The dream for the past few years has been that there be a "celestial jukebox", so to speak. What is the "celestial jukebox"? The "celestial jukebox" would be the dream for consumers and independent musicians. Every song ever recorded, available for download or stream on demand. In the beginning, I actually believed that the major labels would wake up, get their heads out of their asses and realize what a fantastic opportunity this would be for both the labels and the artists. Now here it is two years later, and they still don't have a clue.

Time after time the labels and their lightning rod, the RIAA, and it's overpaid, arrogant, leader, Hilary Rosen, have distracted the public, the media, and Congress away from the true issues, implied and stated that their paying customers are crooks and thieves. The constantly slap down any proposal to make the celestial jukebox a reality as an unneeded legislative process when the free market should be the driving force, but yet who has overpaid lobbyists on "Capital Hill every single day? Encouraging the Congress (and often paying them) to introduce legislation that is so Draconian it belongs in the book "1984", by George Orwell, not in our every day life. The RIAA and the MPAA, that's who.

Those two bags of hot air have absolutely no business using the term free market. They don't want a free market, they want a total monopoly of the music and movies made available to the American public.

As the internet became an influence in many musicians and independent filmmakers lives, offering them opportunities they've never had before, the RIAA and he MPAA have stepped up to restrict the access to the market by independents. They've made no secret of the fact that they want restrictions that would be costly, often eliminating the independent musician and filmmaker from the marketplace.

Today we are no closer to the "celestial jukebox" than we were two years ago. This could be a time when the labels and the artists could be benefiting greatly financially from the internet. Instead, they have litigated, filed complaints, had user internet accounts suspended or eliminated, called every man woman and child in this country a thief, and refused to negotiate in good faith, interactive licenses to the myriad of online music companies, unless they own part of the company. There is a Department of Justice investigation into the practices and actions of the RIAA and its membership in licensing. There was a FTC finding that the big 5 overcharged consumers by over $428 million dollars, by price fixing. (so much for that free market Hilary often cackles about). 28 States have sued over that $428 Million. People need to go to jail over this.

Me, I'm done with these idiots and their products. Last year I bought about 50 CDs. Not one was from a RIAA member, and everyone was an independent musician. Of course your sales are down you fat cow. I don't buy from your membership any more. I buy from real musicians, people who make music because they want to. I go to see live music, I buy cds directly from the artist at these shows.

At anytime more than 75% of the music the RIAA membership controls is not available for purchase at any price, in any format, cd, album, or cassette. This is our culture that is locked up by someone creating an artificial market. They don't want the competition from the older music. Make it available or lose it. You are depriving artists of their right to make a living, and the American Public of our culture. Let my music go. Your actions have created an atmosphere of civil disobedience that will make the 60's look like kids play. I figure another 5 years max. This one will be ugly...

The same with DeCSS used to regional encode DVDs. It was a marketing decision, it has absolutely nothing to do with "protection". Now the movie industry has gotten authorization by court order to actually monitor and record what SonicBlue/Replay TV users do with their remotes. Every click, every commercial skipped, every program watched and recorded. If this doesn't shock you, it should. How about the CEO of Turner Broadcasting Jamie Kellner is calling PVR users thieves. He's under the impression that we have a contract to actually watch commercials. If we don't, we're thieves. Yeah he said it. He and the head of Disney studios must have drank from the same LSD spiked punchbowl, because they are having the same hallucination.

While I'm on this rant, lets talk about politicians a minute. My own representative here in the mountains of VA. Bob Goodlatte, has accepted money from Disney ($5000), Viacom ($2,000), and Vivendi ($3,000) for this years election, to the tune of $19,500., more than any other sector in his district, yet not one of those contributing have any business in his district. I have to ask myself why. We don't have a single movie studio in the area, so why is Disney contributing to the political war chest of Goodlatte. I have to admit, I voted for the guy. It won't happen again. When you're beholding to Hollywood, you're not taking care of your constituents. ME. Look up your Senators and Representatives to see who they are really representing at OpenSecrets.org.

it's amazing the things they get away with

This is so sickening. Even everything I know, there is always somethng new to learn about the RIAA, or greedy people in general! :x

Let my music go. I liked that!

