With apologies to Pastor Martin Niemoller: by Brian Lee Corber

When the RIAA first came for the updloaders/downloaders of pop music, I didn't object because I wasn't interested one bit in the music of Madonna, Eminem, Britney Spears or Metallica. Then the RIAA came for the uploaders/downloaders of country music, I didn't object because I wasn't interested one bit in the music of Shania Twain, or the rest of them whose names I cannot recall. Then they came for the college students with a few thousand dollars in their bank accounts who were sharing files, and I didn't object because I wasn't a college student with a few thousand dollars in my bank account who was sharing files. Then they came for the little webcasters whose voices began to complain about the RIAA's harsh tactics and I didn't object because I wasn't a webcaster who'd been a victim of the harsh tactics of the RIAA.

Then they came for me -- and by that time there was nobody left to object.

Brian Lee Corber
Attorney at Law

Ain't it the truth...

Remember the law of internet debate, wherein the first party in said debate to make a likening to Nazi Germany will be default automatically lose said debate.

what the record company doesnt understand is, they are the only ones who are losing money, the artists are making more money than ever because of there increased popularity, they have more attendance at concerts, more t-shirts sold etc, nobody gives a shit about the record company, and they dont understand that

We should just get rid of the fuckin record companies.

boycotting them and therefore breaking their backs (a corporations purse is always its vulnerable point) will certainly send the RIAA and friends running for cover.It might not get rid of them but it will shut them up.
CD burnings in the public square at 8pm. All welcome.

I think we should stop buying cd's, movies, anything media related, until they understand WE ARE IN CONTROL!

That's right...They can't affect the people who refuse to take their crap.

The can always *shudder* illegalize boycotts by buying new laws

*shudder*

To BigPhilly82,

The record companies certainly understand that they are the ones losing money. This scares them. And it should. They are the bottom feeders who take a piece of what the talent produces. I'm sure they can find work somewhere else. Like Congress.

They could work for Mcdonalds!!
"Would you like fry's with that sir?"

My _personal_ opinion is that violence would be the answer against the RIAA.
Should one or two of their high-ranking execs suddenly fall victim to a particularly nasty psychopath, the rest will start thinking more about their actions.

They will think: "should I scoop out this poor student's bank account for a symbolic settlement and risk some wacko coming to my home and making me eat my own children? ...Or should I just go and get a fucking real job and at least TRY to be useful to makind?"

All hypothetical, of course.

The only violence I think is morally acceptable is electronic. Screw with their computers if they are gonna screw with ours. See how they like it. Of course, I don't know how to hack or anything, so all I can do is pound my desk and say "Hell yeah!" when someone hacks into their systems.

Heed the wise words of Svensta.

We could all make it a point to go to the RIAA web site once a day a hit the refresh button a couple hundred time.

Spica, I LIKE YA!!!!!!!!

Spica, I LIKE YA!!!!!!!!

Hello All you Rambo guys listen up (Spica, Feisar) -- Violence should be our last resort - while it is true that our freedoms are being eroded (mainly via the liberal judicial system) - we need a diplomatic and lawful solution. As I posted somewhere else, look what violence does for the Pro-Life movement.

Mr. Evans, I wanna have something to you (via e-mail) within a week.

Anyone else notice that the RIAA site is down?

Nope, site is fine

BadSyntax
Date: June 30, 2003 @ 9:54 PM
We could all make it a point to go to the RIAA web site once a day a hit the refresh button a couple hundred time.

Try this: friedspam.net

Just let it run overnight. get a few hundred people to use and their site will crawl to a halt...

Artist whos For RIAA> Can go Straight to Hell, They Still Make Their Money Off Of Concerts.

times of turmoil!!!lets just keep making music and try to enjoy the work of our peers.i feel someone is eventually going to tie theirselves up in the own legalities.

Time to start RETURNING all our unwanted cds - the retailers' returns policies are all SO FLEXIBLE - remember when the clerk argues with you THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT.......

When is the RIAA going to realize that it is not file sharing that is causing the downturn in CD sales, but it is the downturn in the economy. THe music business is not the only business that is suffering.

