   P2P ArchiveJuly 27, 2006Kazaa Settlement Has Merely "Symbolic Importance"
Ovum analyst Jonathan Arber also concludes, "in terms of actually reducing piracy, people migrated to other file-sharing networks a long time ago."
July 07, 2006File Sharing From a Musician's Point of View
Subtle and fascinating insight from a professional musician, Will Sheff, who used to work for Audiogalaxy.
July 06, 2006Can't Compete With Ownership
Restrictions on use are one of the reasons services like Napster are stumbling in attracting college students. Bill Patry comments on a WSJ article.
July 05, 2006A Year After Grokster, File Sharing More Popular Than Ever
Shutting down peer-to-peer networks was like taking a half-course of antibiotics every six months.
June 26, 2006UK Music Label Petitions to Stop Music Industry Prosecutions
A fine companion to EFF's Stop the RIAA Petition.
June 13, 2006Musicians Get It
A catalog of musicians who understand how to make money in a digital world.
June 07, 2006Hilary Rosen: I Don't Like the RIAA LawsuitsMay 31, 2006RIAA Honchos Interviewed
Feel good about prosecuting grandmothers, optimistic about making radio receivers illegal.
May 29, 2006MPAA Accused of Hiring Hacker
Did the MPAA hire a black hat hacker to get info on Torrentspy.com?
February 07, 2006P2P 2 RMSDecember 22, 2005Music Industry Failing to Halt Illegal Downloads, UK Poll FindsFrench Lawmakers Endorse File-Sharing
The otherwise terrible implementation of Europe's DMCA (the EU Copyright Directive) gets amended to permit file-sharing with an $8.50 compulsory license. Expect sparks to fly in the French Senate.
December 19, 2005Merry Christmas from the RIAA
The recording industry files another 751 lawsuits for the end of the year.
October 06, 2005Napster: The Inside Story
How the recording industry blew years of revenue suing Napster.
October 05, 2005Throwing the Book Right Back At You
An RIAA defendant in Oregon counter-sues with pretty much every law in the book.
September 12, 2005Notes From the Future
Andrew Raff liveblogs voices from all sides at the Future Of Music conference (including EFF's own Fred von Lohmann).
September 07, 2005Sorry, May I Rephrase?
RIAA, apparently a little out of practice having to argue its case, asks for a second oral argument.
September 06, 2005On the Origin of Evidence
Joe Gratz investigates: If the RIAA is allowed to download its own music, how can it use files it downloaded from a P2P user as evidence of infringement?
August 25, 2005Grokking the 'Ster
IPTA blog spots two cites of the Grokster ruling in current court judgements.
August 23, 2005Customers of New UK ISP Get to Share all the Sony Music They Want
And the artists get paid. What an excellent idea!
August 17, 2005Her Day in Court
Defendant fights back against RIAA file-sharing suit, says that it was somebody else. RIAA somewhat dumbstruck.
July 28, 2005Senate Takes Turn Wagging Finger at P2P Post-Grokster
At a hearing held today, several members of the Senate Commerce Committee threatened P2P companies, warning that legislation may be on the way even after the Grokster ruling.
Biz School Lesson #1: Don't Sue Your Best Customers
British market research firm study suggests P2P users buy more digital music online than non-users.
Grokster and the Anarchist in the Library
Copyright and culture guru Siva Vaidhyanathan sits down with Library Journal to discuss the potential effects of Grokster.
July 20, 2005Audio From Your One Stop DC Grokster Shop
Audio is now available from the Congressional Internet Caucus' meeting on Grokster, featuring our own Fred von Lohmann. News.com coverage here.
June 30, 2005Would You Like Some Music Whilst Scrabbling to Discover if Your Software is Legal?
RealNetworks begins "aggressive search-term" campaign to win over those searching for Grokster -- perhaps unaware that the Supremes frowned on Grokster's similiar courting of Napster users.
Present Company Excluded
"A major victory for lawyers everywhere" -- Mark Cuban on the Grokster verdict.
June 29, 2005Don't Stop Grokkin'
Mike Godwin's must-read take on the Grokster decision.
Search Engines Corrupt Our Youth
The GAO was asked to investigate access to porn on P2P networks (tough job). It suggests KaZaA is better than Google for filtering content.
June 20, 2005NYT Surveys Blog Pundits' Opinions on Grokster
Including the v. important perspective of the folks at rec.sports.pro-wrestling.
