TechCrunch refuses to let their claim that Last.FM gave CBS user data which was passed onto the RIAA lie. In a post called Deny This, Last FM, they claim that:

CBS requested user data from Last.fm, including user name and IP address. CBS wanted the data to comply with a RIAA request but told Last.fm the data was going to be used for “internal use only.” It was only after the data was sent to CBS that Last.fm discovered the real reason for the request. Last.fm staffers were outraged, say our sources, but the data had already been sent to the RIAA.

Reddit has noticed that TechCrunch is censoring comments critical of the post. Last.FM emphatically denies handing over the data:

Any suggestion that we were complicit in transferring user data to any third party is incorrect. [...] It really seems like someone is trying to slander us here.

Here’s a more realistic, simpler explanation of what happened–one that wouldn’t require any special access to Last.FM’s private user data at all. The RIAA either asked CBS for the data, or got it themselves, from the public song timeline of Last.FM users. For example, at http://www.last.fm/user/elliottback/tracks you can download ~400 pages of songs I’ve listened to:

This gives them the following data: user, song, time. This is enough to tell that a user is listening to unreleased music, which is probably part of what the RIAA would use in trying to make a case against music pirates. For example–the Eminem Relapse album came out on May 15th, so theoretically anyone listening to it before then is a pirate.

2 Responses to “Last.FM, the RIAA, and TechCrunch”

1. Mike says:

   5/24/2009 at 11:40 am

   http://www.last.fm/forum/21717/_/535934/_/9521312

   Russ, a founder of last.fm and much more reliable than that National Enquirer-wannabe TechCrunch, has denied everything. He has even posted a response to answer the second “article” by the National Enq… er, TechCrunch.

   http://www.last.fm/forum/21717/_/535934/_/9525592

   Showing nothing to hide, you’ll see in that thread noone ever had a post deleted there, no matter how irate or against last.fm it was.

   http://www.last.fm/forum/21717/_/535934/_/9522388

   Starting there, and continuing reading a couple pages, you’ll see the truth about TechCrunch. Every message at TC in response that was against Michael Arrington’s (shoddy) reporting has been summarily deleted. Several screenshots were even posted of people’s responses that were deleted.

   Now, who is more trustworthy again, a site that allows open discussion, or one that whittles down the discussion to make it look like everyone agrees with them?

   Reply
   • Elliott Back says:

     5/24/2009 at 11:21 pm

     Mike, I totally agree with you, and I think TC is jumping to the wrong conclusions. The rule of (a) simplest cause and (b) general stupidity implies that if the RIAA actually wanted that information they’d simply scrape it from the public feeds, and (b) people inside CBS probably heard about it through the grapevine and several distortions…

     Reply