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Today in History (1862) - The U.S. government forbids all Union army officers from returning fugitive slaves, thus effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation. On the same day in 1865, the Confederate Congress voted to enlist 300,000 black troops, granting them freedom with the consent of their owners. Lee surrendered a few weeks later. |
From the New York times, big news on the file-sharing front:
This doesn't surprise me, having read this interesting bit from Lessig's new book:
(My emphasis.) Apparently the RIAA is throwing a hissy fit, and has attacked the study's methodology, noting, among other things, that it hasn't been peer reviewed. I admit to being a little confused. If it is in fact the case (perhaps a big if) that file-sharing as now practiced has virutally no impact on record sales, isn't that precisely the sort of information the RIAA would like to have, for its own purposes?
I suppose such information, if true, might raise some slippery-slope concerns (once everyone thinks it's harmless, there will be much more sharing, then we'll really lose money), but those arguments are not being made. Insofar as confirmation of this new study would embarass the RIAA (and it would definitely do that), it will continue to impulsively lash out against potentially legit studies with its quasi-rhetoric, all the while missing the important point that suing hundreds of powerless individuals in the name of artists' rights wouldn't make a lot of sense if artists aren't actually taking a blow. But their reaction manifests virtually no interest in finding out the truth about file-sharing harm. Somebody go peer review that study already.
(Link thanks to Copyfight)
April 6, 2004 10:29 AM | TrackBackWhile it might be difficult for RIAA to quantify an economic loss in file sharing, it is still a copyright infringement.
Posted by: raj at April 7, 2004 10:31 AM