June 14, 2005An Even-Handed Look at Online Music (PDF)
The OECD with a balanced report concluding that music distribution needs "reevaluation," while the connection between filesharing and any drop in music sales remains unclear.
May 31, 2005Grokster Editorial War Kicks Off in Tampa
We've heard P2P users called thieves, pirates - but music rustlers? If you're a Tampa reader, you might want to step in and point out the other side.
May 16, 2005How TV Filesharing Can Boost Audiences
Just as the MPAA preps for a smackdown of TV BitTorrent sites, Mark Pesce suggests that widespread filesharing may have helped make the new Battlestar Galactica and Dr. Who series mega-hits.
May 12, 2005Music, Movies, and Now Television
The MPAA is now filing lawsuits against sites providing BitTorrrent trackers that include metadata files on TV shows.
May 10, 2005Zappster
Via
Copyfight, Frank Zappa's "proposal" for a music download service - made in 1983.
May 09, 2005What's Good for the Goose...
Roger Dannenberg responds to RIAA President Cary Sherman's op-ed tarring universities for "irresponsible" use of Internet2 with a rebuttal calling the recording industry's own history of "monopolistic suppression of innovation" an irresponsible use of networks.
April 07, 2005Aussies Join Brits in BitTorrent TV
Impatient Australian TV fans are increasingly turning to filesharing when publishers stagger release dates for popular shows.
March 31, 2005A Few Notes From the Grokster Argument
DC appellate attorney/Harvard LLM student Timothy Armstrong's detailed notes and reflections on the day's arguments.
Who's That Guy?
Linda Greenhouse reports on the oral arguments for The New York Times, highlighting the Court's concern for the future innovator -- or as Justice David Souter called him, the "guy sitting in his garage inventing the iPod."
March 30, 2005Supreme Court Campout
This Wired.com article has some great pictures of people camping out on the Supreme Court's steps before the oral argument in Grokster.
March 29, 2005California's Civil War
The LA Times with a great editorial that captures the rift between Hollywood and Silicon Valley.
Post-Argument Coverage of Grokster
The Associated Press with a nice rundown of the day's proceedings.
March 24, 2005Music Sales Rise in US
Even as P2P use blossoms. Hey RIAA - can you spell s-y-m-b-i-o-t-i-c?
March 23, 2005Napster Head Calls for Blanket LicensingConsumer Group Study Supports P2P
A new study from the Consumer Federation of America touts the benefits of file-sharing software and sets the stage for a grassroots push against Big Content.
March 17, 2005French Court Rules in Favor of Downloader
The decision seems to say that downloading movies, copying them to discs, and sharing them with your friends is legally defensible. Imagine that!
March 16, 2005Swedish Warez Bust Reviewed for Privacy Gaffs
A recent server seizure at the Swedish ISP Banhof may have gone afoul of the country's strict privacy laws, as the computers contained personal data on more than 20,000 customers.
UK Man Sued for BitTorrent Site
The kicker is that he's being sued by the Motion Picture Association of *America* for owning the domain of a site he never administered and shut down of his own volition several months ago.
March 09, 2005Filesharer Gets Jail Time Under State Law
A university student in Arizona will be the first to serve jail time under state law for filesharing.
CDT Files Complaint Against Barely Legal Download Sites
The DC-based policy group has asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate music download websites that trick consumers with claims of legality.
Biting the Hand That Wants to Feed You
Record companies have asked an Australian judge to block the makers of KaZaA from paying labels that *choose* to use the P2P network for distribution.
Use BitTorrent to Get 2.6 Gigs of Free Music
And you won't get in trouble! The organizers of South by Southwest (SXSW), a popular music/film/Internet conference, are using BitTorrent to distribute thousands of songs from its roster of artists performing next week.
March 02, 2005Major Labels Want to Raise Download Prices
They're trying to hit the sweet-spot of $18 per album (which is working really well for CDs). The future of music is not for the faint of heart - or light of wallet.
Poisoning the Well
Ed Felten on a new paper that examines how copyright holders might "poison" P2P networks with bogus files.
Intel Asks Supremes to Protect P2P
Intel's yearly revenue exceeds that of the entire US movie industry.
February 17, 2005BitTorrent Bram Makes TimeOops, Napster Did It Again
A gap in the company's copy protection scheme, coupled with its all-you-can-eat-from-our-tiny-buffet subscription plan, allows current Napster users to experience an inkling of the functionality that everyone enjoyed five years ago.
