TechTV provided a thought provoking special called Music Wars on Friday evening, The 12th of September. Their special consisted of a previously taped background piece about an hour in length, which set the stage for the debate to follow, during the longer OPEN MIKE portion.

The Music Wars portion was a one hour prerecorded background piece which provided a context for the debate which was to follow. For those who are already initiated into the filesharing debate, this part, although interesting, was a rehash of most of what they already knew about how this issue has evolved. We were “treated” to interviews with Hilary Rosen, who claimed the files traded on Kazaa, were an “inferior” product, and also given a review of Nikki Hemming’s career, before Kazaa, and now, as the CEO of Kazaa.

The birth of Napster as a centralized sharing service was depicted as the real birth of music filesharing, and it was stressed that the centralized nature of it also became its ultimate downfall due to lawsuits by the big labels and the RIAA. But, MUSIC WARS was just the preamble to what was to follow.


MUSIC WARS : Open Mike

The RIAA was notably conspicuous by their absence. Despite numerous calls and requests from TechTV, the RIAA refused to appear on the Open Mike segment.

The Open Mike portion was a live event which featured many of those involved in the filesharing debate. Ted Cohen from EMI Records was there representing the pro record label side, as was Jeremy Welt from Maverick Records. The third of the pro label triad was Ira Dean from the group “Trick Pony”. On the pro consumer side was Chuck D of “Public Enemy” and John Perry Barlow, found of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

These two groups were seated on a stage , the pro label bunch positioned on the left, and all wearing brightly colored outfits. The pro consumers only had two, Mr. Barlow and Chuck D, and were seated on the right, and both of them wore dark outfits. The host was Leo LaPorte and his co-host was Michaela Pereira .

There were several other guests involved in this issue in the audience, who were also asked to participate, though there were positioned on the stage floor in chairs, and would be brought forward for their part of the discussion.

Our own Bill Evans was seated in the audience, and was only able to ask a small number of questions and to make a few observations. This was most distressing because Bill was not able to even mention the boycott. His reflections on the show are really going to be interesting.

The lawyers for “NYCFASHIONGIRL” , also known as Jane Doe, who is fighting the RIAA to keep her identity from being revealed, were also guests and went over their defenses to the subpoena from the RIAA, and some of the issues concerning the way in which the RIAA allows abuse of the subpoena process.

There was also a phone interview with a mother who was sued by the RIAA and has already settled for three thousand dollars. She claimed her daughter was the real downloader and that basically, she was only the account holder and that’s why she was sued. There were also another coupe who had been sued who was in the audience, who questioned why taped from the radio is legal, and downloading the same song gets you sued.

HEROS AND VILLAINS
For me, the big hero on the show, and the only one who really was able to get out the message that we, as posters , espouse, was Andy Jordan. Andy Jordan is Jesse Jordan’s father. Jesse was sued by the RIAA and ended up losing all his savings by having to engage in a settlement with the RIAA for twelve thousand dollars. All Jesse did was basically to program like a search engine for the college network . His father, Andy, is a lifelong music fan with a music collection of old singles, LPs, etc. . He pointed out that his son was really never interested in music until he got sued.

Chuck D of public enemy was a very articulate proponent of the positive effects of filesharing and pointed out how people can find a song by an artist on Kazaa, and become interest in purchasing more tunes from that person, and indeed, that filesharing promotes even more purchases than radio play.

Of course, writer for the Grateful Dead, John Perry Barlow, founder of EFF, was a stanch defender of filesharing and pointed out the fact that musicians are not being adequately compensated by labels (a point which the EMI executive had to grudgingly admit to) , and the other legal and moral concerns which the record industry wants to ignore or put a spin on.

In the solutions portion, people from Altnet were there, the head of Morpheus, Mr. Weiss was there, and a representative from MusicMatch / Rhapsody was there. There was a discussion of iTunes and the other music downloads services, including streaming audio sampling and auditing, and the pros and cons of these services.


REFLECTIONS
If there was one person who was the MOST objectionable, it was Jeremy Welt, who continued to take the “party line” and seemed the most unreasonable of the pro label three. He was followed in that objectionable status with a close second by Ted Cohen, but Mr. Cohen did seem to have a better sense of humor. Ira Dean from Trick Pony (a band I confess to have never heard from before) seemed to be the most reasonable of the three, but was still adhering to the party line of the big record labels. Mr. Dean however did say that he thought suing the customers was not something he agreed was proper.

