Submitted by Suikiogiaz

This is a short discourse for the disaffected in politics. Politicians will be one of our strongest weapons in the war against the RIAA.

Numerous posters and even more so citizens often remark on the utter waste and futility of participating in politics. I will not deny that many elements of the political system have become partially or substantially corrupt, but a little effort procures minute results. Politics involve a complex system, and systems do not exist without error. Voicing your opinion, in speech, letter, email, or any other form and not receiving a substantial reaction is not enough to surcease your effort. It is analogous to getting in a car, turning the ignition, and expecting the car to drive you to your destination.

Congressman rely on public relation and recognition. If they are not known, or thought badly of, then the probability of them being elected is miniscule. Jerry Springer, for example, was considering running for the Ohio senate. After perambulating the streets, attempting to discern his chances of being elected, he announced that he would not be running.

Why? After conversing and analyzing his discussions with various citizens of Ohio, it became apparent that he could not overcome the decadent image he receives from his show. He never really had an opportunity to voice his issues, ideologies, or opinions but he was rejected by the public. This particular anecdote exemplifies the power of public relations, both positive and negative.

Every state has two senators, and everyone has a representative from there particular district. Both houses are separated into committees and pending on the issue, there may be a specific committee you should contact. Of course this does not mean that you should not contact your representative or senators with your topics of interest because they are not on the committee relative to the issue. The more apparent we make it that we are opposed to the RIAA(and others) and their heinous actions, the better. Contact as frequent as you desire, especially when new facets appear, but try to avoid being gratuitous.

Another significant factor to augment one's effort is the quantity of individuals contacting these congressman. If the actions by the RIAA (and others) infuriate you, then share your ideas with friends and family. Post, or leave various articles of information in public vicinities and encourage them to become active. The more public this issue is, with our side represented properly, the more congressman will heed attention and dedication.

Some congressman may ignore or elude such missives, but over time the numerous and consistent contact will become increasingly effective.

Many will react at least mildly positively from the get go, but as the public becomes more informed that enthusiasm will expand exponentially. Congressman are still bound to the people and ostracizing there ideas will result in there loss in the next election.

If we lose our will, then we will fall on our own swords, we must never succumb no matter the boundary, dilemma, or travesty.

5483 and growing...

Keep 'em coming!

I will sign...but we really have no power. United States of America has turned into United States of the Corporations of America. Mass society has little voice if any.

We elect representatives, and they do the bidding of the industry fat cats. Letters have poured into Congress, but they fail to address the concerns of the people.

Where can I find the non-riaa version of where the revenue from CDs go.

We really have to get Michael Moore in on this fight! He's an expert.

nyer82...we can make the RIAA into a bunch of poor folk. That's pretty powerful...

Please, no Moore. He's not really an expert on anything. If we're gonna get a celebrity to help out in the battle, let's get someone who isn't nearly as questionable as Moore is.

I know we can make the RIAA poor. However,
Mass society has little power when it comes to changing the government. Thus we must do so indirectly by attempting to get the naughty corporations back in the poorhouse where they won't be so influential.

Sometimes this works...sometimes it doesn't. I just think the people need a more direct voice in the government.

More power to the people...not the corporations. Do you know how hard laborers had to FIGHT for union rights because the government wouldn't allow it?

Originally in the 19th century:

If a laborer bailed out on his yearly contract, the judges ruled the company didn't have to pay him ANYTHING, even for the work he already did.

If a company bailed out on a similar yearly contract, they were obligated to be paid for the work they had already done.

Thank God it isn't like that anymore. But it just shows you how governments have always bent to cooperations over individuals even befores they went to multi-national status.

Moore probably won't give a shit. And besides, too many people hate him. He probably would not make a good representative for us. Who we really need as our celebrity "leader" is a musician. A famous one who people will listen to.

It would be great if more musicians/bands like David Draiman became more vocal, especially in saying "we didn't ask for this protection from the RIAA" I know it would be biting the hand that feeds them, but it would let everyone know where they actually stand (instead of the RIAA claims is the band's best interest)

Also...my aunt seems to be consuming the utter bullshit the mainstream press and RIAA have been feeding.

What kinds of links can I send her to alter her opinion.