Well the way I think of RIAA is Like Thinking about A spoiled BRAT If they Can't Have Theier way They will unconsitutionally look on your computer and send you a bill for your music that you either bought or find people who share it to court for a whole lot of money they are not going to get. This is begining to sound like the napster case... Have they ever watched BET or other music videos, for instance BET cribs they make more money in a day than the average working person example: Big tymers, Mink bedroom suits, Flashy cars that we as an average consumer can't afford and etc. It seems like the more money they get the more RIAA looks like The Sherriff of naughtinHam off of robin hood. Let's face it RIAA is broke because they jacked up the price on CD's and if you think about it All of this shit started when President Bush and his Blood Hounds came unto office. My point is that R stands for Republican Rrcording,I stands for Industry of Assholes, A stands for Associating with Asshole recording artists that fooling the pubic to buy a 1 hit wonder cd and pay thier bills, and last but not lease A Stands for America is going to suffer and they don't know it. Well as a end user and a file share'er "support your consitutional rights. boycot RIAA and give them a message that thier reign of terror will soon be over. Why because when they put this plan they concocted into motion you will see how many bankrupties and countersuits of the manufactors of Operating systems on computers like Microsoft, linx, Apple, and etc. Even Manufactures Like Sony, Poineer, JVC, and etc who make mp3 players, burners,and etc RIAA really don't know how this is going to affect the American people and by the looks of it a finatual reccession on the massive scale. As you can see on the news California is in Dept up to thier ears. So let them try to sue they for right now may or slighty win the battle but never the war and in turn they will die by their own greediness of the tax payers money.

the record companies had taken over the music industries during the flower power generation in the 60's and the early 70's.... the whole rock scene had since then been in a pleat to survive with the true spirit .... these companies hav always got the bands on a kinda ofa leash... but after the advent of the internet the music, the spirit has to be free.. and so is free.. thankz a lot to the internet... music sud be free.... rock on

the record companies had taken over the music industries during the flower power generation in the 60's and the early 70's.... the whole rock scene had since then been in a pleat to survive with the true spirit .... these companies hav always got the bands on a kinda ofa leash... but after the advent of the internet the music, the spirit has to be free.. and so is free.. thankz a lot to the internet... music sud be free.... rock on

its pay back time .....

If the RIAA is showing up on my peer defender, should i be worried?

Here's my take on the whole MP3 thing. The reason I feel that MP#'s are great is because I do get to sample new music all the time before I go to buy a CD. What seems to be the trend in music now is they have 70-80 new bands a year that release one CD with one single on the radio and that one single is the only good song on the entire album. The record goes platinum from all the airplay and then lost to obscurity. Let's say I like this band's only song I heard on the radio. I can either 1. not buy the CD until I download a couple tracks from it or 2. buy it and waste my money on one decent song and find out the rest of the album is garbage.

I'll take option 1, please. I do buy CD's. Pretty often as well. I'm just very pissed at paying $15.00 for a poorly produced and put-together band that made only one good piece of music. The last CD I bought was Evanescence. I heard the "Bring Me To Life" single on the radio and thought it was great. After a little research and a trip or two to Kazaa, I had about 10 songs to sample. I loved every one of them and I was in the store to buy the CD the day it was released.

I think a lot of people are getting gunshy about taking the chance of buying a one-hit wonder and getting a disc of crap. RIAA should be telling their clients to find better acts before signing them and pouring cash in to try and make a quick buck on a lousy band.

Seems like the RIAA is hoping that most people will settle out of court, like that college student did. This will keep their attorney fees lower than actually going to court, plus they don't run the risk of someone completely shreding their case in front of a judge.

You guys that suggest peaceful protesting. You're right. Maybe we should all sit around singing songs. This is something that the hippies. tried. They believed that is they hung around and sang songs, all of the "Evil" people of the world would give up their money, power and weapons. WORKED GREAT DIDN'T IT!
"I need guns, lots of guns."

"The last CD I bought was Evanescence."

I'm sorry to hear that.

Personally, I am waiting for the law to be paid through Congress, that everyone in America has to buy at least 5 RIAA CD's per month or risk being thrown in jail.

Hi,

Excellent suggestion RJosborn. We will put your idea to Congress. Like BMG, the RIAA will have five featured artists every month (e.g. Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson...). You will be required to buy 5 featured selections at the full price of 19.95$ per CD, or be indicted under the Patriot Act for subversive activities and for planning to overthrow the government by depriving our beloved corporate campaign contributors from their cash.

Cheers,
The Righteous John Ashcroft !

PS: By the way, did you know that on average, the artist gets 0.50 $ in royalties from each album sold ? The rest goes to the RIAA. We love it when the big guy gets the biggest share of the pie !

i think we should harken back to the old days for about 6 months. throw our cd players out the window, blow the dust off of our old tape recorders and tape off the airwaves. lets not buy any cd's, pass on the concerts and stay out of the video stores. once artist stop making big money they will drop the RIAA in a flash. Let's break their backs folks.

I once wrote a story that dealt with the RIAA finally getting their way and you had to pay a fee everytime you listened to a song, whether in your car, at home or anywhere. The idea eventually caught on with software makers and other companies that sell things that are repeatedly used. Refusal would mean you couldn't listen to/use whatever it was. And the government was listening so if you spoke out against it, the Copyright Enforcers would show up immediately. Well, the protagonist in my story snapped 'cause Microsoft wanted to charge $80 everytime he used Windows and the Copyright people showed up and he killed on of them and got thrown in a Reeducation Facility. It had a Twilight Zone type of ending 'cause he had to pay a usage fee just to get his medication.

Let's hope none of this actually happens. If it does, I'm moving to Canada.

Usually I spurt ideas of random violence etc. I'll be serious this time, and only this time. The way to defeat the RIAA and everyone else that monitors you is to stop becoming dependent on conveniences. With this I mean you can actually regain your privacy be not charging everything. By not buying everything. Pay cash, that's what I do. Don't fill out every stupid card or online form with all of your personal information. Example, to access a site that wants your personal info, you can put your name as "Harry Dick" who lives in "Nowhere Land". You get my point? Get a P.O. Box too. Stop ordering magazines. You'd be surprised how powerless the people are once they lose track of you existence. I've done it for years. I guarentee that when the RIAA drops the hammer, I will be the last one they catch up with. Anyway, there is always violence.

Those who believe peaceful protest has no effect should ask themselves if they've ever heard of a violent uprising that led to any improvement of a situation.
The hippies had more of a cultural and political impact than even they realize.
The Russian and Chinese revoloutions, while violent, did not acheive the goals that were intended, they just made people suffer more.

And the day when one of you hotheads walks the walk and actually takes a shot at some RIAA suit is the day that some of these bullshit actions being proposed to stop file sharing become a reality.

You can tell a guy hasn't been reading his history when he suggests that some act of violence, vandalism, or terror will make a government sit up and say," Oh, geez, I didn't realize how serious these guys are, we better give in to their demands".
Although, violent uprising has worked for the Palestinians and Northern Ireland, no, wait, It just made things worse.

So, both peaceful protest and violent destruction doesn't work.

I love humanity.

The truth is, for the first time in a long time, I actually feel confident about us *winning* this one. Alot of people are going to suffer along the way - many people have already suffered. But change will come. Why? Because the meme is spreading. It is not enough to be violent. It is not enough to peacefully protest. You need to spread the meme.

I'm contacting the EFF and seeing if they'd be willing to let me copy the ad so that I can run it in the Daily Texan. It'll be a chunk of change, but I'd love to do it.

-- Funksaw

Look, the fact of the matter is, hippies and peaceful protests have accomplished NOTHING. Vietnam ended because, well, WE LOST! The WTO is still running after years of worthless protests. e is not the answer to everything.

The entire violence argument is fun, but unrealistic. I mean, there's no way any one of us would actually just happen to walk by an RIAA exec. Everyone knows that they are all holed up in their cushy castles, trying to figure out more ways to shaft the paying consumer.

Anyway, if you guys are talking specifically about Hillary Rosen violence, you can forget it. I've ALREADY KILLED HER, and subsequently buried her in my compost heap. Sorry!

Continued...

