Record Labels to Sue Vuze, Limewire and SourceForge
Written by Ernesto on November 14, 2008French record labels have received the green light to sue four US-based companies that develop P2P applications, including the BitTorrent client Vuze, Limewire and Morpheus. Shareaza is the fourth application, for which the labels are going after the open source development platform SourceForge.
Société civile des Producteurs de Phonogrammes en France (SPPF), an umbrella group for several record labels in France, claims that the four file-sharing applications facilitate mass copyright infringement. Although the companies (and applications) themselves have nothing to do with copyright infringement, SPPF believes it has a strong case.
The record labels argue that the Vuze and the others are knowingly distributing software with the purpose to permit unauthorized access to copyrighted works. In essence they are saying that everything, or every application which allows a user to share files, will be indeed used for illegal purposes. In contrast, in the US, companies that don’t encourage their users to commit copyright infringement with their applications, are not acting illegally.
SPPF had already sued the various companies and organizations last year, but until now it has been unclear whether the US based companies behind the applications could be prosecuted under French law. A French court has now ruled that this is indeed possible, which means that they can proceed to court.
Recent French legislation which inspired the labels to go after the P2P companies, suggests that all P2P applications must have a feature to block the transfer of unauthorized copyright works. The clients that are sued by SPPF obviously don’t have such a feature. In fact, it is questionable whether it would be technically possible to develop such a filter. Nevertheless, SPPF demands it, and is claiming millions of dollars in damages for lost revenue.
Vuze CEO Gilles BianRosa stated in a response to TorrentFreak, “While we appreciate the intent of the new French law, we believe SPPF’s complaint is misguided. Vuze is dedicated to the distribution of legitimate content using new technology. In that sense, our interests are aligned with the interests of all content owners, including SPPF’s members, against piracy.”
“We are disappointed that SPPF has taken this approach, given that our business is dedicated to the distribution of legitimate content,” BianRosa added. “SPPF’s claims against Vuze are simply wrong. The Vuze business complies fully with both French and American law. The recent ruling of the French Court was solely on a jurisdictional issue, not on any merits, and we believe it is in error.”
Interestingly, SPPF is also going after Sourceforge, the open source development website, because it hosts the P2P application Shareaza. Putting aside the discussion on the responsibilities of application developers for their users activities, the decision to go after SourceForge for hosting a application that can potentially infringe, is stretching credibility beyond all bounds”
Meanwhile, Vuze has appealed the decision. Separately, the company is suing SPPF for defamation based upon several false and harmful statements made by SPPF about Vuze. A different French Court has denied SPPF’s attempt to derail those claims recently , and is allowing the defamation lawsuit to proceed.
If SPPF succeeds in their case against organizations running the four P2P applications, FTP software and Internet browsers might be next, if they don’t go after Ubuntu and other operating systems first. Perhaps it is even better to shut down the Internet entirely.
Previously: Anti-Piracy Group Hints at Disclosure “On Demand”
Next: Toyota Claims Ownership of Fan Wallpapers
151 Responses
First!
When will these record labels learn that their business model is over. It’s over!!! The damn is leaking profusely and it going to blow (that’s what she said).
that’s just retarded.
their d-day clock just went a minute closer
Lol, retards…
…lame duck
Now they’re going after Sourceforge? not cool.
omg, unbelievable! absolutely outragous. they are simply not from this earth anymore, they live in a diffrent world. such retartedness. their IQ must be below 0 to think this up. indeed, whats next? sue the inventor of the internet? here in my little country they would put you in the looney house for sayig that and mean it!
no other words for this: unreal!
i think im going to sue them for being douche bags..
i think i have a strong case.
What!!! sueing sourceforge…. them idiots.
While your at it..
Sue VCR’s
Sue TIVOs or DVRs
Sue CD Players
Sue DVD players
Sue the Post office
Sue anyone who has a brain that could possibly copy something in there mind.
Damned retards. Money has the power to make people to delude.
Sourceforge? Obvious fail is obvious.
Better go after companies like wd and maxtor while your at it, I mean think how many mp3’s there knowingly letting there customers fit on those drives?
I usually get a bit nervy when I say that the right person will win in caught when it comes to p2p stuff, but this time, they surely can’t loos? If they do, it will be down to ignorance on the part of the caught not down to facts.
lmfao…I needed that.
Another example of stupid thinking doing and doing stupid things. These people can not control the internet and they cant control what people do, but that doesnt stop them from trying.
Visit P2P Tech Time
http://www.p2ptechtime.com
French record labels? Hmmm not exactly known for their music the French.
