The labels, through the RIAA, say they're in the lead in terms of public support for their sue 'em all campaign.

You don't think so? Well, those are the results from a survey of 800 people, says Music firms claim public backing on Britain's BBC website.

Mind you, the majority was 'slim' admits the Beeb. And it was taken two days before the RIAA started nailing schoolgirls and grandfathers.

However, "These results show that our message is definitely getting through," it quotes RIAA chairman and ceo Mitch Bainwol as saying.

Did we mention this was an RIAA survey?

If they supported you in jumping off a bridge, could you?

i wonder how many people actually took the survey that were ruled out of it afterwards. 800 is a rather unusual number so id assume at the very least 1000 or 2000 and mysteriously the others just got lost from the results

As long as I get to claw my sharp nails on Hilary Rosen and Cary-Sue Sherman on the way down ~

Good lord, this is getting scary. We're supposed to believe that a "slim majority" of people WANT themselves, their parents, their grandparents, their kids, their spouses, etc. to be threatened with lawsuits? What is the RIAA smoking?

I know who gave the survey...it was some Nazi doctor with goggles named Victor Van Smeeglesven who walks up to 12-year-old kids and says, Vhere are your papers?"

How come it was'nt done in america? what in the world does british pols have to do wiyh us? just another deceptive ploy of the riaa trying to get any kind of backing for it's futile cause.

If they have so much public backing how come no one's buying cd's?

You know any survey that the RIAA sponsors is "always" going to go there way. I like how 52% approve, 21% disapprove, and the other 27% was left out of the equation. I suppose that 52% approve of the RIAA price fixing music.

funny thing is the numbers dont add up, you take the 52 and 21 and you get 73% where are the other 27 percent. also I would like to see the actual questions asked.

i stand corrected, it was from a british website about america.

There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics.
--Benjamin Disraeli

i believe that the majority of internet users support a mass suicide of anyone associated w/ the RIAA but i bet that doesn't happen netime soon, at least not before they trace every p2p file back to the original napster genuises and sue them for all their worth

800 people doesnt prove anything, when at least 60,000,000 people file-share. Results :: Incoclusive

Eh, I don't believe the results of the poll for several reasons.

One, companies sometimes pay individuals to participate in opinion polls, especially radio companies. Could the poll results be skewed if the people giving their opinion were promised a reward at the end of their participation, could that have skewed the results. I know a few years back in the early 1990s, my friend had been offered $25 check if she agreed to participate in a survey about the radio stations in her city.

Two...Did the surveyers take a random sample of folks? Or did they select a group of people that would give them the results they wanted to hear? For all we know those 800 people could have been family members of the RIAA.

Third, how many answers were thrown out due to statistical error or other wise? I'm not sure if the people conducting the RIAA survey did the same thing my statistics professor in college said they do? I'm no statistics whiz, but I know that sometimes staticians throw out data...

So...anyway, I don't trust it.

"The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) released a survey showing that 52% backed the move.

It questioned 800 people for the poll, two days before targeting 261 individuals for distributing songs on the internet without permission."

OK, questions:
1) How many of the 800 people polled, had any association with the music industry, or have any financial interest in the RIAA doing well? For example, if the 800 were RIAA lawyers, that would be a questionable sampling.

2) How were these people selected and what demographics did they represent?
Were all of these people from Los Gatos California, home of BayTSP and Audible Magic ?

3) Exactly how were the questions asked and what was the exact wording of the questions? For example, a phone poll can have the questioner giving slight inflections, rhythm changes, in a question that turn one type of question into a "leading" question, which tends to sugggest subtly, how this question should be answered.

4) How were the results analyzed?

5) Which polling company did the poll? Certain polling companies have better reputation for objectivity than others.

6) Did the RIAA pay for the poll?
There can be a bias introduced if the company doing the polling knows that to get paid, they need to come up with results favoring one side or another.

The problem with polls is that the way a poll is answered is very susceptible to wording, demographics, setting/context in which the poll is taken, etc.. There are many factors that can change how people answer polling questions, and thus, without specifics on these questions, the poll is worse than useless, it is probably misleading.