Here is what I sent so far:
Links at the bottom

"The corruption viz the "New World Order" RIAA is so blatant, it's worse that what one saw in ancient Roman times. And their facade of moral and ethical superiority over everybody (including "subhuman" file-sharers) is especially insulting, given the industry's long-standing history of corruption and scamming of artists."

-WB on boycott-riaa.com

"The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), a gift to the well-financed entertainment and software industries, trashed the public interest. It gave copyright owners the right to assert absolute control over copyrighted material, effectively allowing them to prevent the public from asserting a variety of traditional user's rights, including the ``fair use'' of making personal copies.

--Dan Gillmor, San Jose Mercury News

"Listening to rhetoric from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and other who are suing Napster, you might infer that copyright laws were handed down on stone tablets by the Almighty. They were not, and not everyone in the world bestows on the abstract concept of intellectual property rights the quasi-religious reverence they are accorded in lawsuit-happy North America. Copyright laws are merely an arbitrary and mutable legislative construct, and do not necessarily carry objective moral weight. "
-Charles W. Moore

Here are the links

http://www.eadon.com/comment/musicrage.php Why the RIAA is corrupt.

http://www.boycott-riaa.com The boycott site.

http://www.eff.org electronic frontier foundation

http://www.eff.org/share/ Their "let the music play" campaign

First do not sign the "Amnesty Offer" the RIAA gives you: http://www.eff.org/share/amnesty.php

http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2003/02/01/file_trading_manifesto/print.html This is an article about the current situation of lies, deceit, price-fixing, and general gestapo tactics the RIAA is using

http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/newsbyid.asp?id=12467 Another essay on this

http://archive.salon.com/tech/col/rose/2000/08/07/breaking_law/ old essay on fie-sharing

http://www.chillingeffects.org/ This site has been put together by legal experts. Now heres where you can see the misuse of current copyright laws. Read the cease and desist letters, people have gotten. People have been sued for making parodies, for criticizing companies practices on webpages, DirectTv has sued certain people who buy smart-card technology which CAN be used to steal their signals, but CAN also be used for scientific, hobbyist applications.

www.k-lite.tk This software has built in protection against the internet address that the record companies and other snoops use to search and seize without warrant.

For works created after January 1, 1978, copyright protection will endure for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years. In the case of a joint work, the term lasts for 70 years after the last surviving author’s death. For anonymous and pseudonymous works and works made for hire, the term will be 95 years from the year of first publication or 120 years from the year of creation, whichever expires first.
-Sonny Bono Term Extension Act Extends Copyright Terms

nyer82 does make a good point. Government has always been in the back pocket of special interest groups. Where I live there is a current controversy over another Wal-Mart store coming in. The outgoing mayor pissed them off by looking after the special interest of the unions and now they don't want to build. An action that cost our community out of hundreds of jobs in both retail and construction bids. As a result she lost in the primary's due in large part by the grass-roots efforts of several small businessmen. So we can always make a difference, even in government.

I'm even proof of that. I ran for mayor here a few years ago and lost but my bid proofed that a drunk, unemployed, waste could still pick up a fifth of the votes. Now that I'm sober, have a job and shave everyday I wonder what kind of damage I could do now.

"These are indeed strange days"....."Dreams and legends spring to life out of the grass."

--Eomer of Rohan

You are right! We must continue the fight at all costs. This will be a long slow process, and it is eaisy to become discouraged. But it is better to try and fail than not to try at all. If we believe that our efforts will fail then surely they will. Most people thought that the Vietnam war was the correct thing to do in its eairly stages, but through the efforts and protests on many people the tide was turned. We can do the same thing. Never give up the fight. Protest in any and every way you can. Any thing we can do that is anit-RIAA in better than doing nothing at all.

I posted this once before: http://www.boycott-riaa.com/article/7694
Title: RIAA *Sue 'em all* text, as comment #19
I see no need to change a word of it.

There are so many wrongs to right,
There are so many wrongs to address,
That it sometimes seems impossible to “take them all on.”

But, that is where the power of numbers comes into play,
That is where the real power of the people exists,
There are many problems, but there are many solutions.

On this ‘board’ many of the solutions will appeal to YOU.

Pick the ones YOU like, make them work for YOU.

And please BOYCOTT the purchase of new RIAA CD’S.

