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RIAA Planning 'Quick $1k Settlement' Plan
Leaked letter illustrates the RIAA's next move...

A leaked letter (pdf via Slashdot) notes how the RIAA is trying to get ISPs to put pressure on illegal file downloaders, in a new plan that would let ISPs offer 'guilty' p2p users a $1,000 settlement option -- provided an ISP holds on to 180 days worth of records for the RIAA. It looks like this is simply an RIAA effort to keep the process out of the courts, and grab some extra easy cash in the process. Later this month a website will be set up (www.p2plawsuits.com) where ISPs can direct targeted users to automate their settlement process with the RIAA, without all the muss and fuss of a trial.

As it stands, the RIAA either sues an accused file trader, or has the ISP send them a DMCA warning letter -- after which we've never seen any follow-up action taken (see one of hundreds of such examples from our forums). Scared (and usually very young) users frequently visit our forums asking what they should do...apparently the RIAA is eager to create a system that lets those users shell out $1000 to make ammends -- without the RIAA having to do much legal footwork, or spend much on prosecution.

Techdirt seems to be one of the only websites that remembers the RIAA's previous efforts to get around the subpoena process and the law -- an effort that resulted in an RIAA legal loss against Verizon.
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brianiscool
join:2000-08-16
Tampa, FL

brianiscool

Member

haha

This will motivate people even more. Since your fines are so low. The RIAA are newbions and should just give up!
pmizelll
Premium Member
join:2003-08-13
Houston, TX

1 edit

pmizelll

Premium Member

Re: haha

It doesn't get any sleazier than this.

Pay a grand ... do not pass go and you DON'T GO TO JAIL!

Absolutely amazing! This is borderline extortion!!

TScheisskopf
World News Trust
join:2005-02-13
Belvidere, NJ

1 recommendation

TScheisskopf

Member

Re: haha

said by pmizelll:

It doesn't get any sleazier than this.

Pay a grand ... do not pass go and you DON'T GO TO JAIL!

Absolutely amazing! This is borderline extortion!!
Nothing borderline about it at all. This is straight out of protection racket schemes. Instead of breaking legs, they just use other methods.

What this appears to be is more like law firms and the **AA's maintaining a cash stream by any means they can muster. Like SLAPP lawsuits, they bank on no real legal challenge being mounted to their tactics. Add to that their generous political contributions which serve to stave off legislation that might nip their extortionary behaviors in the bud.

Sooner or later, a Dickey Flatt or Mike Papantonio-type lawyer, expert in the dark and eldritch arts of the class action lawsuit, is gonna rest his or her laser targeting pip on these shysters. Then, the real fun is gonna begin.

Doctor Four
My other vehicle is a TARDIS
Premium Member
join:2000-09-05
Dallas, TX

2 recommendations

Doctor Four

Premium Member

Re: haha

Sounds like grounds for lawsuits under the RICOH Act. Go
after them for the same things the MAFIA have been doing.

The similarities are so glaring that Big Music (Organized
Music) and Hollywood ought to be referred to as the MAFIAA.

TScheisskopf
World News Trust
join:2005-02-13
Belvidere, NJ

TScheisskopf

Member

Re: haha

said by Doctor Four:

Sounds like grounds for lawsuits under the RICOH Act. Go
after them for the same things the MAFIA have been doing.

The similarities are so glaring that Big Music (Organized
Music) and Hollywood ought to be referred to as the MAFIAA.
I had not considered the possibility, but on the face of it, a competent and interested federal prosecutor could very well look at all this as having RICO ramifications.

I think that it is a sad sign of the times that the **AA's have not been seriously and substantively challenged in a court of law. But that's ok, because they are already over the line and once legal action is brought against them, they will be so far over the line that it's gonna be ugly but sublime to watch.

Doctor Four
My other vehicle is a TARDIS
Premium Member
join:2000-09-05
Dallas, TX

Doctor Four

Premium Member

Re: haha

This is indeed what some of the RIAA lawsuit defendants
are doing - countersuing the organization under the RICOH
Act. I believe that Robert Santangelo (Elektra vs. Santangelo)
is one of those defendants planning to do this.

