CBC News: Identifying Canadian File-Swappers

Cyberm4n

Electoral Member
Jun 6, 2002
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Identify Canadian file swappers!


Richard Pfohl: CBC News
p2pnet.net News:- Big Music will on Monday use the CRIA (Canadian Recording Industry Association) to demand that the Federal Court of Canada forces Canadian ISPs to hand over the names of people the record labels claim use p2p file swapping programs to share 'unauthorised' music online.


If it's successful, the CRIA will then seek to prosecute 29 people in actions the same as, or similar to, those currently undertaken by the notorious RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) across the border in the US.


There, the RIAA is waging war against American music lovers and the phrase 'record labels' is now synonymous not with music, but with 'lawsuits'.


Some 60 million people have shared and/or downloaded music in the US. Of these, the RIAA has managed to sue, or wants to sue, only about 1,000, mostly teenagers but also children and senior citizens.


Through a multi-million dollar media campaign and blanket coverage by the mainstream media, the RIAA has been able to use this tiny fraction to generate a disproportionately large amount of publicity on behalf of Big Music.

It's now starting an identical sue 'em all campaign in Canada.

Among the ISPs under attack by the CRIA is high-speed cable company Shaw Communications Inc, based in Alberta.


Shaw said it will go to Federal Court to fight for customer privacy and, "We believe this application amounts to a civil search warrant, and we do not think that the music companies' application should override our responsibility in law to protect the rights of our customers to maintain their privacy," chief executive Jim Shaw is reported as saying.


Speaking of the 29 Canadians singled out for special attention from the music industry, "These are people who've been going on to what are called peer-to-peer services ... that allow people to distribute illegal music on a widespread basis," CRIA lawyer Richard Pfohl is quoted as saying in a CBC story here.

Downloading from the Net is legal in Canada.

On March 19, 1998, "copying of sound recordings of musical works onto audio recording media for the private use of the person who makes the copy (referred to as 'private copying')" was legalized under Part VIII of Canada's Copyright Act.


(Sunday 15th February 2004)