Caveat- This article is my opinion and does not necessarily reflect the views of boycott-riaa.com .
_________________________________________

For every group or organization which has goals or a mission, it is altogether fitting and proper, to reevaluate those goals, and the vehicles which are being used to get there.

This site has become the premier site for many things. It has become a site to focus opposition to the RIAA, it has become a meeting place, a news source, and much more.

The site has matured and evolved in many ways, and with that maturation and evolution, I feel it is time for some serious discussion on what we are trying to accomplish, and on which methods are best for accomplishment of those goals.

Although we have seen changes in the way the site looks, and have lost and gained some members, through these transitions, the name has remained the same. "Boycott-riaa.com" is not just a URL , not just a nominal translation of dotted decimal numbers, it is a method for fighting injustice, and also, it makes a statement about how we as boycotters feel.

The RIAA is a trade organization, but, through their affirmative acts, to many, they have become a symbol of much more. Those of us who write a lot about this topic, as part of our OWN education on the issues, research a bit about the organization, and the more I have learned, the more entrenched I become in opposition to them.

Is our goal only to boycott the RIAA and associated labels and artists into stopping the lawsuits? That is not my goal, and not the goal as I understand it, from many others.

Many of the people who are closely associated with this site, George, Tom, Leflaw, and others, are musicians. From the standpoint of independent musicians (and I have had the pleasure of talking to many on this), the RIAA is an enemy. But of course, the RIAA is a "front end attack dog" for the big labels.

The RIAA is not only working at cross purposes with the independent's interests, but also with those interests of the fans and consumers. I have watched just about every public appearance and statement which has been shown on the media, of Mr. Cary Sherman. I watched, and reported on the Senate hearings featuring Valenti, Bainwol, et al. .

These people are all about control, and all about the money. They don't care about you as an independent musician, and they don't care in a real human sense, about consumers and fans. Of course, this is my opinion from their actions and statements, and I cannot know their hearts.

I may be 180 degrees out of synch with everyone, but I have felt that we are trying to boycott the RIAA out of existence. I have heard rumblings that this is not feasible, not reality, and that we should get used to working with them.

I believe that is wrong. I believe that is defeatist.
I am not saying that this fight is easy. They have the ear of politicians, they have the major media, they have the lawyers, the money, and a de facto monopoly of the recorded music industry.

But I look at the passion which George, Leflaw, Tom Barger and so many others have for winning this fight. I see the time, the money, the commitment, that many may not see, and I am extremely proud, and humbled, to stand behind the men and women who have a dream, a dream of freedom for artists to control their own destiny.

I stand for the freedom of artists to retain their copyrights, to stream their own music on the Net. And, I am humbled by the years these fine people have put in this fight. None of these people got into this yesterday, and I am sure, all of them have had times when they felt overwhelmed in the fight.

But, did they whine and talk about giving up? No. They gritted their teeth, clenched their fists, and fought harder, and that's why this site is here and that's why we are winning.

I haven't talked much about specific methods and goals. I am going to ask readers to address what THEIR perspectives are on this. For me, the goal is achieving a level playing field of major artists and independents. It is about promoting the rights of consumers to have the same rights for private, non-commercial use of digital song files that they do with analog files under the 1992 Home Audio Recording Act. It is about reform of Copyright Laws to make them more fair to consumers and artists alike.

And, if we are ever to have anything resembling
a fair interaction with the big labels, we must remove the four letter stumbling block, the RIAA.

I really want to hear your opinions about where we are, where we are going, and how best to get there.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

~CodeWarrior

Code, excellect. I almost expected to hear America the Beautiful playing in the background as I read this.

I agree but at the moment I'm at a loss as to what can be done next. I'm furious at the way they conduct business not just because of the music but because of the control they exert. I'm very anti corporation. They are a necessary evil for the economy however should be controled not the controllers.
This goes way beyond sharing music from my view. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect the demise of the RIAA. They only exist as long as the labels supprot the group. perhaps that's a way to go about it, through the labels.

As far as the media goes, my fingers are numb from all of the emails I've written to news orginazations around the country. You know what I got as a response. I don't know how to crack that armor either.

Politicians can be changed, that perhaps is where we should concentrate. orginizing a voter registration drive in the key areas where the politicians support for the RIAA is strongest. California, Texas, utah, (I know I've missed a few) and target those younger voters who want a change and make sure they go out and vote.

So between that and hitting the labels where it hurts I humbly look to read different ideas

My goal, or wish, is to have the digital media on the internet legalized and therefore putting an end to harassing and lawsuits about what we're doing on the internet. It's a give and take scenario however, and we shouldn't expect instanteous free access to whatever we want.

Unauthorized transfer of material to a widespread playable form without first purchasing the original product needs to enforced somehow. CD quality mp3s being released from the album before it's release has to stop. Once the CD hits the stores, then it would be all right to have/trade the mp3s as the purchasable product is then available.

The definition, and fine line between "art" and "business" needs to be reexamined, and we have to take a look at where we will be in the future technology-wise. We can assume computers will get better, newer sound formats with higher quality and compression will be invented. Download speeds will increase and utilizing them will become cheaper. All of these things support trade of digital materials on a scale that is not regulatable. In order to prevent it, we would have to regress backwards in technology, and philosophy and that's never a good thing.

Digital media on the computer, even copies of "copyrighted material" are still limited to the computer. You can deal with the physical world, but the digital one is way beyond any governments grasp.

Due to the repeated allegations of influence peddling in this case, as well as other situations that may (or may not) be interpreted as 'buying votes', I've seriously contemplated the idea of advocating a "no confidence" vote until the rules regarding the ability to investigate such things (as in the Sensenbrenner case) are amended to allow the people to demand an investigation in an effective manner. Currently it seems anything we say can be "taken under advisement" (read: ignored at will). Yes, we can vote out certain individuals, but if the people replacing said individuals are also playing the "influence peddling game", what are we really gaining? Six of one, half a dozen of the other?

My understanding is that currently the only people who can initiate such an investigation are legislators, who (it is alleged) will never do so as they themselves benefit from the aforementioned scam. This, clearly, is a proverbial case of the inmates running the asylum. [Side note: To some extent this also applies to the record industry, in that the people on the business end who decide what 'fair market price' is for music are also the same persons who are benefiting from its overinflation. Hmm. Perhaps regulation (similar to utility companies) might be in order?] It seems to me that getting the procedures fixed would not only benefit our case, but be beneficial to the voting public in general.

To sum up, I believe a no confidence vote would send a message- said message being, "we the people are tired of your "magician's force" games, and we aren't going to play this game with you any more."

Thoughts?

I need to correct Code. I DID whine and talk about giving up and it was not too very long ago. Fortunately, no one listened to me and it didn't take long for me to get drawn back.

I can't speak for leflaw or Tom, or anyone else. My perception of the purpose of this site is to level the playing field for the independent artists.

Bill Evans created this site, I believe in response to the Napster case, which is when the RIAA first came out of the closet, with Hilary Rosen transforming the organization from a silent giver of gold records to the voice of the labels.

The actual problem is the labels themselves, of which the RIAA is merely an extension. It goes far beyond the scope of copyright and extends to the dominance of the market for recorded music, which has been a problem for decades.

All the fuss over copyrights is intended to criminalize the free exchange of music via mp3s and the Internet or, at the very least, cover it with the cloak of illegitimacy. This is merely the continuation of a trend to control the very ability to record and distribute music without their approval, the reason for restrictions on the sales of CD-R with content on major venues (Yahoo, eBay), playlist influence with conglomerates such as Clear Channel, services which charge independents for promotion while paying royalties to major label artists (mp3.com), and "legitimate" music sites which exclude music from independent labels.

If you are unfortunate enough to actually receive a major label contract, you can expect to lose control of your copyrights and your advance is most likely the last royalty payment you'll ever see from the label unless you sell multi-millions of copies. Even then, it may not be enough.

The recording industry, as I have often said, was created to connect the artists with the consumers. It now stands between the artists and consumers. Therefore, it has ceased to perform its function.

In the process, the individual members of the RIAA have colluded their copyrights to control all negotiations involving the recording industry, to the exclusion of all other voices. This is antitrust.

They have also begun to use this power, gained entirely through collusion, to extort the consumers directly with legal threats, a potential violation of the RICO statutes, in the opinion of several attorneys.

Additionally, the RIAA, which purports to be a U.S. corporation, is run by the five major labels, four of which are headquartered in foreign countries.

I agree that the goal is a level playing field. In fact, it existed for a brief time at mp3.com, prior to Vivendi's unceremonious gutting of the service.

Not happy with this, the RIAA has pressured the webcasters into tighter playlists with fewer independent artists featured, excluded the webcasters from CARP negotiations and done their very best to instill the same control of content they possess with the terrestrial broadcast world.

The RIAA is merely a weapon of the labels that misdirects attention from them, although the RIAA IS the labels.

Dismantling the RIAA would only serve the purpose of restoring at least some semblence of competition to the world of music. They've owned it for the past century.

Now it's our turn.