"Liars figure and figures lie"

thumbtack, last I heard, TechTV had no word from the RIAA that they would show up...any newer words on that?
~code

I wonder how many members of the people who took the survey were related to anyone working for the RIAA. And...oh, Code, darn you, you've included everything I was about to mention!

Nonetheless, it still stands: a single survey is useless. Another survey needs to be taken, from the opposite end of the spectrum, and one from around the middle (theoretically). Then average the results and see what you get.

Remember the Apple G5 vs P4 controvesy (which is still ongoing)? That was caused by initially blatantly skewerd benchmarks.

~What if tomorrow the war could be over? Isn't that worth fighting for; isn't that worth dying for?~

Re: darkened03 -- Yes, perhaps votes were "lost." Afterall, the same happened in the last election.

I wish they would post a poll like this on CNN! Or some other major site like Yahoo! or google.

And left it open for at least 2 days, and only allowed to vote once! I bet the polls would change dramatically! those freakin slimeballs! DIE riaa!

-ravenance

I can just imagine the survey now.

1) Do you think it's OK to steal?
2) Would you knowingly associate with someone who stole on a regular basis?
3) Would you support an organization that tried to punish people for stealing?

"The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crisis maintain their neutrality." -- Dante
~Malchus, servant to all

Hi all, this is my first post. This isn't quite on topic, but I thought you would all like to know that the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) is working on a petition to the US Congress to stop the RIAA's lawsuits. They need 10,000 signatures, and currently have 380. Here's the link if you're interested:

http://www.eff.org/share/petition/

Sorry .. for some reason there's a showing up at the end of the link, so you might have to type the address in.

My poll to Cary-Sue
10 questions for his lowness...
1) Have you quit suing 12 year old girls yet?
2) Is it true you live your life as a warning to others of what not to do ?
3) Would you agree that a group of people conspiring to put fear and terror into non-combatant citizens could be defined as terrorists?
4) Which would you say makes a better packing material for the lips, collagen or duck fat?
5) Wouldn't you agree that an ulcer is to the epidermis as a copyright lawyer is to a court ?
6) If you went into a store that you frequently patronize, and the management came up and kicked you in the groin, that would would slack off on purchasing items from that store.
7) Genetically speaking, how many branches do you think you are from Gray Davis (less than 10, greater than 10, or are you a clone)?
Which of your personalityies actually decides which suit you wear on a day to day basis ?
9) What's Kid Rock really like ? (lol)
10) So, have you ever really CAUGHT an ambulance ?

StoneWall1- great post Man...done and done...everyone please, go do this, very quick to do!!!

"With your help, we now have 427 signatures. Once we reach 10,000"

Since there was no meaningful info on the "poll" I decided to run one of my own.

15% thought the legal theatrics were crazy,
95% thought it was shameful in the way they treated a 12 year old girl and her mother
75% wonders how long the music industry can last at its present rate.

1 member particpated in the poll... (a substantual majority)

I happen to have a copy of the survey mentioned above...

--------------------------

NOTICE: Answering YES to any of the follow questions will be considered a legally binding admission of guilt to illegally sharing a minimum of 1,000 files whose rights belong solely to the members represented by the RIAA over a peer-to-peer file sharing network.
1.) Being a citizen of Great Britain, do you think that CD prices in the United States of America should lowered?
2.) Do you think that the RIAA should operate within the boundaries of laws by which "normal" people must to live?
3.) Would you continue attending your weekly church service if you were invited to join the Holy Church of RIAA, where you could worship devious contracts and overpaid executives like the artists bound to them by their contacts?
4.) If asked to sign this "memo" that suggests we will receive all of your property upon death, would you decline?
5.) May the RIAA harvest your first born son as their own to eventually become an A & R representative?
6.) Did you answer NO for question 5?
7.) If you were not given the opportunity to not download files again over a not legal sharing service, would you not choose to not download the files? Not?

* Thank you for taking this survey. The RIAA reserves the right to impartially tabulate, falsify, or discard any results. *

--------------------------
Ok, so I hope you have as many laughs as I did just typing that thing up lol...