Together, each in our own way, we CAN defeat this monster that wants to control and limit YOUR freedom for its own selfish profit.

justed

Moreover, Michael Moore is more or less in the pockets of the very multinational entertainment-media elites that control the music industry, thus he'd be more likely to slant this whole situation pro-RIAA anyway.

How can I convince my aunt not to believe the RIAA lies and bullshit?

She is inhaling the stuff the media feeds.

Just thought I would throw in a couple cents on the disaffected.

Not just can we boycott the RiAA, we can make our own local music, sell and swap all we want, and invest whatever would have been invested to the national ring of recording mongers, into our local economy instead.

Yet music swapping doesn't even take money! If you know a music artist and make music yourself, what better way to hear new music than to trade it, for free, allowing you to have more money for things you want.

Entertainment created in free-time swapped for entertainment during work-time.

Not only would a music trade, or other product for music, better your local economy, unless you spend that extra money at a national corporation, but it would enrich the local community.

So please, do not only boycott the RiAA, but counter-act it with your own local efforts of musical undermining.

:Brought to you by the URA of Olympia, Washington, Earth.

Send her to this site and have her read a few articles. That'll shake her up. She just has to know that they are not telling her everything.

I heard someone say it will be a long slow fight. Let's look at the good side of this...We get to see them suffer a slow and painful death, and we can laugh at the even more outrageous bullshit they try to pull as they are are slowly being drained of their blood (money).

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of greediness...

Read this article, it was written by Bill Moyers, one of the journalists that opted out for being bought and decided to be a journalist instead.

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0610-11.htm

Have to delete the < br > tag at the end of the address that this MB seems to put on links. Anyway, I think the conlusion that Moyer comes to, is the fact that if we don't constantly work to govern ourselves, if we decide to become inactive in our government, then the people with the wealth in this country will govern us instead. Just an opinion. I agree with the article written here. I guess it's time to grab our soapboxes and hit the streets eh?

~goingnova

http://www.fool.com/news/commentary/2003/commentary030912ram.htm

this is funny

Sukio...excellent article and not hear as many typos as mine usually sport..lol .
Seriously though, I see most bad congress people in terms of neoplasms. For the lay person, a neoplasm is a growth of cells which get overexuberant, its a tumor basically. There are two major types of tumors, benign, and maligant.
Now, there are two kinds of bad senators, the benign and malignant. The malignant tend to expand their influence rapidly, and through their supporters, metastasize into affecting people all across the country. Senator Joe McCarthy was a malignant senator.
His influence and damage was extensive, and his movement was threatening the health of the nation.
Orrin Hatch has always been like a pre-malignant one. He has never really been benign, just pre-malignant. Well, it appears that the P2P/computer matter has acted like a catalyst to turn him into full blown malignancy.

My ramblings now become more coherent. Basically, if you in fact have a malignancy, removal, if possible, is imperative. Orrin Hatch, Leahy, John Conyers (and I hate to say that because I actually agreed with him on some things in the past) and Howard Berman, are stage 4 on the anaplastic scale. They are , in oncological terms
"transformed tissue" meaning that they are full blown malignancies, and if transplanted, generate tumorous growths wherever they go.

Politicians who are now our enemies, such as Hatch, Berman, et al, have to be voted out of office.

We MUST let politicians know there is a NEW special interest group that needs to be reckoned with, and that group is the FLAG or Freedom Loving Americans with a Goal. That goal is saying to big business and the government, guess what, we are mad as hell and not taking it any more.

If the libertarian party wants to champion our views, I'm ready to vote libertarian. Most Americans are getting sick of both parties, since, both parties have their people voting to take our rights away on one issue or another.

My message to politicians is this.
We want to know where you stand so we can vote accordingly. No more of the double talk. Are you going to vote our way or not, because, we don't need rhetoric which has, as its function, to obfuscate and confuse the reader. You do that, and you lose my vote. We need plain talk and support for mainstream American views.

LOL.."And, if you vote for me, CodeWarrior, there'll be an MP3 in every pot, blue skies, sunshine, and equal opportunity for everyone to breathe adequate amounts of oxygen."

by all im going on vacation for the weekend...hope i don't get ate by a bear

I think being disinfeccted is a good thing, I mean who wants all those nasty deseases running ar.... oh wait....... never mind.

will miss you seraph...have fun!