I get the feeling the boycott is working when I see CD aisles empty at Borders, Barnes and Noble, Best Buy, Target, Wal-mart, and not as much people at Newbury Comics. Very rarely will I see anyone look at CD's and I never see anyone buy them.

Yeah, what George said...

Seriously, I see no need for the riaa. (An organization I despise so badly I refuse to capitalize just out of spite.) Like wise I see no need for the mpaa. The whole issue to me comes down to control. They have it and will not give it up. As long as the industry controls the artists there is no freedom. That loosely translates into the following statement... "I'll tell you what you like and what you don't like..."

What are my goals? I'd like to see a total overhaul of copyright laws which allows artists/writers/performers to own and control their own work. I've written a number of letters to congress on this very topic and have not yet received a reply. My humble opinion is that it should be illegal to force artists into these rapist contracts which amount to indentured servancy. I want to see the law changed to reflect that, allowing a label to hold the rights to an artists work for no more than 5 years. (yeah I'm dreaming)

I'd like to see the special interest groups that pay politicians off (the riaa, the mpaa etc) closed down and I'd like a good healthy dose of campaign reform which prevents politicians from accepting money from these groups.

I'd like to see a responsibly run internet which allowed people to share works, thoughts and ideas without fear of a major corporation biting their heads off and sucking out their fluids.

I'd like to go to Miami and hear a radio station that didn't sound like the one in Los Angeles or Fort Worth or Las Vegas. Local flavor is just that. If you want cajun food you go to New Orleans. Likewise if I want to listen to The Beat Farmers I tune in cowpunk radio. Unfortunately, the only thing I hear on "Mix 96.5 thru 108.3" is the flavor of the month brittney, justin, the anticrist (madonna).

There is an election on Tuesday, I'd like to see all the people who are tired of the political nonsense band together and vote some of these corrupt, lifetime politicians out of office.

Finally, I'd like to see a system which allows artists to produce entertainment that may not be commercially viable but still has appeal. The Band "Little Feat" has never had a huge public appeal yet they sell out concerts on a regular basis so there is obviously a market for what they do. I'd like to see that market grow and expand without the record industry writing these acts off as "illegitimate" and "unmarketable".

And of course I'd really like to see someone punch oral hatch in the nose and tell him to get a clue. Actually I'd like to be the one to punch oral hatch in the nose but theat's a different rant.

those are my goals, now would you like to know how I would implement them?

Please, Captain Dunsel. Tell us.

Here follows a collection of my relatively on-topic thoughts, roughly separated by paragraphes and beginning with:

"Hear, all ye good people, hear what this brilliant and eloquent speaker [Code and all those who have posted long, thoughtful comments] has to say!"
Not only that. Act on it too.


My personal belief is that Mr. Sherman and co are no different from say Mr. McBride of SCO. They're both in it for the money, and they don't care how they get there. (In this case, suing minors and users of the GPL, respectively).

Perhaps a large flash-mob style gathering to gatecrash a corporate event? If executed correctly, it could turn out pretty well. By correctly, I mean dignified, perhaps mildly tongue-in-cheek.

As captdunsel said, local flavour is a big thing. I've recently heard John Mayer, Lea Salonga and Josh Groban, via p2p and friends I know. Turns out that Lea has acted in Miss Saigon and was very good. But did any of her records get in to the charts, or even to common publice knowledge? No. Why? Britney, Justin, that kinda stuff. It's terrible and it must stop.

I now hear people talking about music and how manufactured it is. Even my grandparents are in on it. It's the teenagers (my age and younger) who need to be cracked, who need to be shows the wider world of music.

The message is spreading. Most of the commenters on slashdot are wise to it, now, which is a large userbase. However, the RIAA/MPAA are also spreading their "advice," including a pdf activity pack sent to schools across America:
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/headline/tech/2176045

Which includes such wonderful activities as:
" The Starving Artist is a discussion based game where students are divided in group and shall produce a CD but then they are ripped off by "file swapping". "how does this makes you feel?" "

How does *that* make you feel?

It makes me think "thank God for us lot".

~The End. Apologies for this rather un-coordinated comment.

I agree whole heartedly that the RIAA must be terminated. It has become obsolete and destructive, controlling, manipulating, and depriving artists and customers. The fight can be disheartening at times, but like you said code you become entrenched as have I.

I want to see the RIAA dissolved and musicians start negotiating deals with p2p software to distribute music at a price the artist chooses, and that the artist will receive when the music is purchased. This can make the process of making a fanbase much easier. As long as the band has access to recording equipment (like the local studios George reported on, or more sophiscated one) they can negotiate with a p2p software or multiple ones. They could offer sample songs, and also decide the prices of their songs, perhaps even have sales.

The software could even have featured artists every week or month to get bands names out there. Or perhaps it could recommend bands similiar to those you sampled or bought.

Ultimately, I do believe copyright reform is necessary. The current system is absolutely absurd. Art isn't always something new, its being able to take something and make it your own. That not only goes for music, but for any other form of art, which is why 70 after the artists lifespan is far far to long.

Also the "work for hire" amendment absolutely needs to be removed, and the artists should own the copyright to their music, not the labels. And since they will be negotiating with p2p for online distribution, which as I spoke of before could help increase their popularity, then they really wouldn't need a label. Perhaps an agent for scheduling things like tours, or talking to the p2p owners, but the artists could use the internet as an enormous tool to spread their music.

There may already be some sites like this, but since the labels would be gone for the most part, sites could establish themselves to feature artists, perhaps charging a small fee from the artist to feature them.

A complete cessation of DRM should also be a goal, with DRM, its impossible to keep the internet and computers as free as they can be.

Sorry if this was a little sporadic, I just typed as the ideas came to me.

Suikio

Just a question, if the RIAA is disbanded, legally found wrong, do all the people that settled get their money back? Or rather, even if they're not legally required to give it back, will the RIAA admit they were wrong and give it back on their own accord? I think not, because they're just in it to get your money, not for any righteous protection of rights.

Give it back? Willingly? The RIAA?

You must be joking.

A class-action lawsuit could force them to pay it back, plus punitive damages. But willingly? Never.

Our goal as I see it, is to resist the forces that are impeding the natural evolution of technology, economy and nature.

The bottom line is the creative works distribution paradigm changed. When it did, the RIAA lost its grip and they don't want to let it go. Their reaction is undersatndable and rather predictible, so, we have to make them give it up.

A webiste like this can only go so far. What needs to happen is groups need to be formed to go out into the real world and advocate.

For example, there should be tables set up on the weekends at farmer's markets and other similar places, where people can interact with the average citizen and advocate our position. Which as I see it, is that the people downloading music are desperate to help compensate the artists, but the majors are standing in the way.

At least a table at Venice Beach.

The guys at Downhillbattle are doing a great job. We need to spread the word and grow into a losely affiliated national organization that can seriously effect public opinion.

A possiblemodel for we could do is the PIRG model. Where we get young people to go door to door soliciting money to pay them a modest sum to spread the word.

By the way, I do mean to give acknowledgement and respect to Bill Evans for all he has done in this fight.
Thank you Bill .
~Code

I would like to see some payback for the congress people supporting this agenda. Tauzin, Smith, Berman, etc. need to be ousted. I suppose the MPAA and RIAA will just hire them but special interest money and large corporations have wrested control of the government out of the hands of the people. This needs to be stopped. We need to keep getting the word out and if one of these people is up for re-election, we must increase the pressure. People do read letters to the editor and we must bring these issues up in their districts.
I do believe the boycott is showing some success and that it will grow. There are still many people who do not know which is as I suspected but the word is getting out and people will continue to join up.
This morning, I was watching E!News and the David, the music correspondent, nearly made me fall out of my chair. After listing the top albums and Big Champagne top downloads, he mentioned that 80 more lawsuits had been filed and that the companies were still suing their fan-base. He said "Way to go guys! (With a big thumbs up heavy on the sarcasm.) The other two anchors were just staring at him. Had to have watched, it was funny!

Sometimes I feel voting just doesn't do any good,but I still vote , just so as I can complain !! Maybe some one with some political savvy could be informing the rest of us as to which representitive could be targeted, because we know incumbents ie; hatch etc are almost unbeatable$$$$ boycott,vote and whatnot!!! 10/4 flbgbt & recall ahnold hwood please$$$$

I think we need to get the INFO on this site out to the masses of people on the web. If a whole lot more people KNEW what WE know then this boycott could bring down the RIAA and make the 5 major lables change there tactics. the folks who did the halloween Raves had a artists bill of Rights which gave atrists a FAIR deal with recording contracts does boycott Riaa have one ????If not IT should!!! This site should repersent the music Fans and and the boycott should make these large corp. deal with the leaders here at boycott Riaa so the music fans can get what they want and bands and artists can get a fair shake and the big 5 can still make money.DMCA Laws must be revoked this can all happen if a boycott cut's off the cash flow to the major 5 labels!!! IF the USA had not had the GREAT LABOR movement back in the 20's where do you think the workers would be today . Unions did alot of good to raise the standard of living for avearage folks. yet business made more money when workers were treated better. That's the difference between USA and some other countries!!! WE the music FANS and INDIE artists and MAJOR ARTISTS have got to make the big 5 Change their business or else the boycott remains until they do or don't exist!! Why can't these corp. take a page from history!!! NO instead they want to go back to the 20.s LOOK at all the JOBS being lost because of big corp. moving production overseas???WHY CHEAP LABOR!!! but if WE don't have the money to buy it how are they going to sell it!!! I say let the Riaa have it's musack till it rots on the shelf!!!! After all the new cd's are going to be made of CORN!! lol STAY AWAY from the RIAA!!!