-@

Ever heard of a cold day in hell? Well it will be one the next time I purchase a music CD.
I can't remember a time in recorded history where it was considered "good business" to sue your customers.

Greed got the music industry where it is at today, not Napster. Best boycott of all is to boycott your local music store.

Hi me again with more SCREW THR RIAA SPEECHES/ QUOTES!(Soo totally off topic but..hey im dedicated..)

God bless you all! This is your victory! It is the victory of the cause of boycott in every land. In all our long history we have never seen a greater day than this. Everyone, man or woman, or child has done their best. Everyone has fought. Neither the long fight, nor the dangers, nor the fierce attacks of the enemy, have in any way weakened the independent resolve of our WILL! God bless you all!

would love to sign that petition but it says the website has been removed??

i guess what i have to say about RIAA is this:
copyright laws are meant to prevent people from stealing other people's ideas FOR PROFIT. who profits monetarily from file sharing? if you are downloading an artists music to burn and sell then you deserve to be sued. but just sharing and appriciating art has always been an invaluable human interaction. whats next? can i be sued for borrowing a CD from a friend? i didnt pay for that music so is it illegal for me to listen to it?

artists have always been eager for anyone to appreciate what they create and to identify whit what is in their heart. its time for the artists to step foreward and be artists, and its time for us to back them and let them shape what the music of the future should be.
and on the other side of that coin, we need to stop backing, listening to, and buying products from those wannabes who claim the title of "artists" but produce "product" in the name of "art"

I've been here since the RIAA started sueing their customers. Thumbtack, Code, Bill, you are awesome, and as are the others about. I'll say something intelligently another time, but right now I think I'll rant some. Mostly by thanking everyone out there, for simply believing in removing what evils there in the world. They way you all have come together is heartwarming, a act for the common good and nothing more. Different opinion's, different creeds, but one overwhelming hope because you know your better then some executive bastards who care about nothing more then money. Thanks to you all, and I hope I'll be welcome here with such respectable humans as yourself out there! Well, um, just thanks! ^^ As for all the families who lost love ones today two years ago, my prayers are with them. A big thanks to vets and those still serving. The idea's of a people, of the purest nature are being defended by each and every one of you. Well, yeah, think I thanked everyone I needed to thank, sowwie for the rant. Peace to you all.

"We Must hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately" Benjamin Franklin

i know ill be hated for this thought but......... wouldnt the ultimate expression of what this site is about be for me to copy the anti-RIAA logo and iron it on my own t-shirt?

Yep your going down but what the hell its hiliaious!!

I am 538! Wooo whoooo!

Somebody already posted the saying that figures don't lie but liars can figure. That fits!
But, also, how about the one that said: statistics don't lie, but statisticians do.

Take a Stand Against the Madness
-------- Stop the RIAA! --------

If you haven't signed the petition
take a few moments and do it now

http://www.eff.com/share/petition/

Thanks Codewarrior .. just doing my part to topple what is now little more a house of cards .

Thank you Otech1 for fixing the link.

And my thanks to all of you .. I think with all of the signatures from this site alone, the EFF will have that petition filed before the RIAA can sue their next batch of school children.

*Laughing* Loved the survey questions MetaliqaH8r. Number 5 choked me up.


A question: I am having a meeting for family and friends this weekend. I need a logo for flyers. I thought I would put both the boycott logo and this websites addy. Anyone know where I can get a nice decent size copy of the logo?

well techtv did a poll also a few days ago and it came up 73% of the polled witch wear just your avrage techtv watcher no one paid nothing it came up 71% of them wear not in favor of the riaa heavy handed tactics

Hearing all kind of stories. from sueing a 12 year old, a 71 year old grandpa, a guy who was out of the country during the alleged activity. Now I heard they wan to exhume a guy who was killed in a car wreck so they can serve him.

Stonewall, you probably should submit that link to the main news section... that way everyone visiting the site can see it and sign up.

LOL Alfonso!

