| Shutting down filesharing programs is as useful as withholding Drivers' Licenses because stolen goods might be transported in motor vehicles or denying cell phones to people who don't have proof of residency (which we do, by the way). It's ridiculous.
The companies (and some malicious endusers) are already duping files, sending viruses, and a wealth of nasty shit already - not to mention attempting to get information on particular users through the program - but the solutions come just as quickly. Kazaa keeps a banned IP list of authorities, eDonkey checks the file info during hashing, endusers know to distinguish between music.mp3 and music.mp3.vb and life goes on.
Besides, Kazaa may be wrangled in a lawsuit along the lines of malicious intent, and various institutions can be bullied for every single program based on DMCA's ISP-held-accountable nonsense, but Kazaa's third generation after WinMX, Audiogalaxy, Bearshare, Morpheus and all those old ones, and then there's Bittorrent, Soulseek...
. . . whenever any government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundations on such principles and organizing its powers in such forms as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. |