Net News

First Convictions in U.S. Peer-To-Peer Piracy Fight

Two men pleaded guilty to copyright-infringement for distributing music, software and movies over the Internet in the first U.S. convictions for piracy over peer-to-peer networks, the Justice Department says.

William Trowbridge of New York, and Michael Chicoine, of San Antonio, each face up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 in the criminal convictions stemming from an August raid, according to the Department.

The recording industry has sued more than 7000 individuals who copy its songs over popular peer-to-peer networks like Kazaa, and has urged the government to get involved.

But authorities have to date largely concentrated on elite groups of hackers who steal and distribute movies, music and software before their official release dates, not the millions who share copyrighted material over peer-to-peer networks.

Trowbridge and Chicoine operated hubs in a file-sharing network that required members to share between one gigabyte and 100 gigabytes of material, the equivalent of 250,000 songs, Attorney General John Ashcroft said when the raid was announced.

Investigators downloaded material worth $25,000 from the two hubs, the Justice Department said.

The global music industry is fighting a determined war on piracy, suing thousands of persistent violators from teachers to managing directors, its trade association says.

“None of this makes us feel wonderful,” John Kennedy, chairman and chief executive of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, says.

“For years, we sat back whilst our music was wantonly stolen,” he adds. “We tried to educate people to raise awareness and then, only as a last resort, did we commence proceedings and even then only against the worst offenders.”

“Anyone who claims you're going to win the war on piracy is a very foolish person. But if you don't fight the war, it gets worse,” he told the music industry annual conference, Midem, in the French Mediterranean coast city of Cannes.

“There will be more (lawsuits) in 2005. We look forward to the day when they won't be necessary.”

The music industry blames illicit online file-trading for a dramatic fall-off in sales over the last several years.

Kennedy estimated that 2004 global music sales were roughly flat, with a small drop in physical sales balanced out by a surge in digital sales.

Analysts say the industry's carrot-and-stick approach of legal online music stores like iTunes and Napster along with lawsuits against file-traders has largely checked the growth of peer-to-peer networks like Kazaa that illicitly offer music for free.

The number of songs sold online grew ten-fold in 2004 as more than 230 online music stores were created.

The digital music market was worth about $330 million last year, or about 1% of all music sales, a figure that will double in 2005, according to JupiterResearch.

Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), copyright owners and their representatives may not get and serve subpoenas on Internet service providers (ISPs) to obtain personal information about subscribers who are allegedly transmitting copyrighted material, the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held on Jan. 4. In re Charter Communications Inc., No. 03-3802.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), a trade association representing record companies, sued individuals who allegedly committed copyright infringement using peer-to-peer systems, which allow users to disseminate files stored on their computers to other Internet users. Using tracking programs, the RIAA determined the Internet protocol addresses and user names of subscribers of the ISP, Charter Communications, who were allegedly trading copyrighted music files. Since only the ISP can provide the names and physical addresses of their subscribers, the RIAA obtained subpoenas requiring Charter to produce the personal information of about 200 of its subscribers.

A Missouri federal court denied Charter's motion to quash. The Eighth Circuit denied Charter's emergency motion to stay the order of enforcement of the subpoenas pending appeal. Charter subsequently turned over the subpoenaed information of its subscribers.

After hearing the appeal, the Eighth Circuit reversed, noting that 17 U.S.C. 512(h) allows a court to issue a subpoena to an ISP for identification of an alleged infringer, as long as the ISP is notified. Since in this case Charter was acting merely as a conduit for transferring infringing material between two Internet users, the court found that the subpoena was improperly issued because Charter was not able to remove or disable access to the allegedly infringing material.

First Convictions in U.S. Peer-To-Peer Piracy Fight

Two men pleaded guilty to copyright-infringement for distributing music, software and movies over the Internet in the first U.S. convictions for piracy over peer-to-peer networks, the Justice Department says.

William Trowbridge of New York, and Michael Chicoine, of San Antonio, each face up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 in the criminal convictions stemming from an August raid, according to the Department.

The recording industry has sued more than 7000 individuals who copy its songs over popular peer-to-peer networks like Kazaa, and has urged the government to get involved.

But authorities have to date largely concentrated on elite groups of hackers who steal and distribute movies, music and software before their official release dates, not the millions who share copyrighted material over peer-to-peer networks.

Trowbridge and Chicoine operated hubs in a file-sharing network that required members to share between one gigabyte and 100 gigabytes of material, the equivalent of 250,000 songs, Attorney General John Ashcroft said when the raid was announced.

Investigators downloaded material worth $25,000 from the two hubs, the Justice Department said.

The global music industry is fighting a determined war on piracy, suing thousands of persistent violators from teachers to managing directors, its trade association says.

“None of this makes us feel wonderful,” John Kennedy, chairman and chief executive of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, says.

“For years, we sat back whilst our music was wantonly stolen,” he adds. “We tried to educate people to raise awareness and then, only as a last resort, did we commence proceedings and even then only against the worst offenders.”

“Anyone who claims you're going to win the war on piracy is a very foolish person. But if you don't fight the war, it gets worse,” he told the music industry annual conference, Midem, in the French Mediterranean coast city of Cannes.

“There will be more (lawsuits) in 2005. We look forward to the day when they won't be necessary.”

The music industry blames illicit online file-trading for a dramatic fall-off in sales over the last several years.

Kennedy estimated that 2004 global music sales were roughly flat, with a small drop in physical sales balanced out by a surge in digital sales.

Analysts say the industry's carrot-and-stick approach of legal online music stores like iTunes and Napster along with lawsuits against file-traders has largely checked the growth of peer-to-peer networks like Kazaa that illicitly offer music for free.

The number of songs sold online grew ten-fold in 2004 as more than 230 online music stores were created.

The digital music market was worth about $330 million last year, or about 1% of all music sales, a figure that will double in 2005, according to JupiterResearch.

Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), copyright owners and their representatives may not get and serve subpoenas on Internet service providers (ISPs) to obtain personal information about subscribers who are allegedly transmitting copyrighted material, the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held on Jan. 4. In re Charter Communications Inc., No. 03-3802.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), a trade association representing record companies, sued individuals who allegedly committed copyright infringement using peer-to-peer systems, which allow users to disseminate files stored on their computers to other Internet users. Using tracking programs, the RIAA determined the Internet protocol addresses and user names of subscribers of the ISP, Charter Communications, who were allegedly trading copyrighted music files. Since only the ISP can provide the names and physical addresses of their subscribers, the RIAA obtained subpoenas requiring Charter to produce the personal information of about 200 of its subscribers.

A Missouri federal court denied Charter's motion to quash. The Eighth Circuit denied Charter's emergency motion to stay the order of enforcement of the subpoenas pending appeal. Charter subsequently turned over the subpoenaed information of its subscribers.

After hearing the appeal, the Eighth Circuit reversed, noting that 17 U.S.C. 512(h) allows a court to issue a subpoena to an ISP for identification of an alleged infringer, as long as the ISP is notified. Since in this case Charter was acting merely as a conduit for transferring infringing material between two Internet users, the court found that the subpoena was improperly issued because Charter was not able to remove or disable access to the allegedly infringing material.