The Recording Industry: Competitive or Cartel?
Ed Felten says there's a "natural experiment" in progress to let us know.
CNN on Grokster
Pre-show coverage in preparation for next month's main event at the Supreme Court.
P2P Lawsuits and Economies of Scale
This Daily Texan article shares some startling numbers about the RIAA's litigation campaign: they've settled 8,423 suits with an average settlement of $3,000. That's a total of $25,269,000, not a penny of which goes to the artists that the organization claims to speak for.
February 08, 2005Music Industry Sues 83-Year-Old Dead Woman
That's the perfectly descriptive, totally head-shaking headline from the Boston Globe.
Of Media Savants and Cartoon Ferrets
The New York Times writes about the propaganda war between copyright extremists and pro-balance groups.
Another View on Grokster
Public Knowledge's fearless leader Gigi Sohn with a thoughtful op-ed on the importance of Grokster, the return of Induce, and the need for copyright balance.
Calling All Artists
Larry Lessig's most recent Wired column is a stirring call for artists to fight for the future of (their) music.
February 01, 2005Cuban on Grokster
The HDTV king and owner of the Dallas Mavericks weighs in on the coming Supreme Court battle over the future of innovation.
January 26, 2005Felten Takes a Red Pen to Supreme Court Briefs
Two of the amicus briefs filed in support of the content industry demonstrate flawed thinking about technology.
Introducing the Next Evolution in File Sharing
It's called Exeem, and it marries BitTorrent's speed and KaZaA's search capabilities.
"None of This Makes Us Feel Wonderful"
So says a music exec about suing thousands of customers. FYI: It makes us pretty sick too.
Forbes Joins Call for Blanket Licenses on P2P
The most sensible approach to solving the "P2P problem" just got another endorsement.
January 11, 2005LokiTorrents vs. Hollywood
One of the Internet's most popular BitTorrent sites has decided to raise money for its impending legal fight against the MPAA.
RIAA Slapped Again for Ignoring Due Process
No more shotgun lawsuits: another appeals court has ruled that the RIAA must file individual "John Doe" lawsuits against alleged copyright infringers.
January 05, 2005Reason #5,294 to Not Use DRM
Some firms are hiding ads and adware in copy-protected Windows Media Player files.
December 15, 2004BitTorrent Infringers Cross Finnish Line
Finnish police arrested 34 locals associated with a popular BitTorrent download site.
It's a Small World After All
Ed Felten has written a P2P application in 15 lines of code to illustrate the futility of regulating the software. It's called TinyP2P, and it allows users to create "small world" networks for sharing files.
December 10, 2004The BitTorrent Phenomenon
This AP article looks at what happens when the tyranny of bandwith is broken.
Aussie Universities Get Blanket License for Copyright
A large Australian rights-holder representative has agreed to grant local universities a blanket license for the noncommercial redistribution of its work. The deal promises to free universities from some liability while allowing students and faculty to continue using whatever technology suits their needs. Plus, the copyright holders will get paid for the use. Sounds great to us!
Artists: "We're Not Threatened by Filesharing"
Mary Madden of the Pew Internet and American Life Project
says, "What we hear from a wide spectrum of artists is
that, despite the real challenges of protecting work
online, the Internet has opened new ways for them to
exercise their imaginations and sell their creations."
Starbucks CD Sales Gives Record Industry the Shakes
In the latest fit of music distribution ingenuity, the coffee chain sold 350,000 copies of "Genius," the Ray Charles duet album that it helped to market and produce.
November 19, 2004Hollywood Drops the Dime on Hundreds of P2P Users
The studios were evidently wowed by the *increase* in file sharing after the RIAA's lawsuits, so they've now begun trying to emulate that success.
November 18, 2004Bad Copyright Law: Jumping on the Omnibus
Congress is considering an enormous copyright bill that combines a number of the year's most offensive proposals, including increased jail time for copyright infringement.
November 10, 2004Suing 12-Year-Olds Is *So* 2003
After all, the 2004 version of the War on File Sharing sues 10-year-olds.
Hollywood Sues Filesharers
Impressed with the stunning, awe-inspiring success of the recording industry's lawsuits, the major motion picture companies have decided to sue the tens of millions of people who share movies over P2P networks.
Sony BMG to Grokster: Let's Make a Deal
The odd couple have arranged to offer free and paid music on the P2P company's network.