Ok, this may sound a bit paranoid, but will signing a petition that is so-called pro-free music (i consider us revolutionaries), could the R.I.A.A. get a hold of such a document and go down the list and sue people one by one? Or is that illegal?

Wait, nevermind, half this battle is illegal. I believe its illegal to use the court to perform searches. That to me meets the requirement of a search warrant.

And who the hell gave them the idea that targeting a 12 year old girl will stop people from downloading music? I say we step up the amount of downloads as part of the counter-strike. My god, that to me is pretty close to raping a child. Any thoughts on if they could top this low?

With the popularity of this site are there any plans to run a few polls here? Why let the RIAA get away with their claims of support when we can show them a few hundred thousand people that aren't puppets. A well done pool could be a worthwhile bit of data to inclue when writing politicians. While a politician may not accept the results - it may make them wonder how many votes they'll loose if they don't look into the matter. (Wishful thinking?)

Okay, so they what? Get 50% of what they were making and the other 50% boycott... they'll still feel the Sting.

I just signed the petition, and I am #809.

Don't know if it will make much of a difference, unless the EFF shows up with a big check for all of them as well (LOL). Just gotta let your voice be heard, someone just might listen.

810 when i signed, 832 5 minutes later

and still rising, fast

My poll for Cary Sherman:

1)Where is Saddam really hiding? (We know he's advising you.)

2)How many Britney Spears songs are in YOUR shared folder? (really)

3)Is it true you're planning to sue your own mother?

4)Is it true you really even HAD a mother ?(I think you're a genetic engineering experiment gone awry, myself)

5)Is it true Osama Bin Laden called you "even more evil than I am"?

I am anxiously awaiting your responses even though I think I already know the answers.

Hrm, 862 right here! Woo!

Apparently the RIAA is chicken and even though TechTV has been on the phone all day with them, at this point, still refusing to be on the show!
~code

Behold the power of Bill Evans. I'm sure as soon as the RIAA heard he was coming they planned to back out.

Worthless cowards............

DesertRebel - don't think I included my IP address when I signed the petition, so their toadies and bots are screwed..lol

If the survey was RIAA sanctioned, then merely 52% in favor of their action is laughable.

Figures are always twisted to favor the host "of the party" and if they can only manage a slim majority, then they are fscked and they know it

I think they did this survey at the riaa offices.

On TechTV, they said that the RIAA is going to fire off another set of lawsuits, and then every few months until they have covered "every jurisdiction"...

I wonder how many of their shyster mouthpieces are looking at new mansions and new cars...

This poll is an utter joke. The RIAA used every trick in the book to get it to 52% in favor. Bad samples, bad statistical work, bad polling measures.

I'm 1091 I agree with everyone here. They have gone to far and are sinking MUCH deeper in the bullshit they use trying to save their Vanilla-Flavored Asses(tm). Hyperlinks should be put on the front page here at
Boycott-Riaa.com:
kazaalite.kpp.com, EarthStation.com, Soulseek.com, freenetproject.org, any others?

All of us must keep in mind that the RIAA (Radical, Imperial, Arrogant Autocrats) has a lot -- and I mean a LOT -- of friends in the news media, Congress, and the courts, and thus the yellow-journalism "coverage" of this whole vendetta against the poor, the weak, the vulnerable, the young, the old and so on, is rigged and skewed and biased and distorted, and the deck stacked, to the high heaven with impunity. As I keep saying, it's like reading or watching or listening to "state-run" media in tin-pot dictatorships, so despicable is this.

As for the New York Post (affiliated with MPAA member 20th Century-Fox, being as both are owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation) . . . they are also among the lowest of the low in yellow journalism here with their one-sided, biased pseudo-"coverage." You would not know reading that paper or watching CNN or any other major "news" media, that there is a WIDENING anger, bitterness and resentment among the populace over the RIAA's police-state methodology and campaign of disenfranchisement and enslavement, due to our copyright laws having been twisted and perverted through bribery and corruption (just like in a Third World country) into a Bolshevik straitjacket, the outcome of the Al Franken-Fox News trademark-infringement battle (thus exposing the double standard between rich and poor in our 'just-us' system), and a host of other factors too numerous to mention here.

