Music Industry to Unveil Amnesty Offer

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-09-04 11:57pm

Ted Bridis wrote:The recording industry is expected to announce as early as next week an amnesty program for people who admit they illegally share music files across the Internet, promising not to sue them in exchange for their admission and pledge to delete the songs off their computers.

The offer of amnesty will not apply to the roughly 1,600 people who already have been targets of copyright subpoenas from the Recording Industry Association of America (news - web sites), which has promised to file hundreds of infringement lawsuits across the country as early as next week.

Sources who described the proposal Thursday spoke on condition of anonymity. A spokeswoman for the RIAA, Amy Weiss, declined to comment.

The RIAA's offer would require Internet users to complete a notarized amnesty form that includes promises to delete any illegally downloaded music and not participate in illegal file-trading in the future. In exchange, the RIAA would agree not to file a potentially expensive infringement lawsuit.

"I'll be curious to see how many opt for this," said Fred von Lohmann, a lawyer for the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation, who has criticized the RIAA's use of copyright subpoenas. "It will be an interesting measure of how much fear the recording industry has managed to inject into the American public."

Von Lohmann cautioned that the RIAA doesn't represent all copyright owners and therefore couldn't guarantee an Internet user wouldn't be sued for infringement by others, despite what amounts to an admission of guilt.

"It's not the kind of agreement that most people's lawyers will embrace," he said.

But the amnesty offer could serve to soften the RIAA's brass-knuckle image once the earliest lawsuits are filed, giving nervous college students and others an opportunity to avoid similar legal problems if they confess to online copyright infringement.

Source

Looks like the RIAA is trying to go for a warmer fuzzier image.[/url]

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2003-09-05 12:06am

I don't think so, boys. The damage is already done.

Embracer Of Darkness · Post by **Embracer Of Darkness** » 2003-09-05 12:08am

The RIAA can **** ***.

Xenophobe3691 · Post by **Xenophobe3691** » 2003-09-05 12:21am

Too late, people already hate the RIAA. Now they've even lost the sympathy vote. The bell tolls...

EmperorMing · Post by **EmperorMing** » 2003-09-05 12:24am

My response: Fuck you RIAA!!!

If they were more friendly toward the consumer in the first place they might not be in the position they are in now, instead of being greedy, controlling assholes who want to preserve their business model...

GrandMasterTerwynn · Post by **GrandMasterTerwynn** » 2003-09-05 12:27am

Hah, if one believes for more than three seconds that the RIAA is trying to soften it's image, one would be gravely mistaken. It seems like an insidious way of capturing the names of potential future 'troublemakers' to me.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-09-05 12:43am

GrandMasterTerwynn wrote:Hah, if one believes for more than three seconds that the RIAA is trying to soften it's image, one would be gravely mistaken. It seems like an insidious way of capturing the names of potential future 'troublemakers' to me.

Just because it isn't actual amnesty and you can still be open to a law suit doesn't mean they're trying to get you.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2003-09-05 01:24am

Thats a lot better idea than most of the RIAA actions recently. Not smart, but its less stupid.

beyond hope · Post by **beyond hope** » 2003-09-05 02:40am

Do they really think people will be dumb enough to turn themselves in if the RIAA hasn't caught them?

zombie84 · Post by **zombie84** » 2003-09-05 02:44am

its a sign of last-ditch desperation. its pathetic. The RIAA has lost and they know it, but worst of all, the consumers know it. Fuck you RIAA.

Typhonis 1 · Post by **Typhonis 1** » 2003-09-05 03:35am

OOOOO lookit the great ship RI.... Titanic has finally split in half and is going down even faster

apocolypse · Post by **apocolypse** » 2003-09-05 03:42am

You'd think the RIAA would come to it's senses by now. They keep shooting themselves in the foot and pissing off the very people that they want to buy their product. What the hell are they going to do when the CD goes the way of the cassette? If they want to have any sort of relevancy in the future they need to work on their business model now. It's already pretty much too late, but at least they can take less future damage....

Solauren · Post by **Solauren** » 2003-09-05 05:36pm

They think this will work?

"Hi, we, a non-government organization that can't be held accountable promise not to sue you if you fess up before we try to sue you"

Yeah, SURE.

I believe that. And I also believe that flaming bat-winged napalm covered african great apes, strumming holy harps while singing evil christmas carols comes flying sideways out of my ass in groups of 50.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-09-05 05:49pm

Most likely this will be matched by a continuing increase in downloads

beyond hope · Post by **beyond hope** » 2003-09-05 10:41pm

Solauren wrote:

They think this will work?

"Hi, we, a non-government organization that can't be held accountable promise not to sue you if you fess up before we try to sue you"

Yeah, SURE.

I believe that. And I also believe that flaming bat-winged napalm covered african great apes, strumming holy harps while singing evil christmas carols comes flying sideways out of my ass in groups of 50.

Plus they can't guarantee you amnesty from any third party that wants to sue you. And that third party has a signed confession from you already.

Post by **weemadando** » 2003-09-05 10:52pm

If I hear a peep from the RIAA or ARIA prepare to see the following news article:

"Hobart man urinates on music industy lawyers..."

Xenophobe3691 · Post by **Xenophobe3691** » 2003-09-06 02:12am

Is it just me, or does this sound like hideous desperation?

lance · Post by **lance** » 2003-09-06 02:15am

A million people get amnesty for copy right infringment from the RIAA.3

On a completly unrelated note Metalica is sueing over 800,000 people for illigal file swapping.

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2003-09-06 03:34pm

As a poster at the ars forum put it:

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-09-06 03:37pm

So they want you to confess in writing that you pirated music, so that they will grant you immunity from prosecution by their own lawyers but leave you open to attack from their member companies. Yeah, that sounds just wonderful ...

Zac Naloen · Post by **Zac Naloen** » 2003-09-06 03:40pm

well, of course i will promise to wipe them from my computer... seeing as how they don't stay on my computer for very long... they go straight to my i-pod

Xenophobe3691 · Post by **Xenophobe3691** » 2003-09-06 03:48pm

Darth Wong wrote:So they want you to confess in writing that you pirated music, so that they will grant you immunity from prosecution by their own lawyers but leave you open to attack from their member companies. Yeah, that sounds just wonderful ...

It just shows how much they think of their primary source of income...

EmperorMing · Post by **EmperorMing** » 2003-09-06 05:14pm

Sea Skimmer wrote:Most likely this will be matched by a continuing increase in downloads

I hope so...

Xenophobe3691 · Post by **Xenophobe3691** » 2003-09-06 05:30pm

EmperorMing wrote:
Sea Skimmer wrote:Most likely this will be matched by a continuing increase in downloads
I hope so...

If the past repeats itself, then d/l's will first drop a little, then skyrocket...

Pablo Sanchez · Post by **Pablo Sanchez** » 2003-09-06 05:54pm

I think that all the crap the RIAA is pulling is actually backfiring. People are smelling blood in the water and they don't see any point in buying legitimately from an organization which appears to hate and fear its own customers.