Date: 08/18/2003 12:57 PM
From: Dennis Green ([email protected])
Subject: RIAA Methods Under Scrutiny
Why don't we just arrest 3 million people for downloading music they wouldn't buy anyway, and throw them in prison? Better yet let's just outlaw computers, CD players, cassette players, VCRs and televisions. Maybe we wouldn't be a nation of fat asses ("RIAA Methods Under Scrutiny," Aug. 15, 2003).
Just my two cents.
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Date: 08/15/2003 06:06 PM
From: Ken Lake ([email protected])
Subject: RIAA Methods Under Scrutiny
Your coverage as usual is much appreciated. I used to be able to tune in and convert music files from Internet radio stations just as I did growing up with tape recorders and broadcast stereo ("RIAA Methods Under Scrutiny," Aug. 15, 2003).
How does the RIAA distinguish such converted MP3 music files from MP3s transferred between peers? If it was inappropriate to tape and share music being broadcast, or music "group purchased" and copied among friends, the RIAA should have considered their role in the growth of music sharing 40 years ago. It almost seems like entrapment to ignore and permit music sharing for decades and then to prosecute individuals.
Where would the RIAA be today if it were not for them "sharing" the music we downloaded for free from broadcasts over the last 50 years? This made the artists popular, resulting in record sales. Who was the first Napster? It was the recording and broadcasting industry cartels, that's who!
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Date: 08/16/2003 07:02 PM
From: Music Efficeanoto ([email protected])
Subject: RIAA Methods Under Scrutiny
First off, the RIAA is mainly going after their main customer: youth ("RIAA Methods Under Scrutiny," Aug. 15, 2003).
Music CDs are probably the main thing young people buy, so why hurt your sales even further by suing your customers? Second, I don't think they grasp the scale of file sharing -- if they get a subpoena for everybody who ever shared music, they would be in court for decades. Plus most of the people downloading will not be able to pay $750 to $1500 per song, especially when the majority of people have over a 100 songs.
It's all about one thing: money. Always has been and probably always will. How bad does it really hurt them? Like they don't make enough off concerts (and) advertisements? I think once a band has been aired on the radio -- which you can still get music off of, it just takes longer -- you should be able to hear it whenever you want.
When people look back thousands of years from now, they won't call it the Information Age, they'll call it the Age of Money, because that's all anybody cares about. If this is the so-called Information Age, how come people are getting sued for getting information?
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Date: 08/16/2003 01:34 PM
From: Tokyopete ([email protected])
Subject: RIAA Methods Under Scrutiny
If the RIAA really wishes to address the causes of P2P file sharing, it should consider the prices it gouges from the public ("RIAA Methods Under Scrutiny," Aug. 15, 2003).
A fitting fine for each download would have to be the copyright portion of the sales price that goes to the copyright holder. At a rough guess, that would be in the order of $1 per download maximum. Don't forget the RIAA levies a "copyright" fee on EVERY blank VHS tape, cassette tape and CD disk sold in every country where they can get manufacturers to cough up the money.
Anything over and above this amount is simple, legal theft by the RIAA. Its price-fixing tactics worldwide are deplorable and probably totally illegal. So a true and fair solution would be to charge the file swappers the real loss to the industries -- if they should be charged anything in the first place.
Of course, if it sold products at a reasonable price, then the majority would buy lots more CDs and DVDs. And, making copyrights extend to 90 years after the death of the author or copyright holder is ridiculous. Plus, copyrights should pass to the linear descendants of the original holder, not some corporation that is only a legal fixture and can't die. Only people, the ones who actually made the CDs, wrote the scores, storyboards and acted or sang the songs should be able to hold a copyright.
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