Did not we create these monsters???

Think about it, many artists want the big payday, the house in the "Hills", areas full of adoring fans, and spinners on the Escallade. Many sold there souls to get there. They could have said no.

When everything was on vinyl there was many companies to deal with, then came tape and finally came CD. The labels sold it to us as a cost reduction, it was not, it became a cost increase. We should have stopped it at that time, we didn't. The Labels wanted things their way, but finally free enterprise endured and P2P became what it is. Now the Labels fear for their lives, shareholders will oust them, and the will sue everyone. We could have stopped them in 99, we did not.

Finally computers, Bill Gates rolled over the competition, folks became entranced with free music. But there is no way to pay the artists, DMCA and Sony Bono made sure the copyright laws were wrong and ASCAP was shut out of the internet. We could have stopped this.


Now is the time to get out the shear numbers and expose the RIAA for what it is. Do whatever it takes to get the word out. And it wouldn't hurt to get some of the internet/computer pioneers involved too. Anybody send a letter about this to Yoko Ono? Lennon would have diapproved of the current state of affairs.


Oh, one more thing, if you artists think that yours is the only group/profession to get screwed by large corporations, I got news for you. Don't feel like the Lone Ranger, and join the club, it happens to everyone. The only difference is you can read it on a contract BEFORE you sign on the line. Many of us work without a contract of any sort and have no contract or line to sign on.

I am here because I want to fight for OUR RIGHTS! The goals to teach big businesses that they can't keep screwing the people under them aka employees and consumers. All industries included.. Regardless of what some people think I believe that all of it goes together. How else can they be so strong against WE THE PEOPLE who put them where they are? The ones they still want to screw and screw till there are so many people who are poor in the world while they sit on their high horses and command what we do with their money.. it's unfair I do what I can do to the fact I am not rich.. I sent out to all my friends and hope they passed it on about this site. I wrote all over the BMG music envelope for everyone to see that I am boycotting them and the movie business. I wish I could do more. What is up here are EVERYONES RIGHTS! Our Freedoms that are slowly dissipating. All I can do is continue to boycott. Out of me telling others, friends have also started to boycott.. one friend did have BMG and cancelled it.. we have to keep spreading the word in anyway we can.. I'm here for the long haul till we do get our freedoms back! The internet does NOT BELONG TO ANY CERTAIN PERSON IT BELONGS TO ALL OF US WHO PAY HARD EARNED CASH TO USE IT! STOP CONTROL!!!!! STOP RIAA, MPAA and VOTE for someone who isn't a BIG MONEY MAKER IN POLITICS!!! By the way also check and see how many of them are connected to the masons.. If you ever watch about this countries history you will see that at least 99% of politicians belong to it.. dag that felt good thank you Codewarrior for letting me air a bit.. Thank you to this site and the many others who are fighting to stop so much control!

Well, since you asked....

Let's start with the basics.

*IF YOU'RE NOT UP FOR A RANT SKIP DOWN TO THE SUMMARY*

!. the dmca is unconstitutional and should be repealed. This is no small task. Just for scale let's revisit prohibition. When the government finally got the idea that they had pushed the populace too far, prohibition went away. It wasn't about some poor bastard not getting a beer, it was about not only widescale rebellion but a far more serious matter. (that being Al Capone and the specter of organized crime taking over)When congress finally realized that the special interest money they were getting was not worth the civil strife that was coming, prohibition was repealed.

How does that relate here? We need to clearly define some terms.

1. Intellectual property. music is not intellectual property it is art. that's why they call them artists. to treat it any other way is to invite confusion and mayhem into your home. this needs to be impressed into the collective psyche of those making laws. Solution-define the law and the terms based upon the needs and desires of those who create it not upon those who wish to control it.

About now you're asking what I'm smoking but think about it. Those who create laws should not have a conflict of interest with those laws. I submit to you that anyone who accepts money from a special interest group should not be allowed to make laws concerning that groups interests. If oral hatch wants to kiss up to the riaa he should not be allowed to vote on or introduce legislation which pertains to them. How do we get to that point? Say it with me, campaign finance reform. Yes it hurts. Say it again. Keep saying it until soft money contributions, pacs and corporate lobbying groups are illegal. When those groups can't influence the outcome of an election then they become powerless. Would you like to know who the worst are? Senator John McCain (r) AZ can probably tell you more about that than I could.

Now let's go back to the DMCA. In it's current form does it protect artists? no. Does it protect the creator of a work? not really. I've written two books and a movie and on the copyright forms I filled out for all of them the emphasis was on whether or not those were "works for hire" not on whether or not I was seeking protections for my own purposes. What's wrong with this picture. The only time the copyright means anything is if I'm getting it for somebody else? This has to change. The solution here is to adjust the law to prevent companies from taking the rights to someone else's work and then locking the work away. I've said this before, It should be illegal to keep the rights to someone else's work for more than 5 years. If you wish to sell your work at fair market vallue that is your business but empowering the industry to bully an artist into signing the rights to their work away basically forever is just plain criminal. This is the crux of the whole matter here. The dmca was written to protect corporations not creators. By enacting it, congress gave the schoolyard bully permission to beat us up and take our lunch money but only if they get their cut. Take away their cut and take the people who collect it out of the loop and the bully won't have that support.

Additionally we have to undertstand that our country should not be making laws to protect foriegn interests. If I go to another country to work I'm bound by the rules that they establish. It should be that way here. The recording industry is mostly based outside of the US. Why are we changing our laws to accomodate them? I would call that a conflict of interest and if I remember right the government made it pretty rough on people who tried to introduce un-American concepts and activities during the McCarthy era. I'm not saying we need to go back to that but we sure as hell don't have to kiss their ass either.

Can this be done? yes but I'm afraid a lot more people will have to be sued before it happens and those doing the suing are not stupid. When the heat get too intense they will lighten up enough to divert attention away from themselves.

Reform will only come when congress sees that something bigger and stronger is coming. right now all they hear is grumbling and they can live with that. when they start having to worry that the outlaw elements are stronger and better organized than they are then they will have to fight to survive. Now we are back to something I said a while back. These people want to take every freedom you have, they want to charge you every penny you have and criminalize everything you do that they cannot control. Soon I will be a felon because I want to listen to a song. They will take away my ability to make an honest living and force me to become a felon. When that happens I will have to give up my law abiding life and live the existence they have chosen for me. When enough people have been treated this way, they will organize and become the threat they are made out to be, just like Capone did. And if they think I'm hurting them now wait till I have nothing to lose.

SUMMARY FOR THOSE WHO SKIPPED OVER THE RANT:

1. Change the laws concerning campaign finance and contributions.

2. prevent anyone who has a conflict of interest with a legislative issue from voting on or introducing legislation on that issue.

3. prevent foreign special interests from influencing US legislation.


That's how.

High FIVE compmore!

Oops sorry for the extra post High FIVE
captdunsel!

CodeWarrior, thank you for posting this. I have been waiting for this group to have more of a discussion about what's next. For me personally, the RIAA is dead. I've already stopped buying CDs, and I won't start buying from their Conned-Artists again no matter what price they are dropped to. I am in agreement with you. This is not just about getting them to stop suing people. I want them gone altogether. However, I don't think that this can just stop with the RIAA. As far as I can see they are just the latest symptom of some much bigger issues.

BEWARE, RANTING AHEAD (Skip down to my main point if ranting hurts your head.)

As I see it there is a major war afoot. We have started some of the rumblings of it with this boycott, but this issue goes far beyond this boycott. As with any war, there comes a time when you need to start gathering allies. We've got two major fronts on this war.

On the one front there is the issue of copyright and intellectual property. Obviously, this affects more than just music. What about the writers? Are some of them feeling the screws being turned a bit too tightly by their publishers? Also, are there no major artists out there that are willing to speak out about this? I've seen some names thrown around, but I don't find myself familiar with most of them. I know that p2p is a hot button issue, and not everyone wants to get on board with it. However, this issue of intellectual property, who gets to own what ideas and sounds, is something that a lot more people can get behind. The simple fact of the matter is that if more artists owned the rights to their own music, the whole notion of p2p would be much less of a threat. Individuals will find a way to make money and survive off of what they know how to do, one way or another. Having your music put out to the public through p2p is a great way for any one artist to gain name recognition. However, when we're talking about the RIAA, we are talking about a cover organization for a bunch of overbloated corporations who only know how to use a heavy handed approach to making money; that's by trying to control everything.

The second front is control of the government. Who has it? To quote dumby, "special interest money and large corporations have wrested control of the government out of the hands of the people." There is a fleet of allies just waiting for us to sail on over on this issue. We need to start identifying some of them. As stated above, I know that everyone is not necessarily on board with the idea of p2p. However, there must be enough people out there as frustrated as we are with the fact that government officials are either sitting on their hands with regard to civil liberties in this country or are outright taking money from the very corporations who are part of ensuring that citizens of this country are stripped of those liberties. Surely, that frustration must outweigh any issues that one might have with p2p.

