NYT: Crackdown May Send Music Traders Into Software Underground

[CShine]

Some people may well be intimidated by the 261 lawsuits that the music industry has filed against Internet users it says are illegally sharing songs. But hundreds of software developers are racing to create new systems, or modify existing ones, to let people continue to swap music — hidden from the prying eyes of the Recording Industry Association of America, or from any other investigators.

"With the R.I.A.A. trying to scare users around the world, the developer community is pumping up to create networks which are safer and more anonymous," said Pablo Soto, a developer in Madrid who designed the software for two file-sharing systems, Blubster and Piolet.

Some experts wonder if the industry's efforts will create more trouble for it than ever. "The R.I.A.A. is breeding antibiotic-resistant bacteria," said Clay Shirky, a software developer who teaches new media at New York University.

Blubster, which has an estimated quarter-million users, already uses technology to make eavesdropping more difficult, Mr. Soto said. Its next version will encrypt files so they can be decoded only by their intended user.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/15/technology/15DARK.html

[bemildred]

1. They are toast.

Encryption will do them in.

It's an arms race and they will lose; they are priming the
publics' computer immune systems to reject their snooping.

Remember the fuss over PGP?

Now, if we could get people to dump Windoze for a secure OS.

[htuttle]

2. This quote seems relevant all too often:

"The internet treats censorship as damage, and routes around it."
-- John Perry Barlow, EFF co-founder, hacker, author of grateful dead songs and all-around gadfly.

RIAA is ultimately throwing a lot of money into a hole, creating a lot of bad will, and wasting a lot of time it could be using to create a new market instead of clinging to the old one.

[Don_G]

3. I Think Some Sharing Services Are Planning A Move

overseas to avoid the heavy-handed presence of the RIAA in the US. More jobs lost because of a few greedy a**holes.