RIAA, MPAA Instigate U.S. Naval Academy Raid 460
LaikaVirgin writes "After receiving a letter from 'four entertainment-based lobbying associations', the U.S. Naval Academy has seized nearly 100 midshipmen's computers that allegedly had pirated media. It's good to see that the armed forces know who's really in charge."
Priorities? (Score:5, Insightful)
I think this is comparable to (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:New business-model? (Score:0, Insightful)
2) ?
3) Sell the service of anal sex to gay men.
4) Profit!
Instead of selling the software itself we should sell the service of anal sex.
Re:How? (Score:1, Insightful)
That's a very good question. And an even more interesting question will be "what is the limit of damages that can be claimed in a lawsuit against the agency doing this illegal search and seizure?"
Why is the RIAA seemingly unique among enterprises who are generally afraid to take ANY controversial action of ANY kind, for fear of being sued? Abusing police power against Navy Academy cadets? Taking computers which could conceivably contain data that requires clearance to access? Pissing off future military officers? Pissing off their FATHERS, who are CURRENT military officers?
This just isn't the kind of action that I would recommend as "wise", if I were the counsel for the people responsible. Seems quite a risky business.
Re:How? (Score:3, Insightful)
It might surprise you, but folks who have entered the armed services don't have rights. Seriously. I'm sure you've heard that so-and-so signed his life away to the Army? Well, what actually happened was that upon entering the service, the individual gave away his/her own rights to protect the rights of others.
Sure, some people don't like this fact. But it's important that our military have clear understandings that they are not out on a joy-ride and they can't leave whenever they like. They are the property of the govenment and officers do have the authority to use deadly force on a soldier who won't obey orders (at least in time of war). If you're ever drafted, or you sign up for the service, you don't have the right anymore to complain about first ammendment violations and the like (except in protecting others' rights) because frankly, the Bill of Rights doesn't apply to you.
The RIAA and MPAA (Score:5, Insightful)
Also, once you piss one military institution off unless it's a battle between divisions (army vs navy etc) then none of them like you. I can already see alot of top brass talking about these Lobbying institutions especially since Thanksgiving is coming up. The word will spread and friends of friends, families who have made service life a career will hear about this. It will spread to public servants etc and this one action seriously just damaged any pull the RIAA/MPAA/NMPA and the Songwriters Guild had with government. Especially considering the state of affairs on the table now. Not only that but the owners of the equipment that was seized will truly remember this especially if they get article 15's as well as not knowing if you're fucking with the next (insert influential power here) or if one of those young men/women has a father/mother/aunt/uncle who happens to be a congressman or senator or what have you.
Code of Honor (Score:5, Insightful)
Evidence presented by the RIAA that midshipmen were engaging in illegal activites like this would really cause the administration of Annapolis to investigate quite carefully, and be VERY upset if this sort of thing was going on.
I feel sorry for these people - if they are caught with pirated music, their careers at the Naval academy are done.
Re:Music? (Score:3, Insightful)
Well La Dee Da (Score:3, Insightful)
I feel for these people, I really do. I say we set up a Paypal account to help keep Mick, Madonna and Marshall (emineminem?) fed and clothed. Oh sure, take me to task on this but honestly, shouldn't the RIAA present better examples than pampared, multimillionaire recording artists to make their case. I mean c'mon, Mick Jagger could never sell another record in his life and still live like a king, same with Madonna. This RIAA FUD is preposterous. These people can afford to buy their records, I can't and neither can a lot of people I know, that's just the sad reality of things right now. So I'm a thief, well I guess that's just a matter of perspective isn't it?
Re:Priorities? (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't disagree with you generally-speaking. But here we're talking about military personnel, and soon-to-be officers at that. I don't think the crack-down was wrong here. When people sign up for the military, they sign away their rights. That's just the way it works--a military isn't a democracy for very good reason.
The military service has a big reason to have the public supporting them. It's killer when they go away on missions knowing that John Q Public doesn't care--or worse, doesn't want them to be where they are. These types of opinions can come from terrible media hype about our armed forces personnel--"hey look... those guys fighting for us are just a bunch of s/pot-heads/priracy goons/". Not cool. Remember, an officer can still be thrown out of the military for having an affair. It's not illegal--but it is conduct unbecoming an officer. And do we really think that it's proper conduct to steal music? Well, this is /., so maybe most do. Fair use is one thing--stealing is something else.
In any case, these crack-downs are a good thing in my opinion. Future military officers need to be above reproach. Remember, these kids chose to be there--they weren't drafted. They gave their rights over to their country to serve our needs. Give them all the respect they deserve and maybe even send these kids a (legal) CD if they really want music.
Re:Priorities? (Score:3, Insightful)
Perhaps this should be obvious, but if they are supposed to be honest and self-policing -- suppose they are. That means that they do not see MP3 trading as a violation of any moral code. What does that tell you? Even our own military is starting to dislike the *AA.
