No One Can Find ISPs Who Have Agreed To RIAA's 3 Strikes Plan
from the keep-looking dept
It's been a few weeks since the WSJ announced that the RIAA was supposedly dropping its lawsuit strategy, in favor of a backroom deal with ISPs, negotiated under dubious circumstances by NY's Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, whereby those ISPs would start cutting off connections from those accused (not found guilty) of file sharing. However, since then, we've heard from a variety of ISPs who don't like the plan, and Wired went on a wild goose chase trying to find a single major ISP that has agreed to the plan and came up empty. Of course, most of them refused to comment. The only one who said anything straight up was Verizon -- who had earlier confirmed that it had no interest in doing a deal with the RIAA. The big cable companies and AT&T have shown some interest in the past -- but now refuse to admit that an agreement has been worked out.The big question is why?
If this is such a great deal for consumers, as Cuomo and the RIAA insist, then why wouldn't an ISP want to step right up and proudly admit to such a deal? Obviously, it's because they know that such a deal is a sham, based on no legal reasoning, that will harm their position in the market and piss off customers. The RIAA will likely claim that no deals have been announced because the details haven't been finalized -- but again, that makes no sense. We've been questioning from the beginning why these negotiations haven't been more open. And with record labels like Warner Music and EMI insisting that they want to be seen as more open and willing to hold a "conversation" with critics, the fact that no one will talk openly about this backroom deal shows what a bunch of liars they are again. They don't want an open conversation. They want the government and ISPs to protect their business model, and they've convinced Andrew Cuomo to fall for it.
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Filed Under: copyright, isps, music, takedowns, three strikes
Companies: at&t, comcast, cox, riaa, time warner cable, verizon
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Sometimes you can miss the obvious.
Because no ISP is going to stand up and say to its consumers "We're raising your prices again because of the RIAA."
Well, not until damn near every other ISP signs on. Then you can bet they'll all chime in, since at that point, there will be no where else to go to get cable without RIAA protection.
It won't last. You can bet there will be massive lawsuits against this "extortion".
While you may disagree with this "tax", the mere fact it opens up unlimited sharing is a good thing.
This is what happens when a business' sole purpose is to make money.
Expect much, much more of this type of thing to occur as the months role on.
Consumers, be damned. Businesses no longer need you, so your power dwindles.
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