Also, on the issue of countries, these corporations are multinational are they not? Here's another thought. These multinationals would have a much more difficult time of trying to erode our civil liberties here if they had to keep an eye out for business woes worldwide. I don't think that anyone is getting sued abroad yet, but in my opinion, it's just a matter of time. Why not encourage some of our brethren and sisteren (is that a word?) across the seas and across our borders to become more proactive. Strike at the corporations before they have a chance to strike at the public the way that they have here.

OKAY, THIS IS THE POINT THAT I'M TRYING TO MAKE:

The point that I'm trying to make is that I do believe that we can achieve our goals, but our goals have to start reaching beyond just the RIAA and the issue of p2p. That's just one small piece of the pie. At the very least we need to make this one smaller issue more global in terms of proactivity (i.e., getting these multinationals where it hurts on a global scale). The easiest way for us to not achieve any more goals would be to remain isolated. For all the damage that we have done to the bottom line of major record labels, we could very easily and quickly lose ground if we don't progress further beyond what we've accomplished so far. The public has a very short memory. What the RIAA wants is for us to stay isolated. They want to distribute their propaganda to the press and to the children in the schools. The same major corporations that own these record labels are the same ones that own the major television networks. We have to stop appealing to their sense of fair journalism and start giving them something that they can't ignore. In their song "Sleep Now in The Fire", Rage Against The Machine has a line mimicking the voice of corporate and governmental power to the public, "so raise your fists and march around, just don't take what you need." That's what we need to do more of, taking what we need. We've made a really good start with this boycott. We are withholding from the corporations what they want, money. Now we need to start taking what we need, freedom - whether artistic or political.

Code, you inspired this dialogue, and the creators of this site inspired the whole boycott. I think what we need from all of you now is an outline of ideas for one or two major issues to focus our next moves. I've already given my two cents worth on a few issues: copyright, corporate control of government, and global boycott. We then need a list of potential allies. I can tell you right now that I'm not well connected, but someone associated with this site or who frequents this site must be. We need to begin dialogue with anyone and everyone who could help advance the cause of artistic and political freedom. Freedoms that this country seems to be hemorrhaging down the sewers lately.

Okay, I'm done.

We need a plan. With priorities.

1. No more RIAA
2. Oust polititcians opposed to our view.
3. Get some response from artists.
4. Publicity!
5. Publicity!


It's just like, "if you build it, they will come." If we have a plan, and implement it, this will all happen. We've been sitting around talking about it for some time now. Perhaps it is time for some action.

daisymae321 - your post was just what I hoped to accomplish, i.e. I wanted to hear what people are really thinking, and how far they think the injustices are going, and how big a fight this really is.

I just want to thank you personally for all the thought and good ideas you shared with us. You, and all the other folks here, with good hearts, courage, imagination, and a thirst for freedom, is why WE will win, and not "them".

So, a thank you to you, and to EVERYONE, seriously.

~CodeWarrior

I posted why this was important to me at
http://www.boycott-riaa.com/forums/copyright/1824
some time ago.

I agree totally with captdunsel. The DMCA is absurd. It must be repealed. Copyright must be reformed to protect consumers and Fair Use! Personal non-commercial use must be fair use.

In the past it was the software industry, today we are fighting the RIAA. In a few short years we will be fighting the MPAA over the same issues. The future of the internet hangs in the balance.

Will it continue to be a place of free exchange or will it forever be dominated by corporate interests?

Now is the turning point. Now the fight must be won!

By locking up the art of the past via copyright, the derivative art of the future is abolished. The artists of the past are destroying the art of the future. When the first thing any artist thinks is "Will this get me sued?" There is something very wrong in this world.

I fight, too, for the rights of parents to control and manage content for their children. Many say this is censorship, but today, the technology exist for a parent to rip a DVD edit out the scenes that they do not want the kids to see, and re-burn this to a new DVD. Copy protection removes this right of parental control. A benefit of this is that adults can see the full content without restriction, but parents still have ultimate control in their own home. However, if left unchecked the RIAA and MPAA will remove this right from everyone with copyprotection schemes.

We must fight to make digital the same as analog. It's is ludicrous to think otherwise. Sound is sound, pictures are pictures, words are words; why does it matter how and where they are inscribed? The entertainment industry is desperately fighting to regain the control lost with the VHS and other home recording gear. If they get their way, all we worked for in the 80’s will be lost.

I wish I could say this was just about music, but, it’s not. I fight this, not for what I will personally gain, but for what society must not lose.

"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country." - Thomas Jefferson

Yeah, code, thanks for addressing my concerns. Thanks for creating this thread as a response to my comments.

Now answer me this, how are you going to take down the RIAA, if you or anyone else has any real idea on how to do this I'd like to hear it, class action? Sign me up. I'll do it. RICO, anti-trust? I'll do what I can to help.

Look, I get the message that you think I'm defeatist, thanks, that's just great, so much for you being mr. supportive. I'm not, I'm going to fight this as hard as you're willing to yourself, all I've said is that I don't imagine for a minute that the two or three hundred people who regularly frequent this site are going to single handedly take down a multinational five headed hydra with more money and influence than god himself without some kind of international big money lobbying effort that can rally millions to our cause. You show me that that is happening and I might believe that we have a chance in taking down the RIAA. You've stated your goals of eliminating them, but no one has a plan. No one. I want to see one, I don't want to see us spending months contemplating our navels to get one going either, because I guarantee, if we don't get loud and active quick, we will see ourselves gaping in disbelief as congress forces the RIAA to agree to compulsory licensing or something and we were too busy calling for the death of the RIAA to actually notice.

So I'm sorry if you think that's defeatist, but when you talk about bringing down the RIAA, I honestly have to wonder whether you have any idea how to do it, nor have I seen any clear action to do so.

I'm glad you posted this Code, I'll give myself credit for a change for rattling you enough to do it.

I still like you code, don't take my frustration as something personal.

Have a super-duper day!

Paul

the thread had nothing to do with your comments paul, so please don't take it personally. as for the defeatist comment, I was talking about an attitude, not you personally.

i can only say you seem to be in the minority.

thank you for your input.
~Code

With that said, this is what I think would make a good first step. We get an intensive letter writing campaign going, even if it's a form letter that we all sign, we write every trade publication, every news source, every independent record label and artist. We contact major acts, Bowie, Moby, Courtney, Janis Ian, Neil Young, every one that's made comments about this issue and get them to link to us, comment on the issue regularly, push our cause to their fans. We form a lobbying group, we get people in washinton, we rent an office, send people out to question the politicos whenever they're on camera, we call people, we do mass mailings, globally. We contact news sources and persuade them to dig deeper into the RIAA and their labels' practices. Expose the music industry on a mass media scale.

We post those letters and links in a permanent "accomplishments" area on this site so newbies can immediately see what we're doing. We keep the pressure up on a mass media scale. We must look at moveon.org and eff.org as examples of how to set up fundraising and petitioning efforts, we bring them in on the fight. They are not in it with us yet. They need to be.

I don't want to just see platitides and reasons why we're here and what we want to see happen, I want us to take steps.

We need media reps, people pounding the pavement to get us air time. We need to raise money to air commercials in prime time. We need print ads, radio ads, banner ads, we need to get our message to the millions on p2p sites, to artists, to consumers. The first wave of this needs to be awareness and we need infrastructure to do that. This website can no longer sustain the movement, it's bigger than this little corner of the internet can hold, we have to move to other mediums now. Putting fliers on lightposts is not enough. Wearing t-shirts and putting stickers on things is not enough.

We need to go public. That's my challenge to you all.

Have a wonderful day!

Paul

I'm not as good with words as code, george, tom, or leflaw, but the way I see this is something akin to the dark ages, only then, it was the church who took knowledge from the poeple; killed people who had knowledge, and kept knowledge hidden away from the people for centuries, now it's the RIAA.
I don't trade alot of music specifically, but I do trade in books, film clips (not movies though, takes too long on my 56K), and software; however I do believe someone IS entitled to try to make thier money from a work they have created, but the life+70 years is WAY too long, and the 95 years that a corporation gets, is out of the question.
I could see 20-30 years as being reasonable... but the rest of us should have a right to hoard all we can after that.
A few will think I'm a bit off the deep end for my reasoning though...
If a MAJOR catastrophy were to happen, the more places information is stored, the better chance it has of being retained. It's THAT black and white to me.
In closing.... I'm loyal and passionate for a cause... you smarter guys just come up with the battle plan... I'll fight!!!

you want a plan eh? ok let's work on that. how about everybody takes 1 blank postcard and writes on the back

GIVE CARY SUE SHEMAN AN ENEMA, REPEAL THE DMCA!


Now mail that postcard to congress care of oral hatch. I'm serious here. About 20,000 post cards later and good old oral is going to lose his patients and his charm.

less than $1 and two minutes of your time.

turn the heat on and keep it on, every week we come up with a pain in the ass stunt designed to make these idiots look.

