Record companies began sending users of online music-swapping systems instant Internet messages telling them that they can be identified and could face "legal penalties" for breaking copyright laws.
The record studios are giving the warnings directly to consumers only four days after a US judge said Internet file-sharing services aren't liable for copyright infringement when customers download and share music. Record labels and some artists say music downloads deprive them of billions of dollars in sales each year.
The warnings are going to users of the Kazaa and Grokster Ltd file-sharing services, said the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA), a trade group. Grokster and another service, Streamcast Networks Inc, last week won the ruling that said the companies didn't violate the record companies' copyrights.
"The court told the studios, you have to go after the person who stole from you. Apparently they are listening," said Michael Page, an attorney for Grokster.
AOL Time Warner Inc, Sony Corp and other entertainment companies sought to shut down Kazaa, Grokster and Streamcast's Morpheus system as they had successfully done with Napster Inc, a Web site that once hosted 13 million users.
US District Judge Stephen Wilson in Los Angeles said the file-sharing services can be used for legitimate purposes and aren't responsible for what individuals do.
More than 200 million people in 150 countries have used Sharman Networks Ltd's Kazaa Web site. The ruling didn't pertain to Kazaa.
The messages say, "It appears that you are offering copyrighted music to others from your computer. Distributing or downloading copyrighted music on the Internet without permission from the copyright owner is illegal." The message warned users they risk unspecified "legal penalties" and said "you are not anonymous and you can easily be identified."
"We hope to encourage individuals to take the necessary steps to stop stealing music," said Cary Sherman, RIAA president, in a statement.
An appellate court ruled in January that Internet service providers must reveal the identity of any subscriber suspected of downloading pirated songs and movies. The RIAA sued to force Verizon Communications Inc to supply the name of a customer who in one day transmitted more than 600 songs by the Beatles and other artists. Verizon is appealing the decision.
"That's the mechanism they will use to identify these people," said Jonathan Band, a copyright attorney at Morrison & Foerster LLP's Washington office.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique