Solid Block of Ise

Oh boy, of all the crazy crap that goes on in the world these three have to be somewhere in the top ten if you ask me.

A few weeks ago the local RIAA-affiliate in Scotland sued a mechanics garage for damages from them playing the radio WHERE CUSTOMERS MIGHT HAVE HEARD THEM! The mediamob felt that the mechanics should have paid for a performance license since it was obviously a public performance of the music, and that not having a license for public performance was an infringement of their copyright.

Yesterday I read on my favourite nerd-horn-of-plenty that RIAA is suing Usenet.com. Usenet.com is one of probably hundreds of companies that provide high-quality access to Usenet. Usenet is one of the oldest still operating services on the Internet, originating in 1979. It’s essentially a network of servers dedicated to discussion forums. Ask any Joe Blow and he will not know what Usenet is, since it’s not widely known and has fallen in a bit of a shadow for the last decade or so. None the less, it’s a heavily used resource for discussions about everything from birdwatching to coin-collecting to tech-support and nonsense pissing contests. Usenet was the place where some weenie named Linus Torvalds announced some wild-eyed project called Linux — just to name one famous incident that Usenet hosted.

Now, don’t confuse the company Usenet.com with the system Usenet. The former sells high-quality access to the latter. Think of Usenet.com as an Internet Service Provider, except they’re a Usenet Service Provider.

Did you notice the difference? Good, because RIAA aren’t intelligent enough to do just that. Or rather, they don’t give a shit. Yesterday they announced that they’re suing the company Usenet.com. Why are they suing them? Because in a previous case a dim-witted judge made the decision that merely providing access to a tool that might be used for nefarious deeds was enough to be charged with something along the lines of “conspiracy to commit copyright infringement” or some equally dense crap. Apparently these days you can be committed of almost committing a crime. Essentially it’s a thought-crime. I’d better be careful, since someone might accuse me of “conspiracy to commit jaywalking”. Even though I didn’t do it, some attorney on a power-trip can accuse me of PLANNING to do it and then send me to jail. What’s next? Suing people who manufacture hammers since they might be used to bash in peoples heads?

RIAA is using this to sue Usenet.com since there are parts of Usenet that are used to trade material which RIAA and friends find objectionable. Thus they rev up their lawyers and take it to the next level.

Now you’re fairly up to speed on some really funky stuff going on around the world. Get ready for this.

I just read a few minutes ago that STIM here in Sweden is suing Siba (article in Swedish). STIM is the recording industry’s maintainer of copyrights in Sweden. Their primary business is collecting fees from radio and TV for music that is played. They are a heavily debated organization since many smaller and independent musicians agree that STIM bases everything on an unfair system. I’ve never liked them. However, now I can add another reason to dislike them to my list. See, they’re suing Siba. Siba is a pretty large chain of electronics retailers. Essentially it’s the Swedish version of RadioShack or Best Buy. They sell TV’s, stereos, washing machines, computers, bla bla bla, etc etc. Home electronics, you get the picture.

STIM is suing them for pretty much the same reason as the Scottish case up at the top. They claim that Siba is refusing to pay royalties on music played through the demo-systems they keep in-store for the customers to try out! Now they’re suing them to the tune of half a million swedish crowns, roughly US$76k.

I’m at a loss for words. The rape and pillage on the legal systems around the world that companies and organizations representing the recording industry commit is staggering. The worst part is somehow that they manage to get the ear of lawyers, judges and jurors who really don’t know what the hell is going on, and making them nod their heads in agreement. I feel like the world is taking crazy pills and I’m the only one sane.

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