AnonProxy
Premium Member
join:2001-05-12

2 recommendations

AnonProxy to Doctor Four

Premium Member

to Doctor Four
FYI: RICOH is a copier company.
RICO is what you are looking for.

NormanS
I gave her time to steal my mind away
MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA

NormanS to Doctor Four

MVM

to Doctor Four
I am not familiar with this "RICOH" act. I have heard that the U.S. Congress passed a "Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations" (RICO) Act in 1970.

rogunit
Uhhh, Sir?
Premium Member
join:1999-09-18
Phoenix, AZ

rogunit to Doctor Four

Premium Member

to Doctor Four
"MAFIAA"

ROTFLMAO!
59126125 (banned)
join:2006-01-21

1 edit

59126125 (banned) to pmizelll

Member

to pmizelll
Wonder if they will roll out an optional monthly payment extortion plan with interest for those that cannot afford the whole amount.

BTW, I only see statements on the letter and linked article about a $1000 or more settlement discount. So far, nothing about an actual $1000 settlement.

Jigsaw
Stardust We Are
Premium Member
join:2000-10-21
Cleveland, OH

Jigsaw to pmizelll

Premium Member

to pmizelll
They automate extortion nice.

kyramilan
join:2006-11-26
Pensacola, FL

2 recommendations

kyramilan to brianiscool

Member

to brianiscool
Actually, since no subpoena was obtained probably to get your info and/or you had no court input, I'd probably sue them for Invasion of Privacy. One can oppose a civil subpoena of records. A criminal subpoena goes unless it is private psychiatric records. A Judge won't approve those.

Pirate515
Premium Member
join:2001-01-22
Brooklyn, NY

Pirate515

Premium Member

Re: haha

That's what I was thinking of as well. Any ISP (or any other company that I do business with for that matter) who gets caught giving up my personal information to any kind of private party (including RIAA/MPAA) without court order, subpoena or my prior written approval will be promptly sued.

thender2
Glamour Profession
Premium Member
join:2004-05-16
Staten Island, NY

1 recommendation

thender2

Premium Member

Just use usenet.

Then you don't have to deal with this nonsense.

Or, only share between friends.

Why bother opening yourself to a ton of people you don't know for no benefit when there is a possibility of getting nailed to the wall for it?

swintec
Premium Member
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME

1 recommendation

swintec

Premium Member

Yea But..

Will they accept PayPal?

BabyBear
Keep wise ...with Nite-Owl
join:2007-01-11

1 recommendation

BabyBear

Member

Re: Yea But..

Sorry Western Union transfers only!

It used to be $3,500 for extortion a settlement, now its down to $1,000 for a Quickie! Hmm, Maybe next your RIAA settlement will be bidded on Ebay!

guitarzan
Premium Member
join:2004-05-04
Skytop, PA

1 recommendation

guitarzan

Premium Member

Re: Yea But..

Does anybody really expect the new RIAA extortion site to stay up on the web for long.?

That is like putting an un-patched, unprotected XP box on the web, saying in huge letters: Here I am.

IMO, that site will get hacked, infected by a very large botnet zombied DDOS attack in minutes and disappear from the web.
I hope they have the bandwidth to handle the traffic. I wonder if the pirate bay will notice their site...hmmm

PolarBear03
The bear formerly known as aaron8301
Premium Member
join:2005-01-03

PolarBear03

Premium Member

Re: Yea But..

Well, we know what guitarzan will be doing for the next day or so

Need help?

guitarzan
Premium Member
join:2004-05-04
Skytop, PA

guitarzan

Premium Member

Re: Yea But..

I won't be driving any dump trucks into teh internet tubes to clog up their bandwidth

Can you imagine, what the result would be, if almost everyone hit their site with, ping www. riaadot com -n 50000000000000 or some crazy azz number and just let it run?

I betcha TPB users could wipe that site off the face of the web.

PolarBear03
The bear formerly known as aaron8301
Premium Member
join:2005-01-03

PolarBear03

Premium Member

Re: Yea But..

Don't give me ideas, guitarzan!

kyramilan
join:2006-11-26
Pensacola, FL

kyramilan to guitarzan

Member

to guitarzan
"Its the Democrats fault. In fact it is the Speaker of House Polosi fault. Everything is the Democrats fault. Everything. Just like Everything was the Republicans Fault when they were in power."

