Download responsibly - which also means keeping your downloading habits private.

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Not too long ago, a good friend of mine did a lot of work in understanding how copyright holders (such as those represented by the RIAA and MPAA for example) act and react to Peer 2 Peer filesharing networks.

I managed to dig up his 20 page essay on the topic which provides an in-depth summary of the P2P issue including suggestions on how to avoid being identified on a P2P network.

This is a great resource for someone who needs historical information on the issue or who is interested in building a secure P2P app. Also see my article on avoiding P2P nightmares for parents for additional tips and tricks.

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One of the victims of the RIAA's bullying who fought back won an important victory today. The judge on her case decided that the RIAA must proceed with a jury trial or declare her the victor in the suit (which would likely result in an award of attorney fees for her).

This is important because it may expedite further lawsuits making it more viable for regular people to resist their scam tactics and putting an end to the industry of settlements that the RIAA has created.

Oh no! The university isn't letting us bully people out of money!

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In the RIAA's ongiong bully-lawsuit campaign, it has sent "settlement" letters to numerous Universities to be distributed to "alleged" abusers. The University of Wisconsin has refused to do so without a subpoena. Innocent before guilty? Wow. Count on a University to remember our Constitution.

For all the complaining, P2P filesharing has actually helped fight piracy

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Here's something that the RIAA and MPAA haven't admitted publicly, P2P filesharing has actually helped to kill pirates. Where once you could make real money by copying a movie and selling it at a flea-market, now that's impossible.

Oh no! Our profits!

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Though the RIAA would like you to believe it, it seems that P2P doesn't actually affect music sales at all. That's kind of embarassing for the RIAA who no longer has any justification for their music property crusade.

Of course, I always said that most people who use P2P to get music wouldn't have bought the CDs in the first place. Therefore, the number of people who download music doesn't necessarily equal the number of CDs that would have been sold.