October 26, 2004Music Sales, File Sharing on the Rise
The Register puts it best: "Music Sales Rise Despite RIAA's Best Efforts."
October 19, 2004New Scholarship Shows P2P Isn't Declining
According to the authors, P2P network traffic has not declined at all over the past three years - and that's not even taking into account the amount of encrypted traffic.
October 13, 2004DoJ Report Endorses PDEA, Induce Act
Meaning that you, the taxpayer, would get to fund the entertainment industry's misguided war on filesharing while innovators pack up shop and head overseas.
P2P Lawsuits Hit Europe
The recording industry is takes its sue-the-fans act on a world tour.
October 12, 2004eDonkey Beats KaZaA
eDonkey is now the world's most popular file-sharing application, besting KaZaA in the latest ratings from BayTSP. John Borland suggests that the company may have been too busy fighting off lawsuits to improve its technology.
Hollywood Pushes Supreme Court to Consider P2P
One day after failing to push the Induce Act past the goal line, Hollywood predictably tried for an end-run around Congress by filing a petition for cert in the Grokster case. Here's the bizarre twist: its legal team includes both Kenneth Starr (President Clinton's prosecutor during his impeachment scandal) and David Kendall (Clinton's personal lawyer during said scandal).
October 05, 2004UCLA on Technical Responses to P2P
This article looks at Audible Magic and the school's own home-brew tools for frustrating P2P on campus.
Stanford Cracks Down on P2P
Students who share copyrighted files can lose their SUNet ID, making them a digital persona non grata on campus.
Sony Pulls Hobbled CDs from Market
Is it because they don't work and consumers hate them? Of course not! According to Sony, the company has decided to stop making hobbled CDs because "its message against illegally copying CDs...has widely sunk in."
Will RIAA Go Fishing for Grouper?
Grouper is a "small-world" file-sharing application that allows users to share with 30 friends, and its founders say that it's legal.
September 30, 2004The Senate's Taste for RIAA Kool-Aid
There's so much bad press about the Induce Act that we can't keep up, yet Hatch & Co. remain stubborn.
September 29, 2004Induce Act Still Gag-Inducing
The latest version of this nasty bill is no easier to swallow than the first. Wired News explains why.
The Long, Winding Road to Digital Hollywood
Movie studios and tech companies at the Digital Hollywood conference pondered the perpetual problem: how to put even stronger locks on the stuff you buy.
Biting the Hand that Feeds You
EFF's Fred von Lohmann on why suing customers is (still) a bad idea.
September 23, 2004Enormous Group of Technology Heavy-Hitters Oppose Induce
The list includes Intel, Google, Sun Microsystems, Yahoo, EarthLink, Verizon, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE-USA), and Radio Shack. Still think it's just about file sharing, Senator Hatch?
GREAT song A+++++ WOULD LISTEN AGAIN!!!!
You guessed it: eBay will offer digital music downloads.
Inducing America to Give Up Innovation
Guy Kewney, a UK journalist, hopes that if the misguided Induce Act becomes law, the bone-deep chill will remain within US borders - leaving companies in the rest of the world free to out-innovate us.
September 15, 2004R.E.M. Guitarist Gives Away iPods Stuffed with MusicRIAA Sued for Patent Infringement
From the Department of High Irony: the recording industry heavies have been sued for infringing - and *inducing* the infringement - of a patent on P2P "spoofing."
September 08, 2004Save Betamax by Calling Out the Induce Act
The folks at Downhill Battle want you to call Congress on the harm the Induce Act would cause to innovation, and they've made it easy with SaveBetamax.org.
More Independent Software Turns iTunes into P2P Playground
MyTunes Redux allows iTunes users to share song files with multiple computers, not just stream music.
September 07, 2004Congress Set to Vote on Spyware, P2P Bills
The Piracy Deterrence and Education Act (PDEA) cleared another hurdle on Capitol Hill. Tell your representatives to fight it by clicking here.
Why Grokster Rocks
The executive director of Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet & Society explains why the Grokster opinion makes sense for the future of innovation.
Netflix to Download Movies to Your TiVo
We're pleasantly surprised that Netflix was able to get permission for this neat little trick.
August 29, 2004Duke Distributes iPods, Shuns Napster
The Blue Devils will not be the 21st student body forced to pay for Napster 2.0.
August 24, 2004DoJ Official Pans PIRATE Act
The act aims to enlist federal prosecutors |