I did note that Mr. Barlow and Chuck D, wisely and correctly avoided use of the word piracy, but Jesse Jordan, the kid sued by the RIAA for creating his search engine for the college network, used that word several times, apparently ignorant of the legal meaning of piracy.
In this short article, it is impossible to adequately cover all the aspects of the show.
I would say that TechTV did try to cover as many of the issues as possible, even touching on Digital Rights Management.

I was very disappointed that Bill Evans of boycott-riaa.com, was not allowed to speak more, or to address the fact that the boycott is on, and apparently is having a serious impact on CD sales of the RIAA labels. I also noted that when John Perry Barlow attempted to talk about how angry the public is at the RIAA and its labels, Mr. LaPorte cut him off fairly quickly.

CONCLUSION
The topic was too large and complex for the time allowed and I believe, this really does deserve follow-up specials. The topic of the boycott itself really needs its own special, because there are so many aspects to the economics of how a boycott impacts on an industry such as popular music. TechTV tried to present an evenhanded and balanced discussion of the issues, and while I think they did a good job in the time allotted, many issues were not fully developed due to time constraints.

Replays of the program are scheduled for at 6 p.m., and Monday 9/15 at 1 p.m. Eastern.
~CodeWarrior

Welcome back Bill...you did us proud my friend!
~code

Very good description of the show Code.

Its is just as good the RIAA wasn't there, as they represent the major labels, and they were represent by Jeremy, Ted and Ira Dean from Trick Pony.

Some of what you weren't able to see was that there was some behind the scenes complaining by Jeremy Welt and Ted Cohen, about people having the opposing view to theirs, having the last word before a break. You may have noticed that at one time Michaela Pereira while going to the break that when they came back they would be going to the lawyers for Jane Doe, but when they came back they went to Ted Cohen and Jeremy Welt. This was over the comments made by Andy Jordan, Jessie's dad. As a result everything got compacted in the sections after that, and as a result they didn't get a chance to come back to the audience as often as they wanted. Leo handled the situation quite well, (he is amazing in his capacity to improvise, as the floor director put it once "He doesn't need a teleprompter, that's Leo"

I too, was disappointed at not being given more time to respond to some of the things that were said by Jeremy Welt and Ted. (On a side note, I know Ted Cohen from a mailing list we are both on, and I've met him a couple of times before at the Future of Music Coalition Policy Summits). What Jeremy Welt doesn't seem to realize is that the consumer wants one stop shopping for the music the public loves. We don't want to have to go to every artists site to download/purchase the music. The other misconception there seems to be among the labels, is that its either one way or the other. Downloads or CDs. The market is fragmenting with part of the cds becoming digital downloads. The majority of the majors don't seem to realize that it is simply a market shift with a portion of the consumers opting for digital downloads rather than shiny plastic discs. That market shift and the failure of the "industry" to adapt to the market is what brought about the situation they find themselves in today.

After it was over, I spoke with John Perry Barlow for a few minutes, and he told me to keep up the good work. Chuck D is real, he is not up there spouting something just to get attention, but truly believes in his position. (I made sure he left with some no riaa stickers.) Jessie Jordan is very nice, very polite and a victim that got caught in the crossfire of the Music Wars.

I met John Barry from the website RIAASHITLIST.COM and he was great. I actually stayed overnight in Sunnyvale, CA (SF hotels are expensive) and he was kind enough to provide transportation back to my hotel, which was quite a distance from where we were. After the program we went out for a few drinks and pizza with Donna Wentworth who just joined the staff at the EFF and Mary Hodder who writes the Berkley IP Weblog . http://journalism.berkeley.edu/projects/biplog/ A great person and knows where the best pizza in town is too!.. I'm pretty worn out from the trip, it will come back to me) my brain just isn't functioning very well at the moment from lack of sleep the past few days).

I'm hoping that TechTV will continue to have these debates, and help bring about a solution that everyone can live with. As I suggested during my brief time on mike a blanket license may be the only solution at this point, but it has to include all of the music, back catalog and out of print as well.

