|
By Thomas Mennecke 7/11/03 The RIAA threat against those in the file-sharing community has become very real. With the RIAA's recent victory against Verizon, the ability to identify potential large-scale traders has become much easier. Although the final outcome is pending an appeal, a total RIAA victory seems all but certain. While the technological arms race has managed to stave off the RIAA onslaught, the promise of anonymous P2P networks hold the potential promise of eliminating their latest threat. However, totally private P2P networks, and the ones that claim to exist, have yet to live up to the challenge. |
FreeNet, which has been around for nearly two years, is
still not ready for the masses. EarthStation5 continues to be shrouded in mystery
and mistrust. So far only FileTopia offers an encrypted and functional P2P network,
however its population is still too small.
To examine the challenges facing the P2P world, we spoke with Pktloss, a lead
member of the MetaMachine (eDonkey) team.
Slyck.com: What are your thoughts on this latest statement from the RIAA?
Pktloss: The way in which the RIAA operates is disturbing to say the
least, the way in which congress is willing to bend knee to the RIAA's multi-million
dollar lobbying campaigns is absolutely terrifying. The RIAA's statements always
seem to ring with a tone of solidarity, that they truly are speaking on behalf
of the 'starving' artists they represent, meanwhile they offer pre-scripted
statements for a few big artists to lend their name to, and the majority are
strangely silent for a group purportedly losing millions.
A few artists (ie Janis
Ian ) have taken the time to speak out for their dying profession, and the
finger points not at the downloading public, but at the RIAA and major record
labels, for contracting new artists into slavery, and being oblivious to the
point of denial of the changing market place
I think in the end, the solution is what we (a collective public) have been
asking for since this whole thing began. A cost effective subscription service
that will allow users to listen to what they want, when they want to. The success
of project such as i-Tunes is only a small example of what is possible. A ready
model already exists for the RIAA to look at, radio and television are both
broadcasting high quality programming 24/7, either on the airwaves, or on cable
into peoples homes. This is a highly profitable business, for all involved.
Yes, a few people do steal the services. But, by and large, the general public
is happy to pay for consistently high quality programming. Thus far, the P2P
File Sharing movement has been far more effective in delivering this programming
than the RIAA could even dream of, hence its popularity. One piece of software,
wether it be Kazaa, eDonkey, iMesh or BitTorrent delivers what people want,
current similar efforts from major record labels have required different subscriptions
(and
payments) for different bands labels or songs, and even then its dripping with
DRM, rules, restrictions and limitations.
The formula for RIAA success in this whole thing is rather simple
(executives may want to write this down).
-One Subscription service, high quality music on demand, what the consumer wants
when they want it. No limits on bands, titles, songs, singles, labels, etc.
Just music.
-If the user wishes to make a permanent purchase of the song, they may do so
for a reasonable price, the download is available in any of several user selectable
formats (MP3, Ogg Vorbis, Windows Media, etc). No DRM.
They bought the service, they bought the song, if they wanted to rob you,
it would have been easier just to get it off a P2P.
-Non-exclusive service, any label can join regardless of size, musicians in
control of their own music may post independently, proper distribution of control,
and profits...and preferably....
-Competition, licensing rights available at discount/preferred rate so others
may try to offer the same services.
Slyck.com: How would you gauge the seriousness of this situation?
Pktloss: The situation is grave, and becomes more so with every passing
day. Not just because of the RIAA's threats of action, but because with every
legally purchased CD or DVD that can't be played in a consumers preferred player,
the RIAA, and the artists themselves take a hit in credibility. Millions of
Americans could have been well on their way to downloading an album in the time
it took to go to the store, find and purchase the album and return home. Yet
they still pay, and more and more methods are introduced on more albums, to
ensure that those discs won't be playable in their computers cars or dvd sets.
The threat against consumer privacy is also grave, recent bills in
congress, and legal findings in court have extended the RIAA's rights to attack
individual consumers, divide and conquer is in full swing.
While downloading a song, to which one has no legal right is undeniably wrong,
and illegal, I struggle to find the illegality in encoding a CD to MP3, or a
DVD to DiVX, then sharing it on a P2P so that others who have purchased that
same medium, may enjoy the same level of convenience that these electronic mediums
provide, but lack the technical knowledge to do the encoding. But in the RIAA's
eyes, cease & desist letters, and litigation threats, there is no difference.
Slyck.com: Pending the reality of the RIAA's threats, what steps will
your network administrators take to protect your network and/or users?
Pktloss: The advantage with the eDonkey and Overnet networks is, that
there is no central administration. We could all leave tomorrow, and apart from
complaints about unresolved bugfixes, no one would notice.
Networking issues that deal with security and reliability are under constant
scrutiny, and when appropriate, implementation. However, based on the
architecture of the networks, large scale privacy initiatives are impossible.
The Internet works because you know with whom you are communicating.
While networks like FreeNet prove that privacy is possible, implementing such
protocols on top of eDonkey or Overnet would be impossible. And with the way
the RIAA is going, making merely running such software illegal could be the
next bill in congress.
However, all is far from lost. The RIAA puts the number of American downloaders
near 43Million, and while some (perhaps 10M to be on the safe side) will be
under the legal voting age, many are not. And the remaining 33Million votes
can send some strong signals, even in Florida. I think the EFF is a good banner
to unite under, though perhaps not quite main-stream enough yet. Unfortunately
however, I believe it will
take some large explosion of events splashed across mainstream media to sound
the wake up call necessary to mobilize these voters.
Editor's note We would like to thank MetaMachine for taking the time
out to respond to our queries. At Slyck, we sent question packages to over 12
P2P developers. While most understandably declined comment, those who did will
have an article developed in the coming days.
Tom from Slyck.com is a regular contributers to MP3 Newswire. His insights on other digital music issues can be read on his site and we encourage you to check it out.
The 20GB Rio
Riot Jukebox can be ordered from Amazon
Other MP3 stories:
The RIAA Offensive
- Part I (6/25/03)
The RIAA Offensive
- Part III (7/17/03)
