren't even sure if it's under copywrite anymore.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2003-08-28 05:59pm

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if she downloaded the songs yet legally owned the CDs, it wouldn't matter the source of the files, right? So long as she owned them?

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2003-08-28 06:29pm

Padding all your mp3s with even a byte of zeros is enough to screw up the checksum too. On linux, much easier to do this to masses of files.
Script is:

Code: Select all

#!/bin/bash
dd if=/dev/zero of=/tmp/padding bs=1 count=1 &>/dev/null
find|grep '\.mp3'|gawk '{print "cat /tmp/padding >> \"" $0 "\";"}'>/tmp/padscript
. /tmp/padscript
rm -f /tmp/padscript /tmp/padding

Use at your own risk.

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2003-08-28 06:35pm

Be careful and remember to add '>>' instead of '>' after padding on the third line(starting with find(ls would work too instead of find)), otherwise your files will be nuked.

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2003-08-28 06:37pm

You can also use the command line ID3 editor, but that's not a standard linux/unix utility.