The RIAA is lobbying for no fair use and to make us criminals

By Stephen Hinkle


The RIAA is trying to make us criminals for doing everyday activites. They are even lobbying to control who can CREATE content. This is going way too far. They want to hack into every file sharers PC. They want to lobby this far because Gnutella, FastTrack, and other decentralized P2P systems cannot be shut down with a lawsuit, and many P2P providers are getting farther in their defense than the RIAA anticipated.

Next of all, the RIAA litteraly killed streaming audio and net radio. For what reason? Basically, to try and make more money off of it. They demanded fees that many webcasters could not afford. The RIAA does not realize that these changes are good for the industry, not bad. Net radio exposes us to a much more diverse artists than the "top 40" or "top 100" of each genre. This has even gone so far that Artemis Records dropped the fees for broadcasting their works.

Then, the RIAA wants to make general purpose computers illegal. Yes, the Fritz Hollings bill will do just that. It will require copy protection built into every digital device.

Many consumers, artists, and even some indepedent labels are upset about the RIAAs actions. Many consumers have bought more CDs as the result of free downloads. According to Janis Ian, she reports that her record sales have increased 300%, just because she put free downloads on her web site.

What needs to happen is for the RIAA and its member labels to start using technology to their ADVANTAGE. There is evidence that Net Radio, downloads, and the like boost sales. Also, it cuts the costs of delivery significantly because using P2P technology saves bandwidth, and no CDs need to be pressed for singles, since the users can do that with their own burner. Net Radio can be used to promote artists who would not be heard on terrestrial radio.

Think of a download site with all your favorite songs. If each cost a quarter, that would generate millions of dollars a day. At a quarter per song, you could get 20 downloads for $5.00, and 40 downloads for $10.00, or maybe the site would offer unlimited downloads for $25.00 per month. Even at a dime per song, the revenue generated would be significant. Most people would be willing to pay the small fee, if the format was unlimited play, burnable, and portable player usable (such as MP3 or OGG Vorbis).

I would like all the people to contact their congressman and tell them to oppose the Berman Bill and the Hollings bill. I am also asking people to contact the RIAA and tell them that you want to be able to listen to music anywhere without having to pay extra fees for it, and the future lies in AFFORDABLE LICENSING TO ALL EXISITING, NEW, AND EVOLVING MUSIC TECHNOLOGIES, not monopoly control and banning every technology that gets ahead of the industry lobby and oligopoly.