Still, once they are done with the 4 clients, and all the other software and hardware already listed, they will ofc need to go after Yahoo and MSN for their messenger clients also, can’t wait to see them take on one of the big boys.
Kinda like sueing a car manufacturer because a criminal may use it to transfer stolen goods…
The world is going mad once again.
They should remove the doors of my house as well, seeing it allows me to head over to my neighbor to show of my new music CD I bought to see if he likes it as well.
I’m such a pirate :(. Yargh! Oh boy, it has already started.
all the programs are shit anyway
WTF?
Vuze and Limewire i might understand but SourceForge?!
and somebody who knows something about international law, what would happen if these ->US<- companies where successfully sued in France? cant they just ignore it or appeal to the US justice system or something?
#16
And then also suing the company which owns the building in which the car company builds the cars which might be used by the customer to transport stolen goods. ;P
LOL @ the thought of using Sourceforge.
just another reason the french fail
lolol sueing vcr producers is far more reasonable than this. does any of those organizations actually have a branch in france? otherwise it’s like crowning themselfes; they can sue and judge all they want, no one will care because they can’t entforce it at all.
This is what happens when you are into buggery.
Why not just sue the internet you stupid garlic eating surrender monkeys.
Ridiculous!! They had better sue Google and other search engines for not blocking searches for unauthorized copyrighted content. Just a ploy to get rich quick, what a bunch of lamers.
I suppose they’ll be trying to sue people that create IM clients next for having the “Send File” option…
Let’s close the internet, because thats what they want.
And forbid CDr and DVDr and VCR’s etc….
And the next thing thet want is, if you sing a song, say Happy Birthday, and you don’t pay, you go to yail!
http://www.unhappybirthday.com/
I hope all three of them sue for defamation.
Sourceforge ? ? ?
muhahahhahahahhaah
French Gov went Crazy, somebody should teach them what’s Sourceforge for :P
French F**K FACE, learn then talk !
Thanks for the good giggle man. appreciate it. damn french.
this is really stupid…this stupid people keep trying to sue every p2p application, theres no way that people would stop piracing. while u guys sue a company theres other companies comin up…and by the way whats the f***ing matters of downloading software, music etc…nobody will pay 500 f***ing dollars for a cd…and make the person who maded more rich…thats stupid…i give props to those who do piracy…and the people who are making the p2p applications.. yeah i am a dj and i pay for music and still buy cds at $ 3.00 to play at some parties, and software at 4 dollars…come on we are in a new generations, u old guys gonna die and there still goin to be piracy worldwide…take care of something else like, people writtin on walls, kids doing drugs, and men insulting women, but whats wrong with a cd copying?…go to hell man….
So they could sue, say, a pen factory. Because with pens you can copy what others wrote. Copyright infringement, oh no!!!
Next thing, why not sue ISP because internet facilitates mass copyright infringement.
Why not incarcerate truck drivers because trucks facilitate drugs and weapons traffic…
Seriously, I’m scared for the future when I see this display of stupidity.
Fuck the government, let’s sue weapon makers, they make tools that facilitate assassination and they know it…
hmm I think the sppf (an old fascist organization, hitler’s lovers btw, like its twin, sacem) is going to be ridiculous again.
It’s a fight between whether we are going to be fucked in the ass forever by people who are so busy doing nothing else but destroying the whole world or we gonna stand up to reclaim all our stolen freedoms taken away in the name of money and security (for the richs only)
Surely this means companies like media defender should be sued under this law suit as they’ve used modified shareaza clients to look up clients on the trackers before.
Sorry if my facts aren’t 100% correct on that one.
wipe them off the face of the earth, we don’t need scum like these
The SPPF expects to request an exequatur (if the French court rules in their favor, they will ask an American court to enforce the decision in the US). Given the DADVSI law in France, the SPPF can indeed win. Note that after Shareaza[dot]com was hijacked (and distributes an iMesh and BearShare clone rebranded as ShareazV5) now the SPPF claims that Shareaza doesn’t exist as a P2P app anymore. Pure coincidence?
You may want to read the related thread on the forum of the real, open source Shareaza :
http://pantheraproject.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2619
And hey, Shareaza is the project of the month (November 2008) on SourceForge!
This is getting ridiculous. If they continue like this they’ll probaply sue the creator of the internet and all internet service providers too. Why not the people who install your cables or phonelines too, they give you a way to connect to the internet… Fucking retarded.
Even the moronic mafiaa members here in finland are doing stupid stuff like this. We need to pay more for anything that can be used to hold “illegal” material, like harddrives, usb sticks, mobile phones… We pay TEOSTO(finnish mafiaa type organisation) because we could use the devices for “illegal” material but the material is still illegal, wheres the logic in that?