I missed the show..will be shown again as I get TechTV
Otherwise..today I'm taking to the streets of Georgia, in an effort to publicize this site, and inform people of the RIAA. If possible I need a little background info. First I need a few questions cleared. My points will be that the RIAA has twice been caught price-fixing on it's customers, and as such how can we allow such a coporation with such a record so much power, 2, that they care only for profits due to the fact that their sue them all campagin is NOT actually going to the artist, though they claim that is why they are suing in the first place, bottom line is they're concerned about THEIR profits.
As solutions I suggest boycotting music CD's, consider Indie Music, purchase used CD's, attend band concerts as that is how they make their money, and the use of compulsory liscence. However, can someone give me details on the compulosary liscense systems.
What do you think, feedback would be appreciated as I don't leave for another hour or so..
Dave.

Glad you went Bill, it was important that you were there, even if you didn't get the air time.

Look at it as just a warm-up! We need to press for another trailer to this issue from Techtv.

Also All of us should work on other events where we can generate media coverage, In our local media, or what ever we can muster up. Nothing was lost everything gained. Again I'm gald you went! Thanks

I am trying to find someone who can digitize the show for me and maybe send it to me. I don't have that station.

Absolutely...I'm willing to go anywhere and discuss the issues, anytime. I'm available for panels, debates, in the media or at the various shows and conventions around the country. We want to present our side. I feel there needs to be a solution.

Bill, you did a good job despite the short appearance. It would of been nice had you been up there with Chuck D and John Barlow. But perhaps this "Open Mike" is just a foreshadow of the media coverage to come.

my comment os for dave ... I would delay your public crusade for a couple weeks so you can study. `Cause frankly, you know jack shit about the DMCA or any copyright law on the books.

And yes, I am a studio tech that does beleive in FREE digital music oner the internet or whatever means you choose, but we need to get the laws changed to bring down the RIAA, not just mindless propaganda pedeled out on the streets. All that does is make us look like uneducated thugs.

Quite frankly, I would like to hear what the RIAA has to say about the boycott.

Undoubtedly it is causing sales to crash to the floor, but I want to know how the artists are handling it?

That's what I'm worried about. Sure it is great to prevent monopolism, but at the price of hurting artists dedicated to just making music, I'm not sure.

Plus, how do artists get compensated for music sales from CDs? Or do they only get compensated through tours and playing in public?

These are things I would like to ask them, anyway. Other things I'd like to ask would probably include how they will compensate for the changing economic systems (ie. the continual development of internet commerce and how they're adapting to the changes) and how they plan to handle the continual importing of foreign music labels.

Just some thoughts to think about when the next debate comes around (assuming there will be another one).

I had an assigned seat in the audience, and I knew they were coming to me first. The entire TechTv staff and crew were wonderful and very focused. True professionals. From the amount of energy they are spending on the Music Wars, I'm sure we'll see more from them on the issues..

Thanks for the excellent write-up, Code. It seems like this debate was a middle-of-the-road one, with neither side able to speak out much.

I look forward to further "episodes", if such a term may be applied.

A lot of people need to feel heat if this boycott is going to work, and that includes artists.

We all hear about how little the artists actually receive from CD sales, so I don't give much credence to the hurting artists argument.

If the artists are truly dedicated to their fans, they'll come out eventually. If not, too bad. If they serve the RIAA, then they'll get hurt. Guilt by association.

Music is going to be a victim in this, whether anyone likes it or not. I may be wrong, but the RIAA fired the first shots in this war, and we're just returning the favor.

I'm still not buying any RIAA products.

It would seem as though the entirety of the TechTV open mike debate was focused upon what the lables want, not what the people want, or for that matter, any other concern of the P2P community. Just from what I read here it does seem however, that the consumer is garnering some support from major artists (if only Dr. Dre had been there on the side of the consumer, or even Eminem, but they are pocket ponies og the RIAA)in the form of Mr. D of Public Enemy fame. Nice to see the founder of the EFF had his 15 minutes on international TV, as well as our own Bill Evans (now maybe someone will get the point that we are out here).
I do believe that we need to keep up the pressure, boycott 'em all into their graves and have them choking on thier designer suits and fancy cars!