LOL@Guitarzan!

Actually, when Reupublicans were in-charge it was all Bush's fault. Now that the Democrats are in-charge they still think it is all Bush's fault.

guitarzan
Premium Member
join:2004-05-04
Skytop, PA

guitarzan

Premium Member

Re: Yea But..

Now its Ronald Reagans fault as well, their desperation is showing. Democrats the party of stolen ideas. Whatever the Republicans run on. Democrats steal it and claim it as their own ideas.

Here is a little more.
»www.lasttrumpetministrie ··· 007.html

On December 27th, 2006, the Christian Science Monitor featured a story with the following headline: Uncle Sam Wants U.S. Muslims to Serve. The article verifies that our government is raising up an Islamic army, and the Pentagon is building Islamic prayer rooms and hiring imams (Moslem holy men) to induce recruitment.

West Point and other major military academies have opened Moslem prayer rooms. Imams are serving as chaplains at U.S. military academies and bases throughout the United States. In addition to that, top non-Muslim officers and Pentagon officials been worshipping with them and participating with Muslim religious events both overseas and here in America. (34)

There is much more to consider regarding the rising Islamic force in America. The Presidential race in America is beginning to take shape, and the two front runners for the Democratic Party are Senator Hillary Clinton and a man who seemed to come from nowhere, Senator Barack (Bin Laden)Obama of Illinois.

Senator Obama is becoming immensely popular, and even Hillary Clinton admitted that he is a very real threat to her pursuit of the Presidency. While Obama does not claim to be a Muslim, he obviously has close ties to that religion. His fathers name was Barack Hussein Obama Sr. of Kenya, Africa. (35) Senator Barack Obama was born in Hawaii but hardly knew his father. His mother was Ann Durham of Wichita, Kansas, who later married a Muslim named Lolo Soetoro and moved to Jakarta, Indonesia.

Senator Obama admitted to using cocaine and living a party lifestyle of drug and alcohol use(I wonder if he snorted, but didn't inhale) (36)

Senator Obama has become an idol to a lot of women, because he has been featured in magazines in beach wear, and the female sector has been ogling his athletic physique. He has also been on the cover of major news magazines such as Time, and U.S. News and World Report.

There is a very real possibility that either Barack Hussein Obama or Hillary Clinton will be the next U.S. President. Either way we lose badly!

I am now looking at a number of pictures of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on the day she took office. As she stood in front of all the dignitaries present, she held a black leather bull whip in front of her chest and proudly proclaimed, I am the most powerful woman in America.

Pelosi then made two clenched fists and held them in a tai kwon do karate position. In the next photograph, she is lifting a gavel high into the air with a look on her face that would scare the devil himself if he had a mind to look at her.

The next picture shows Pelosi lifting her right fist above her head in the communist power salute that was so common during the riots and demonstrations of the 1960s. She then brings her fist slightly downward and turns her knuckles forward to the striking serpent salute used by Satanists. (39) The late high priest of the Church of Satan, also secretly known as the Hotel California, was often seen using the striking serpent salute.

Without a doubt, hell has been raised, and hells children are now occupying the highest offices in our erstwhile great nation.

These last days are strange times with strange people in strange places. One example of this is the story of what happened to the communist subversive group known as the Black Panthers.

In 1969, a group of Black Panthers condemned one of their members named Alex Rackley to death for disloyalty. After being stripped and tied to a chair, Rackley was tortured with boiling water and then shot in the head by Black Panther leader Warren Kimbro. Rackleys body was then dumped in a river near New Haven, Connecticut.

In 1977, only eight years after the trial of these murderers, the shooter, Warren Kimbro, managed to get a scholarship to attend Harvard University, where he became one of the best friends of Al Gore. Kimbro later became an Assistant Dean at an eastern Connecticut State College.

The woman who boiled the water for the torture is Erica Huggins, and she was elected to a California School Board. The success of these two sadistic murderers is owed to two people, both of whom literally shut down Yale University with protests in defense of the murderers.

One defender was Bill Lan Lee, who is now the head of the United States Justice Departments Civil Rights Division. He was appointed to that position by former President Bill Clinton.