I hope the bums who took over the Shareaza domain are the ones actually sued. Serves them right.
Forgot to add http and ftp too, they are used to share files, why not sue people who created them? And windows, linux and solaris too because they enable you to use the programs.
It’s about time for the next revolution. Off with their heads!
Wow, i mean seriously dont they realise its not the program or people who made the programs fault- its the people that upload their music and give it out *on* the program. Torrents and limewire were just programs to transfer anything but people decided to make that movies, music, etc…. its got nothing to do with the people who made it!
Hello from France!
This is mostly a desperate lobbying act from the spff: if the 3strike law is not voted, we will pursue everybody! They also claimed they will pursue at least 10 000 internet users per day…BS, just a childish threat.
As the first poster stated, the should stop complaining and spent their time to find ways to get along with it, but they are just whinig because they don’t make enough money (yeah right, 20 dollar for a cd is not enough? oh it isn’t!). They should make new models and use the internet, but no, they are to retarded to see their own faults, or to arrogant to admit that they made mistakes. The only thing you can do about this kind of things is let your voice hear and demonstrate…
In the end, record companies are going to die because they aren’t needed anymore, atleast not in the way they are here now.
(the funny thing is, I watched an episode of southpark today where they dealed with the piracy story, they get it, now the record companies)
They don’t smell blood.. They smell MONEY.. a much stronger smell.
…….although the EFF isn’t in France, but….wonder if there is a related non profit organization there
i dont get how they can sue them from france plus even when their servers are in U.S.
Suing Sourceforge?
Maybe they need to take a close look at the original “litigious bastards” the SCO Group, who tried to sue the makers of open source software, and failed miserably.
I put “litigious bastards” in quotes because at one point if you Googled that phrase, you would get SCO’s homepage as the first hit. Maybe a similar campaign needs to be carried out against the MAFIAA. (Though Google no longer allows such Googlebombs to stay on their site for very long.)
I do not think that it is good for us to take any of this lightly. When people do such morally wrong things as this, it cannot be tolerated. Do not you think that there should already be proper retribution? There must be some way to attack them back.
Roze
http://www.10ch.org/
Why not make computers illegal entirely?
Nip it at the bud, riaa, ifpi, etc, you can do it!!!
Wait a minute. this is fucked…downloading isnt a crime…but depends what u download, p2p was common back in the day when u used to copy tape to tape or vynil to tape.
But still people bought music, as it was the artists/bands effort and hard work. imagine u doing hard work with ur blood n sweat that went into it n sum1 didnt pay u. its like their job. ok and if ur an artist in todays world, so be it but itll be a hobby, not a living…and if the internet totally shuts down, oh great…havock it is…once again well nbe meeting the middle earth days…and back to the days like the industrial revolution…thats wen ppl kinda slowly took it on board about having steam cars…and now when digital technology is evolving its stopping. rediculous…but then again, the more smaller we get in terms of size of music players…the shitter the quality same with videos…but im telling if theres 1 thing that is not gunner get small, that is my DICK!!!!!!!!! so in ur face FRENCH CUNTS!!!!
People jsut want free stuff…stupid really, inflation, credit crunch, jobless people, unemployment… it is ignored but this all plays a part in everyday life and what u do. ppl snt realise. difference from one man can differ the whole world…
Ppl dnt work, if they do they spend it on other stuff irresponsibley. if u really wana download, use the bloody iTunes or something. that way both the freaking artists and public are happy…….uve met teh surplus.
they could sue Microsoft too ….cause we’re useing thier OS!!! :P
BAN COMPUTERS!
TURN OFF THE INTERNET!
KILL ALL HUMANS!
WOAH WOAH WOAH.
YOU DON’T MESS WITH SOURCEFORGE.
Why? All the developers will go rouge and pummel France’s interwebs if they do.
I haven’t read all the comments but I trust that many have already pointed out that they might as well go to the root of the problem and sue steve jobs, bill gates and Linus Torvalds. These people have created products that are frequently used to commit copyright infringement, and I can’t imagine that any of them are unaware that this is a possible use of their products.
actually, any company that provides
any of the following products or services should be sued: electricity, internet, harddrives, processors, ethernet cables, USB sticks, dvds, cds VHS tapes, dvd/cd/blueray/hdvd/vhs readers and burners, video cameras, microphones, search engines, scanners, printers, photocopiers, paper, pens, pencils and musical instruments (if you publicly perform a copyrighted song without playing, you’re cpyright infringing. While we’re at it, maybe everyines vocal chords should be destroyed)… I could go on.
how funny is it gonna be when they inevitably get told to go f**k themselves, lol.
