E-mail me with subject: Anti Net Act if you support my campaign. I would like more support from homepages out there. Use banner and link to me. A link will be given in return.

The No Electronic Theft (NET) Act has passed and been signed by President Clinton. This page, and ALL MP3 ARCHIVES in the US are in serious jeopardy. Protest, put the anti NET Act Banners on your site! The law makes it a felony to willfully distribute copyrighted material (software, music, literature) electronically EVEN IF the person is not profitting from it.

CONTACT INFO:

Here are some #'s and e-mail addresses for you to VOICE your opinions.
RIAA Telephone # :(202) 775-0101
RIAA Fax # : (202) 775-7253
webmaster@riaa.com
Joel Flatow--Senior Director, Gov't Affairs and Artist Relations
Alexandra Walsh
Lydia Pelliccia
Tim Sites
I suggest you be nice if you want them to take our cause seriously.

IMPORTANT LINKS:

More links: (ironically, most links courtesy of RIAA)
Federal and State Law
Prior to NET Act.
1/21/98
Three Site Ops Threatened; Incompetent judge sets damages at $100,000 per song.
7/17/97
"Internet Piracy"
7/25/97
Debate begins on Internet and application of copyright.
8/1/97 Copyright Protection on the net.
Congressional discussions
9/17/97
Johnny Cash testifies before Congress. You can copyright protect his music if you want. I ain't listening to it!
3/6/96
RIAA busts AudioNet and digital distribution.
NET Act
The exact text. Courtesy of Blex.

News/Relevant Links:

Copyright Law
MP3 Controversy
Latest News
NEWS 1
NEWS 2
NEWS 3
NEWS 4
NEWS 5
NEWS 6
Are we protected?

Info on Law and Copyrights

Copyright Code (Cornell Law)
Copyright Law Is Wrong
EFF.org Copyrgiht FAQ
Internet vs. Anti-net
Multimedia Law
Musicians Against Copyrighting Of Samples--aka MACOS
National Information Infrastructure
Negativland--A band violating copyrights for years now.
Opposing Copyright Extension
Yahoo's Info on Intellectual Property.

Supporters with pages:

to be listed do the following:
1. link to me
2. use a banner
3. e-mail me subject: Anti Net Act

Blex
suckedout
Hexed
nonSense mP3 Search
Jasco
Foneguy
Steve
Earendil
Boycott Geffen Page
The Third Layer
Project Dewdrop
Gods of War
Mike and Sue's Playroom
Kincet's Page
Vamp
VR Addict

NET Act figures:

--One can be charged with the offense if it is available for over 180 days.
--For making one or more copies with a total retail value of at least
$1,000 but less than $2,500, the violator could be imprisoned for up to
one year and fined up to $100,000.
--For copies with a retail value of $2,500 or more, the violator could
imprisoned for up to three years and fined up to $250,000. A second
offense could lead to a prison term of up to six years.

This law is NO JOKE. It gives the RIAA everything they have always wanted.
A criminal (not just civil lawsuit) way of suppressing MP3s on the net.
infringement. Funny in one sense, scary in another. It was protested by scientists
in the Association for Computing but pushed for by the greedy entertainment
industry.

