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// recording industry association of america |
The Recording Industry Association of America, also known as the RIAA, is that group of record companies that makes frequent appearences in the news... you know, the people that sue anything that has to do with file sharing. I openly admit that what Napster did wasn't morally right, but I don't think they were doing anything legally wrong. Napster wasn't breaking the law, the users of napster were. But then again, passing the blame onto the users, such as me and what seems like half of America, puts us in the line of fire! The thing is, it would be impossible for the RIAA to sue each and every fan of file sharing, so they line up their crosshairs with the developers and networks that contribute their ingenuity to the file sharing community.
I was an avid supporter of Napster during its prime, but I also bought CDs of the very music I could get for free. Why? Because I felt that was the right thing to do. Metallica, Dr. Dre, and the RIAA, bent out of shape because they no longer had complete control over their empire, started throwing their little tantrums, protesting Napster, and alienating their fans... managing to make enemies out of their own supporters. It wasn't until all these lawsuits that Napster gained massive popularity, giving them free publicity, and expanding their user base. How ironic! The very people that were trying to bring Napster down made it 10x more popular than it would ever have gotten otherwise. So, what am I getting at here? I'm not sure yet. I just had to bring you up to speed in case you've been living in a cave.
Before the RIAA went crazy, I paid for music to support the music industry. However, these days, I find myself weary of supporting these people that are trying to take away my freedom. In fact, I think I would pay money just to see them die. They could have embraced this new form of music. They could have went where the consumers were and adapted their product to fit the needs of the people... but no, they decided to jump in with guns blazing, painting a target on anyone and everyone that has ever downloaded an MP3. It was naive of the RIAA to think they had any control over us at this point. Making enemies out of millions upon millions of people... people with plenty of alternatives... in an attempt to pull them back into the monopolistic prison, is not a smart choice.
I don't understand why the RIAA continues their little escapade to elimate music piracy. Admittedly, I had never heard the letters RIAA until the whole Napster thing started... but these companies had been getting a nice chunk of money from me each time I bought a CD. But... I've lost any respect I may have had for them. If they want to make me their enemy, so be it. I will make them my enemy as well; I don't think I'm alone on this either. "If you don't support them then people will stop making music and you won't have anything to listen to." Fuck that! I have plenty to listen to. If the RIAA died off and all music production came screeching to a halt... I would be happy. That would never happen though, because the true artists, the people that make music to express themselves... just for the joy of making music, without the need to get rich... these true artists would rise to the top, weeding out the fakes. There are true artists out there. Sift around mp3.com for a while... there's thousands of people making music just to be heard, it's called integrity.
Just recently, I've read several news articles about the RIAA's attempt to get a bill passed that would allow them to legally hack into people's computers and delete their MP3s, without holding liability for any damages they may cause. If this were not bad enough, they tried to exploit the terrorist attacks of September 11th as a gateway to slip their little amendment into an anti-terrorism bill. They have turned a battle that they can't possible win into what appears to be a fight to lose as many customers as possible. What's more, they've just recently started releasing heavily protected CDs that don't even work in substandard music CD players (like computer CD drives, Playstations and the like).
So, join the revolution! Don't let the RIAA turn us into slaves! There are two things that are okay to hate. One is Osama Bin Laden, and the other is the RIAA... they are one in the same. Support independent artists and non-RIAA-affiliated record labels.
For more information about the evil that is RIAA, check out:
ZeroPaid.com - file sharing related news
Boycott-RIAA.com - everything you need to know to boycott the RIAA
RIAA Member List - list of RIAA members |
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