**Your actions have created an atmosphere of civil disobedience that will make the 60's look like kids play.**

Actually, this combined conspiracy of the RIAA and the MPAA to disenfranchise and criminalize the public, if their agenda is adopted, will make the effects of Prohibition in the 1920's look like a tea party. As I've said, revoking certain rights of the public is quite easy to do when those proposing to do so are firmly convinced (as obviously Rosen, Valenti, Eisner, Kellner et al. are) that such rights aren't "rights" at all, but merely privileges.

They also have no business yapping about "fair compensation of artists." Remember the late Peggy Lee's lengthy, bitter litigation vs. Disney over non-payment of residuals viz "Lady and the Tramp"? That, plus Walt Disney (the founder and namesake of the company now being run -- into the ground -- by Eisner) being notoriously anti-union (he testified as a "friendly witness" before HUAC in 1947 fingering certain employees involved in the 1941 strike against his company), and pretty much cheapskate in terms of compensating talent.

One wonders what the late (and, to many, unlamented) Roulette Records president, Morris Levy, would have thought of the digital developments of late, and this whole controversy.

Nice rant! I wish I had the stones to say this kind of stuff... but here it's all laid out.. GET OUTTA MY HEAD :x

Anyhoo... this article is right on, and it actually seems to be a thread, as the last three or four have been the same way. good job! I hope the riaa do realise how much they are costing themselves, and the people of the country/world by pulling this shit.

The 'celestial jukebox' is what a lot of customers want, but the stupid recording companies think all we want is to rip off the latest pop poop. I've NEVER seen them mentioning bringing back all the long-lost music from decades ago - that's why we're doing it by 'swapping'. The RIAA just doesn't get it and never will. But that's cool - they will not be around much longer anyway, in their present form at least.

The recording companies are certainly (and certifiably) selfish and narcissistic in this regard, as well as irrationally paranoid, suspicious and distrustful. They don't just merely "not get it": they simply don't care. In fact, they loathe, despise, hate the guts of and have the utmost of contempt for the consumer.

When you consider that media companies like AOL Time Warner and Vivendi Universal have been going down the toilet financial-wise due to one thing or another, all these events, plus the malevolent, overbearing arrogance with which these companies have been conducting themselves, are clearly the greatest living argument(s) against such close concentration in the hands of a small few megabehemoths. Yet our government hounds tech companies like Microsoft (via anti-trust investigations) and others (this whole witch-hunt Hollywood has been directing against Silicon Valley), while being asleep at the wheel with respect to the entertainment conglomerate consolidations in recent years. Only foreign regulatory bodies (i.e. the European Union) have saved our music industry from being reduced from five to four major 800-pound gorillas. Tells you something about our situation.

Excelent artical. And how do I know it was a good artical. It got me pissed off while I was reading it.

What the "fat cow" and her rich friends need to realize is that it is a privilage for them to get payed. We don't have to buy their products anymore. We have a choice we can download it for free. And by adding copy protection and all the other nasty tactics etc they revoke this privilage. I will never buy a corrupted cd and no-one else should either.

Excelent artical. And how do I know it was a good artical. It got me pissed off while I was reading it.

What the "fat cow" and her rich friends need to realize is that it is a privilage for them to get payed. We don't have to buy their products anymore. We have a choice we can download it for free. And by adding copy protection and all the other nasty tactics etc they revoke this privilage. I will never buy a corrupted cd and no-one else should either.

Excelent artical. And how do I know it was a good artical. It got me pissed off while I was reading it.

What the "fat cow" and her rich friends need to realize is that it is a privilage for them to get payed. We don't have to buy their products anymore. We have a choice we can download it for free. And by adding copy protection and all the other nasty tactics etc they revoke this privilage. I will never buy a corrupted cd and no-one else should either.