Bloggers watching ongoing prosecution of downloading are abuzz that the
RIAA, in a position that contradicts its lawyers, is now trying to establish
the illegality of ripping a CD for use on an MP3 player, according to a
brief filed in the ongoing Atlantic Records vs. Howell case. The following
excerpt is from page fifteen of the document:

"Virtually all of the sound recordings in Exhibit are in the MP3 format. The
defendant admitted that he converted these sound recordings from the
original format to the MP3 format for his and his wife's use. The MP3 format
is a compressed digital format that allows for rapid transfer of digital
audio files via electronic mail or any other file transfer protocol. Once
the defendant converted the Plaintiff's recording into the compressed MP3
format and they are in his shared folder, they are no longer the authorized
copies distributed by the plaintiffs."  

What fails to be mentioned by those up in arms about this is that the
plaintiffs say that Mr. Howell put the files he uploaded onto Kazaa, which
is slightly different than loading them onto an iPod.

A careful read of the twenty-one-page brief shows that the behavior at issue
is the sharing of the music via a website constructed specifically for that
purpose, and not the actual ripping of the music to the computer. Though the
RIAA will continue to be assailed as a tool of the corporate juggernauts, it
is making important policy that will govern how copyrighted material will be
handled in the information age. It's easy to characterize it as the bad guy,
but for every large corporation that missed out royalties because of file
sharing, there is a smaller band or record label that also lost money.
Though the process of establishing artists' and corporations' legal rights
to their material in the information age will be sticky, it's best neither
sides throw stones. All parties need to find a medium ground that will lead
to a cessation of both illegal file sharing and the lawsuits. [Boing Boing]