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RIAA uses a technique called Digital Millenium Copyright Act to
force Internet service providers to turn over the names of file
traders. Your Internet protocol address can be easily determined
by connecting with your peer-to-peer client over the Internet. They
will gather the information about your IP address and the time you
were connected and the ISP can determine your name. If RIAA catches
you this way, they will sue you.
As a defendant in a civil lawsuit, you don't have the protection
against self-incrimination that the U.S. Constitution grants criminal
defendants. A deposition would be asked from you, in which the party
suing you will be able to ask you anything they want and you will
be forced to give truthful answers under an oath. Also, your friends
may be subpoenaed and compelled to testify as witnesses against
you.
There is a process in Civil lawsuits called "discovery", which allows
the party suing you to use the force of law, which means that you
to turn over any evidence they ask for. They can even seize your
computer and forensically examine your hard drive and can recover
files you've deleted. Also, they can recover read any logs of email
you've saved, obtain your telephone records from your phone company
and obtain the log files from your ISP as well as the log files
from any Web sites you've ever visited.
Over the years RIAA had limited success when it comes to suing the
publishers of file sharing software. Some systems are so decentralized
that there is very little chance of finding anyone to sue. With
no option left they are finally behind the backs of the individual
file traders - meaning you. This article says that the RIAA has
already obtained subpoenas against 871 file traders, and will likely
have obtained many more by the time you read this. They ask a compensation
amount of $150,000 for the damages to each file trader for each
song whose copyright you have violated. What are they gonna do with
this money? Sue more file traders, of course.
If you happen to lose one of these lawsuits, the only available
option you will have will be to declare bankruptcy. If you're young,
your parents will have to declare bankruptcy.
You can avoid all of these problems by enjoying music from the tens
of thousands of talented musicians who offer legal downloads
of their music.
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