The second defender of the murderous Black Panthers was a radical law student at Yale University, and she is now being called the smartest woman in the world. She is now a Senator from New York and is running with a passionate fire to become the next President of the United States. I am referring to Hillary Rodham Clinton. (40) God help us all! Evil is reaching a saturation point.

Last but not least.According to the Army Times publication, the United States Armys newest service component command is now fully operational. It is located at Fort Sam Houston and is called U.S. Army North. Also known as USARNORTH, it is designed as a northern command force to work strictly with civil authorities within the homeland. (19) By now I am sure you can see that this is the branch of the military set up for martial law in a police state.

Acknowledgements
19. Army Times, Oct. 17, 2006, Staff Report.
34. Christian Science Monitor, Dec. 27, 2006, by Richard Whittle, Washington, D.C.
35. Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Dreams From My Father, »en.wikipedia.org.
36. Ibid.
39. Matt Drudge Report, Jan 4, 2007, »www.drudgereport.com.
40. Paul Harvey News & Comment, Dec. 30, 2006.

Netbum
join:2002-04-08
Oakley, CA

Netbum

Member

Re: Yea But..

said by guitarzan:

Now its Ronald Reagans fault as well, their desperation is showing. Democrats the party of stolen ideas. Whatever the Republicans run on. Democrats steal it and claim it as their own ideas.

39. Matt Drudge Report, Jan 4, 2007, »www.drudgereport.com.
40. Paul Harvey News & Comment, Dec. 30, 2006.
LOL,Drudge,Paul Harvey,good sources

Yeah,Democracy is a bitch,Aint it?

guitarzan
Premium Member
join:2004-05-04
Skytop, PA

guitarzan

Premium Member

Re: Yea But..

LOL, Yeah, Democracy sure is a bitch.
Expand your moderator at work
SoilFlames
Premium Member
join:2002-03-17
Anoka, MN

1 edit

SoilFlames to guitarzan

Premium Member

to guitarzan
Not even worth ripping on your command syntax....because I am in agreement with your hatred towards the MAFIAA

guitarzan
Premium Member
join:2004-05-04
Skytop, PA

guitarzan

Premium Member

Re: Yea But..

said by SoilFlames:

Not even worth ripping on your command syntax....because I am in agreement with your hatred towards the MAFIAA
Feel free to rip me on the command syntax

I used dot com instead of .com -n 50000000000000

After the m in .com its space,small line space number amount

I'll have to look what at the actual address is.
SoilFlames
Premium Member
join:2002-03-17
Anoka, MN

1 recommendation

SoilFlames

Premium Member

Re: Yea But..

Theres actually a parameter that will ping...until you tell it to stop. And theres also a way to send a larger packet size to do more damage.

C:\WINNT>ping

Usage: ping [-t] [-a] [-n count] [-l size] [-f] [-i TTL] [-v TOS]
[-r count] [-s count] [[-j host-list] | [-k host-list]]
[-w timeout] target_name

Options:
-t Ping the specified host until stopped.
To see statistics and continue - type Control-Break;
To stop - type Control-C.
-a Resolve addresses to hostnames.
-n count Number of echo requests to send.
-l size Send buffer size.
-f Set Don't Fragment flag in packet.
-i TTL Time To Live.
-v TOS Type Of Service.
-r count Record route for count hops.
-s count Timestamp for count hops.
-j host-list Loose source route along host-list.
-k host-list Strict source route along host-list.
-w timeout Timeout in milliseconds to wait for each reply.

or...
Usage: ping [-LRUbdfnqrvVaA] [-c count] [-i interval] [-w deadline]
[-p pattern] [-s packetsize] [-t ttl] [-I interface or address]
[-M mtu discovery hint] [-S sndbuf]
[ -T timestamp option ] [ -Q tos ] [hop1 ...] destination

See also..... ping man page for unix/linux/bsd/whatever

riaastrikesagain
@comcast.net

riaastrikesagain to swintec

Anon

to swintec
said by swintec:

Will they accept PayPal?
Paypal. The other anti-christ. LOL

NOCMan
MadMacHatter
Premium Member
join:2004-09-30
Colorado Springs, CO

1 recommendation

NOCMan

Premium Member

Cant wait

Till a US court hands the RIAA the largest fine in history for technically searching without a court order. Even the FBI has to get a court order to gather records such as those.

