Music industry raids Kazaa's Australia HQ

[bkbroil]

As reported in the Register today:
Australian music industry investigators yesterday raided the premises of Kazaa's parent company, Sharman Networks, and four other Internet businesses, including the offices of Telstra, the nation's chief telco.
Music Industry Privacy Investigations (MIPI) also targeted the University of Queensland, the University of New South Wales and Monash University.
The raids came after MIPI was granted a court order permitting it to search for evidence that KaZaA is complicit in the illegal trade of unauthorised copies of songs. The organisation plans to use documents seized in the raids in court proceedings
"Kazaa has built a large international business through encouraging and authorising the illegal copying of music users of its network. It authorises this copying without seeking the licence or permission of the owners and creators of the music, nor does it pay any royalties to either the owners or creators of the music," said MIPI chief Michael Speck, according to a Sydney Morning Herald report.
Sharman Networks described the raid as a "cynical attempt" to "discredit" the company and to "disrupt its business".
Is the end coming for P2P?

[Brad Isaac]

You know what's absolutely shocking to me about this and other articles like it? The article says:

"Australian music industry investigators yesterday raided the premises of Kazaa's parent company, Sharman Networks, and four other Internet businesses, including the offices of Telstra, the nation's chief telco."

The word "raid" brings to mind kevlar clad agents with machine guns, bursting into an office much like a drug raid. You also read about the Music industry "seizing" records and private information from ISPs revealing the surfing habits of ISP clients. If you ask me, it sounds like the Music Industry is getting a little too big for it's britches.
Years ago they said the tape recorder would stop people from buying music because people could just record songs off AM radio. Then came the tape deck that could record vinyl albums directly - THAT was gonna really stop people from buying music! Then came the tape decks that could record other cassette tapes - OMG - The music industry said THAT's really the end of music as we know it!
CD's came out - people were dubbing the cds to GASP - Metal Tapes with the highest analog audio quality ever! Remember DAT tapes? Those were EVIL too..
Then CD burners were developed that could dupe a CD in 75 minutes! RIAA said "Let's sue"
I read in the late nineties that Music stores that sold used CDs were being protested by the music industry because they couldn't get their hands on the income of a CD that was being resold "garage sale" style to someone who wanted it.
Now there's MP3/WMA compression of music - and the reality of music that's being traded over the internet. Personally, I've heard some of the MP3s that have been posted and the quality of them is mostly crap. Often they are incomplete or offbeat versions of the songs from concerts or alternate artists. Sure there is abuse by some people.
What I am getting at is the Music industry neeeds to chill and learn a bit from their own history. Continually they are protesting technologies that do not ruin music, they make music better and more accessible. Which in the end means more money. Just look at the amount of money the music industry made back in 1970 when the dreaded reel-to-reel tape deck was rearing it's head and making it's way into the homes of some music lovers compared to today where "CD burning" is a household word.

[bkbroil]

You said a mouthfull.....I couldn't have said it any better myself!