Commentary, Rants, and Raves

Huge news hitting very close to home for me on the anti-antipiracy front today. A Federal judge right here in New Mexico dealt a blow to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) that the music cartel (RIAA) brought against unnamed does at the University of New Mexico on music piracy charges. The judge said that the robber barons (RIAA) didn't adequately detail the supposed infringements of their copyrights:

While the Court does not dispute that infringement of a copyright results in harm, it requires a Coleridgian "suspension of disbelief" to accept that the harm is irreparable, especially when monetary damages can cure any alleged violation. ... On the other hand, the harm related to the disclosure of confidential information in a student or faculty member's Internet files can be equally harmful. [Emphasis added.]

Yes! Ars Technica summarizes beautifully the precedent this sets:

This is a significant blow to the RIAA. If other courts decide to follow Judge Garcia's lead, the litigation process will become a lot more expensive and time-consuming for the RIAA, as the John Doe lawsuits would no longer be simple open-and-shut cases. Those suspected of file-sharing would be able to ensure that their interests are taken into consideration from the beginning of the legal process instead of only learning that they were the target of a lawsuit once they receive a settlement letter.

So much for us being in the Third World out here, at least on the legal/political front.

Qwest's slogan in these parts is "Spirit of Service in Action." Say it aloud, and you'll hear what it really means. They're the telco monopoly in most of the state, and it shows: a Baby Bell who wants to become Ma Bell again.

It especially shows whenever there's a problem. Today, a DS3 line was damaged (rumor said it was cut), and it affected DSL and telephone services throughout the affected area. Okay, there's not much that can be done to prevent it from ever happening, especially by accident. However, it took calls from dozens of upset customers and at least one irate ISP just to get Qwest to acknowledge that a problem merely existed, and even then, they didn't until the problem was four hours old.

I don't believe that the line was completely cut because we were seeing only intermittent losses despite them being frequent and widespread. However, this problem manifest itself as a telephone problem as well. One of our affected customers tried to report the problem by calling us on the same phone line as the affected service, and the call dropped. Not once, but three times. We were both on landline sets, not cordless or cell, and the call was abruptly cut off.

What it boiled down to was having to stay late calling and calling, trying to get someone at Qwest to recognize that there was a problem. I was supposed to punch out at 1:00, but I stayed. I didn't get an answer until 5:00, and at long last we could tell our customers something.

That's not the kind of communications breakdown anyone with a choice tolerates. However, in this remote area, neither we nor our customers have an easy choice. The first communications problem was fixed shortly after 6:00 by a Qwest engineer. The other communications problem remains.