Andrew, have you had the chance to look at the P2P Foundation's wiki? http://www.p2pfoundation.net/Main_Page They have a wealth of references and links.. Maybe there you'll be able to find a couple relevant sources. Best, Paul -------------- Paul DiPerna Blau Exchange http://www.blauexchange.org email: pdiperna@blauexchange.org Online ID: http://claimid.com/pdiperna -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: [Air-l] music 'piracy' groups query From: "Andrew Whelan" <amj.whelan@gmail.com> Date: Thu, February 08, 2007 1:44 pm To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Hi Chris, Many thanks for these leads, I am vaguely familiar with some Lessig stuff and the EFF but the rest are new to me (indeed, I didn't know the EFF made an argument supprting ripping in terms of fair use). I am especially interested in how 'rippers' relate to the p2p 'masses', as it were, and therefore I'm as yet undecided on whether or not to contact rip groups directly - they are anyway notoriously cagey. However, I have amassed a significant number of group-produced '.nfo' files, a very small number of which include contact details (usually for IRC channels). I would of course probably need an 'invite', but may, if needs be, be able to secure one through p2p contacts. Thanks again, Andrew On 2/8/07, Heidelberg, Chris <Chris.Heidelberg@ssa.gov> wrote:

Andrew:

Good luck! You will have to know someone and have that person vouch for you because this has really gone underground thanks to the MPAA and RIAA series of international raids and successful lawsuits all over the globe. They may think you are a narc, so be careful. However, the RIAA and MPAA have plenty of stories, position papers, and releases on these groups and how they caught them. The most recent group that I have found as an ancillary part of my research for my upcoming defense was in Russia. Lessig has written several good books that can give you the legal history of technology disruption and intellectual property lawsuits. Consider the history of Napster, Morpheus, eDonkey, Limewire and more when looking for articles.The lawsuits are interesting too. You can actually Google them and it will lead you to articles. I would look at Good Morning Silicon Valley which has done a lot of articles and commentary on the subject. Look at Lawrence Lessig's website. Also, you can try Fisher who wrote the book Promises to Keep on this subject in 2004. He's a Harvard researcher.Also look at the software trade group site for their positions on piracy.That's how I found some things. Also, look at the EFF site. Check out the Electronic Frontier Foundation and similar groups are defenders of fair usage through ripping.

-----Original Message----- From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Andrew Whelan Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 10:13 AM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: [Air-l] music 'piracy' groups query

Dear all,

I am researching the groups who 'rip' commercial CDs and vinyl for peer-to-peer distribution and wondered if anyone had come across any reading on this phenomena. The only article I have been able to find addressing this subject specifically is:

Cooper, Jon, and Daniel Harrison. 2001. "The social organization of audio piracy on the Internet." *Media, Culture and Society* vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 71-89.

Any suggestions as to material, especially on audio, or film 'rippers', or indeed software 'cracker' groups, would be very much appreciated.

Best wishes,

Andrew Whelan _______________________________________________ The air-l@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org

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