The next week we can all unroll a cassette tape and fluff it up then mail it to the riaa with a note saying "WE'RE DONE WITH WITH YOUR MUSIC, YOU CAN HAVE IT BACK".

Then we could hire a bunch of sweaty fat guys to go hang out in the lobby of the riaa corporate office and stink up the place.

you want action? we got action.

Minority of what? Wishful thinking? The RIAA aren't just a few guys in suits, they represent a huge international cabal of big money interests. I want to know how you plan to bring them down.

I want to see an end to violence, to huge corporations that do more harm than good, I have no illusions that I will get what I want, but I feel elation at every small step taken forward and know that there's always going to be a small part of that victory that stings, but I move forward and keep up the fight, hope drives my actions, but reality keeps me focused, allows me not to become disillusioned, the end will not be what I hoped but it will be a vast improvement. The civil rights movement didn't end racism, but a whole lot of good came from it. I don't think the RIAA will ever go away, but it may be forced into being a better, kinder RIAA through our efforts, maybe in a couple generations it will have outlived it's usefulness, but the idea of it will still exist, the big money of the labels will always be able to form another lobbying arm, and this is the disease, the RIAA is a symptom. I don't see how this is a minority view. I know you and everyone else here knows this, I just want to know how you think you're going to end it.

How will you bring down the big 5 and make sure that the men who run them won't just start again? Please don't avoid the question.

Have a fantastical day!

Paul

capt, are you joking? so we're supposed to win this battle by sending practical jokes to the people we're trying to influence?

I like the idea from a personal standpoint, I really do, but I think we need support, not people thinking we're just a bunch of pranksters.

Although, I love the tape idea.

Let's hear more!

Paul

Paulruss,

I believe whole-heartedly, that it is possible.

We, this small group of "Davids", can defeat this multinational "Goliath". My biggest concern with this , however, is money. It's the old golden rule,"Them with the gold, makes the rules".

I think we should invest in this cause, if we truly believe in it. It should'nt cost any one person very much, as there are many of us.

I know we have place on this site for donations, but maybe we could set some sort of goal, and keep a running tally?

You are right also that this is a much bigger battle than just the death of the RIAA. The fight for our freedoms is constantly an on going thing.

Sorry if I went somewhat off topic, I'm in quite a bit of pain today, and it's a little hard to concentrate.

Anyways, as always

Your friend and comrade in arms,
WABBITMAN

paulruss I believe there are alot more than a few hundred that visit this site.. they just aren't saying anything.. some may when one of us hits a sour note or says something they agree with.. GET A COUNTER on here guys.. let's see how many people visit here a day.. I know I'm here off and on about 6 or so times a day but still if the tally is super high then it gives ideas to actually how many people do visit here

Come on Code, I know you have a plan. When are you going to share it with us?

By the way, did anyone see 60 minutes tonight about downloading movies and Leslie Stahl constantly telling the world that downloading is illegal? Shall we all email CBS?

Things we need in a nice neat list:

A COUNTER

AN ACCOMPLISHMENTS PAGE

AN ACTION PAGE WITH DAILY UPDATES (ONLINE PETITIONS, LETTERS, FAXES)

AN INTERNATIONAL MEDIA PUSH (RADIO, TV, BANNER ADS, MASS MAILINGS, TELEMARKETING, PRINT IN EVERY MAJOR TRADE AND NEWS PUBLICATION)

MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES

A RESEARCH DEPARTMENT

A WASHINGTON LOBBYING GROUP

CELEBRITY SUPPORT AND ACTIVE PARTICIPATION

THE ENVOLVEMENT OF EFF.ORG AND MOVEON.ORG

FUNDRAISING EFFORTS

That's my shortlist.

churchkey, yes, we should, that can be a part of a new action and accomplishment page, if we had one, we could report any pro-riaa press and immediately have addresses posted to the guilty media outlet. It can be a form letter that we add comments to, the amount of letters sent gets logged on a counter, any response gets posted permanently on the accomplishments page.

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/60minutes/main3415.shtml
click on "the download spiral" to the right, read the story then:

click feedback at the waaaay bottom of the page and write your opinions there.

I have a subscription to entertainment weekly and will keep you posted on any nastiness they print.

If you want us to move forward then we need to keep an avid media watch and respond en masse to every journalistic breach committed.

A plan of attack is needed, no question, the sooner the better. Any action is better than no action.

Cary Sue mentioned that the backlash was less than expected. Why was that? What did they expect? What didn’t we do?

We can post here till Cary and crew rule the world; it will not make a lick of difference in the real world. I have noticed that whenever a suggestion of real world action is mentioned, someone seems to always squelch it. Why?

If I were Cary and crew, I'd have moles here, keeping things under wraps. Keep them posting and writing letters. Just keep them out of the press and off the streets, so we can blame all our losses on P2P.

Action is needed! Get out of your chair and do something.

Let's get those posters out on every lamp post from sea to shining sea! I've put a few up.

Leave pamphlets on the record shelves at Wal-Mart, K-mart, record stores. Worst they will do is throw them out.

Make a few signs, get a permit and picket records stores, and retail outlets. Tell the world what you know. Tell them that their freedom is at stake. Work to make a difference!

Hold rallies at the colleges. Tell your fellow students what the goal is and how we will achieve it.

A lot of folks have said, vote them out. Are you willing to campaign to make that happen? Are you willing to donate to the candidates who agree with us? Are you willing to spread the word to those who haven’t found this site yet? If you want change, if you want freedom, you have to earn it. That is what this country is all about.

The internet is about collaboration. Let’s collaborate and come up with a plan we can all make a reality.

1.) What is the goal? RIAA? Copyright? Public Domain?
2.) What is the overall strategy?
3.) How will we accomplish this? What are the tactics?
4.) Who are the soldiers?
5.) When will we strike?
6.) How will we know we are succeeding?

Once you answer these questions you will be on the way to something great for all of us. Without a consistent vision, I fear, the future will be lost.

Did you know hatch is mormon?

If your looking to sway Utah vote, use mormons.

churchkey - i would say it if perfectly appropriate to write anyone in the media who is misrepresenting the truth, and advise them they have made an error.

Right now, I just want to listen .

Here's what I wrote 60 minutes:

I have to take issue with the use of the word "stealing" when used to describe song swapping on p2p services. The language of copyright law, DCMA and fair use is vague enough to make the use of this word frivilous at best. Do your homework, expose the vagueness and ask the more important question of why the RIAA wants to perpetuate a business model that robs artists of their royalties instead of insuring that p2p pays them. Ask the question why the big five traps artists into contracts that in most cases has them OWING the label money instead of earning it. Artists get twelve cents for every $18 cd sold, cds cost less than a dollar apiece to go from factory to store shelves, why don't the artists get at least half that price? Why then, after a long history of robbing artists blind do the labels then decide to go after peer-to-peer services under the guise of protector? What guarantees do the artists have of getting proper compensation under an RIAA endorsed online purchasing scheme? Why don't artists have label profit-sharing, 401k and health insurance like most employees of major corporations do?

These are the questions you need to be asking, the recording industry makes the crooks at Enron look like amateurs. Expose them! It's your job. The consumers are innocent as charged.

Peer-to-peer services are the single best resource for getting music online right now and many plans are in place to get artists paid, the only obstacle to this is the RIAA, who have no wish to engage in meaninful discussion on the issue, choosing instead to engage in polarizing language and heavy-handed, legally dubious intimidation efforts. The electronic frontier foundation, stopriaalawsuits.com and boycott-riaa.com has great resources on how to get artists paid and keep p2p the online choice for getting music for 60 million people.

Thank you.

Paul Russel

Here's my addition to paulruss's short list.

We need a page where letters like pauls to 60min are kept for the rest of us to use. Some people are not good letter writers or you get a case of writers block. I used several of Code's letters to send to my congressmen, some exactly as he wrote them and others rewritten.

We also need to come up with a way to compensate the artists, Not the RIAA, Not the Labels, Not all the Damn Middlemen. Just the artists. I think the majority of us agree that the artists should be payed for their work.

After all, it does no good to Bitch about the Problem(s) if we cannot come up with a reasonable solution.

And on the lighter side. If I'm a Pirate.......Where the Hell is my Ship at !!! This PC sure don't float to well.

I don't know if this has been mentioned but has anyone been handing out those flyers from stopriaalawsuits.com? I put two on my car, and I have 38 additional ones, I'd like to print out some more and see if I can get a few friends who are also outraged at the RIAA to help pass them out at various places.

My goals are:
Destruction of the RIAA.
Companies that have learned that the consumer is, always right and, should be respected.
Perhaps a congress that is a little less corrupt.
A congress that understands a little more about technology(goodbye DMCA).

Okay, I'll go through this post later tonight and post a new thread in continuation of this. We'll start with the suggestions made today.

I'll talk to leflaw and see if we can create a good guys/bad guys page to see who should be a political target and why.

Would it be better to just create a forum for letter templates? Or maybe a "corner" where we save them off?

It's evidently time to start talking about how we effect change on a greater level than just passively not buying CDs, although it obviously has had an impact whether the RIAA admits it or not.

