ive just checked my cache ind ive got over a gigs worth of 1second to 5 minuit wav files
anyways heres the article off of ABCNEWS :
July 23— Still trading music on peer-to-peer (P2P) networks such as KaZaA or Morpheus? Fine. Be that way. The recording industry is still coming after you.
File swappers may not have felt it yet, but they've been hit this month with a one-two punch from both the music industry and from Congress.
The battle is shaping up now that the Recording Industry Association of America is making good on its threat to go after individual file swappers.
The trade group representing the world's major record labels says it has sent subpoenas to Internet service providers, demanding the names of people swapping copyright music and movies over the Web.
Students’ Attitudes Changing?
Chicago's Loyola University was served subpoenas earlier this month. The school has already turned over the names of students suspected of trading files over the school network.
It's a controversial move, but, surprisingly, some students say they sympathize with school administrators.
"I guess they're following the law and it's sort of their duty to do that. So you can't fault them, really," student Mac Walter says.
Student Cynthia Wade thinks the RIAA's tactics are an invasion of privacy, but says the situation is one that's brought on by the illegal file swappers themselves. "You know, you're old enough to know that you're not supposed to download music," says Wade.
Unsurprising Strategy
The RIAA declined to say how many subpoenas are going out, but a spokeswoman issued the following statement:
"It shouldn't be a surprise. This is part of our evidence-gathering process that we announced a couple of weeks ago against individuals making files available over peer-to-peer networks."
P2P sites such as Morpheus say the RIAA's legal action is unnecessary.
"I'm concerned that the record industry has decided to go after individuals instead of looking for a solution," Michael Weiss, CEO of StreamCast Networks and Morpheus, said at the AlwaysOn Innovation Summit at Stanford University.
"Their method is to litigate, not innovate. And it's costly. They're going to try to pound us into the ground," Weiss said.
Send Swappers to Jail
Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., and Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., introduced a bill that could mean jail time for folks who swap copyright material.
The Author, Consumer, and Computer Owner Protection and Security Act of 2003 specifically targets tens of millions of Americans who share music and movies online.
Digital-rights activists say the bill, known as ACCOPS, is dangerous.
"The majority of the people who are using file-sharing networks are children, teenagers, college students. Are these really the people we want to be putting in jail?" asks Jason Schultz, staff attorney for the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Threat Really Working?
File-swapping Beatles fan Nish Nadaraja has hundreds of downloads on his hard drive, but he isn't worried about prosecution.
"I've been downloading music for almost four or five years and there's always been a threat of something," he says.
But some analysts say file swappers like Nadaraja are becoming an exception.
Nielsen//NetRatings says use of file-swapping applications such as Morpheus and KaZaA has dropped about 15 percent since the end of June, when the RIAA issued its legal threat.
"Some Web sites and Internet applications saw little dips, like 1 to 3 percent. KaZaA dropped 15 percent. That's a pretty big drop," Nielsen//NetRatings' Greg Bloom says.
But StreamCast's Weiss says he's seen little or no decline in usage. He says the Fourth of July holiday — not the RIAA — is to blame.
"I'm usually always on my computer. But this Fourth of July I was on the golf course," Weiss chuckles.
Short-Term Victory?
Even Bloom admits it may be a bit premature for the recording industry to celebrate.
"Let's compare the full month of July to the full month of June, and then the subsequent months," he says. "Then we'll really see how the RIAA's announcement, or threat, is really affecting people and reducing the number of users to these applications."
Users like Nadaraja aren't ready to stop the swap — for now.
"The threat of some sort of legal action has always been out there, and I haven't seen it yet," he says. "It's not like something that I lose sleep over."