Granted, Violence is not the answer to everything. But when you factor in that we the people have been taking it up the ass by the government and corporations (one in the same) for years and nothing has changed, then maybe it is the final solution. They fuck us out of 40% of our income, they can't protect our cities for shit and now they want to rob us of our privacy?! You know what, keep walking around with your banners you cattle. Me, I'm storming the wire!

http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp

I think that not buying RIAA label cds is a well intentioned idea, but I think it is ultimately a futile gesture, it is a supposed loss in sales that is driving the RIAA to take the action they are taking in the first place. The RIAA doesn't care to hear our point of view from us, they will be more likely to feel the heat if they are called to task by the government. Which is why I suggest that we do the following:

Follow the action plan on the main page of this site, and the other organizations who are addressing this issue very publicly.

http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp

If you find other sites who are proposing similar actions, such as flooding representative's offices with e-mails in support of P2P hearings and reform on copyright law, you should post them here as I have done with the EFF link. We all need to be unified on this effort. As I've said boycotts from a few thousand people will go completely unnoticed, but when a fax machine at your representative's office is clogged with faxes on an issue for weeks, the media tends to notice this, as they did with the anti-war virtual march. We need mainstream media attention now more than ever.

http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp

Interjecting on the violence question - start with Ghandi and Dr. Martin Luther King, sidestep into women's sufferage. My understanding is that the anti-apartheid movement had similar tactics.

It may be fun to daydream, but I find it hard to imagine any significant militant group arriving under a slogan like "p2p or die," and easy to imagine a quick trip to the electric chair for the first person to make a serious attempt at killing one of the RIAA's clowns. I find it easier to imagine that the most subtle support in the community would result in a few people being labeled enemy combatants or terrorists and the rest of us destroying our hard drives so as not to be dissapeared.

In this case, I think the EFF probably has the best idea. Popular democratic support for copyright reform, all that's needed is for p2p users to stand up as citizens.

Does anyone else remember when our favorite FM radio would play a featured album straight through with no commercials or interruptions....duh...while all the tape recorders were going full speed??? What is the difference??? Or taping a tv show for your VCR? Except for the electricity and cable connections, this stuff has always been free. This old hippie used to hold the tape recorder mike up to the tv to get the sound of "Dark Shadows" for my sister to hear when she got home from school.

If you consider most of the things the hippies were fighting for you realize they got them, or are getting them,(change this big takes time).

Women's rights, racial equality, environmental awareness

And for all of the rhetoric about governments in the western democratic world being oppressive, I suggest you go live in a genuinely oppressed nation for awhile, and then talk shit about their government like you can do freely here.

And when they drag you off and throw you in some third world shithole prison with no due process and you have to eat roaches to get your protein, well, I'm sure you'd lick George W.'s sweaty ass clean if it meant getting back to North American soil.
While I understand the need for vigilance, we are nowhere near any point at which violent uprising is justifiable against our government.

For every one person who thinks George W and/or Republicans in general are Satan incarnate, there are a dozen who are cheering him on.
We as a collective mass, are getting the government that we want and are asking for.

For what it's worth, in Canada, our Prime Minister, a liberal, is regulary described as a dictator and our government as oppressive.
When you point out that this government has soundly won three consecutive elections, they blame that on brainwashing by state media.

hey paulruss, i'm not saying stop buying riaa cd's! I'M SAYING STOP BUYING ALL MEDIA!!!!!try doing that for 6 months....pretty soon,(if we all do this)all other media companys will join us to promote sales...think about a nation wide boycott? we will win...(if anyone with an ounce of BRAINS follows suite)???????????????

shoshidge, i'm a republican?

I realized something the other day. In the event of the RIAA getting their way over the next few months, this country would be so horribly screwed these debates over copyright technicalities would seem childish. I say this based on the trend of lawsuits against the college students earlier this year. The out of court settlements were said to total to all the money the individuals had, and the billions of dollars they would've been fined otherwise was a good deal more. Therefore, if this pattern were to continue when the RIAA supposedly hands everyone a lawsuit come August, then they're in a position to take all the money from the thousands (millions?) of citizens, hurling us into a terrible depression from which we will probably never recover. Yeah, so we have that to look foward to.