Let me give it a little serious thought before I post.

Would it be better to just create a forum for letter templates? Or maybe a "corner" where we save them off?

Both, but I think we need some kind of system like eff and moveon have where people can enter in their info (name, e-mail address) and hit send, the letter automatically goes off to whomever we target it too.

I can't stress enough how important an accomplishment page is, I think it's important for all of us to see what kind of progress we've made on a regular basis, we need to have every interview you guys have done, every letter we've recieved response too, the outcome of every related court battle and what kind of coverage we're getting in the press.

HOORAY! I finally got logged in! (Been unable to get in for over a week since having to reformat the ol' hard-drive.)

MY goals or hopes are to create a level playing field for all IP creators. It is absurd to have to give up your copyrights in order to get a viable spot in the market place. (ie signing a contract with one of the labels.) The same sort of thing occurs in other IP areas as well to one degree or another. The Internet could be our savior if we can keep control of the internet out of the oligopolist major media hands. Microsoft needs watched closely as well. The Internet is of, by, and for the people. It was designed to be this way, but the RIAA and like minded are trying do steal it from us as they did with radio, tv and all other media forms. Being a musician, the focus on the RIAA is prime in my concerns, but as others have said, it is just a part of a much larger picture.

Support Local and Independent Music
Shmoo of Electric Gypsy

(PS if you asked for a free album and have not recieved it yet, please e-mail us again... with the hard drive crash, I lost the past few addresses that requested a copy. Everyone else should have recieved your copy already.)

Our next album, in the works will be on sale for $10 shipping handling in USA included and $2 of every sale will be donated to Boycott-RIAA.com!

On November 2, 2003 @ 7:41 PM
paulruss posted:

"We must look at moveon.org and eff.org as examples of how to set up fundraising and petitioning efforts, we bring them in on the fight. They are not in it with us yet. They need to be."

See, now we're getting somewhere. Moveon.org was exactly the type of organization that I was thinking about when I was talking about allies. I get regular e-mail updates from them and have participated in many of their petitions and phone/e-mail/fax campaigns to Congress.

How do you propose we get them involved? Should we individually approach them? Should I e-mail them and refer them to someone in particular from this site? Should we all sign a petition to them? They're big on petitions.

I'm all for action, but I tend to need some guidance as I am more of an ideas generator, not an action organizer. Set up some explicit instructions on this site. I'm sure you could get a lot of people to participate, but people need direction, including me.

I think that regardless of individual differences, a lot of us are on the same path here. Code is the one who gets people talking. He seems to be the mobilizer of people's ideas. I've only been frequenting this site for the last 4 or 5 months, but there seems to be a lot of loyalty around here for him and his ideas. He seems to be good at sounding the rallying cry.

Paulruss, you are the pragmatist. You get down to the unromantic nuts and bolts of the situation. That's good too.

Any strong movement needs both of these things, as well as any other strengths that members of this site have to offer.

So Code, you keep sending out that rallying cry and getting the ideas out of people. Get people pumped up.

Paulruss, you and whatever other pragmatist are on this site start generating explicit instructions for some of the action ideas that you've listed. And I mean somewhere other than the user comments, cause I'm getting sick of scrolling for instructions.

daisymae321
Thanks for the kind words, and I have talked to Wes at moveon.org and although I'm not at liberty to discuss our emails on the matter, his comments to me indicated that they may be working with us on certain goals of importance to both groups before too long.

I want music and culture to grow into something I, and the next generations, are not seeing. For years I've hated music because my family listens only to the local pop station. Only I was aware of how stupid the Spice Girls and Brittney were.

I got my own car, so I had the opportunity to hear different music. I developed a taste for rock (they play actual instruments! WOW!) But I didn't like a lot of the bands. They were full of angsty garbage; (Linkin Park, Papa Roach, Staind) and some glorified being brain dead and drunk (Blink 182.)

Dont even get me started on Anema by Tool. All this music is NOT what America needs. Maybe I'm avoiding problems in the world but wailing about the end times wont make it better. I'm getting a lump in my throat thinking about it.

In the anime FLCL, I heard the pillows, a Japanese band, and they're none of the above. They're songs are cheerful. They have melody coming from guitars(gasp!) And though Sawao, the bands leader, sings in a different language, I understand the feelings of joy coming from the music.

I started learning guitar as a hobby. Maybe I can create that sound here in America. Rock is supposedly about "rebellion" and being different. Well it cant be rebellious if every damn band SOUNDS and LOOKS and ACTS and SINGS and IS the SAME. I'll rebel against the misery rock is someday. Maybe they'll be less suicide.

Go to Kazaa and Download Crazy Sunshine by the pillows. This is the song that blew me away. I've heard nothing like it. I then officially had a favorite band.

My goals are a little bizarre, I know. Getting my degree in Digial Media is priority of course ^_^.

West coast,just saw that botox face collagen lip rosie redfaced demagogick,thing they call a reporter on 60seconds of news-crap, pardon my french, but she did have some good news to report, how did she put it something along the lines of compareing the movie industry to the decimated recording industry !!! yea keep on boycotting$$$$10/4 flbgbt fundraising with amounts posted and to which areas the funds be headed so that multiple donations could be sent so people with smaller budgets ie bush economy won't feel squeaky if ya nowadimean huh huh ramble rambler time for an odouls then 40 winks

daisymae, thanks.

code, that's great news about moveon, I'd like to hear how you pulled that off, I've sent a few e-mails to them and got zip in reply. Then again, you are the wizard of words! Thanks for the effort. I'm looking forward to seeing what you and the boycott bunch have for us to do as homework.

have a super day!

Paul

Went and gave them a piece of my mind on how one sided that program was!

That's awesome! Anyone else?

As I said before, this boycott WILL succeed. These things take time, but their outcome is certain. Remember the sugar boycott of many years ago ? It was started by homemakers, and it worked. This is no different, except that the “news” media is in bed with the target of this particular boycott.
I believe that boycotts of major oil companies and other monopolies are also needed, but I will leave that for another time.
The consumer is boss. There is no other logical conclusion. It is an economic law of nature. We decide, and the producer must listen, or cease to exist.

Only the artists should own the copyrights to their work. This goes for all creative work; songs, poetry, manuscripts, visual art, screenplays, etc.
This copyright could be licensed, but only for a very short time, and with severe limits. It could never be transferred. A single period of 25 years is easy to remember and work with. It is also long enough for the artist to profit from the work. Otherwise, it could get to the point where it would be illegal to take a non-flash photograph of the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling, without having to have some riaa-like group collect royalties for the great-great-great...descendents of Leonardo.

With current technology, such as affordable independent recording studios, pressing services, and self-publishing, creative people are, for the first time in history, completely free to take their work directly to the consumer. The middleman is now totally irrelevant, and is he ever upset about it.
Well, too darn bad.

Music labels used to be run by people who loved music, and movie studios used to be run by people who loved movies. Don’t even get me started about the auto industry, publishing, and journalism businesses.

It is time for this natural progression toward individual creative control to proceed unhindered.

To Paul : I am more optimistic than you. The Berlin wall eventually fell. It was not expected to do so for years longer. Corporate injustice will also change. The internet, as an almost unrestricted (they’re working to stop that, but it is futile) information provider, is an exponential accelerant to change that is unprecedented, at least since the invention of the printing press. So, this time, it will be different. Just as the pace of technology is increasing exponentially, so will the progress of this boycott, and other attempts to change the world for the better.

As a musician, writer, and computer technician, I say, “To the future…”

The Kid

I think you're right, kid, I'm sure we'll have a series of victories and there will be changes, I just wouldn't be suprised if some trade org like the riaa, if not the riaa itself will still be around in one form or another. Leflaw says they can be beaten and I'm sure he can tell us how and why he's so certain of it. I'm just waiting to hear his answer. I hope I'm wrong, I really do, but I'm not holding my breath. I'll take any victory we get with great delight and try not to beat my chest about our ultimate victory (the end of the RIAA) until I see some quantifiable proof that it's do-able.

I'm really looking forward to hearing that proof.

In the meantime I will fight each small battle with all my abilities.

Good luck.

Paul

Paul and others of like mind..

Note that resistance is growing...

Resistance cells have been forming for some time. These include organizations like Boycott-riaa, ACLU, fairuse.org, moveon.org, eff.org, p2p united, 321 studios, downhillbattle, eldred.cc, the big Hack, freenet and many more. Actually, new cells come online every week.

Our hope lies in our numbers. There are 5 in the RIAA. There are 60+ Million of us. These 60 Million are slowly aligning with various cells to fight the giants.

Like any cell organization, the resistance cells each have an agenda or spin on the issue. But, we are all after similar goals. This can be a strength in that the RIAA and MPAA will have to fight battles on many fronts. Not a good battle plan on their part.

The only reason we would fail, is if we choose to give in.

Thank goodness no one's talking about giving in.

I'd love to see what our numbers actually are, I'm sure they're not anywhere near a million, I'd be willing to wager that they're not even close to a hundred thousand, but since we have no way of knowing, there's no way to know. There are 60 million p2p users but I guarantee you have no possible way of knowing if any of them are doing anything at all.

