Having watched the 7 minute clip available from the website (which it appears may actually be the entire DVD) and, being a fan of ephemeral propaganda films like the ones in the Prelinger collection at Archive.org, I can honestly say the information in this video is only millimeters away from the anti-communist and anti-pornography filmstrips of the 1950's.
Lawgeek hit the nail on the head with a four point commentary on inacurate contents of this video:
1) There's no distinction in the video between the risk of downloading vs. uploading. To date, no one has been sued or prosecuted for solely downloading music; only uploaders have been targetted.
2) There's no distinction between criminal prosecution and civil law suits. In order to be criminally liable for copyright infringement, you have to willfully infringe with some kind of financial incentive. To date, no criminal prosecutions have been brought against students who simply download for fun.
3) They claim that any kind of copying without permission is illegal. This is clearly not the case, as fair use allows copying without permission and is explicitly written into the Copyright Act. Plus, if you copy music onto Audio CD-Rs, you've already paid the royalties that allow you to make the copies without needing permission.
4) They claim that making any copies of any music for friends is "just as illegal as downloading." Presumably, this includes making a mixed CD for a girlfriend or buddy -- something most people consider to be fair use. It's exactly these kinds of extreme positions that make the RIAA look ridiculous and out of touch with today's music fans.
I'd like to add to that list.. 5) Free isn't always illegal, and you don't have to get specific permission to share files licensed under the Creative Commons. In fact there are many good sites where you can find legal, free music from musicians who've never, ever sued a dead man, a dialisis patient, a 12 year old girl or a family that doesn't own a computer.
[via Lawgeek]
Update (from Boing Boing): Brandon sez, "Apparently that Derek 'Mickey' Borchardt in the video was on the far extreme of 'file sharing' and prosecuted by the feds, and not just the RIAA. He was a member 'Apocalypse Crew' which was convicted of prereleasing music."I knew something was fishy with all that.. the FBI doesn't show up at your dorm room just because you downloaded a few mp3s. I love how they fail to mention in the video that this kid isn't exactly on par with a casual "I just got an iPod" downloader. Convenient, that.
Detailed information on how the RIAA lawsuit process works can be found in an article I wrote a few weeks back, "The RIAA vs. John Doe
