RIAA Lawsuits and MP3s

[Quinn]

So has everyone abandoned their file-sharing apps? I didn't use them in the first place but I sure will be avoiding them now.

I haven't seen any real figures but I really don't like the way the RIAA operates, skimming money from the artists. It's like a protection racket, artists pay them for the right to release music almost it seems. Brutal. As far as I'm concerned they should be the defendants in court. I was pleased to see that some labels are lowering the cost of CDs. I also feel that purchasing MP3s per single online for a low price is a great idea, I would buy a lot more music if I could buy individual tracks.

RIAA/CRIA says that piracy is affecting artist revenue. I agree to a point but I think that there are a lot of people downloading music who wouldn't buy it if they couldn't get it for free. It just isn't worth it.

The music industry really seems like a bit of a joke to me, always the same predictable styles making it into the "top" 10s... at the same time RIAA/CRIA says that if we don't buy our music, new music won't be made. What a crock. Artists don't start making music just to get rich. Bryan Adams wasn't playing guitar in high school thinking to himself how much money he'd soon be making. He just wanted to be a rock star (as per the story in Summer of '69). There are so many garage bands out there. I went to a crap little rural high school of about 800 students and there were still at least three bands in the school that had self-released albums, and probably twenty or thirty other kids who wanted to be in a band.

Trying to control piracy is like trying to control prohibition. It's obviously a crime, but how do you stop it when the whole country is doing it. On the other hand, prohibition was easy - legalize booze and everyone makes money/is happy (drunk). Legalize piracy and someone is still getting screwed. It will be interesting to see where this goes. I'm just glad CRIA hasn't taken the same steps that RIAA has. After all I think we Canadians pride ourselves on being a little more reserved and cautious than our neighbours, who recently have been making a few rash decisions. Although I heard RIAA had a guy in New Zealand busted...