Lawsuit Invades MYSPACE

Slowly, the wheels of copyright protection squash the obnoxious.

The most visible blogging on the Net is no, not at blogspot or myopera, but MYSPACE. That's why Universal Music fired a lawsuit their way claiming "the site routinely and knowingly allows users to upload and download copyrighted music and videos."

MYSPACE now has to spend a lot of money policing the site to mitigate damages, and worry if a judge grants Universal the requested $150,000 "per instance of infringement."

A MYSPACE rep insists, "We do not induce, encourage or condone copyright violation in any way," but that's not enough. Myspace, blogspot, myopera and all free Internet sites are now on notice to remove "terms of service" violations.

Various sites that imitate Rapidshare or Megaupload will also face huge penalties if they harbor illegal music files. Paypal is not exempt either, and will have to start removing accounts that are nothing but greedy bloggers demanding donations for the music they stole.

"Come and get me," cry the reckless bloggers, "you can't touch me, this is my space." The execs at MYSPACE know better. They are now working with a company called Gracenote to "identify and block copyrighted material," and develop software that will detect downloads and exactly who is responsible for them.

It's a shame that normal music lovers who want to share a song or two, or a favorite out of print album, are going to suffer because of a few selfish radicals who turn a blog or a forum into a smuggler's den.

MYSPACE and other websites and conduits for music sharing are not going to lose their shirts and go to jail because of some smug thugs who think they have a right to abuse the rights of others. Stealing and infringement are serious crimes.

When the RIAA can actually make money and collect punitive damages from some housewife who downloaded from Kazaa, and when Universal can get a fortune from a prosperous site like MySpace, the writing is on the wall. The writing in big letters is: Do Not Steal Music.