“I do not think that it is good for us to take any of this lightly.”
Why not?
This little misadventure of the Société civile des Education Spéciale en France is doomed to failure from from the word ‘go’.
That said, if half the government isn’t being shot and strung up at gas stations for letting the legislators and court system enable this kind of jawdropping idiocy, there’s something wrong with France.
Torrentfreak, you’d better follow up on thins story. I can’t wait to see how they get laughed out of court.
You know they’re absolutely crazy when they’re going after SourceForge.
Record labels are doing far more damage to themselves than any other group might potentially be doing.
stupid media companies you have no case hit the road retards…
real hard LOOOL!
they’ll fail miserably if they go ahead with it…
“Meanwhile, Vuze has appealed the decision. Separately, the company is suing SPPF for defamation based upon several false and harmful statements made by SPPF about Vuze. A different French Court has denied SPPF’s attempt to derail those claims recently , and is allowing the defamation lawsuit to proceed.”
Go for it!
viva la france
“Vuze has appealed the decision. Separately, the company is suing SPPF for defamation based upon several false and harmful statements made by SPPF about Vuze.”
Good luck with the case.
Some needed revenue during a downtime would be nice for the co..
This is why nobody in their right mind gives two liquidy shits about “copyright” or “intellectual property” anymore. The only way you can still believe that IP “law” is about “providing financial incentives to innovators”, is to completely ignore the facts:
1. Historical roots of copyright (not a pretty picture, “Statute of Anne” on down.)
2. Lobby-pigs extending and extending copyright terms to infinity-in-all-but-name. (NOT the original intent by any means, even though even the ORIGINAL idea of copyrights/patents was pernicious.)
3. Continuous, runaway lawsuits.
4. Patents primarily used so that megacorporations can browbeat smaller competitors. Patents are evil, but copyright is infinitely worse.
5. Attempted suppression of home video, tape recorders (!!!!!), Tivo, etc. Forcing useless shit like “region coding” into the DVD standard just so that the MPAA can (supposedly) control where you are “permitted” to play the DVD’s you supposedly “bought”.
On and one.
There is absolutely no excuse for any sort of IP “law” to continue to be permitted any longer. I actually used to favor some form of genuinely “limited” term like the original 14 years, but now even that smacks of capitulation. If we cede the PRINCIPLE here, then everything else is ceded as well. IP law AS SUCH is — NOT merely in need of “reform”, but rather in need of TOTAL REPEAL.
someone sue sppf for using english and its alphabets and for using internet(coz internet is not a medium for people who want to dress themselves in copyrights).
not a wise choice .
whether will win or not ,if go on this case may lead many sites to ban french users .
Ghehe, the morons!
It’s like suing the metal industry when your car doesn’t work.
We don’t need to look at this lawsuit, we need to look at the morons working at the SPPF. I think the people with a higher position, have at least borderline, if not a splitten personality…
http://www.turnofftheinternet.com/
this is disgusting going after sourceforge. i’m sure these companies use free software!
France makes the EU look bad. Do you really have to make a point about it that you really are just about the last country in Europe to GET A FUCKIN CLUE. Someone needs to bitch slap that judge for practicing a job he clearly has no idea on how to do right. Sourceforge ? Are you fuckin kidding me? Can you be more ignorant?
How is it even possible for people to be so stupid that they sue a technology because it can be used to something “illegal”? And even the french court says that they can sue people in US, i didnt know they allow braindead people to become judges… If i dont remember wrong the french have done this before and won, so they might have a chance to win again… I say ban france from the internet if they win.
Maybe they should sue Mozilla and Microsoft for making an browser that is CAPABLE (key word here) of downloading illicit material.
So, assuming their logic, they should also sue Dell, HP, Apple etc. for making hardware that is used for obtaining pirated material.
suing Seagate, Western Digital, Samsung etc. for making hard disks that store or burn these materials.
And finally, suing Imation, TDK, Memorex for making the DVD’s onto which they are burnt.
Or Why not sue Telstra, Optus, Verizon or Pipe Networks for transferring this material! (not wideband, they’re too awesome to sue!)
Hey, Just taking their viewpoint…
Wow, and i thought the record labels couldn’t get any dumber..
The French should go run away like they always do, and then PERMABANZ then from the interwebz
Stupid French MORONS. What a joke.
jess
http://www.privacy.cz.tc
They could have a case by sueing people for sharing copyright stuff. I think the copyright law is too strict and should be changed.
I dont think they will win.
Sourceforge is a respected website amongst academics and IT companies.
The music business needs to find other avenues to steal money from people.
