By Jay Lyman
TechNewsWorld
09/10/04 10:00 AM PT
"For these plaintiffs to complain about infringement of their
intellectual property is not merely ironic," according to Cary
Sherman, RIAA president. "It is an act of incredible chutzpah.
Their claims are dead wrong." Yankee Group analyst Mike Goodman
said if the RIAA were to lose its case, it would end up looking "no
better than people who [illegally] download files."
As it has been suing thousands of computer users accused of
illegally trading copyrighted music online with peer-to-peer (P2P)
technology Relevant Products/Services from Intel Enterprise
Solutions, the Recording Industry Association of America Latest
News about Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has
also been polluting P2P networks with bogus and corrupted media
files to discourage P2P use.
Now the industry group is the one being sued for alleged patent
infringement Latest News about patent infringement in its process
of so-called "spoofing" on filesharing networks. A civil case has
been brought against the RIAA by P2P providers Altnet and its
parent Brilliant Digital Entertainment, which own the popular Kazaa
Latest News about Kazaa P2P network.
In a suit filed in California this week, Altnet argues the RIAA
breached its 2002 patent on "TrueNames" technology, adding
Overpeer, Loudeye and Media Sentry to the list of alleged
infringers.
Interference Infringes
"Altnet alleges this has inhibited the growth of P2P for legitimate
file sharing that benefits copyright holders, which Altnet
advocates, and thereby has injured its business," said a statement
from Altnet.
An RIAA spokeperson told TechNewsWorld that the industry group's
lawyers are still looking into the suit initially. The group denied
the infringement claims, which come after failed efforts toward a
compromise, according to Altnet.
Altnet said its suit is focused on a specific, patented algorithm
that permits the unique naming of files across P2P networks.
Measuring Spoofing
Yankee Group senior analyst Mike Goodman told TechNewsWorld there
is no specific metric to measure how much spoofing the RIAA does on
P2P networks, but he added that it occurs quite a bit. Goodman
called spoofing the RIAA's second biggest weapon against P2P, after
the RIAA lawsuits against users, which began last year.
Alnet president Lee Jaffe said Overpeer, which works with the RIAA
in spoofing songs on P2P networks, claims it spoofs as many as 200
million files per month.
"That adds up to a lot of instances of patent violation," Jaffe
said in a statement. "The defendants have had the opportunity to
work closely with us to innovate and improve the overall content
experience for file sharers, yet they choose to send users damaged
files that erode relationships between artists, bands, and their
fans."
Basis For Claim
Goodman said while the courts will have to determine whether or not
patents have been infringed, there is a basis for the complaint
from Altnet, which has tried repeatedly to work with the RIAA and
record labels.
"Anything that makes P2P networks inefficient will hurt Altnet's
business," Goodman said. "Anything that drives users from Kazaa
hurts the Altnet network."
Goodman added that there are legitimate uses of P2P technology,
which in some cases is similar to a simple copy machine at the
office. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals also ruled recently
that there are legimiate uses of P2P file sharing applications and
networks, freeing P2P operators from liability for copyright
infringement.
However, proposed legislation currently in the U.S. Congress would
make it illegal to carry large amounts of copyrighted material over
a P2P network.
Chided For Chutzpah
While the RIAA had yet to legally respond to the Altnet charges,
the organization's president, Cary Sherman, who is named in the
civil suit, denied any patent infringement in a statement.
"For these plaintiffs to complain about infringement of their
intellectual property is not merely ironic," said Sherman. "It is
an act of incredible chutzpah. Their claims are dead wrong."
However, Goodman said if the RIAA were to lose its case, it would
lose a big tool in its push against P2P and would end up looking
"no better than people who [illegally] download files."
Irony for Industry
The irony of the infringement suit against the RIAA was also
highlighted by an attorney for a Michigan college student who is
among those being sued by the recording industry.
"It's ironic that the RIAA, in trying to stop copyright violations,
has been using techniques that apparently violate patent rights,"
said attorney Tom Lewry of Brooks Kushman. "It is one thing for the
RIAA to stop infringement by enforcing copyrights. But its current
tactics, which include corrupting peer-to-peer networks, should be
stopped. Such tactics disrupt legitimate uses of the networks to
share public domain information.
"Perhaps Altnet's suit will discourage such abuses," Lewry
added.