130 Filesharer Homes Raided in Germany

Flo writes "Today, 130 homes have been raided in Germany under the allegation of filesharing. Law enforcement agencies had been monitoring an eDonkey-Server for two months. 3500 identified users are being investigated. Searches took place when users shared more than 500 files. Partners of the music industry helped identifying copyrighted material, but monitoring of the servers was solely done by law enforcement."

This confirms it.

[The MAZZTer]

Law enforcement officials ARE running servers. I think this has been mentioned on Slashdot before... at least I think someone traced a server group to Sony or the RIAA or something.

Sneakernet

[Technician]

It looks a lot of filesharing is going back to sneakernet like it was in the 1970's.

I wonder if they raided any homes with a wireless AP being leached by a neighbor. That could be fun when they can't find evidance.

Sneakernet

[dj245]

This is true. At my university the IT department is, shall we say, "not amused" by students using a whole lot of bandwidth, even if it is all inter-college communications (these clowns still haven't upgraded from 24 port 10bt hubs in the dorms yet). So there exists a couple of very large CD folders (40 cds apiece) left behind by a graduating senior. One is labeled simply "The Porn", another "The Games". These travel all over the dorm, people take a cd or two, add a cd or two, and eventually return borrowed cds when they are done with them.

This may seem rather archaic, but the IT department is so paranoid about getting in trouble with the **IA that they busted a 5-person DC++ network last year.

Sometimes I wonder...

[autOmato]

Sometimes I wonder what will the MPAA/RIAA/GEMA/etc. do, when all file-sharers are locked up in prison, all music and film is DRM-restricted, CD sales are still declining and nobody goes to see blockbuster movies anymore...

Re:Criminalization of society

[Cee]

I would mod you insightful if I had mod points. However:

Marijuana is legal in quite a few countries. It can happen.

I'm not American and I don't have that much insight about "the war on drugs", if it's good or bad. But some people (like me) are generally pro-filesharing and anti-drugs. To mix these two domains opens up the whole guilt-by-association-door. "See, fileshares think that marijuana should be legalised." But still, I agree with the spirit of your last sentence, anything can happen.

And here i thought...

[Wazukkithemaster]

... Those crazy Europeans paid VAT taxes on all blank media because people just kind of assumed it would be used for piracy. (I hope thats not the real reason, I really, really do.)

Re:And here i thought...

[Zatic]

I have to disappoint you. While it isn't exactly a tax, there is charge on media and copying devices like cd recorders, but it is transfered directly to a fund which then destributes it to the artists. The sad thing is, this charge was introduced specifically so that law enforcement wouldn't have to deal with copying too much and that strict laws wouldn't be even necessary. Right now they are discussing much stricter laws (making even private copying illegal), a higher charge on media (up to 5%) AND they are busting people in their homes anyway.

Re:Don't share shit, that's good, dickhead.

[osolemirnix]

The problem I see here and that most readers seem to be overlooking, is that the RIAA/music industry representatives "helped" the police to decide wether a user actually shared copyrighted content. So assume you you share, but only free/legal stuff. But you share a lot, so at first you are on their radar. Then some music industry rep searches through the stuff you shared to determine if it's legal or not. Assume he is wrong (on purpose or not). As a result, the police will break down your door with a search warrant, seize all your computers, CDs, and DVDs as evidence and it will take months for you to see them back. In the meantime, try to prove that you are innocent. Even if they eventually figure out that you are innocent, they have effectively scared you from using P2P sharing (regardless of legal content). That because the music industry isn't only hurt by the legal songs shared, they are hurt and afraid by the principle of P2P distribution, it fundamentally challenges not only their business model but their whole "raison d'etre". That's what is really outrageous about this action.

Re:I'm not surprised about this happening in Germa

[Zatic]

As I said, that is not clear. If a judge finds CSS to be an effective copy protection, then it would be indeed illegal to distribute tools supporting this circumvention. It would even be a criminal offense (up to 1 year in prison).

Because of this uncertainty many linux distributions do not include libdvdcss in Germany. But it is still possible and legal to install it right after installation using an online update site. Novell etc just don't want to get their linux packages seized in stores one day.

Re:Sneakernet

[Technician]

Does that stop you from downloading them too, or just buying them?


If it has DRM and compressed to sound loud instead of preserving dynamic range, I have no use for it. CD's used to have dynamic range. Now much stuff hits over 95% of peak within the first few seconds into a song and remains there for the rest of the song. CD's used to have dynamic range and used good engineering pratices for low distortion, low noise and good fidelity.

Now much stuff is over compressed to the point where the drums amplitude modulate the rest of the stuff. The term the engineers used is pump it up. Yuck. I would rather have a linear recording so I could crank it up if I wanted and compress it to pump it up if I wanted.

Downloading DRM lossy compressed files is not an investment in music.

Lossy compressed files are ok for finding new artists. The video that made the rounds of the crazy annimated Christmas lights is a good example. I haden't heard of the Trans Siberian Orchestra up to that point.

Too bad the RIAA's position on the video is piracy of the soundtrack even though the band loved his show and gave him free tickets to their concert.

The band has the right ideas of proper fair use. If you try the same thing and don't pay royalties, you could really get into legal hot water for that type video.

Re:I invoke my Triple-S Rule

[Anonymous Coward]

a) because politicians (who make and pass the laws) are financed by businesses. We only get to elect whoever has been financed by businesses first.
b) because destroying a corporation would also destroy a lot of tax revenue and livelihoods of many employees.
c) increasing the risk of "difficult" litigation to the businesses decreases the opportunity for successful businesses to appear.

It's not a perfect world, mate. And politcal corruption is the worst kind because it corrupts the topmost politicians.
In (loosely citated) words of Michael Moore (Fahrenheit 911) - when the business gives your president 100 millon dollars a year (in bribes) and your state budget just a few , then who's your daddy?

When you find the cure to corrupting power, please do let us know!