~code

Obsession:

Ok is anyone like utterly OBSESSED with this battle and how it is going. I mean BESIDES me. I swear I check this site every second, it keeps me from other stuff. I just get more and more mad. I feel like I am not doing enough. My last CD purchase was OK GO and then after I did, I got mad that it was RIAA junk. That was before I went here, so its forgiveable.

Who else is obsessed...well besides me and codewarrior.

If you want a celebrity to advocate your cause, Bruce Dickinson does an excellent job of it. Of course, I can't get the latest Maiden CD because it's on a RIAA label. I'll assume that's because of contractual obligations.

Jolly,

Bruce is the man and Maiden are the band! It is too bad that I cant buy their new CD though. At least til I find it used... BTW, not to get off topic here, but you gotta check out a band called Thrice. http;//www.thrice.net . Unfortunately, they are on Island Records now, but thier first two CDs can be bought from an Indy!

LOLOLOL...nyer, High Fiving ya !
I sat here and laughed at that post..
GREAT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The disenfranchised youth of the world rise up against an evil that threatens their very being. Of course, it's not just the youth that are fighting. This fight has brought together liberals and conservatives, replicans and democrats, christians, muslims, jews, and athiests, and the young and the old. It's not often such a wide variety of people come together for a common goal. Perhaps we should thank the RIAA's evil for bringing we the people together for the first time in many years. I'm proud to be a part of the movement and I'm proud to be related in such a way to all of you.

Same here Emenius, hell this whole thing has changed my whole Political affiliation!

I tend to come here often, even to the point that I have 6 articles open and waiting to be read by me. I even am almost disappointed when i come here and there are no new articles

I have to make an apology to everybody here. I have to say that I'm a serious threat to this website's integrity. I too come here way too often and I'm probably adding to any bandwidth problems this site is experiencing. So again, I'm very sorry ; - )

goingnova...????
Didn't understand your comment..maybe I'm slow or out of the loop...

I think hes trying to say that he refreshes so much hes afraid hes going to use up all their bandwidth.

lol..if that's the case I kill more networks than you can shake a stick at

There can never be too much thirst for information

Have a great weekend serph. Thanks for that link. Heh, my favorite quote from that link was that none of the "pirates" who were charged in the RIAA-sting was a single AOL customer.

Quote: "But here's the kicker: America Online, despite serving as a high-speed hub of P2P commiseration, is part of the same AOL Time Warner (NYSE: AOL) media giant that owns Warner Music, one of the five major record labels. It's a conflict of interest that became notoriously transparent when the RIAA's list of 261 violators reportedly didn't include a single AOL subscriber." - R.A. Munarriz, Fool.com

Guess if you use AOL ..then you're safe because you're in bed with one of the big five. But then again, who would want to subject themselves to THAT sort of abuse....

888-989-7879
to call in to tech tv for the show, after 530 PT i think

I too am on this site a lot...I have been on my pc more in the past few days than I have been on it in months...

I went to Techtv and followed their link to the names that have been sued already...one was a name from my past.
Someone I have not seen in years. I was floored that I knew someone on it. I am working on a reunion with them.

So now I am beyond anger...and stepping up my efforts.

It comes as no suprise to me that AOL users have not been sued. I haven't found the link to substantiate that allegation...Could someone post a link that offers proof...I am highly interested in that fact.

A book I am reading for my course Social Movements and Protest

"There may exist a political arena in America, but it is not the teeming convention hall depicted by the pluralists, but rather a restricted club reserved for the wealthy and powerful.

Only those with sufficient political capital need apply. Lacking such capital, most groups in American society have virtually no bargaining power with which to advance their collective interests.

Instead, by virtue of their disproportionate control over the political arena, powerful groups are generally able to exclude the powerless with little fear of political reprisal."

-Doug McAdam, Political Process and the Development of the Black Insurgency 1930-1970

Although I'm not from the US (I'm Spanish, but I frequent some US forums and news spread over the Internet at insane speeds), I'm affected by the RIAA's actions; not directly, but morally.
The case of Brianna LaHara (the 12-year old girl) getting sued got me MAD. I only got a bit calmed when I heard that a DJ and P2P united offered to pay the bill.

How the fuck can legally a private company to have any right to get PRIVATE USER info from the ISPs without your consent nor judicial authorization? Shouldn't be that only available to the POLICE & FBI, under judicial authorization, in case of a suspicious of terrorism individual (which is not the case)?