Damned if you do (Score:5, Insightful)
Fear-mongering (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:having difficulty breathing.... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Music? (Score:2, Insightful)
Actually, it is. It's like going into the campus library whenever you need to read a book, rather than going to the bookstore. Or borrowing the book from your friend. Or, at worst, borrowing the book from a willing friend and then photocopying the chapters you were interested in.
Re:Music? (Score:5, Insightful)
It's not theft because there's no missing property.
It is copyright infringement. But some would argue it falls under fair use.
Re:My **AA fights... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:IN SOVIET RUSSIA (Score:3, Insightful)
"Everything they said about communism was a lie, but everything they said about capitalism is true."
Not that it's any surprise... (Score:3, Insightful)
Not that it's any surprise around here, but this statement is a flat out lie. It would be one thing if the recording industry was engaging in a constructive debate somewhere, or at least sticking to facts, but instead they've chosen to deceive and lie to protect their way of doing business. Why can't our government recognize this and stop catering to this corruption? (I have a few ideas, but that's another story.)
This is very different from "walking into the campus bookstore and in a clandestine manner walking out with a textbook without paying for it." For one thing, it's not very clandestine - or at least there's no specific effort to make it such. Secondly there is no tangible good being "walked out" with. A closer analogy would be walking into a campus bookstore (better yet, a friend's house), and reading a textbook without paying for it. But, of course, that wouldn't serve their interests. Obviously this isn't a clear-cut issue, but lying to the public to get their way is just disgusting, and displays a remarkable lack of integrity, IMO.
riaa spying on the navy ? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:We all know what really happened (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:My **AA fights... (Score:2, Insightful)
Bach's Goldberg Variations are also in the public domain, but Murray Perahia's recent recording on a Sony Classics' CD isn't. That one's still 22.50.
You're paying for the orchestra and conductor, not the notes.
You will not OWN it. (Score:4, Insightful)
DRM may prove who owns what, but it will not matter. You will no longer "buy" or own any CD or DVD you have, despite owning the media it's on. It will simply be licenced, under the licence "negotiated" between the CD/DVD and your trusted computer. Most likely you'll get a EULA-clickthrough the first time you put it in your computer, if at all. It's not like you accept or decline the region restrictions on your DVDs either.
And you can no longer ignore it, legal or illegal EULA, as your DRM hardware will enforce it on you with no way of circumventing it without committing a federal crime under the DMCA.
Kjella
Re:This is Farging War! (Score:2, Insightful)
Most colleges do an excess of 1500GB+ of data each day through their Internet link. Now, imagine you are the guy in charge of handing out this bandwidth....I am friends with mine.
Reducing P2P bandwidth cuts your job time probably by 3/4.
What path would you take?
Re:Music? (Score:3, Insightful)
No, it's like sneaking into the campus movie theatre or the amusement park without paying. Or jumping the turnstiles on the subway, so you can get a free ride without paying. It's about avoiding paying for something that cost someone else money to provide. How is that not theft of service, again?
Re:Music? (Score:5, Insightful)
I was going to go see a movie. A friend told me it sucked. I didn't go see it. Was that theft? Meets your definition.
How about if i was going to buy a book, and a friend stopped me on the way to the bookstore to tell me that they already owned the book and could borrow it from them? Again meets your definition.
Re:No Veterans in the /. community? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Music? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Music? (Score:3, Insightful)
How long (Score:2, Insightful)
The userbase always degrades into a "It's not theft, it's ______" spat with no new ground broken in these discussions. Why not acknowledge it is what it is and that it's illegal and move on to talking about what happens to sailors who are caught? Compare that with the consequences of your average college kid. Anything besides the usual. There have been enough of these articles and "discussions" here that you'd think things would E-volve.
And how long are the editors of Slashdot going to continue posting these copyright infringement stories with a tone of "these people are victims," or "the RIAA is evil BECAUSE they're telling so and so to crack down on this"? I know the RIAA is evil, but not because they go after people who steal from them. Napster et al are NOT civil disobedience for 99 out of 100 people. I agree the Napster revolution was necessary, but the follow through, and the manner in which it was conducted have been so misguided that they are not having a positive effect. And the Slashdot editors aren't helping to fix the message. If the Napster generation had a clear and earnest message, they would get more done.
Re:How? (Score:3, Insightful)
Small point: Military personnel may not make disparaging remarks about politicians, the government, or superior officers in any situation where those remarks may become public knowledge. Bitching about the crap that's been dumped on you, the idiot ninety-day wonder in command of your unit (who couldn't pour piss out of his boot if the instructions were written on the heel), the circus at Fort Fumble (aka the Pentagon), and the rest of Dreamland-on-the-Potomac is a long-standing tradition in the military. But that's all private, inside the family, and stays outside the performance of your duty; they'll come down on you for letting it out in public, and God help you if you actually address your remarks to a member of the media...