One of our missions should be to make sure we reach those people and figure out a way to know how many of them are doing anything. I think if 60 million were involved in this fight, than the petition to stop the riaa lawsuits would be higher than the 60 thousand signatures it has now.

We have to make sure that petition gets 60 million signatures before we can start claiming certain victory. I think we need to be realistic about where we are now if we're going to formulate a winning strategy. I, you, nor anyone else here knows where we stand for sure. Let's find out.

Ta-da!

Paul

The RIAA will never be boycotted out of existence. RIAA sales have dropped dramatically, but indie sales have only grown 1 percent. That means that the RIAA labels have not really lost any market share to the independents. And as soon as an independent label gets successful, an RIAA labels swoops in and buys them up!

Leflaw's idea about a RICO lawsuit certainly sounded interesting. The law is a good way for the little guy to hurt the big guy.

After the recording industry practices hearing in California last year, it seems like the legislature is not really interested in stepping between the labels and the artists and dictating contractual terms.

Reforming copyright law seems to me to be the most realistic goal. It would be a good idea to find a few items in the current law that are the most egregious and seek the support of larger political lobbying groups on these issues. Then form a Coalition Of The Willing and push for change on these specific issues.

Too many ideas to publish here... but a few:

Everyone point your browser to www.shoutcast.com for the ultimate in free streaming MP3 stations.

The RIAA can't be eliminated, but most certainly affected by the boycott. Word of mouth is, and has always been, the most powerful of PR tools.

With the holidays rapidly approaching, take time to not request any RIAA material for gift ideas. Also, tell everyone you know not to ask for RIAA material for christmas. This is a critical time for the RIAA in terms of sales figures.

The letter writing campaign continues for anti DMCA sentiment, as well as copyright reform. Regardless whether or not your representative/senator supports the RIAA/MPAA, write them with your opinion. Believe it or not, they do listen. I used to disagree with that statement, but after visiting DC this past summer, I realized that congressmen DO listen to the voters!

As for the failure/success rate... I've always been for counting the successes we've had in this effort against the RIAA. In fact, I've posted an article here in the past about our victories. As for counters on the site about visitors/signatures... I don't really see where the benefit is in that, but I don't disagree with it.

Our movement has been publicized in the recent past, and the publicity will continue insofar as the RIAA files lawsuits. I'm damn glad I'm part of the boycott.

And if you all want something to do on Wednesday afternoons, check out http://kslu.slu.edu from 1pm to 3pm EST for my radio show, where I promote as many anti RIAA artists as possible. Thanks to leflaw, george, code, and others for keeping this site and it's cause going!

I am a soon to be drummer. However, I'm a computer geek. I like my music. Before I came to this site I knew very little about the big 5 or anything else.

I wanted to write something similar but Code took the words outta my mouth. While I am against the music industry for not allowing me to have a part, I am against the copyrights that have greatly stagnated my childhood because, growing up, I had very little to look forward to on TV. Unlike my peers, I didn't like too much rap so I was ostracized in good old Atlanta.

Growing up with a different mindset changes you, for better or worse.

I firmly believe that a lot of the decisions that people should be making are being taken away from them. My fight is not only with the RIAA, but with the entrenched power that so wants to control the world. Whether any of us know it, there is a change that we need to begin. Seeing as how the world is freely connected, who should control it? Whatever affects our music here, will most likely affect almost every country. Just look at how the copyright laws of the US have invaded places like Australia and Great Britain...

Mroop11 -"The RIAA will never be boycotted out of existence. RIAA sales have dropped dramatically, but indie sales have only grown 1 percent. "

Yeah and the Third Reich lasted a thousand years. There is no such thing as "RIAA sales". They are a non-profit trade organization.

The RIAA depends on money from the labels. The labels depend on money from the consuming public. The consuming public stops the money flow...in an analogy...stop the flow of blood to an extremity...guess what happens.

Once you say a thing cannot be done, you have already defeated yourself.

Ultimately, the only way to really bring down the RIAA while maintaining credibility with the Public is to strike them where they are weakest: the unfairness of copyright law.

I agree that there needs to be a level playing field between RIAA affiliated music and Indie music. This is important.

But the public at large is not going to be too impressed with charges that the playing field isn't level, since most of them don't know what indie music is all about (as if I were an expert on indie music; which I'm not. But at least I have now been exposed to it more, thanks to this site)

Copyright laws are something that everyone (i.e. music consumers) can relate to. The copyright laws are where the RIAA derives its power. Even if the laws cannot be changed anytime soon, if we can just demonstrate and educate the public on how unfair the copyright laws are, then the RIAA loses much of its moral persuasion.

Well said Code
I joined this fight not for the music. I joined because I accidentally got to this site, and it looked like a good read. Then I got drawn in. I've not bought an riaa cd in two years and a half years(and counting). It is also true that I've not bought an Indie cd, but that's only because I've not found much that I personally like. Not that it's not OUT there, just I've probably not searched enough.
I was apalled at the Napster thing. I got all kinds of emails "download now, Napster is getting shut down" or "switch to this-or-that program, because Napster is getting shut down".. which made me come here more often. I've seen some of the bull@h1t that's come and gone in the past two years, and it's quite sickening. The DOJ busts micro$oft for monopoly violations, yet the riaa goes on? How fair is that?
I'm all for the riaa going away. Will it? I doubt it will happen anytime soon. I'm all for the artists getting paid for what they produce (and yes, that includes the guys in the background running boards, tuning guitars etc as well as singers), but I also feel it should be an equitable amount. I'm all for some sort of service that provides what I want, when I want, at a price I'll pay. I don't download because "I can", I download because I can't FIND what I want anywhere else. I'm not above saying that copy protection could be a good thing, if it didn't violate so many personal and civil rights. If they find one that works, I'll give em the props, but again only if it's legal, ethical and non-violational(is that a word??). I'm NOT for the literal stealing of copyright and copyrighted material, I just think that form needs to follow function. If you were building a bathtub, would you put a paper folding machine in it? That's pretty much what's been happening. The riaa and their ilk have been putting out all this stuff, and while the form looks right, the function doesn't fit it. Some "reform" or change there has to happen.
Maybe some organisation like the riaa is needed, but I'm not sure in what capacity, and I'd prefer that such an entity had strict oversight and legal ties on it.
It's time, I agree,that some discussion goes into what "we" are going to do and what "we" want. We can shout all day about politicians and reform, but that's a long battle, with a lot of casualties and little immediate results. We can email or snail mail our congresspersons till our hands fall off, but again, that's a slow process, with the same slow results.

"One stick, placed right, can stem the flow of a might river". I'm sure this is the right place to be. I've got the conviction to walk the walk and talk the talk. I've gone out the first day of the last three months, passing out fliers and information. I don't mind doing it. It gets me out from behind the computer (which my wife loves ) and puts me out in the streets with info that I feel is appropriate.
I'm rambling, but I've felt this way for a while. I don't know what the answer is to "what are our goals", altho it would seem we are united on several different possibilities. I don't know what the answer is to "what more can we do", but again, I'm seeing a united front.
What I do know is that while we stand, the riaa has an enemy. A powerful one, or if you like.. MANY powerful ones. We stand against them in so many forms and forums, and for so many things, that the can't help but notice us sooner or later. It's time to make it sooner. It's time to take back what is ours vis a vi` the music.
Music that was free when a lot of us were teenagers. Artists that are getting paid what they are worth by some other standard than the company that holds their strings.
I digress.. Just my opinion, if you don't like this one, I've got plenty of others. I'm just glad I have the opportunity to share mine.
ttmmm

So, code, you're suggesting that if we click our heels together three times and say "RIAA go home" they'll just vanish into thin air 'poof!'?

You've dismissed the question with words like "defeatist" and "you have already defeated yourself" without actually answering the question at hand, if you think that the RIAA will be so easily toppled, why do you think so?

What weakness do they have that you haven't told us, what great strategy are you cooking up that will insure their demise? We deserve to know that. If you have no such plan, then your optimism is hot air until you devise one.

The clock is ticking.

well said Remye, and your opinions and input are always welcome
~Code

Bufo and I are in complete agreement. We must attack and change the laws. We cannot waste time on side issues. We can, and must, change the copyright laws that give the RIAA and others their power. Without the law, they will be rendered irrelevant.

The internet has changed the paradigm of content distribution. When paradigms change everyone goes back to zero. Focus on the laws folks; they are out of step with the new paradigm. Changing the law is where our real power lies.

I agree with Bufo and aaron29...
"Changing the law is where our real power lies"
AMEN!

I just wanted to add a few comments about the topic. One reason I wrote this was to see where "everyone's head is at", i.e. to see what the spectrum of views are, and "where people are coming from".

I think that, if you are to ever reach a goal or destination, you need to define the destination and map out a way to get there.

There are some of us (and I am including myself in this group) that feel that this is not just a music war, not just a matter of trading MP3s, overpriced CDs, crappy music, arrogant attorneys, lawsuits, trade organizations calling the public thieves and pirates (arrrggh..Title 18, Chapter 81,Sec 1652), nor is it just about copyright reform, although all these are certainly concerns of ours.

