Comments on: Last.fm’s User Data is Useless to the RIAA http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/ Torrent News, Torrent Sites and the latest Scoops Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:41:39 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.3 hourly 1 By: Podcast: Tech Weekly, Last.fm on personal data and competition « Free Music Everywhere (Un espacio para la música libre y gratuita) http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/#comment-566119 Podcast: Tech Weekly, Last.fm on personal data and competition « Free Music Everywhere (Un espacio para la música libre y gratuita) Wed, 03 Jun 2009 07:50:48 +0000 http://torrentfreak.com/?p=13471#comment-566119 [...] http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/ Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)PodcastA fascinating conversation about NAR/DOJ… [...] [...] http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/ Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)PodcastA fascinating conversation about NAR/DOJ… [...]

]]> By: UPDATE - UPDATE http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/#comment-565877 UPDATE - UPDATE Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:18:36 +0000 http://torrentfreak.com/?p=13471#comment-565877 This is 100% fake - look at the ars post http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/06/lastfmriaa-drama-round-2-denials-denials-denials.ars This is 100% fake – look at the ars post
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/06/lastfmriaa-drama-round-2-denials-denials-denials.ars

]]> By: trusting http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/#comment-564517 trusting Wed, 27 May 2009 19:37:54 +0000 http://torrentfreak.com/?p=13471#comment-564517 Once the have an IP address of a "likely infringer" why wouldn't they just sniff traffic from that host and see if it's filesharing and if so go after them on that basis, completely disregarding the original source of the IP? Your claim that this data is completely useless to the RIAA is wrong. The data has forensic value and certainly CAN be used against end users. Once the have an IP address of a “likely infringer” why wouldn’t they just sniff traffic from that host and see if it’s filesharing and if so go after them on that basis, completely disregarding the original source of the IP?

Your claim that this data is completely useless to the RIAA is wrong. The data has forensic value and certainly CAN be used against end users.

]]> By: Links 27/05/2009: More Schools Adopt GNU/Linux; Firefox 3.5 Near | Boycott Novell http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/#comment-564492 Links 27/05/2009: More Schools Adopt GNU/Linux; Firefox 3.5 Near | Boycott Novell Wed, 27 May 2009 18:04:05 +0000 http://torrentfreak.com/?p=13471#comment-564492 [...] Last.fm’s User Data is Useless to the RIAA In February TechCrunch rumored that Last.fm had ratted out its users to the RIAA. Now they have another source claiming data was shared with the music industry group, including IP addresses. Without going into the validity of these allegations, we’d like to point out that this data is completely useless to the RIAA, from a legal point of view. [...] [...] Last.fm’s User Data is Useless to the RIAA In February TechCrunch rumored that Last.fm had ratted out its users to the RIAA. Now they have another source claiming data was shared with the music industry group, including IP addresses. Without going into the validity of these allegations, we’d like to point out that this data is completely useless to the RIAA, from a legal point of view. [...]

]]> By: derco http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/#comment-564270 derco Tue, 26 May 2009 19:33:28 +0000 http://torrentfreak.com/?p=13471#comment-564270 how about suing RIAA for invading privacy? We all know that a cop need a warrant to come in your house when suspicious criminal activity but not without any reasonable doubt. How come RIAA could go above the law, obtain your information before you even become a prime suspect or person of interest? how about suing RIAA for invading privacy? We all know that a cop need a warrant to come in your house when suspicious criminal activity but not without any reasonable doubt. How come RIAA could go above the law, obtain your information before you even become a prime suspect or person of interest?

]]> By: Anonymous http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/#comment-564269 Anonymous Tue, 26 May 2009 19:33:04 +0000 http://torrentfreak.com/?p=13471#comment-564269 how about suing RIAA for invading privacy? We all know that a cop need a warrant to come in your house when suspicious criminal activity but not without any reasonable doubt. How come RIAA could go above the law, obtain your information before you even become a prime suspect or person of interest? how about suing RIAA for invading privacy? We all know that a cop need a warrant to come in your house when suspicious criminal activity but not without any reasonable doubt. How come RIAA could go above the law, obtain your information before you even become a prime suspect or person of interest?

]]> By: negatyve http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/#comment-564221 negatyve Tue, 26 May 2009 17:25:18 +0000 http://torrentfreak.com/?p=13471#comment-564221 What's all the fuss about RIAA getting last.fm data? What do people think last.fm's business model is? They gather data and sell it to the music industry. Last.fm doesn't share, they sell. Now, if the RIAA wanted specific data on users who play a certain album or tracks, they could write an app to farm that info and then work through legal channels to force last.fm to disclose that info. I personally don't think the RIAA would ever bother since they could farm public torrent trackers and gnutella daily for users and never sue them all. Besides, the RIAA announced that they were no longer going to go after file sharers. What’s all the fuss about RIAA getting last.fm data? What do people think last.fm’s business model is? They gather data and sell it to the music industry. Last.fm doesn’t share, they sell.