Just a note for all: I was on the techtv "sound board forum," there is an RIAA affiliated spokesman, he has been ripping anybody and everyboby apart that has any comments aganist the RIAA. anyboby that's on that forum.....please pay him respects!

I couldn't watch the show either. I tried Saturday but had some work that had to be done. My disapointment from what I've read here is that we're having a hard time getting the boycott message across. everyone in the grassroots campainge is boycotting and telling their friends (I certinly am)but how are we supposed to get it out to the general public. I know the news media is owned by these same companies who are sueing. Negitive reporting is starting to go on in the main stream press but a deaf ear is still being turned toward the boycott. maybe I'll drop another email to all the major news networks again.

Stryker111111,

There are some interesting facts about how artists are negatively (as in their bank accounts) compensated by the RIAA Big 5 within the context of the "Street Team Resources" section of this page. The lables for years have been "backward compensating" artists in the negative numbers. I do believe that they are compensated through their concerts and merchandising, but, rarely through the sales of music media (CD's, Cassettes, Vinyl Recordings, or any other form to include the digital "Big 5 Setups" such as iTunes or Raphsody).

It will be rebroadcast on

Monday 9/15
1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Eastern
Tuesday 9/16
9 p.m. Eastern

Ah, thanks.

"The topic was too large and complex for the time allowed..."

Just the way the RIAA introduced it at Napster. It prevents any discussion from ever getting to the point.

gaangel648 - How can you support compulsary license systems if you don't know the details about them? Sorry I don't know anything about them either. Do NOT DELAY your public crusade! The time for action is now! Just don't support something you don't know about. We are all learning more each day.

Alright everyone its time to write, email and call techtv and tell them Bill needs his own show !

If someone gets a chance to record this, I'd like to see it. Even if I had cable, our cable system here doesn't carry it, I believe.

I don't think it's available here, either, at least I can't find any references to it.

Bill, you're doing a great job, one of these days you will get a chance to speak up for the boycott, and I know you'll do just fine.

We all support you.

gaangel648--

http://www.eff.org/share/legal.php


Compulsory Licensing
What happens if copyright holders refuse to grant licenses at any price? It wouldn't be the first time; this situation arose with player pianos, cable TV, satellite TV, digital recording media, and Internet radio as well. Traditionally, however, the government has stepped into the fray and "compelled" copyright holders to license their work for a fee. This is called a "compulsory license" (or "compulsory").

The first American compulsory was adopted when the music industry fought the Napster of 1909: the player piano. Sheet music publishers claimed that the creation of piano-readable sheets was against the law and that they should have the right to monopolize the booming piano roll industry. Congress disagreed and instead crafted a compulsory license that paid recording artists while protecting the new technology. Today, this license allows bands to record (or "cover") another band's song (so long as they've paid the $.08 per copy of the recorded track).

While a compulsory always requires copyright holders to make their works available for fair compensation, the particular method of compensation is totally open. In the world of Internet radio, for instance, a webcaster pays for the songs that she plays. Her fees and playlists go to a central distribution point, and the artists on the playlists are compensated. On the other hand, cable TV companies pay broadcast networks directly when they play network programming like "The Simpsons."

This kind of licensing has often been necessary. When copyright holders can't reach consensus on licensing terms, Congress has properly stepped in to move things forward. You can ask them to do the same thing today using EFF's Action Center.

NiteRider52 - Thanks for the info. I realise it is off topic, but when someone wants to get out of their chair and take action instead of just reading posts, we should give them all the support we can.

Code - Great article. Thanks for keeping us informed. I do not get Tech TV since I am boycotting Direct TV also, live in a rural community where cable is not available, and too far from a major city to use a regular antenna. I don't need their propaganda anyway. Gives me more time on the computer. Thanks again!

"In the world of Internet radio, for instance, a webcaster pays for the songs that she plays."

Which world is this? Here's the world I see.

---------

BoomBox Radio, the premier site for independent music, and a part of SurfNet New Media Group, Inc. (OTCBBFNM) is offering a “Thank You” to all of our supporters. Get on the Stream. Get Heard. It’s $25 a song, or $50 for two, if you sign up by Halloween! It used to be $125 a month, now it’s $25 a song! That’s right, $25 per song. We’re limiting it to 200 songs per station through the end of the year. That means 3-4 spins a day! It’s better than Grandma’s slippers! Ask Tanner about Today. Ask Tanner about the Future. Get Played, Get Discovered. Get Back the Money you’ve already wasted on College Radio Promotion. BoomBox is a totally new company. The “old folks” have hit the wall. Ask us and we’ll tell you!

