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07/29/2003 Entry: "RIAA"

This really pisses me off.

"A blizzard of subpoenas from the recording industry seeking the identities of people suspected of illegally swapping music is provoking fear, anger and professions of remorse as the targets of the antipiracy dragnet learn that they may soon be sued for hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.

The Recording Industry Association of America has obtained close to 1,000 such subpoenas over the last four weeks to more than a dozen Internet service providers, including Verizon, Comcast and Time Warner Cable, and several universities, including Boston College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, demanding the names of file swappers. Most Internet providers are notifying the unlucky subscribers by mail that they are legally required to turn over their contact information.

Those on alert include several college students, the parents of a 14-year-old boy in the Southwest, a 41-year-old Colorado health care worker and a Brooklyn woman who works in the fashion industry."
Subpoenas Sent to File-Sharers Prompt Anger and Remorse by Amy Harmon, NY Times 7/28/03 (login hackenblog pwd hackenbush)

So it's like this: the recording industry is TOO FUCKING STUPID to figure out how to make money from online music downloading, and instead they will start suing, arbitrarily, people who have sampled tracks on Grokster. The boy cited in this article had 150 songs on his hard drive. That's *peanuts*, baby. I know people who share way more than that, and they didn't get served. It's worse than being audited. It is eerily reminiscent of the War on Drugs, in which poor street kids selling dollar joints were (and are) jailed on a regular basis - and we all know how well that worked.

We are talking about a FELONY for sharing mp3s! What the fuck is wrong with the music industry? I know what's wrong with the government that supports this shit - and, incidentally, the RIAA just named a GOP bigwig as their CEO (in today's Times), furthering the incestuous relationship between big music and big government. The RIAA claims that CD sales dropped 14% since 1999, and they blame that on file sharing. Do you suppose it could be that 14% of music buyers are JOBLESS, or that most major CD releases SUCK? Or that most CDs are just TOO DAMN EXPENSIVE? Damn, where is fucking Voltron when you need him?

So here's what you can do. Go to the Electronic Frontier Foundation and check to see if you've been subpoenaed. Then go and read their tips on How Not To Get Sued by the RIAA. Then make a donation, because these people fucking rock.

Also, check the file-sharing software you use, as some of them are implementing measures to protect their users. Also also, if you continue to file share, don't use your fucking real name to set up an account, and don't share from computers that have static IP addresses. I'm surprised I have to explain this to you people.

End of rant for today.

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