Submission + - Knocking down the RIAA (wordpress.com)
rapierian writes: Would this work?
1. Write a program that writes a binary file to disc from either a sequence of numbers in a text file, or a recording of a single person saying a sequence of digits (depending on whether you want to base the case off of freedom of speech or press).
2. Distribute the program freely, under an open license.
3. Take a popular song under heavy licensing by the RIAA. Either read or type (again, depending on how you want to base the case) every number in the file. To save time, you probably want to read or type the file in decimal or hex.
4. Distribute said file.
Now: while you could be cited for plagiarism, that's an academic offense, not a criminal offense. So anyone involved in the academic world (such as myself) shouldn't attempt this. However, every one of the preceding steps is clearly covered under freedoms that are supposed to be guaranteed under our Bill of Rights. Either the RIAA will ignore the case, which I imagine might give some weight in court to people being sued in the future — and would at least make good publicity — or the the RIAA will open a lawsuit against the person distributing their music. If they do so, it puts freedom of speech/press straight up against file distribution once and for all.
1. Write a program that writes a binary file to disc from either a sequence of numbers in a text file, or a recording of a single person saying a sequence of digits (depending on whether you want to base the case off of freedom of speech or press).
2. Distribute the program freely, under an open license.
3. Take a popular song under heavy licensing by the RIAA. Either read or type (again, depending on how you want to base the case) every number in the file. To save time, you probably want to read or type the file in decimal or hex.
4. Distribute said file.
Now: while you could be cited for plagiarism, that's an academic offense, not a criminal offense. So anyone involved in the academic world (such as myself) shouldn't attempt this. However, every one of the preceding steps is clearly covered under freedoms that are supposed to be guaranteed under our Bill of Rights. Either the RIAA will ignore the case, which I imagine might give some weight in court to people being sued in the future — and would at least make good publicity — or the the RIAA will open a lawsuit against the person distributing their music. If they do so, it puts freedom of speech/press straight up against file distribution once and for all.