Also, given the pictures of Brianna splashed through the media, it's only a matter of time (as I once predicted) before you start hearing accusations of "racism" being directed against the RIAA. Because I've noticed she looks like she's from one of them "minority" groups.

Has there been any news/numbers on CD Sales for this past Summer? Curious to see what the sales are, since the RIAA set off on their Sue 'em all Campaign.

go sign the petition! i'm 1311 and my wife is 1318! go!

Us twelve year olds need all the help we can get...

Artists against the 21st Century Music Gestapo
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/09/11/MN12066.DTL

"Stonewall, you probably should submit that link to the main news section... that way everyone visiting the site can see it and sign up." ~

I just did . Thanks Meryl,I've been wondering how those news stories got posted.

6:13 to 9:11, 380 to 1318 .. wow, almost 1,000 signatures in just 3 hours!

RIAAposterchild -great article..and welcome to the fight!
~code

1447 Great article its about time we heard from artist. David said we dont need your protection..lol. yeah f*ck off RIAA

Just registered to the site and signed the EFF petition. If these fools think they have public backing, they have another thing coming.

You know, statistics are one thing, but when you put a name or a face to them, they take on more human proportions...Here's a list of the real names of people who have been sued in federal district court in various states....
http://www.techtv.com/news/culture/story/0,24195,3521792,00.html

reverse propaganda

im 1733 on the petition

I read the RIAA article on there website today about the lawsuits they filed. This is unbelievable, because the Gospel Music Association backs them. Though i do not listen to GMA's music, being a Christian, i see it as terrible that they would back a plan to sue ppl, when THAT IS NOT THE LAST RESORT! THEY HAVE NOT TRIED ALL AVENUES or WAYS TO PROFIT, they have not made a legit service that what consumers want, I would love to call them and tell them that, but they won't care.
Well, the RIAA will be non-existent, INDIE music will be huge, and ppl will be using P2P to get there music and it won't be illegal. There are so many better ways to handle this, THE NUMBER ONE IS TO GET A REAL SERVICE THAT PPL will pay for!
Thanks

heres the link to a real impartial survey. http://www.whatthenationthinks.com/UK/results.asp?PollID=4588

i'm no fan of public enemy but i agree with him.

"Lawsuits on 12-year-old kids for downloading music, duping a mother into paying a $2,000 settlement for her kid?" said rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy. "Those scare tactics are pure Gestapo."

Thumbtack - You say: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics."

There's another - You forgot RIAA press releases.

I just emailed RIAA. This is my letter:

To whom it may concern,

This is to express my outrage and disbelief in the terror campaign you unleashed on kids of America. Flood of lawsuits against twelve years old students and their parents, against seventy years old seniors, grandfathers and grandmothers proves to me that you are nothing but another moblike organization using extortion and blackmail to protect your own interest which has nothing to do with protecting the American artists and song writers. I have been an avid music collector since early nineteen seventies. Over the years I have put together a collection of 1000 albums and well over 1500 compact discs. Those 1500 CDs were bought within last 15 years and that gives me an average of 100 CDs per year. Assuming the average price of a CD at $15.00, I was spending $1500.00 a year on music. NO MORE. I will not spend another dime. I canoot and will not support any artist and any recording company that has any association with you. YOU WILL NOT SEE ANOTHER PENNY FROM ME, EVER. SO HELP ME GOD.

Jan Boluk

Howdy folks,
Well I'm 2163 on the petition..looks like it is growing fast!!
Here is something that may be of interest to all....the roll back on the FCC rule allowing for more concentration of media, for example, TV stations buying up newspaper companies, Radio stations buying up newspapers and maybe...just maybe not allowing the big 5 to buy up all the media....wouldn't tthat be a drag. Check it out and see what you think.
http://www.mediareform.net/news.php?id=1117

can we say "Geometric Progression"?
I installed a link on my website. Took down a banner ad at the top and replaced it with the boycott-riaa.com banner. Looks cool!

back again...