Have you read the news?
RIAA is going to ban people to have a song in their head they haven’t paid for
The artists only make about 8 cents per cd sold…so the only people who are getting stolen from are the fat rich bastards that run the record companies. Artists don’t need record companies anymore, its OVAH. We can write the music, record, distribute, market, and sell it all on our own without record companies. Then, the artist can make his revenue from touring, which is the way it’s supposed to be done anyway……
Sue Babylon and Egypt for using numbers.. those evil zeros and ones
They loose again frog eaters.
Remember WW II ?. They were brought down after 4 weeks. French simply are no men. Stand up and read your papers (whoch reported about this for months), but then you got to drink wine and sleep with your neighobour wife. French = world wide suckers who are loosers. They deserve to be cut of from the future.
But it is ok to bring out vlc ( = major copiright problems ) ???
French life on an island whitout real proper language ( = they have already rules which force their radio station etc. to play french shit .. )
Go loose third world speakers…
the only winner in this is the lawyers
Let’s sue Al Gore for inventing the internet.
Um, can I sue the SPPF for intimidation? I was thinking about using Vuze to download a Linux distro, but now I am scared! ;-)
Even better, lets make it a class action suit!
Notice they never go after a Mesh, Groove, FolderShare, SkyDrive products but always these guys that can’t defend themselves? Come on go sue Microsoft and let’s have their battle hardened attorneys show up with millions in backing. Not going to happen is it.
LoL..i mean LoL
LoL..i mean LoL
LoL..i mean LoL
LoL..i mean LoL
LoL..i mean LoL
LoL..i mean LoL
LoL..i mean LoL
LoL..i mean LoL
LoL..i mean LoL
LoL..i mean LoL
LoL..i mean LoL
jeeeez LoL..i mean LoL
so, a FRENCH judge says FRENCH companies can sure AMERICAN companies under FRENCH law. ok… well, in the words of a famous french “person”
now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
Yeah, right
And also sue Earth, you know why…
Lololol! Suing SourceForge. Thank you for that laugh.
That they’re going after applications such as Vuze and Limewire, okay, i can understand that.
But to sue SourceForge? THE biggest and, in my opinion, most important website when it comes to opensource is ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS. This really infuriates me! SourceForge is a wonderful website. The fact that they want to shut it down means only one thing to me: Trying to destroy sharing in any way.
Adrian.
funny, how these 12-year-old retards here generalize country and anti-piracy people
Which country doesn’t make Europe look bad? I can’t think of a single government that isn’t f/u/cked up beyond repair. Don’t blame it on the French people though. We don’t blame the US people for the MPAA or RIAA either. We only blame them for voting for Bush twice in a row and being mental retards.
Lets sue the creator of linux after all a good chunk of the software used to “STEAL” was developed on linux
This seriously is an attack on creative freedom if its none profit wipe em out i knew this day would come
When buying music and movies you are giving these bastards more money to sue you and your family.
Think about that next time you are going to buy a dvd, music cd …
@6 “such retartedness. their IQ must be below 0 to think this up.”
————————————–
lol
ironic pirate is ironic.
And be honest, you’re angry that anti-piracy corporations are taking away the pleasure to free leech everything FOR FREE.
No pirate every supports companies as he won’t buy any of their products, no matter how good they are.
It’s a pathological symptom – they just can’t.
Stupid fucks! Don’ they realize that they are killing their own business..
Sharing an extra 100GB of French Music today just to fuck with them!!
they need to go after ibm and apple for bringing computers to the masses and then sysco for making all this networking hardware, w/o them we would still be copying tapes.
OMG, btjunkie.org is down ! I’ll commit suicide !
Limewire is unbelievable
Tell the to go get real jobs and stop mooching off of the artists. Their service as middlemen is no longer needed.
Wow! This is hilarious! I have never liked the French, this helps legitimize my reasoning.
raidz.net – a perspective
Wow! This is hilarious! I have never liked the French, this helps legitimize my reasoning.
raidz.net – a perspective
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBkuiChImb8
It’s 2006, the consumer’s still pissed
Won’t take it anymore so I’m writing a list
Don’t try to resist this paradigm shift
The music revolution cannot be dismissed
$18.98 Iggy Pop CD?
What if I can get it from my sister for free?
It’s all about marketing Clive Davis, see?
If fans buy the shirt then they get the mp3
Music was a product now it is a service
Major record labels why are you trying to hurt us?
