TechDirt tears into the RIAA today after they dropped the lawsuit against Patricia Santangelo and have decided to attack her daughter instead. They’ve even fixed the suit so they’re not responsible for legal fees, which means a working mother must now pay for a massive lobbying organization’s arrogance.
Obviously forcing cash-strapped American moms to pony up tens of thousands of dollars to force the industry to do their homework is absurd, and as we’ve noted there’s no real punishment for when the RIAA screws up.
I just downloaded the Rolling Stones’ entire music catalog, BTW, if anyone wants me to seed it. I don’t like the Stones that much, but hey, it’s free, right?
RIAA Drops Case It Can’t Make Against Mom After Bleeding Her Dry — Focuses On Suing Kids [TechDirt]
So the RIAA doesn’t actually stop people from sharing music and detracting from the money made by the artists, so why do they still bother? What or who exactly makes up the RIAA?
I hate the RIAA as much as anyone else does, but I do feel bad for the people that do get stuck in the gears, such as this family. I wonder if there is any organization or charity that works to help those that are being attacked by the RIAA. I know it sounds dumb given the many other problems in the world, but I feel bad when I read about cases like this because it is as if the RIAA is trying to nail the entire monetary losses from everyone on the few people that do get stuck. I know I’ve gotten my share of “shared music” (I really hope no one hear is for/from the RIAA) before, so I feel bad for this family. It’d be fair to say we all share the blame.
Unlike many others out there, I have no ill feelings towards the RIAA for what they are doing… they just realize that their gravy train is about to end and instead of being noble about it and bowing out… are simply going sue crazy pissing off everybody who ever had an ounce of good will towards them. This is simply a dragon realizing it no longer has any fire and has been replaced by the airplane as mans favorite way to travel.
Music by its nature is free to listen, you can put on the radio, go to an outside concert etc… professional sports have realized this and adapted to market themselves as the “best of the best” while the music industry RIAA just sat back, put the money in a lot of mattresses and now is behind the 8 ball when it comes to positioning itself in a market which, in all fairness… was theirs to loose. They where caught off-guard and ever since then, digging a deeper hole for themselves.
When the RIAA dies from its on lack of creativity, I will not be sad – nor happy… that is simply what happens when you don’t have the guts or foresight to see the big picture. Microsoft is going down the exact same path by the way… the difference being the enormous reserve they have built up will allow them to crumble at a far slower pace.
There is absolutely no reason why itunes couldn’t have been thought up by RIAA – they just couldn’t get out of the “old ways” fast enough. Their loss.
Jon
Jon, no not you, the other one. :)
“I wonder if there is any organization or charity that works to help those that are being attacked by the RIAA.”
EFF
FSF
Downhill Battle
…And a bunch more that are probably linked from the ones listed. Poor millionaires…2 summer homes, 3 bentleys, 12 full-time servants, and only two of every piece of gear on this site is all they could afford this year. :(
I agree with Jon #2. Another one on the list of industry organizations to be concerned about is the MPAA. The large industries have a tendency to move slower in accepting change for some reason. If, instead of adhering to the old ways, the industry organizations were the ones leading the charge, we would be a lot further along today in terms of the digital download/technology race than we are.
What’s sad is that Steve Jobs has to bully the RIAA and the MPAA to come to the table when they should be the ones looking for _more_ avenues to distribute their product rather than less. Hollywood and the recording industry should not be the last to board that train — but it seems like they always are.
Kevin, the business world is FULL of examples of organizations being so fearful of loosing what they have acquired that they end up loosing not only their legacy but their respect for what the -had- done.
There is no one person or organization to blame… it’s simply our nature to be pack rats, even if it leads to our own demise.
Jon
It is too bad that we in the United States live in a society run by corporate power. There money and power caused them to rise above the government and it’s people. Now they use that money and power much like kings of long ago to take from those of us with out the money or power to defend. Worse, they ravage children. To contimue this method against destroying the American family can only lead to insurrection before the tyrant is made to stop.
Gene, corporations aren’t evil… it’s the people running it that have lost their decency and objectivity in life. What makes these situations even come up are often the result of stock market pressures, the shareholders, regulation (or lack thereof) and finally… people simply accepting the status-quo.
The United States isn’t run by corporations, but by Bush (whom you guys elected 2x!)… I will let you make the judge of which is worse ;-)
Remember, a kingdom cannot be ruled unless its citizens have accepted the ruler… just look at our history to see how many rulers have been sent to exile, beheaded or worse once the citizenry decided that enough was enough and took actions against their tyrant. Now, where the people justified or not… that is the larger question.
Jon
It’s too bad that recording artists won’t rise up and confront the RIAA over the grossly indecent actions being perpatrated on their behalf. Only when celebrities start objecting will the majority of Americans bother to give a damn. Celebrities trump poor working mothers and children after all.
Celebrities/Artists are part of the problem Steven, why would they do anything that could harm the value of their royalty checks coming in the mail? They have too much invested into the RIAA to do or say anything against it.
It’s people who have NOTHING to loose (you and me) who should rise up and simply stop purchasing ANY songs – if everybody stopped listening to the radio, purchasing music and instead played board games for a week (or a month)… the RIAA would change their tune very fast due to pressure from… you guessed it… celebrities/artists, shareholders, stock market and other vested interests. Will this happen? I doubt it… there just isn’t enough anger out there against the RIAA (yet).
Jon
In good news, AllofMP3.com has a sideways payment option that’s up and going again. “Legal” downloads for all. :)
It’s amazing how the RIAA uses loopholes to get ‘offenders’ into losing cash. Now only if they turned those creative juices into ways of getting people to purchase music – instead of twiddling their thumbs and waiting for someone else to – they wouldn’t have to be like, OH NOES SHARING IS BAD all the time. But, just like every free venture, the RIAA can’t stop the (intelligent) masses from getting music free if that’s how they are.
Shame that people like Santangelo have to go through that.
Hey, why don’t those schmucks go after the Chinese who counterfeit everything and don’t pay royalties? ‘Cause they’re chickenshit! And now we’re going to give them (And don’t forget they’re COMMUNISTS!! like John Garfield and others, who the HUAC bastards persecuted for going to meetings) nuclear reactor technology. At least, we’re gonna get mangoes from the Indians for our nuclear reactors. The good news is the Indians will now be able to use all their own home-grown reactors to make fissionable materials for twice as many bombs per year as previously. Can you say $300 billion trade deficit?