Talk about invasion of privacy. They will get their collective arses handed to them.

Doctor Four
My other vehicle is a TARDIS
Premium Member
join:2000-09-05
Dallas, TX

1 recommendation

Doctor Four

Premium Member

To quote a Slashdot poster: "The more you tighten your..."

"...grip Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your
fingers."

That famous Star Wars analogy is appropriate here. This is
only going to alienate the RIAA in the eyes of the consumer
even more. Many ISPs will simply refuse to go along with it;
those that do will find themselves losing customers. And it
will do nothing to deter filesharing.

The RIAA needs to stop seeing p2p users as the enemy and
instead see them as competition or free publicity for their
music. If they were to adopt a model like that of Allofmp3,
they would make a fortune. Instead they cling to their old
pre-digital technology ways of doing business.

••••

frankenfeet
934 is 10-8
Premium Member
join:2001-10-14
Smiths Grove, KY

frankenfeet

Premium Member

Targeting downloaders now?

I don't do any uploading, but now we can expect to get sued for downloading?

x30n_
Not Sure What Color Pill To Call It
Premium Member
join:2000-09-14
Newport News, VA

x30n_

Premium Member

P2P users = cannon fodder

So what do the ISP's get for the increase of hardware they will need to store 180 days worth of records of all their users, then the time that is needed to sort through all those records when needed?

Oh, to let the ISP's offer 'guilty' (without a trial) p2p users a $1,000 settlement option that goes to the RIAA. They might as well dump their logs and just send the letters like they have been.

Other then that, p2p users are the lowest on the totem in the scene anyways and they are the Usenet users cannon fodder as long as they keep it up. Way to go p2p, keep the heat off of us!!!

shellenberg
Premium Member
join:2003-12-20
Salmo, BC

shellenberg

Premium Member

Re: P2P users = cannon fodder

said by x30n_:

So what do the ISP's get for the increase of hardware they will need to store 180 days worth of records of all their users, then the time that is needed to sort through all those records when needed?
Immunity. Passing the buck, so to speak.
Scifience
Premium Member
join:2002-07-07
Washington, DC

Scifience

Premium Member

Re: P2P users = cannon fodder

AFAIK, ISPs already have immunity as common carriers. They don't need to join into the RIAA's little racket to get that.

Mizzat
Will post for thumbs
Premium Member
join:2003-05-03
Atlanta, GA

Mizzat

Premium Member

It says nothing of a $1000 settlement

It says DISCOUNTS of $1000 or more on settlements, but never says the settlements will BE $10000, or am I missing something. It also says they will be launching a website for the lawsuits at www.p2plawsuits.com later this year....interesting. Quick one stop shop for litigation!

RideRed
Vista needs a popup blocker for Vista
Premium Member
join:2005-06-18
USA

1 edit

RideRed

Premium Member

Dump the data daily

The ISP's should simply stop keeping logs more than 15 days unless they absolutely need them to operate. I don't run an ISP so I know know if logs (more than say a week's worth) are necessary to operate but if they aren't, simply don't keep them.
Scifience
Premium Member
join:2002-07-07
Washington, DC

Scifience

Premium Member

Re: Dump the data daily

On all of my servers, log files are kept for 24 hours, processed into a form that doesn't retain any info on a user's identity for statistical purposes (total unique visits, pageviews, etc.), and then trashed.

Shack
join:2002-01-17
Bloomington, IN

Shack

Member

Would this be legal?

Sound almost like racketeering? It is at the very least not ethical.
dbozzo
join:2003-10-29
Roslindale, MA

dbozzo

Member

Re: Would this be legal?

No, it will not be without a court order. Knowing these sleezballs, they'll just randomly send out notices to anyone and everyone asking for $1000 because they can't track absolutely everything going on all at once.
orangelemon
join:2003-01-29
Woodinville, WA

orangelemon

Member

Call Katheryn at 303-866-0408

I love the sample letter. Basically "if you want to find out exactly why you received this letter, call the RIAA". I'm sure the first question the RIAA asks is "What's your name and address?". Then all the idiots out there who actually answer such a question are sunk. I think ISPs could get in trouble for suggesting consumers call the RIAA.