--------

"Her fees and playlists go to a central distribution point, and the artists on the playlists are compensated."

This central distribution point is SoundExchange, a subsidiary of the RIAA.

Has ANYONE ever received royalties for webcasting?

darkened03 I agree. They've met Bill, they probably like him, listening to the respect Bill has shown them, and that's an awesome idea to get this boycott some much needed publicity....everyone write Tech TV! pepe

The basic comppnent of any Blanket license would have to be the ability to access all music files, not just those managed or controlled by the RIAA membership.. Much like what radio has with ASCAP and BMI. If you have an ASCAP or BMI license you cn play any of their music without fear. A Blanket license will have to be legislated just like the ASCAP and BMI licenses were for radio. Otherwise what would happen is that one person could throw a monkey wrench into the works...Many of the majors don't agree on a lot of things except that if you use file sharing you are a thief and therefore probably should be shot. Add to the mix indie labels and unsigned artists and you have a huge disparity between the majors and the indies...There could have to be different fees for different types of use. Home user one price (flat rate), Commercial website (Itunes, Buymusic, a different price probaly based on a per track or certain number per month., along with differing limitations on what could be done. It would be a huge undertaking, which would require the Celesital Database to be created before the celestial jukebox could be built. But it is possible and feasible.

Hey guys,I'm a first time poster on the board.
I called in,and was supposed to comment on the show,but as many of you who saw it noticed,the "Open Mic" part of the show was not fulfilled.I was going to comment about the boycott,and the fact that programs like Kazaa are the only way I can listen to music by a foreign artist who's CD would cost me $40,or the fact that I can listen to indie bands,or bands without CD's.
The show was a dissappointment for me.

To Bill,

They try but they can't stop the truth from getting out. Keep fighting them. Maybe you didn't get the time you needed but every time they have to acknowledge you they lose some points. Sooner or later the truth will come out. Thanks for all your hard work.

To George Ziemann;

right now I'm working to create yet another letter to my congressmen which is almost certainly guaranteed to irritate them and I would like to use some of your figures and statements from an article you wrote to Norm Coleman a few weeks back. I'll post the letter here before I send it but I would like to know if this is ok with you. I'll let you know more when I can get a little more time to work on this. (damn job)

I did my first ever encode the other night so if anyone wants the edokey hash of the TechTV special click away. Its in RM so I could shrink the 2 and a half hour 4.2gb file into 364,096,025 bytes

on Razorback highest priority.
ed2k://|file|TechTV_-_Music.Wars_-_9-12-2003..rm|364096025|44F4B72EBB8BA3F5740698149FD8AAF8|/

once again because it seems the last post hash wasn't formatted right

ed2k://|file|TechTV_-_Music.Wars_-_9-12-2003..rm|364096025|44F4B72EBB8BA3F5740698149FD8AAF8|/

To me, it was no surprise that no-one from the Radical, Imperial, Arrogant Autocrats themselves were there, for the simple reason that they're much more comfortable in situations where they can rig the forum to their advantage, and where stooges can serve them softballs and they can present their one-sided Big Lie propaganda without any challenge.

.. me neither, W-B. Cowards. Code and Thumb. Thank you. And thank you for the accurate description because I do not have a way to view TechTV.. on cable? So I will view it on the computer.. I am the original lo-tech diva.

captdunsel -- Permission is not needed. I do not consider my publicly posted commentary as commercial property which must be protected.

My writings only have value if they are read by others, just as music has no value unless it is heard by others. This is, of course, the inherent truth which will ultimately decide this conflict.

I saw a major label website last night and did not recognize one single name on their front page. With the radio off and since I do not share files, the industry cannot reach me with its advertising.

Their product has no value.