Looks like some writers are actually paying attention to the unfolding soap opera and not just using standard boilerplate press releases to fill their columns

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030910.wbmath0910biz/BNStory/Business/


Consumers drive the market [Basic Economics 101]

Number 2763.

damn I leave for a day, and all the new ppl come. I am so gald to see you have joined our fight.
DOWN WITH THE RIAA DIE B******* DIE.
O.k. So now the gloves are off lets go get these f*****s and show them that we will not give in or give up. Oh and by to the way trolls, to silmply let you know
there is a troll hunter out there, so be ware and watch your a**
He emailed me today and is tired of your s***
LOL

With your help, we now have 2929 signatures woohoo! almost 1/3 of the way there, keep it going people! i'm also posting this one, last time i checked there were over 32,000 on it! http://www.petitiononline.com/riaawar/

21% don't support the RIAA activities???

That's the perecntage of Americans who are estimated to use file-sharing ... coincidince?

Polls are too easy to manipulate which is the main reason I never take polls as an absolute truth. The RIAA poll obviously cannot stand up to scrutiny. It is sad that some people will take this bias poll stats as fact.

You will here http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/forum/readThr ead.asp?id=1198 The opinions of the people are the same as we feel.


I have put www.boycott-riaa.com at the foot on a message you will see on the second page by clicking '2' at the very bottom. I have spread out word a lttle further.

posted the link the to http://www.eff.org/share/petition/ on the front of techfocus.org

anyone else want to get it anywhere else?

Looking at the list of people on tech TV, if you look at Colorado District (Denver), you'll notice a famous name being sued.

Code, this is an unfair question:
"1) Have you quit suing 12 year old girls yet?"

Legally one can't sue a 12 year old. One can only take something from her that is improper. I request that this poll be fair and reworded for accuracy to preserve the integrity of your poll.

Cary-Sue,
1) Have you quit molesting 12 year old girls yet?

LOL Critical, only too true.

Well, this is a pretty bad scenario. First of all, they say they have public support because they got 800 people's support. But I want to know where they get that support and what EXACTLY did they ask them?

Why?

Because anybody can make statistics work to their advantage and the only way to make sure it is done right to present ALL the information.

RIAA, this s a direct request if yu are reading this. Prove to us that your information is correct by showing you have correctly gotten this support.

I would discount the BBC pole, as it was taken before the lawsuits made the news. It was most likely a BBC News24 station pole, and given the age range of people who watch the station enough to participate(I would say middle aged professionals), I'm not surprised at any conservatism shown... yet, it was still only a narrow margin. I would like to see them re-survey the same people to see their reactions now.

Ditto.

Sometimes it is best to discredit everything you are told, just because it may be screwed up.

It's total BS to try to keep the opposition down! This poll was taken among RIAA management, just like Bush's approval rating was taken from a poll from the republican convention.

This is my first post ever on any site. I cannot believe the new low of the RIAA (Rats Inserting it Anally to Americans). I have been reading this site all night before finally signing up. I like the work that is being done here. Unlike other "rights" groups that I support (EFF, Libertarian Party) it is good to see an activist group -- not a team of well-intentioned lawyers and would-be politicians) doing some good old grass roots down and dirty scraped knuckled fighting for what is right.

I suggest we package up Sherman and send him to Terre Haute. We killed McVeigh and we'll kill this terrorist-criminal as well.

The RIAA evidently doesn't have the backing of all artists:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/launch/20030912/en_launch/214602

theres only 2 reliable polls in the world, the north pole and the south pole.

signed!!!!!

im a legit P2Per. i think that in most cases P2P download quality sucks and the risk for getting infected files is high. most of the stuff i DL is just to preview and if i like it ill buy at least the single if not the whole album. if i want to burn music i usually borrow the CD from a friend or the local library and copy and burn it that way for quality. so heres my chant for the war.........

IF I CANT PREVIEW THRU P2P, I WONT BUY YOUR DAMN CD!!!!!!!!!!

47% of all statistics are made up.
8 out of 10 maturbate or sing in the shower, the other 2 lie.
just my two cents on surveys.
ttmmm