An interesting analysis of the RIAA’s battles from political science doctoral student Kai Stinchcombe.
From The Stanford Daily:
“If the RIAA lawsuits continue, millions of college students are going to start using strong encryption to pass terabytes of MP3s across the Internet. The computers at the NSA will be completely overwhelmed. Not only will they be unable to determine who is copying illegal MP3s, they will also not pick up conversations among terrorists planning new bombings, hijackings or other attacks.”
I’m not sure that the NSA is going to be so preoccupied with tracking down file swappers that it impacts national security, but I do believe that the technology will always stay one step (or more) ahead of the RIAA. Some day, we may all look back on 2004 as the year when the RIAA tried, unsuccessfully, to fight gravity.