It is disappointing to here that the boycotting movement wasn't brought to light during the show. I'm sure many people would like to hear any comments by the RIAA or it's supporters on this action. Quite frankly, i would be surprised if they would acknowledge that any such movement even exists. It would be a no-win situation for them either way. Any statement on their part concerning the boycott would bring greater public awareness to the movement. That, is precisely what they will go out of their way to avoid.

Public disclosure would fuel our movement. Even though the word is getting out, we have only tapped a fraction of the masses as of yet.

Just imagine the impact of a full page ad in the Sunday New York times. Talk about kicking an ant's nest.

If only i had the money..

Jeremy Welt reminded me of the kid in school who did anything he could for attention. Usually bad attention. He seemed unable to see anything other than his opinion ,which he was trying to cram down everybodies throat. I never heard of Maverick Records, but after seeing him act totally unprofessional, I would never consider buying from the label.

And the Boycott continues........

Thanks for the kind words all.
The interesting thing to me is this. It seems, from the actions of the RIAA, that they want to physically isolate themselves, and in many respects, have mentally isolated themselves. What I mean by that, is it seems they think there is the buying public, and then, "the downloaders".
One thing that I recall from the show was, when there were comments about suing your customers, Jeremy Welt said that your best customers don't steal from you. Well Jeremy, customers are people who buy your crap, and even using the RIAA's OWN STATS, of the "heaviest downloaders" , 52 per cent are still buying your CDs. We have to work on those 52 per cent.

Whether the downloaders are former customers, present customers, or potential customers, suing them, and calling them criminals and thiefs, is certainly not the accepted way of "winning friends and influencing people". In a day when more and more stores of ALL kinds are closing, Welt and "Citizen Cohen" really need to walk around on the streets and profess their support of the RIAA and see the reaction , but, instead of being lawyered up, they better have bodyguards, because the climate is none too friendly for RIAA stooges.
~code

Code, I believe the phrase you were searching for in the first paragraph of that last post is "Ivory Towers." It's so common up in the oak-pannelled, soundproof (pun kinda intended, but it's a very loosely-related one) boardrooms of today's execs, not just the music industry.

It needs to be stamped out.

And letting them know that we are no longer the poor ignorant working class, and that we are infact rather intelligant indepenant people, is a big starting point.

kfleming99: If you could shrink that file down a tad, please upload it to my server, at:

ftp://82.32.111.232

It'll then be available for download for anyone who wants.

Addendum: Contact me at savethebeansprouts@hotmail.com if/when you want to upload the show. My FTP is being silly at the moment, and I won't get access to the server until tomorrow. Apologies.
Also, / needs to be taken off the end of the URL. I wonder why this site keeps doing that; it's very odd.

As far as the physical isolation, I really was thinking more in terms of security. Their main toadie, BayTSP, was getting a lot of death threats, and this was before all this sue the world stuff came about. The other toadies have had similar experiences as I understand, and most have gone out of their way to hide their physical address. I honestly believe that the RIAA main faces, probably are not just lawyered up, but carry some heavy security everywhere they go, but the Ivory Towers if probably apt as well. Hell, they don't want anything to do with us, "commoners"...they just want our money
~code

Bill, when you spoke to the EFF people, did you ask if they were willing to link to boycott-riaa?

I'd love to see all like minded sites joined together in solidarity, so that anyone who is interested in the issue can easily link to other sites and vice-versa.

I was wondering, also, if you think it might be a good idea to add your friends and partners links to the left hand side of the page, and add eff.org to that list.

While I can ynderstand the dissapointment in not being able to mention the ongoing boycott, it was more important to let viewers like myself learn a great deal about what's going and go off half-cocked in anger over it all.

I didn't really expect them to cover everything but at least the word is out.

My error in the last post: It was more important to let viewers like myself learn a great deal about what's going on and NOT go off half-cocked in anger over it all.

Paul, we're actually working on a complete site overhaul, to make things a little easier to get around etc..A whole new look, same content, easier to navigate etc..new graphics etc..

We're going to add a whole bunch of related sites and other things we've been working on..should be up at the outside two weeks..(depending on how many interviews I do. ( I have two tomorrow) 1 for Voice of America Mandrian Edition, and one for a college newspaper. Sometime this week I'll be doing a radio show out of Cinncinati (we had to reschedule so I could go to SF for the TechTv thing..Last week I did two interviews with two different Newsweek reporters..one with Wired. The word is out. We broke the top 10,000 on Alexa a couple of times this week..