Now, if the RIAA wanted specific data on users who play a certain album or tracks, they could write an app to farm that info and then work through legal channels to force last.fm to disclose that info. I personally don’t think the RIAA would ever bother since they could farm public torrent trackers and gnutella daily for users and never sue them all.

Besides, the RIAA announced that they were no longer going to go after file sharers.

]]> By: mohammadihs http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/#comment-564213 mohammadihs Tue, 26 May 2009 17:14:14 +0000 http://torrentfreak.com/?p=13471#comment-564213 This defence of last.fm is terrible. RIAA generally employs the threat of legal action when dealing with individual pirates and settles outside of court for exorbitant sums. The claims often don't even make it to court. And though this information may be useless on it's own, it'll destroy certain defences. For example, if so-and-so was using the defence of an unencrypted ( wireless connection and somebody else must've been responsible for the actual fire-sharing. This has already been brought up by others here, but this is a far more significant breach of trust than the author is willing to acknowledge because of his or her own biases towards the service. This defence of last.fm is terrible. RIAA generally employs the threat of legal action when dealing with individual pirates and settles outside of court for exorbitant sums. The claims often don’t even make it to court. And though this information may be useless on it’s own, it’ll destroy certain defences. For example, if so-and-so was using the defence of an unencrypted ( wireless connection and somebody else must’ve been responsible for the actual fire-sharing. This has already been brought up by others here, but this is a far more significant breach of trust than the author is willing to acknowledge because of his or her own biases towards the service.

]]> By: Bart http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/#comment-564161 Bart Tue, 26 May 2009 14:42:11 +0000 http://torrentfreak.com/?p=13471#comment-564161 [quote]Apparently Last.fm’s official client also does fingerprinting as LANjackal points out. However, the ‘evidence’ would still be far from usable in court.[/quote] True. The software - including the fingerprinting - is open source (see http://blog.last.fm/2007/08/29/audio-fingerprinting-for-clean-metadata), so one can generate and scrobble false fingerprinting data too. This is not very likely of course however. [quote]Apparently Last.fm’s official client also does fingerprinting as LANjackal points out. However, the ‘evidence’ would still be far from usable in court.[/quote]

True. The software – including the fingerprinting – is open source (see http://blog.last.fm/2007/08/29/audio-fingerprinting-for-clean-metadata), so one can generate and scrobble false fingerprinting data too. This is not very likely of course however.

]]> By: chimeric's status on Tuesday, 26-May-09 19:02:43 UTC - Identi.ca http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/#comment-564158 chimeric's status on Tuesday, 26-May-09 19:02:43 UTC - Identi.ca Tue, 26 May 2009 14:27:37 +0000 http://torrentfreak.com/?p=13471#comment-564158 [...] did you read this too http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/ [...] [...] did you read this too http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/ [...]

]]> By: Kamic http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/#comment-564085 Kamic Tue, 26 May 2009 09:40:03 +0000 http://torrentfreak.com/?p=13471#comment-564085 I'll still use last.fm, but soon as word gets out of anyone using it in court, byebye last.fm! ~ Kamic http://www.failfriend.com I’ll still use last.fm, but soon as word gets out of anyone using it in court, byebye last.fm!
~
Kamic
http://www.failfriend.com

]]> By: Whiffmeister http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/#comment-564061 Whiffmeister Tue, 26 May 2009 06:56:18 +0000 http://torrentfreak.com/?p=13471#comment-564061 BTW ... the premise of the OP that the record labels are using this data to find out and service the listening habits is absolute horseshit! The record labels have never been interested in what we want, only what mediocre shit they can deliver from their established stables. 98% of their music is archived never to be heard by the public. Last.fm and other services like it service the long tail of the music industry ... and they don't like us having more choice as it means they have to work harder with more bands/artists BTW … the premise of the OP that the record labels are using this data to find out and service the listening habits is absolute horseshit! The record labels have never been interested in what we want, only what mediocre shit they can deliver from their established stables. 98% of their music is archived never to be heard by the public.

