RIAA Shows How Inane They Really Are

So the RIAA, in court, really said this. I'm not making it up -- it's too stupid.

Requiring proof of actual transfers would cripple efforts to enforce copyright owners' rights online.

In other words, it's hard for us to prove that the people we're accusing actually DID, in fact, trade songs illegally. So we shouldn't have to prove that they did it.

The sound you just heard was your rights being incinerated, folks. If the judge actually buys this, corporate America won't have to prove anything in court to win a lawsuit against you. In fact, I could sue anybody for anything I want, and just tell the judge that if I had to actually prove the accusations had any basis, I wouldn't be able to go after the people who were doing the stuff I was upset about to begin with. Does that make any sense to anybody?

It shouldn't. But RIAA wants it to. They want a judge to rule favorably on it, so it becomes legal precedent. And then, since anyone with an iPod has pirated music (yes, they actually have said that), they can sue anyone with an iPod. Then they can sue anyone with a computer, since computers are used for music piracy. Can you say "slippery slope," boys and girls?

Every so often I start to think that maybe I'll start listening to commercially available music, stuff on major labels. Then something like this happens, and reminds me that they really don't want someone like me as a customer. So I'll keep listening to and supporting independent and small-label bands, and hope that the folks at RIAA and the major labels destroy themselves quickly rather than slowly.

{EDIT -- wow -- a misplaced /blockquotes tag can really mess things up. My commentary/translation got mixed in with RIAA's statement, and I apologize.}

Posted by Warren Kelly at July 1, 2008 08:21 PM | TrackBack