Epic’s up in my face like, “Don’t steal our songs Lars,”
While Sony sells the burners that are burning CD-R’s
So Warner, EMI, hear me clearly
Universal Music, update your circuitry
They sue little kids downloading hit songs
They think that makes sense
When they know that it’s wrong
Hey Mr. Record Man
The joke’s on you
Running your label
Like it was 1992
Hey Mr. Record Man,
Your system can’t compete
It’s the New Artist Model
File transfer complete
Download this song!
Download this song!
Download this song!
I know I’m rhyming fast, but the message is clear
You don’t need a million dollars to launch a career
If your style is unique and you practice what you preach
Minor Threat and Jello both have things to teach!
I’ve got G5 production, concept videos
Touring with a laptop, rocking packed shows
The old-school major deal? It makes no sense
Indentured servitude, the costs are too immense!
Their finger’s in the dam but the crack keeps on growing
Can’t sell bottled water when it’s freely flowing
Record sales slipping, down 8 percent
Increased download sales, you can’t prevent
Satellite radio and video games
Changed the terrain, it will never be same
Did you know in ten years labels won’t exist?
Goodbye DVD’s, and compact disks!
Hey Mr. Record Man,
What’s wrong with you
Still living off your catalogue
From 1982
Hey Mr. Record Man,
Your system can’t compete
It’s the new artist model
File transfer complete
Download this song!
Download this song!
Download this song!
You know, we just wanted a level playing field.
You’ve overcharged us for music for years, and now we’re
Just trying to find a fair balance. I hate to say it, but…
Welcome to the future.
Download this song!
Download this song!
Download this song!
Hey Mr. Record Man
The joke’s on you
Running your label
Like it was 1992
Hey Mr. Record Man,
Your system can’t compete
It’s the New Artist Model
File transfer complete
I actually hope they succeed. I want to see how fast everyone will pull out of the market there.
Hard drives, CD manufacturers, MP3 players, Flash drives, cell phones (bluetooth’ing music over), ISPs… You’ll be left with the music industry and no players, because any music player used to play pirated content could be threatened.
Hell, you could probably toss in TVs for allowing playback of pirated content!
Either the music market would crash, or the people would start revolting.
i think the french should surrender once again.
I’d say the chances of any ruling from this court actually being enforced in the U.S against these companies is slim to none. A French courts ruling on it’s jurisdiction in the U.S is meaningless.
If they are suing SourceForge for hosting Shareaza why not sue Microsoft for allowing the execution of Shareaza, I’m courious how will they sue Linux :D
First; I believe the FPPS doesn’t represent the French people any more than the RIAA represents American people. I am amazed that more of us all don’t see the prideful attitudes (both good and bad) of French and US peoples are actually very similar under the surface. I’d normally explain further; but on to the primary subject:
Second, I worry we may begin to underestimate the social engineering at work in lawsuits like this. It is an all too usual formula; large organization use extreme statements and actions in politics, law, and the saturated media to distort reality. Such ways of pushing viewpoints, as if they are less extreme then the social norms, are helped in many ways in an environment like the Internet. And if the RIAA and the like have their way the exchange of ideas and information online will be as abysmal as TV and Satellite (and to some extent radio). I came here as surprised as many to see Sourceforge listed. Perhaps we should take the threats more seriously; and be sure not forget this ridiculousness.
Good points 6 and 16!
I hope these idiots get what they deserve!
Oh man. Are those anti-piracy cgroups asking for trouble. I would not be surprised if internet trafic quadrupled and if all the anti-p2p groups where being ddos :D.
Man thats realy bad. You can not take down opensource. And if you do that then the other operating systems and internet browsers are next. Then they will force us to use their browsers. Only their browsers wont be free. And we will have to pay for an ip adress to use the internet. And their web browsers will be censored. And they will be like have lots of pop ups. :( i hope they rote in hell. They deserve to be ddos by the whole world. They are evil. WE be better of without them. I hate the media industry theyre all money hungry.
Shut down the internet. I vote for that. Shut it down. Give Usenet a chance. Let’s Go Onion. Sue Microsoft they are aiding them darn criminals to. Lets trow Gates in the Bastille I mean the guy not the doors. God forbid. While we are at the GOD question, can’t we sue the great maker in the sky for givimg us ears and equiping us with senses making it able to register illegal content? But lets get serious isn’t this all about that Bruni bitch and her gay husband that wants us to stop propagating her pussy :-)
The French were miffed when we sunk their Naval Fleet to stop it falling into German hands in WW2. Maybe we should have waited to then later sue them for supplying weapons to an enemy!
Sue your own ISPs because they allow the transfers.
Then the users sue ISPs because they will block it (and cannot separate illegal from legal).
So the ISPs will sue the record labels back because they imposed an embargo which technically is not feasible.
