He's not a cop - but for enough money he'll play one, on the Internet

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: dewayne () warpspeed com (Dewayne Hendricks)
Date: December 22, 2008 7:01:15 PM EST
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <xyzzy () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] He's not a cop - but for enough money he'll  
play one, on the Internet

[Note:  This item comes from reader Randall.  DLH]

From: Randall Webmail <rvh40 () insightbb com>
Date: December 22, 2008 1:52:33 PM PST
To: johnmacsgroup () yahoogroups com, dewayne () warpspeed com
Subject: He's not a cop - but for enough money he'll play one, on the  
Internet

<http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10127841-93.html>

One ISP says RIAA must pay for piracy protection
Posted by Greg Sandoval

UPDATE 8:40 p.m. PT: Click here for e-mail correspondence between  
Jerry Scroggin and copyright owners such as Warner Bros and the family  
of Frank Zappa.

Jerry Scroggin, owner-operator of Bayou Internet and Communications,  
wants the music and film industries to know that he's not a cop and he  
doesn't work for free.

Scroggin, who sells Internet access to between 10,000 and 12,000  
customers in Louisiana, heard the news on Friday that the Recording  
Industry Association of America (RIAA) has opted out of suing  
individuals for pirating music. Instead, the group representing the  
four largest music labels is forging partnerships with Internet  
service providers and asking them to crack down on suspected file  
sharers.

Jerry Scroggin owns his own small ISP and he says protecting music  
costs money.
(Credit: Jerry Scroggin)

According to Scroggin, if RIAA representatives ask the help of his  
ISP, they had better bring their checkbook--and leave the legal  
threats at home. (CNET News obtained a copy of the RIAA's new notice  
to ISPs here). Scroggin said that he receives several notices each  
month with requests that he remove suspected file sharers from his  
network. Each time, he gets such a notice from an entertainment  
company, he sends the same reply.

[snip]

-=-=-=-
[[Copy of RIAA's new enforcement notice to ISPs]]

<http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10127050-93.html?tag=rtcol;pop>

[[The recording industry dropped some big news Friday, announcing that  
it will no longer take a broad approach to litigating against alleged  
filed sharers. The Recording Industry Association of America has  
enlisted the help of internet service providers to act as a sentry and  
help discourage customers from pirating music.

Below is a copy of the form letter the RIAA will send to ISPs to  
inform them one of their customers is accused of file sharing. The  
notification is similar to those the group has sent to college  
campuses for years and shows very clearly that the group retains the  
right to sue people for copyright violations.]]

VIA EMAIL
*ISP*
*Date*

Sir or Madam:

I am contacting you on behalf of the Recording Industry Association of  
America, Inc. (RIAA) and its member music companies. The RIAA is a  
trade association whose member companies create, manufacture, and  
distribute approximately ninety (90) percent of all legitimate music  
sold in the United States.

We believe a user on your network is offering an infringing sound  
recording for download through a peer to peer application. We have  
attached below the details of the infringing activity.

We have a good faith belief that this activity is not authorized by  
the copyright owner, its agent, or the law. We are asking for your  
immediate assistance in stopping this illegal activity. Specifically,  
we respectfully request that you remove or disable access to the  
unauthorized music.

We believe it is in everyone's interest for music consumers to be  
better educated about the copyright law and ways to legally enjoy  
music online. The major record companies have actively licensed their  
music to dozens of innovative services where fans can go to listen to  
and/or purchase their favorite songs. A list of many of these services  
is available at www.musicunited.org.

It should be made clear by this letter that downloading and  
distributing copyrighted songs via peer to peer networks is not an  
anonymous activity. Not only is distributing copyrighted works on a  
peer to peer network a public activity visible by other users on that  
network, an historic 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision affirmed the  
unmistakable unlawfulness of uploading and downloading copyrighted  
works. The website www.musicunited.org contains valuable information  
about what is legal and what is not when it comes to copying music. In  
addition to taking steps to notify the network user at issue about the  
illegal nature of his/her activity, we strongly encourage you to refer  
him/her to this helpful site.

Please bear in mind that this letter serves as an official notice to  
you that this network user may be liable for the illegal activity  
occurring on your network. This letter does not constitute a waiver of  
our members' rights to recover or claim relief for damages incurred by  
this illegal activity, nor does it waive the right to bring legal  
action against the user at issue for engaging in music theft. We  
assert that the information in this notice is accurate, based upon the  
data available to us. Under penalty of perjury, we submit that the  
RIAA is authorized to act on behalf of its member companies in matters  
involving the infringement of their sound recordings, including  
enforcing their copyrights and common law rights on the Internet.

Thank you in advance for your prompt assistance in this matter. If you  
have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail at XXXXXX () riaa com 
, via telephone at *Phone Number*, or via mail at RIAA, 1025 F Street,  
NW, 10th Floor, Washington, D.C., 20004. Please reference *Case ID* in  
any response or communication regarding this matter.

Sincerely,

RIAA

List of infringing content
------------------------------
*Infringing Content*
-------------------------
INFRINGEMENT DETAIL
-------------------
Infringing Work : XXXXXX
Filename : XXXXXX
First found (UTC): XXXXXX
Last found (UTC): XXXXXX
Filesize : XXXXXX
IP Address: XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
IP Port: XXXXX
Network: XXXXXX
Protocol: XXXXXX
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