Already Guilty
Via BoingBoing, Erik Davis has posted an article about his experiences with the watermarking technology being used by the record industry in an attempt to couteract file-sharing. "My Data Crime" makes for interesting reading, and should act as a signal to the record industry that they're doing something wrong by assuming theft without being able to prove it.
Recently, it had been suggested that Davis had intentionally uploaded a copy of Beruit's sohphomore album The Frying Club Cup to file-sharing networks, simply because the advance CD that he was sent was watermarked in such a way that any duplication of it would be tied back to him. He would, therefore, bear sole responsibility if the tracks showed up on peer-to-peer or other such 'underground' networks.
As it turns out, the disc was ripped and uploaded, but not by him. He had lumped the advance copy in with a whole bunch of other discs he dropped off at a local thrift store in order to free up clutter in his house. Someone found the disc, ripped the tracks and uploaded it to file sharing networks — as Wikipedia notes — on August 25.
Davis was blamed for the leak, as it was he who assumed full responsibility for anything that happened to the disc. But, as he points out, it (obviously) wasn't his fault, and he certainly didn't deliberately release the album ahead of its official date. His main argument, however, is that such advance copies sent to reviewers should not only be less protected — he sees it as an unnecessary cost to the producer, and I think he's right — but also less vehement in their stickered warnings.
The labels adorning the front covers of the discs warn that by opening the package "you", the addressee, agree in totality to the paragraph of legalese which explains that any consumption of the product should be solely for your own purposes, not anyone else's — which is not only a gratuitous warning but also one which is presumably impossible to enforce. Furthermore, the identification of the disc's addressee as the source of any 'unauthorized' copies makes it seem as though 'you' are already guilty, which isn't really a nice way to treat someone who you would like to look favourably upon your product.
Recently, it had been suggested that Davis had intentionally uploaded a copy of Beruit's sohphomore album The Frying Club Cup to file-sharing networks, simply because the advance CD that he was sent was watermarked in such a way that any duplication of it would be tied back to him. He would, therefore, bear sole responsibility if the tracks showed up on peer-to-peer or other such 'underground' networks.
As it turns out, the disc was ripped and uploaded, but not by him. He had lumped the advance copy in with a whole bunch of other discs he dropped off at a local thrift store in order to free up clutter in his house. Someone found the disc, ripped the tracks and uploaded it to file sharing networks — as Wikipedia notes — on August 25.
Davis was blamed for the leak, as it was he who assumed full responsibility for anything that happened to the disc. But, as he points out, it (obviously) wasn't his fault, and he certainly didn't deliberately release the album ahead of its official date. His main argument, however, is that such advance copies sent to reviewers should not only be less protected — he sees it as an unnecessary cost to the producer, and I think he's right — but also less vehement in their stickered warnings.
The labels adorning the front covers of the discs warn that by opening the package "you", the addressee, agree in totality to the paragraph of legalese which explains that any consumption of the product should be solely for your own purposes, not anyone else's — which is not only a gratuitous warning but also one which is presumably impossible to enforce. Furthermore, the identification of the disc's addressee as the source of any 'unauthorized' copies makes it seem as though 'you' are already guilty, which isn't really a nice way to treat someone who you would like to look favourably upon your product.
posted by Hugh at 1:00 AM
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