I’m sure in this way the ISPs will get their money back, the users will get some money and the record labels will LOOSE more money.
I like happy endings. Again the record labels think that their small sales are because of piracy and not quality. Even if you like 3 CDs, maybe you could afford only 1. So how do you choose which 1 to buy?
THE WORLD CRISYS IS BECAUSE THE PRODUCTION IS HIGHER THAN THE CONSUMPTION. BANKS COULD SUSTAIN THIS, BUT THEIR CUSTOMERS CANNOT GET ANY MORE CREDIT (BECAUSE OF EXISTING ONE).
hmm wrote:
> While your at it..
> Sue VCR’s
done, http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/B/htmlB/betamaxcase/betamaxcase.htm
> Sue TIVOs or DVRs
or “help” the FCC to see the error of their ways http://www.pvrblog.com/pvr/2004/07/tivo_you_can_on.html
> Sue CD Players
dunno…
> Sue DVD players
done, http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/3943.cfm
> Sue the Post office
> Sue anyone who has a brain that could possibly copy something in there mind.
probably up next O_O
Funny how they didn’t sue Bram’s BitTorrent/uTorrent.
I suspect the BitComet guys are untouchable in China so long as they keep the local political wheels greased.
“The record labels argue that the Vuze and the others are knowingly distributing software with the purpose to permit unauthorized access to copyrighted works.”
Internet is knowingly distributing technology with the purpose to permit unauthorized access to copyrighted works too… When will they suppress it ?
I hope the French record labels get thousands of big wet huge croaky green frogs slapped across their faces for this.
I’m French and ashamed of those stupid music companies.
PS: the guys who say “go surrender frog-eaters” (like #89) are morons.
wget the SPPF! wget the SPPF! wget the SPPF! wget the SPPF! wget the SPPF! wget the SPPF! wget the SPPF!
Wow, this is one battle that most likely cannot be won
I’m guessing they should sue Microsoft and Mozilla. They both make internet browsers which can potentially be used to download copyright infringing files…
wait till they start suing music stores for selling to pirates.
viva le source forge
So the ability to transfer/share files = copyright infringement ? In that case, they should sue Microsoft for OutLook which can send files as attachements. And for Windows which can share folders!
Sue the makers of ethernet cables while you’re at it!!
Hello,
I’m french and just want to say that not all french support our government…not at all. They’re just too stupid. But at the moment record companies and this Gvt try to make new laws like this, pure madness… they’ve been blocked by european council but they think they can do it anyway. Sorry for such stupid things. But dont think french support them.
(sorry for errors – my engish is rusty)
Don’t forget that Mr Sarcozy is Pro American, which means he will try to appease them whenever possible. You can expect a whole lot more changes to come before he is thrown out of office.
Second point is that I read the other day about a bank robbery, the getaway car was a Ford Mondeo. So perhaps the bank should try to Sue Ford for making it possible for the robbers to get away???????????
Perhaps even try for a second suite against the Roads Ministry for making it so easy for the robbers to get away in their Ford Modeo?????????
Finally whilst they are at it, might as well file a suite against Texeco Oil Company since that is where the robbers are believed to have filed their Ford Mondeo with fuel beforehand.
My point is “JUST LEAVE VUZE THE HELL OUT OF IT” It’s not really their problem how people use their platform. Give them a break.
This whole debate of piracy seems to be one great big grey area to me.
Sorry to go a little off topic here but The only way I can see it being actual stealing is if somebody makes an unauthorised recording at e.g at a music concert or festival then tries to distributes copies of that recording for money or reward. That is Piracy.
I mean if a i play music loud enough in my house or car where people outside can hear it, does that mean I’m making pirate broadcasts?
I tell you a what, this thread has really got me thinking.
I don’t don’t think anybody really knows where they stand in this whole thing.
Basically what we are all seeing now is what happens when a powerful organisation starts to loose its power. Think about it, hollywood etc etc has had us all by the balls for the last 40 years, riping us off year in – year out.
All of the established institutions really hate change, so the only way they can devise to stop change is to bully, threaten and scare.
As I say Sorry torrentfreak and all for going off topic but this one really got my brain racing.
Just like Surcouf92 and Zermi, I’m French.
French government sucks. Right now, they don’t have any control on the Internet, and they try to.
Because of the DADVSI law, none of the French websites can’t share any application that could allow users to share files (Azureus, µTorrent, eMule, etc.). Yahoo Messenger, MSN, or whatever IM , FTP, browsers and all the Internet should be concerned but it’s not the case for now. For those people, P2P means illegal.