Bill, glad ya went, even if you didn't get to mention it, at least we now have a face out there for people to know *damn i really wish i had tech-tv!*

Code, great writeup man, thanks from all of us that couldn't watch it!

also, i have mentioned over the past week that i would be able to talk to Rep. Fred Upton R-MI 6th district today, and that i did, though not for long enough, only had a few minutes with him, but tomorrow i'm going to his office to talk with his right hand man there, and to set up an apt. for when he is back in town *they are in session right now so i know they don't have much free time* but he DID say that he doesn't like the tatics they are using and something needs to be done about it *sorry, slight paraphrase* and did express concerns about how they are using the DMCA in ways it wasn't intended for, so i'm going to keep fighting in person to get our point across, i did get to tell him that i'm part of the boycott and that i'm a member of boycott-riaa.com, so that news got out there at least!

also, if anyone else lives close to their reps offices, you can go in in person and usualy set up an apt to talk with them face to face, something i would encourage everyone to do that can

lets keep up the good fight!

United WE Stand

Wired eh? I visit their site everyday. Keep us all posted on that, as they generally have good content.

sorry, once again i'm posting this, as i will in a couple more places, great article, i feel it's a must read
http://www.msnbc.com/news/966393.asp?0bl=-0

bill got to mention the boycott better then i thought would let be outted in any media thay put are websit in caps locks at the bottom of a public show that whas being showin to millions around the world not just hear at the site o yea all the other web sites are up but i can't seem to get on www.boycott-riaa.com kinda seems fishie :0( but any way i been trying to get on boycott-riaa.com since yesterday and finnly i remembered dmusic holds are new also lol any way grate job bill even thoe thay really cut you short i whas hopeing you would be up next to chuck-d :0) but thats all i have to say for now

i'm a pi$$ed off pit bull with a taste of riaa blood and i'll neaver go back to eating my kibbles and bits

Thanks so much Bill, good to hear from you again, and congrats on the show, I hope you have many more opportunities to make more public appearances. I wish I could've seen it, but I don't get the channel.

Thanks again!

LOL...it wouldn't been hilarious if Bill could have slapped a boycott-riaa.com sticker on the limo that brought "Ted and Jeremy" to the show

Reminder-The show is rebroadcast today at 1 pm EST .

I was disappointed the RIAA didn't show. Chicken hearted bastards! Anyhoo, I was not happy that Bill didnt get more time. I agree he should have been up there with the panel. I know one damn thing for sure. I will never ever ever buy a Trick Pony CD!

I'm sorry, but who is Trick Pony and why should I care? Maybe the RIAA sent them in exchange for a big signing bonus (that the band will owe back to them with interest).

Crazy part is that The guy from Trick Pony said something to the effect that they aren't making royalties, and may not...

Even the RIAA says that 90% percent of the artists will never, ever recoup . Meaning that after their inital advance, which mostly goes to the recording, producers, studio time and related expenses, they will never be able to repay that and as a result NEVER will see a penny in royalties. NOT one cent..

I wish I had a nickel for everytime I've heard from former major label artists, "Get as much money as you can up front because you will never see another penny"..

That's a major reason why I'm here, Bill. The issue's been under my skin for years. Right now the battle's with p2p, but the long term goal of this site (for me at least) is to battle for the better treatment of artists and the other creative professionals who put together a cd.

I've always maintained that every artist on a label should recieve a base salary, profit sharing bonus, royalties, health insurance, 401k, and employee stock purchasing like any other corporation gives it's employees. The cost of promotion, studio time and other expenses should be part of the day to day operations of a major label and should never come out of the artist's pocket.

When the p2p issue ends, I hope people will stay on to fight this fight, too, because this one is the really tough battle. Since it doesn't involve the consumer but the artist, it's going to be tough to rally Joe America to really take an interest in it.

TheBeansprout said:
"If you could shrink that file down a tad, please upload it to my server, at:

ftp://82.32.111.232

It'll then be available for download for anyone who wants."
-----------

Hope you received those anti-RIAA jpgs I uploaded to your server...

JoeConsumer the cost for a full page ad in the NYT is approx $80,000 it would be nice...