Last.fm and other services like it service the long tail of the music industry … and they don’t like us having more choice as it means they have to work harder with more bands/artists

]]> By: Whiffmeister http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/#comment-564059 Whiffmeister Tue, 26 May 2009 06:50:15 +0000 http://torrentfreak.com/?p=13471#comment-564059 OK so we have a Last.fm backlash because their parent company (a record label so we can see why) divulged their data to the RIAA. So we have established that Last.fm refused to do so and CBS persuaded them to hand over the logs to them for 'analysis' and then CBS hand them to the RIAA ... so that makes Last.fm noobs and hated? Come on people! Nonetheless, there is a degree of naivete here is there is a belief that the RIAA will not use this against users. All evidence has gone to the contrary even when the 'proof' has been more circumstantial than this. This doesn't mean I will stop using Last.fm or deleting my account. I may stop 'scrobbling' as the companies involved can't be trusted with information I have given or could provide them but their service is still very good OK so we have a Last.fm backlash because their parent company (a record label so we can see why) divulged their data to the RIAA. So we have established that Last.fm refused to do so and CBS persuaded them to hand over the logs to them for ‘analysis’ and then CBS hand them to the RIAA … so that makes Last.fm noobs and hated? Come on people!

Nonetheless, there is a degree of naivete here is there is a belief that the RIAA will not use this against users. All evidence has gone to the contrary even when the ‘proof’ has been more circumstantial than this.

This doesn’t mean I will stop using Last.fm or deleting my account. I may stop ’scrobbling’ as the companies involved can’t be trusted with information I have given or could provide them but their service is still very good

]]> By: Stiggle http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/#comment-564042 Stiggle Tue, 26 May 2009 04:37:11 +0000 http://torrentfreak.com/?p=13471#comment-564042 But anyone on a music industry mail list could have obtained a pre-release album. Back in my student days I used to work for a PR company and we mailed out pre-release albums to all the student and commercial radio stations. But anyone on a music industry mail list could have obtained a pre-release album. Back in my student days I used to work for a PR company and we mailed out pre-release albums to all the student and commercial radio stations.

]]> By: Daniel http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/#comment-564035 Daniel Tue, 26 May 2009 03:44:59 +0000 http://torrentfreak.com/?p=13471#comment-564035 Q: Why would RIAA would they want to know what music people are listening to on their computers? A: They could use the statistics to figure out what songs to flood P2P with fakes. Q: Why would RIAA would they want to know what music people are listening to on their computers?

A: They could use the statistics to figure out what songs to flood P2P with fakes.

]]> By: lumberjack http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/#comment-564032 lumberjack Tue, 26 May 2009 03:18:59 +0000 http://torrentfreak.com/?p=13471#comment-564032 I can only assume that the same people who believe Last.fm shares their data with the RIAA or the majors are the same people who believe that the first moon landing was shot in a studio somewhere in the Neva desert. I can only assume that the same people who believe Last.fm shares their data with the RIAA or the majors are the same people who believe that the first moon landing was shot in a studio somewhere in the Neva desert.

]]> By: Chris http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/#comment-564013 Chris Tue, 26 May 2009 01:13:48 +0000 http://torrentfreak.com/?p=13471#comment-564013 #24 has exactly what i was about to say. This article assumes mafiaa needs real evidence and in most of their previous records they haven't had good solid evidence. #24 has exactly what i was about to say.

This article assumes mafiaa needs real evidence and in most of their previous records they haven’t had good solid evidence.

]]> By: Peter Danowsky http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/#comment-564005 Peter Danowsky Mon, 25 May 2009 23:41:18 +0000 http://torrentfreak.com/?p=13471#comment-564005 Hmm ... maybe I should delete my Last.fm profile. :/ Hmm … maybe I should delete my Last.fm profile. :/

]]> By: makin257's status on Tuesday, 26-May-09 00:00:48 UTC - Identi.ca http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/#comment-563959 makin257's status on Tuesday, 26-May-09 00:00:48 UTC - Identi.ca Mon, 25 May 2009 19:25:39 +0000 http://torrentfreak.com/?p=13471#comment-563959 [...] http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/ [...] [...] http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/ [...]

]]> By: makin257 - Last.fms User Data is Useless to the RIAA http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/#comment-563954 makin257 - Last.fms User Data is Useless to the RIAA Mon, 25 May 2009 18:55:17 +0000 http://torrentfreak.com/?p=13471#comment-563954 [...] to point out that this data is completely useless to the RIAA, from a legal point of view.Source:http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/ Leave a comment Powered by LiveJournal.comAdvertisement Customize if [...] [...] to point out that this data is completely useless to the RIAA, from a legal point of view.Source:http://torrentfreak.com/lastfms-data-is-useless-to-the-riaa-090523/ Leave a comment Powered by LiveJournal.comAdvertisement Customize if [...]

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