Moreover, we can’t use VLC, MPlayer and other stuffs. See http://www.videolan.org/eucd.html
In a few months, they will vote a new law so that a new private authority could stop the Internet of users if they upload copyright files. For example, they see your IP adress on µTorrent, they can get your name from the Internet provider and warn you that you’ve just uploaded their shit. And then, they can cut off your Internet connection (they estimate at least 1000 cuts per day), and you could also have to pay a fine.
They don’t understand anything at all. This government is just shit…
As long as I remember, content filtering is done by trackers – and only those can be charged.
Oh NO!! Wat a shame.
Not sourceforge.
I want to be sweddish!!
These are the same people who claimed that the laws they lobbied for would never be used against FOSS. Yet within a few short months here we are. Smell that? It’s a rat.
I hope the French courts slap them down silly, but those courts have been known to interpret their civil code in extraordinary ways. Time will tell.
ok this goes out to all american readers!! how many gun making companies did get sued for making guns that got used to kill, rob or otherwise missbehave ????? o wait guns arent made for such things … so lets make more guns… French record companies GROW A BRAIN!!! u cant put the paste back in the tube !
I see their case for wanting to prevent piracy, but really, there is little chance of success.
If u were to sue sourceforge for supplying an application, then how about sueing google for linking to sourceforge. U could also sue all ISP’s that connect to google which connects to sourceforge. Hell u could shut the whole internet down. Or u could just disconnect france from the internet and see if we care.
suing sourceforge is the most ridiculous thing possible.
They drunk a lot of red wine and had gay sex before thinking that crap. p2p software and pirates are always 1 step ahead of them. Poor sourceforge, its the home of free projects, what the hell they are going to take out of it.
What the heck is going on? Sueing legitimate companies now.
What about all the companies that make MP3 players that can play the supposed illegal content.
Hey why stop there!!!
Lets go after Nero because their product can be used for potentially making illegal copies of programs.
Hey why not sue Microsoft, Borland for developing the software that could be used for the development of such programs.
No?…Not happy yet
Ok Let’s sue all the teaching institutions and all the book companies after all without the knowledge to program there won’t be any “illegal” programs to distribute that music.
DOH… we need knowledge to write the programs that interpret those ones and zeros otherwise we just have a whole lot of useless discs that when light hits them they make pretty colors.
Anyone for frisby?
French law allows the internet. Thus the french government allows and even promotes a medium that enables p2p. I think the french music industrie should start with sueing their government!
What a bunch of BOZOS!
Confucius say
he who screw customers
soon have no customers to screw
And they wonder why their sales are going down the tubes?
Then the first target for them should be Microsoft – Windows is THE easiest tool to do illegal copies of MP3 files :)
they should sue themselves for broadcasting there valuable product over public radio!
back in the past, they tried to sue Grundig for making the worlds first radio-cassete player,
they said it could record there copywrited music.
they lost – the judge decided that if they didnt want people to have the music they shouldnt have blasted it across the country with megawatts of RF!
This is crazy!
People should be sued for copying audio/video and not for _having_ the possibility to do so.
You can buy knife anywhere, and if you kill somebody, do you thing the guy who sold that knife will go to prison with you? Or better, will go to prison before you kill someone?
Absolutely crazy!
Being held accountable for the potential use of the products they manufactor or distribute? hmmm..
I wouldn’t want to be in the weapon manufacoring business if this thing goes through.
A quoi sert le web qui est sensée nous relier entre nous et faire des échanges, si on Supprime ces moyen d’échanges. il est clair que dans ce cas là, ils ont cas directement Stopper Internet.
“…that everything, or every application which allows a user to share files, will be indeed used for illegal purposes.”
Looking forward for them to sue USB thumbdrive maker too, some time that’s how I shared my photos, they’re files too, you know…
Good luck going after Sourceoforge. The companies behind sourceforge are a wee bit bigger and stronger (both corporate and in their legal departments) then a single nations copyright organisation.
I read this stuff and wonder, if we were to raid, say, the SPPF member’s home computers, we wouldn’t find a single unlicensed program, not one illegally downloaded mp3 and definitely not a single pirated movie, right?
Right?
Kinda redefines the meaning of life, sue or be sued, what a load of bollacks, and there’s me thinking that to share was a good thing!!! Love thy neighbour as thyself, be good be kind, be greedy? Jesus would be sick of all this. Will all these so called artist be paying royalties to the families of those who inspired them to reach great heights? We are all here to love and serve each other – because I said so – and nothing, absolutely nothing else. How else will we get to live forever? Yeah surrender to JC Yes.
Lawyers, artists, recording co, inc etc, Fooking mad all of em. If I like what I see I will copy, just try and stop me.
ciao!
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