That argument should be valid enough to set the RIAA responsibles directly into jail. Period.
Although that's likely to be impossible under the DMCA. And with the TCPA being close on the hardware/software area, it's likely that they will have even more control than now.

where is john perry? i see him typing intoi his laptop...where is he sending? anyone?

What the RIAA is doing is pathetic. I attempted to start up a boycott of my own in my small town of Metamora, IL, but apparently the people here are either too scared to fight, or are already puppets under the control of the RIAA. I would be much abliged to see if there are any boycotters in the Peoria area. Danke.

I'd suggest asking Howard Dean his position on the matter.

I dunno that he's officially taken one, but as he seems to have at least an ounce of sense, that puts him far and away above most of the potentials.

Hell, all else fails, we'll just play by RIAA rules and buy him off with all that money we've been NOT buying CD's with, right ?

We need a PAC more than ever.

-user

Obsessed? Guilty as charged. Even if I'm not posting, I'm still here.

By the way, do you sometimes find yourself scrolling through the 'News' items (especially the long ones) not reading thoroughly, just to get to the comments?

lol, kyodylee, I DO ; - )

Hey, yea, I was being sarcastic in my earlier post. Just saying I frequent this site a lot in a strange way I guess. Anyway, I too think Howard Dean should be asked about his feelings on this matter. At least I think that if he gets in there, we'll be able to work with him. That's my hope.

~goingnova

nyer82-

America has come a long way since it first began back in 1776. Back then, only white male property owners were voting. The Bill of Rights was passed after the Constitution came into effect in the 1780s. Gradually, all white men were able to vote, then all men were able to vote. A century after American independence, labor unions began to appear in the Gilded Age (thank Sam Gompers) and assert the rights of the workers. A few decades later women got the right to vote- 1919-1920.

In the 1930s, labor was officially recognized by FDR as a legal entity. This meant that unions were now recognized as legal organizations. In addition, working Americans got more rights. Child labor was soon banned and the minimum wage came into being.

In the 1950s-1960s, the civil rights movement emerged. Despite the protests of segregationist whites in the south, African-Americans soon got a number of reforms passed that outlawed the poll tax and literacy tests, allowing them to vote without repression. School intregration and other reforms followed. President Lyndon Johnson signed dozens of reforms into law.

Not long after, the voting age was lowered to eighteen in recognition that if you could be drafted, you should be able to vote.

Americans have some of the most notable freedoms in the world. We have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly... the RIAA tries to erode those freedoms, but they are going against all ordinary Americans. They cannot possibly succeed. We are stronger than them. We are the face of America!

Not our corporate giants that dominate the world's economy, nor our government that pre-emptively decides to strike against other nations it deems "a threat", or our military. No, it is ordinary Americans that make America great.

And we will prevail. Remember the Gilded Age? Remember Standard Oil, that monopoly? Remember all of the corrupted trusts? The giant evil moneymaking corporations? Ordinary Americans had almost zero rights, and yet those trusts were eventually destroyed! Thanks to muckrakers like Upton Sinclair, Teddy Roosevelt took after the trusts. There are good politicians out there. We need to find them and support them wholeheartedly. We need to end the dominance of the RIAA.

We may be living in a new "Gilded Age". If so, history says we are on the tail end of it. During the time period of 1902-1908, T.R. made all his famous reforms. We are at that crossroads. Let us hope we can all work together to defeat the RIAA.

DOWN with the RIAA....long live the true America!

:-:~ PhantomGhost ~:-:

nyer82-

Always remember that the RIAA will not be around forever. Things will change, just like the last Gilded Age. We will see the day when consumers begin to triumph over the mega corporations. It is our duty to fight for that day. Standing together, we are more powerful than any mega corporation.

We must all work together to end the dominance of the RIAA. Nonbelievers? Show them what the RIAA does. That it sues the helpless, is hypocritical, and has no real solution for the problems it claims it faces.

The RIAA will see its downfall, just like the Standard Oil trust.

:-:~ PhantomGhost ~:-:

They won't split up Microsoft and awarded it a national security contract, despite being a perpetually flawed OS and the world's largest monopoly.

Compared to Microsoft, the RIAA is a bunch of small-time crooks. They let Microsoft walk. What makes you think they'll do anything to the RIAA?

