Langsam wird es absurd. Die Recording Industry Association of America hat ja schon viele Klagen gegen Filesharer angestrengt (die meistens in teuren außergerichtlichen Einigungen endeten). Jetzt setzen sie noch eins drauf. Nach ihrer Ansicht darf man CDs, die man selber gekauft hat, nicht einmal mehr auf den eigenen Computer überspielen:

In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale, Ariz., man who kept a collection of about 2,000 music recordings on his personal computer, the industry maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer. The industry’s lawyer in the case, Ira Schwartz, argues in a brief filed earlier this month that the MP3 files Howell made on his computer from legally bought CDs are “unauthorized copies” of copyrighted recordings.

Update von Markus: Laut Techdirt vermutlich eine Ente - Washington Post Flubs Story On RIAA — RIAA Still Not Going After Personal Copies (Yet)

Update von Ralf: Danke, Markus. Ich hatte  eh die Quellenangabe vergessen.

Die Electronic Frontier Foundation hat eine Liste von “Frequently Awkward Questions” zusammengestellt, Fragen, die man unbedingt mal den Lobbyisten der Musikindustrie stellen sollte, falls man sie mal trifft (beispielsweise auf öffentlichen Diskussionen). Besonders gut gefällt mir die Frage, ob die Einnahmen aus den Klagewellen gegen Tauschbörsennutzern überhaupt die Künstler erreicht haben, bzw. wo das Geld hingegangen ist.

# The RIAA has sued more than 20,000 music fans for file sharing, yet file sharing continues to rapidly increase both online and offline. When will you stop suing music fans?

# The RIAA has sued over 20,000 music fans for file sharing, who have on average paid a $3,750 settlement. That’s over $75,000,000. Has any money collected from your lawsuits gone to pay actual artists? Where’s all that money going?

# DRM has clearly failed to stop songs from getting on file sharing networks, but it does prevent me from moving lawfully purchased music onto my iPod and other portable devices. Unlike the major record labels, many popular indie labels offer mp3 downloads through sites like eMusic. Why won’t you let fans purchase mp3s as well?

# The RIAA said that it only went after individual file sharers because you couldn’t go after P2P system creators. After the Supreme Court’s Grokster decision, shouldn’t you stop going after music fans?

# Sony BMG recently implemented a DRM technology that damaged users’ computers. But for independent researchers’ analyses, this serious flaw may have gone undiscovered. After this scandal, will record labels allow any computer scientist or security expert to examine these products and agree not to sue them under the DMCA?

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