I think everyone on this site should call the legal counsel indicated on the letter: Katheryn Coggon at 303-866-0408 and let her know what you think of these underhanded tactics.

getbentnow
@comcast.net

getbentnow

Anon

This is a gift for Pirates

I say take every Pirate to court, prosecute them and make them pay the full $10,000 per copy plus court fees and then sentence them to a minimum 1 year in jail.

•••••••

Dagda1175
join:2001-06-17
Goleta, CA

Dagda1175

Member

strange?

This seems like peanuts to them. Almost not worth the effort. There has to be some other thing brewing...

POB
Res Firma Mitescere Nescit
Premium Member
join:2003-02-13
Stepford, CA

POB

Premium Member

Revenue Generation by Racketeering

I can see why the DiaRIAA would go this route - the legal fees alone just to file complaints are indicative of just how much money they're rolling in. If they afford legal counsel to file complaints in all these cases, including internationally, then of course, a quick cost analysis would tell any moron to take the path of least resistance.

Just have your legal goon squad create a form letter to snare in all the ignorant n00bs and voila! Pick up a quick, one stop, no fuss, no muss grand.

There is a special ring of ice reserved in Dante's hell for these RIAA assholes. I'm thinking the tenth circle under Lucifer himself.

A pligrim
@rogers.com

A pligrim

Anon

Re: Revenue Generation by Racketeering

Dude! Everyone knows that it can not be under the frozen Lucifer, as under lucifer you start heading towards Purgatory, and thus towards a better fate! It is within the frozen Cocytus, on par with Lucifer that the worst sinners lie!
Also....

It is the ninth ring, not tenth.

ftthz
If love can kill hate can also save
join:2005-10-17

ftthz

Member

1k quick fix

... at the this rate it'll just keep getting cheaper and be like getting a parking fine... for noobs

Vig
Thread-safe since 1997
Premium Member
join:2004-03-23
La Jolla, CA

Vig

Premium Member

now even easier!

Now you can hand over your cash even faster than before, without all that messy "due process". It's the way the Founding Fathers would have done it if they'd had computers! What a marvelous age we live in.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

instead of $1k...

As an alternative... start paying for an "all you can eat" service with no drm for about $10-15 per month.. so, for 99% of the people who buy content this way, they should be safe.. just fax a copy of the monthly access charge.. they'd be less likely to sue those people who are customers for the few tracks they get outside the system..

If you are downloading hundreds upon hundreds of tracks per month/year, it's probably worth that.. not $1k per session of nastiness.. they need to start moving away from suing customers.. because they are LE$$ likely to want to pay a single cent, otherwise.. and we all know a few pennies is lots more than a whole lot of NOTHINGne$$

IBNutz
@comcast.net

IBNutz

Anon

Re: instead of $1k...

Or maybe the **AA should just sell a license to steal.
Pay 'em $900 up front and have a lifetime permit to steal music for personal use.

Download 'til ya drop!

PolarBear03
The bear formerly known as aaron8301
Premium Member
join:2005-01-03

1 recommendation

PolarBear03

Premium Member

Extortion

Taken from Wikipedia:

Extortion is a criminal offense, which occurs when a person either obtains money, property or services from another through coercion or intimidation...

The actual obtainment of money or property is not required to commit the offense. Making a threat of... a lawsuit which refers to a requirement of a payment of money or property to halt future violence or lawsuit is sufficient to commit the offense. The simple four words "pay up or else" are sufficient to constitute the crime of extortion. An extortionate threat made to another in jest is still extortion.
Is this NOT exactly what they are doing?
CLEVELTECH
join:2006-12-21
02107

CLEVELTECH

Member

the fight is still on

I am so glad that people have decided to fight against the RIAA. Even the ISPs don't like them. I for one choose to boycott them completely thereby the deep pockets that they once had is quickly drying up.
DJStarfox
join:2000-07-05
Orlando, FL

DJStarfox

Member

The last sentence

The last sentence of section 2 of the letter read as follows: "...whether you [ISPs] would like to participate in this program to benefit your subscribers."

AS IF... ISPs want to keep records of IP addresses/names for just so the RIAA can sue us. Bunch of BS.
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