Anti NET Act: Know Your Rights

1) If the distribution of copyrighted MP3s is illegal, why am I taking a moral stand defending their existence? I am not a freedom fighter of liberator of any sort. I am only a typical customer who happens to love music and refuse to pay outrageous amounts of money to listen to it.
2) Don't let the RIAA read you your rights. You can figure out your rights yourself. The text of the NET Act is right
here. Read it carefully and read the RIAA's "Soundbyting" site. Follow along with me and pick out their errors.
3) First let's clear up some misconceptions. The following indicates where the RIAA is right (and there is no way to change that). Any music that is created by someone is copyrighted whether or not there is an explicit "Copyright" notice visible. If you host MP3s, no disclaimer can make the site legal, not even if you say "If you use this site, you agree to indemnify the host." With a probable cause/warrant, any law enforcement official who wants to bust your site can do so. MP3s are illegal: there is no time limit clause or circumstance that will make them legal.
4) Now, let's clear up notions that the RIAA has that are incorrect. First let's us establish the notion that there is a difference between legal and illegal and there needs to be a recognition by the public with what theycan get away with. Many activities surrounding MP3s are illegal BUT the very act may not be enough for any criminal or civil punishment. This is why MP3 sites are pushing the "fair use clause". If people could make the record companies NOT CARE about MP3s just as people have made them NOT CARE about tape dubbing from CD then we would have a victory. UNFORTUNATELY, the RIAA does not want that. They SAY that any digital copies of music is illegal according to COPYRIGHT LAW whether CD to CD, to DAT, or to computer. Read this. They single out high-quality digital formats of transmission such CD, DAT, and MP3s but do not care as much about au, aiff, ra, ram, or tape copies. Read the actual copyright law again. There is no mention of DIGITAL or COMPUTER although there is a new addition of the words "electronic means". The TRUTH is that all copies of copyrighted music is illegal and the RIAA have chosen to target specific music formats that are high-quality, namely CD, DAT, MP3s.
5) So, this means what to you? Read the actual penalties for copyright infringement and recognize that it would take the RIAA a great deal of evidence to criminally prosecute you. In order to prove that you were distributing things for a period of over 180 days, they would have to pinpoint you and track you for half a year. It is unlikely for that to happen. The NET ACT is merely an intimidation tactic that would be put into effect only in the most dire circumstances. This leaves the problem of lesser criminal offenses and civil suit by the RIAA. Let us analyze the possibilities. There is virtually NO WAY for the RIAA to track MP3 downloading so if you own MP3s and don't distribute them, it is 100% illegal but it is also 100% impossible for the RIAA to find you so, don't downloading won't hurt you. The same idea applies to uploading. CAUTION: If you are a site op, you have reasone to be worried because your IP or server can be traced and there are ramafications on you job, school/university, and/or internet connection. Remember it is your risk but it is also the primary way that MP3s are distributed on the net. There is no effective way to protect yourself unless you can find 1) find a large remote server or 2) develop a clever IP spoofing/cloaking server.
6) Why did I go through that? I want people to know that downloading MP3s is illegal BUT there is no way that the RIAA is going to find out. They will find the distributors eventaully. If you continue to download the DEMAND never ceases. We, as music fans are always looking for music and we are not going to pay for shite. The RIAA's scare tactics will not work for the typical music fan who is downloading and uploading because such actions are discrete, private, and nearly undetectable. As long as there is DEMAND, there will be people who will be willing to SUPPLY.
7) There are different ways to supply. A FTP site in the open will not work anymore. There are more discrete ways of distributing/trading MP3s. 1) password protected FTP Sites, 2) ratio sites, 3) remote servers with files (i.e. FreeYellow, Tripod, Hypermart, Xoom, Prohosting), and 4) chat programs (ICQ, Hotline, MIRC). THE GOAL: Make MP3s so widespread that the RIAA will give up and consider the copying of MP3s similar to the dubbing of CD to tape.
8) In their website, they said that they WILL SETTLE FOR NOTHING LESS. And that is true. They want people to stop demanding MP3s by scaring them and saying it is ILLEGAL which it is, until you think about the possibility of you getting caught. They will threaten webmasters and site-ops until they stop supplying MP3s. But technology allows a new FTP to appear each day and ICQ/MIRC/Hotline transfers to be virtually undetected.
9) What about people in other countries? Listen up, the U.S. Copyright Law is similar to those in other countries that are ALREADY in effect or WILL BE implemented. If you don't think the NET Act has influence in other countries, remember how the U.S. went after China about copyright music bootleggers. U.S. policy soon becomes Canadian and British policy, which then becomes a worldwide policy.
10) Keep the fight for MP3s alive by knowing your rights. NO ONE has ever successfully been taken to court for libel/slander related to something posted on the net so post whatever you want about the RIAA (the worst they can do is probably ask you to take it down). Criminal prosecution is very unlikely while civil suits are not out of the question. Be vigilant, be smart, but do not give up the fight to keep MP3s alive as THE electronic format of music distribution.


---President Clinton and Congress have been succesfully duped by software manufacturers and the RIAA.
---Write me e-mail, and tell me if you want me to post your messages on this site with your name or anonymously. SPEAK OUT against bureaucratic B.S. of the NET Act.
---Tell others about this page and this gross in justice by word of mouth, e-mail, IRC
---Put the anti NET Act banners on your site:
1) Small Pic <img src="https://members.tripod.com/~Monstermo/antismall.gif">
2) Banner <img src="https://members.tripod.com/~Monstermo/antinetact.gif">
Link back to <a href="https://members.tripod.com/~Monstermo/mp3.htm">

Even if MP3s are illegal


UC-Berkeley law professor Pamela Samuelson:

"There will always be copyright leakage. I think that cultivating good citizenship
is probably a better idea than trying to mandate that every piece of technology
can't play something for which there is no authorization. In some sense you have
to think through your long-term strategy. The kind of Draconian measures it would
take to stop leakage would make us into a copyright police state which we wouldn't
want to live in."


You are music addict



to visit since June 1, 1998.

This page was last updated June 1, 1998