First of all, I have been to numerous third-world countries. You certainly will not find a country like America. The problem I have is that the government is slowly erroding what makes this country great. What bothers me is the lack of intolerance from people like you that brand people as traitors or terrorist sypathizers because we have the nerve to question what the hell our government is up to and demand that someone is accountable. And besides, where did I mention anything negative about Bush? I happen to like him. I'm mainly pissed because corporations have managed to infiltrate Congress to side with them on the issue of P2P. Don't you see something very disturbing and Un-American about corporations influences politics? Doesn't that bother you? Getting back to my first point, protests have accomplished nothing. And granted, violence may not always be the answer. But let me ask you, what are you going to do when the RIAA decides to take it a step further from monitoring you internet activities? Like sending a lawyer to your door? Punching him right in the teeth wouldn't be a bad alternative.

Feisar, i wasn't directing my comments at you specifically, although your posts were the ones that caught my attention.

Usually, when people start with the inflammatory "burn their houses down" rhetoric, the Bush bashing soon follows, I'm sorry if you felt lumped in there.

And I have never, nor will i ever criticize or question a person who dissagrees with what their government is doing or plans to do.
My criticism is directed at people who take this issue too seriously or dumb the debate down with calls for revoloution in the streets.

I'm a collector of music and I love file sharing dearly, however, if the RIAA gets their wish and somehow puts a stop to it, which i don't think they will, my life will not be much different, it'll be back to the used record shops and garage sales for me.
Calls for violent uprising over this issue help convince the RIAA and its sypathizers that we are the anarchistic crackpots that they think we are.
It overshadows the arguement that file sharing can and will be enormously beneficial to the musician and music consumer alike.

My soloution to any action against me personally by the RIAA for file sharing would be to contact every local media outlet and make a stink about it, pointing out that the vast majority of the music I share is very uncommercial and my actions are no threat to the RIAA, musicians and the public at large.
That would be way more effective than punching a lawyer in the nose which would result in me being sued and thrown in jail for assault.
Anyone who is dumb enough to assault an American lawyer deserves what he gets.
You might as well try sticking your finger up a lion's asshole.

And I'm sorry that you are blind to the glaring evidence all around you of peaceful protest at work.
the trouble is that it is a slow process, but when young hotheads get impatient and start doing drastic things, they only reinforce the oppression against themselves which in turn, causes them to react more harshly, its a big feedback loop.

hmm, what else, oh, I find the phenomenon of corporate interests influencing politics to be very American and also nothing new, it does bother me sometimes but not as much as the alternatives would.

Corporate influence in politics can be very American. So long as it does not over shadow what the majority wants. Or when it becomes a detriment to our privacy or rights, which it is beginning to do. Also, I would always consider consequences to violent behavior. And I would never go on a rampage with these RIAA nitwits. But my home is sacred. Call it primordial, territorial etc. Someone invading my privacy or hanging something that I do or did IN MY HOUSE, over my head just pisses me off. There is always a line that needs to be drawn.

violence of any form is wrong, that is what the RIAA is hoping for, then they can point at us and say we are terrorist and that they need laws to control us.
Ghandi had the british empire ( a super power at the time ) leave india without an act of violence. he used passive resistance.
if we stop buying RIAA media, they cant force us to, we take away their power.
they can scream all they want about this or that, just make sure the world understands we are not boycotting all music just the music of the tyrant.

I think some folks are blowing things out of proportion on the violence issue, really.

I might be mistaken, but I didn't hear any call to hang em from the lightposts, my theoretical was more along the lines of leaving one of em's car up on blocks, which is fairly unlawful and malicious, but it's nothing one would get to ride 'old sparky' over, tho if things continue the way they are.....

Anyhow, you'd about be amazed at the amount of hasslement what can be delivered without ever comitting a crime... to my knowledge it's still not criminal to add names to popular spammer mailing lists, snailmail or email, or to telemarketer "sucker" lists.

And remember folks, the worst offenders (charities and politicians) are exempt from the do-not-call bill, gee, thanks for nothin, congress.

Stringin em up may SOUND satisfying, but that would just give em excuses, as some folks rightly pointed out, and besides, they'd just replace them, nahh.. what was theoretically proposed was returning the harrassment factor unto them, with superior numbers, so they get a taste of the BS they like dishin out so very much.

Clear enough ??

-user

I can certainly live with User's position, but while going out and toilet-papering some RIAA assholes house or pissing in his gas tank might be fun, it won't solve anything.

We should be concentrating on convincing the average shmoes out there that p2p networks aren't harming anyone and in fact, have the potential to be an enormous tool for musicians to get their music out