Let's get Chuck-D!

C'mon George, I know ya are about as sick of all this as the rest of us, but cheer up some. It is always darkest before the dawn.

Shmoo, of Electric Gypsy
Support Local and Independent Music!

(BTW, e-mail me an adress I can send ya our CD to, not sure if I should send it to Milford or not.)

Has anybody ever recieved answers to emails from congress.org?

isp-privacy ::

I recieved answers from my Kentucky congressmen, but the letters were wishy-washy at best, heres the gist of both letters:

Hello [Name]:

I am thankful that you are taking the time to write this....
I want to get artists paid...
But we can't not pay royalties to labels...
I would like to see a way in which everyone benefits (But no expansion on this idea)...
Again thank you for writing

This is basically an "i have no idea, nor do i care at all about this issue" letter. They said nothing like innocent people getting subpeonaed with no due process is wrong. They said nothing of the abuse of subpeona-ing precendent this is setting, and nothing of protecting consumer rights to fair use. This is just to make me think they care, but really they could care less. I'm pretty sure they don't get my vote next election.

Hey nyer,
My wife (varmintwoman) says that I am obsessed by this also !
Emenius , you are right . The thirst for Knowledge is always ongoing and rarely slaked .
And George , Damn glad to see you !
Isp , I have never gotten a single return on any of my e-mails to congress.org . It's probably a good thing though !

btw just to let you all know I've finally gotten my wife interested enough to join us in posting on this sight. She's as concerned about all of this as I am (but she types much better!)

A safe and joyous weekend to all,

WABBITMAN

If you want to download music with little risk of lawsuit, simply move files out of your shared folder immediately after download. Files will always be available worldwide anyway, we don't have to get them from servers in the U.S.! There's no need for guilt over lack of sharing in this situation. The RIAA is targeting Americans, now we will target the RIAA. Downloading will continue forever, and cd sales will continue to plummet. RIAA, be careful what you ask for, because you just might get it.

LOL..did some congressonal aide write up one official response letter for all the senators and do a mass mailout and tell them to send this to anyone "bothering" them on this issue?
Geez louise, this sounds like the same response over and over, and is intended to leave you wondering which side of the fence most of their butt is hanging over on. Most of the answers from congressional people sound like they are straddled the fence...come to think of it..THEY ARE!

First of all, every petition signed, every letter written has an impact. It does make a difference, it does get noticed. Our government works for us if we get involved. Why are we cynical that our leaders are in the back pocket of special interest groups and corporations? Because those are the only people who normally make the effort to contact them on an issue.

I believe that when having to make a choice between a million dollar donation to their re-election fund or the ire of thousands of potential voters, eventually they're going to go with the voters. I have faith that when a representative is contacted by his constituents, he will act in the majority opinion of them over any corporate sponsorship. Our representatives want their constituents to be involved, and want to please them, pleasing them gets them votes, it keeps them in power, it keeps them in touch with the people.

We're at a crossroads now, more so than ever. When I see pictures on moveon.org of two senators standing with five foot high stacks of petitions against the FCC, I see that they listen, that our voices are heard, and when they are seen with those stacks, and when they fight for the people, the people respond in the voting booth.

About Michael Moore, if we submit RIAA related stories to his website, if they take an interest in it, it gets posted in their news items. This is not Michael Moore taking a stance on the issue, this is his site, visited by millions, posting a story that affects the outcome of the RIAA issue. If the people that visit michaelmoore.com see the story in the recent news column and read it, it brings more people to our cause.

It would be comforting to some that this would require no interest from Mr. Moore himself. Only a news story posted from another source that millions will read. In this situation, interest from michealmoore.com would be a GREAT GREAT benefit to us. So post stories there, keep posting, see what happens. Because, I guarantee you, if people read it there, they will get involved, on our side. It will be a great many people.

About a year and a half ago, I was having problems with the Veterans Administration about some back pay. I had spent seven years going with the system that existed, and it was getting me nowhere. The VA said the Navy was responsible, the Navy said the VA was responsible, and neither would return my phone calls. I was living in Oregon at the time, so I decided to contact my congressman. He was very up to the task of finding my money for me. I gave him some authorisations, and he went at it. Then I made the decision to move. He called me on the phone at work ( I worked graveyard shift, so you can imagine my surprise), and asked me some questions, then suggested who I should speak to when I moved. He gave me more information than I needed as to who I should speak to, how I should go about it, and what I should/shouldn't tell them. It didn't bother him that I wasn't going to be a constituent anymore, he only wanted to help. I have to applaud this action. Due in a large part to this mans attention to me and my problem, I was able to get a healthy backpay check from the VA about seven months after moving.
My point is, there are some people active in government that WILL help. There are some that will take the "extra step" to make sure things get done. I think a lot of it is in the presentation. If we as a group say "we are against musical slavery and we're not gonna stop till the RIAA is dead and buried".. well.. to me that's wrong. Not only is that statement ambigious at best, but no one (least of all a politician) wants to have to act on an ultimatum. They have to weigh both sides, and err on the side that'll give them the best "return". Believe it or not, I can understand that.
If we as a group say "we are against musical slavery and want to see the RIAA gone. We will work to help change the present system" or something to THAT effect, it seems to me that we would get more results. We would be showing ourselves as staunch opponents the current system, yet willing to work toward change w/o being "militant".
I understand how people feel here. I myself am obsessed *smirk*, but we need to keep in mind that even if this movement succeeds, it'll be because people stepped up, said "we're not going to take the current system anymore" and took it upon themselves to be catalytic to change, NOT because someone said to a congressman "I'll not sleep till I can piss on the ashes of the RIAA, by whatever means necessary".
ttmmm

Remye, excellent post. I think that the more logical solutions we present to our representatives the more they have to consider on our side of the issue.

This isn't just about voicing our displeasure over this issue, but also needs to be about us presenting alternatives that are workable and satisfy the concerns of creative professionals in the music industry.

By "creative professionals" I mean artists, producers, songwriters, engineers, album cover artists and graphic designers, everyone who do the work in helping a band create and package music products.

I believe that managers and label execs should draw a base salary and should recieve nothing of the royalties from the bands, these people are not the creatives, they are infrastructure and should not be privy to the rewards from the sale of individual recordings.

I believe that anothe essential component of this boycott is also to get those creative professionals benefits befitting any employee of a corporation (which currently, technically, they are). They need health insurance, retirement plans, stock rewards, an employee stock purchase program, disability and life insurance. Long term incentives for being a part of the company.

Artists need to have complete ownership of their copyrights, band name, music, recordings, visual media, logos, everything. If they leave their employer, they should be able to take their body of work with them to a new label. It must belong to them.

A little known band named XTC was on a fast track to success in the 80's, the lead singer decided that he couldn't tour anymore and the label, Virgin, decided not to promote the band anymore and would not let them out of their contract. They wouldn't let them release albums if they didn't hear a hit. And their manager made off with most of their money and the band ended up owing the label $500k, which to this day, they are still paying off. At loggerheads, they decided to go on strike, and after seven years, Virgin relented and gave them their freedom, but kept their entire back catalogue, which the band can never do anything with without the label's permission.

The band, which has a large legion of fans, will never get the kind of support or promotion they need and will always be in a lower middle class income bracket. Their music is not to blame, nor are they. It is solely the label's fault.

Another thing to consider is changing management, bands like XTC may have an advocate at the label who acts in the artists best interests, but when that individual leaves, he takes with him that interest, the person the label assigns to manage a group of artists may not be interested in that band and thus, the band's support from the label withers to nothing, putting the band back at square one.

The whole system needs and enema. We need to make that clear to our reps and offer alternatives.

Why do we act like this is something new concerning the reign of capitalism? One the one hand, capitalism allows us to be prosperous, have things, jobs, etc...and that is good.

Then there is such a thing as excessive greed.

The "Captains of Industry" were screwing the workers since the 19th century, all along building their winter homes, their summer homes, etc. while their employees lived in drunken dereliction in their hovels and slums...thus the need for Unions and the influx of Commies, Socialists, and Anarchists in the late 1800's and early 1900's.

We don't care as long as we get our little slice and live comfortably, until they start in again with the heavy-handed, money grubbing tactics...

RingdemBells says "We don't care as long as we get our little slice and live comfortably..."

Exactly. This has been a truism for centuries. Keep the middle-class happy and all will be well. Start to alienate and down-trod your middle-class, and that's when the seeds of Revolution are planted.