These problems are symptoms, and a subset of the larger problem, loss of freedoms and the growing incursion of globalist influences into changing the American system. And certainly, as the DMCA is a reflection of WIPO guidelines, and the DMCA is the means by which the RIAA is acting against citizens, it is clear that the globalist actions, such as the FTAA, and whatever may come from the November meeting of WIPO, we have an interest in opposing un-American globalist modification of our laws.

I agree it is proper to have short term goals, and long term goals, and we need to have a means by which we gauge our progress in this fight. We have no "Hamburger Hill" to take and hold, but there are ways in which we can
assess how well are efforts are doing.

I also agree that, as certain politicians are acting against the interests of constituent digital consumers and for the big money, big labels, and the RIAA and MPAA, we need to target those politicians who are not friendly toward our goals, and develop a list of politicians who we can support, and people we should oppose in voting.

Also, in closing, I thank everyone who has, or shall participate in this thread, and for all the great comments, thoughts, suggestions, etc..


~CodeWarrior

"So, code, you're suggesting that if we click our heels together three times and say "RIAA go home" they'll just vanish into thin air 'poof!'?"

No Paul, but I don't find a lot of your sarcasm of use either.

I have tried to focus the discussion toward what others believe are valuable courses of action.

I do not say I have to answers to everything, but I also do not believe
that claiming the RIAA cannot be defeated is a proven fact either.

~Code

Code, I have a question for you or one of the other legal minded people here?

If an official takes money from a special interest group and then votes for favorable legislation for that group could that not be considered bribery? How could we get the DOJ to investigate this and other wrongs, i.e. RICO actions of the RIAA and anti-trust actions?

Just curious as this could be another form of action on our parts.

Acutally, that's a good question. You would really have to have something concrete, like the "AbScam" taoes where you have a definite arrangement of money for votes.

You would have to establish a quid pro quo (this for that) between money paid and favors given.

I think it would necessitate hidden cameras/mikes in meeting rooms where a special interest group and the legislator meet actually exchange money.

Certainly, a sting could accomplish this.
If a person felt that improprieties of that sort were going on, a letter to the DOJ might spur interest in looking closer into the matter.

Of course it is bribery Gothic-Angel... unfortunately, that's how our country works. All we can do is try to limit the powers of special interests. Democracy is NOT perfect, it is just the best form of government anyone has come up with so far that works. We just need a better balance between the Capitolist and Socialist versions of Democracy to improve our own USA version of it. Right now our government leans to far to the Capitolist/Right.

Shmoo, of Electric Gypsy

OK. Now, how about this. I asked this before on another thread but never received a response from anyone.

The Monroe Doctrine prevents any European entity from holding control or influence in the Americas. Could the DMCA, a direct child of WIPO, be considered a violation of the Monroe Doctrine, especially since it's immediate benefactors are foreign owned corporations?

I doubt it Gothic-Angel. Laws are bent and perverted and even downright created in favor of the rich and powerful industry. They protest the G7 (or is it 8 now) over in Europe, we do little or nothing about it over here.

(Sheesh, I am getting very cynical and angry again... I will try to stop being so pessemistic for a while. Promise

Shmoo, good to see you back again.

Anyway, if it takes cynicism and pessemism to keep you angry about the way things are then by all means stay that way.

One other thing, when some of these things start going to trial, which I have no doubt will eventually happen, is it possible to have jury nullification in a civil trial?

yes it is possible to have jury nullification
in a civil trial. the defense attorney cannot ask for it, and has to be careful not to openly suggest it, and the jury really should not say they did it...but of course, all they have to say was that the plaintiff did not meet the burden of proof, did not tip the legal scales...

Thanks CodeWarrior. Just trying to tie up some loose ideas in this rattled brain of mine. Time to contemplate, formulate, and write.

I didn't address the Monroe Doctrine issue (which is a great issue) because I haven't looked at it in some time.
I will try to look at that later..

i'm off topic a bit, but you had some great questions!

I'm gettin' into this topic a bit late, but...

The other day I read about five UT students getting sued (or letters pertaining to the Threat) by the RIAA. I also read about the support given to the RIAA by a fellow Texan ("The legal action taken by the recording industry is necessary to protect intellectual property rights from being violated," said Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Tex., chairman of the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property." ") .

This sh!t is right in my backyard now. These five kids may (hopefuly) spur a greater involvement here in Austin. The University of Texas is a big school. Austin is known as "the Live Music Capitol of the World". Floks here love their music, and Texans are known for not particularly caring to have folks tell us what we can't do (real Texans anyway...not faux Texans like Dubya). Looks like Mr Lamar Smith will hafta be voted out of office. I never was much into politics, but by God this guy's gotta go. And I'm sure the five students getting harassed by the RIAA will have a lot of support, not only from fellow students but by anyone who values their freedom and can see what the RIAA is up to.

I just woke up, and have only had one cup of coffee...so bear with me...

Austin has a public access channel that showcases various local bands form time to time. This may be a good platform for an ad exposing the RIAA's evil. I'll need to check into it further (when I get woke up). The State Capitol is a real pretty place for holding a demonstration, too. East 6th Street (although not what it used to be) has numerous clubs featuring live music, and would also be a good place for spreading the word.

Oh...about this sting stuff...it's hard to nail someone who's stealing eggs when you got weasels guarding the hen-house. The RIAA is more than likely juicing up a lotta folks up there in DC...*cough*cover-up*cough*

Well we certainly have a diversity of opinions here. I've often thought that it would be good if any one of us made a run at congress (base requirments, 25 years or older, US Citizen). Does anyone live in a district where there is an open seat in 2004? Personally I don't, I'm a Republican in Washington State's 7th district (McDermott D WA has a lock on this district, BTW I have no idea on where McDermott stands on our issue, he doesn't regularly communicate with his constituents on any issue). Ok a little off track there sorry. Would anyone be willing to try to get elected? Would the rest of us be willing to do the necessary fundraising and leg work to support our candidate? Using the internet to fundraise and network can be very effective, it was done sucessfully here in Washington in 1994 to unseat then Speaker of the House Tom Foley (who incidentally sued the voters of Washington state over a term limits initiative).

Aside from attempting to get one of our active members to run, I think it would be benficial to have a Lobbyist or two of our own. We need to work on raising our public profile too, which will be difficult as parent companies of the Record Labels own much of the broadcast media as well.

Copyright reform is certainly a part of the equation in my mind. I personally believe that monopolies in scientific and technological fields hinder the overall advancement of knowledge. In a less obvious way the Monopoly that Hollywood enjoys over popular media is stifiling cultural growth and diversity in this country. I personally find it very difficult to find Movies, TV, and to a degree music that I actually like, and seriously object to the implication that is made that I have a problem of some type because I don't care for the one product on offer.

The final action I think needs to be seriously considered is providing a viable alternative to artists. Lets try to create a corporation of our own to compete (I know this suggestion isn't going to go over well with the more anti-corp types here). Lets get some start up capitol, set up shop, use fair contracts to attract artists (wouldn't it be fun to be able to help popular artists buy out of their ridiculous contracts with the big 5 to come over) distribute products in a format dictated by the market at reasonable prices!

A final note for reducing the power of special interest groups. Restore power to the Political Parties and party officers, the rise of special interests coincides with the Progressive Era political reforms that drastically reduced the ablity of parties to control their candidates.

I have day-dreamed about running... but then I slap myself HARD.

After reading this thread I have found profound and even enlightend statements, and concerns, and some excellent ideas. I am very much ashamed to add this much, so far, to this thread.
I am very concerned that my personal shortcomings will diminish the entire worth of this thread.

Before I continue to crash the thread, let me embolden the statements of a few others:

compmore: I don't think it's unreasonable to expect the demise of the RIAA.

gdZiemann: The recording industry, as I have often said, was created to connect the artists with the consumers. It now stands between the artists and consumers. Therefore, it has ceased to perform its function.

captdunsel: Seriously, I see no need for the riaa. (An organization I despise so badly I refuse to capitalize just out of spite.) Like wise I see no need for the mpaa. The whole issue to me comes down to control.

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

I am proud to be invited to such emminent times!

I know that this site has many factions, and varying depths of perception. I also admit that I willingly apply my personal CONVECTION to others perceptions available to me at the moment, when I feel the mixture of opportunity and reason is available, and more so when I'm drunk.

But in this eloquent post I must lay things out plain, for myself as well as many others.

I cannot ask more plainly than this, I simply want my privacy back.

I want every law allowing anyone to look at everyone to include the phrase, "without express permission, and undeniable verification". Stop for one second and lets all fight for that.

I think that a WORLD WIDE FORUM must be held to resolve the WORLD WIDE WEB's problems. DUH.

I think the DMCA, is a joke of all legislation, it must be fully repealed. And future legislation must be held to more stringent standards. For instance, I think hearings should be formed by, and available to any two members of that governing body with an opposing vote, and that a law should not be passed until that hearing is heard and reported, and voted on again.

I think that all emergency votes of the US SENATE recieve emergency status, and be broadcast on the emergency airwaves.

I have strong convictions against a voting member of the congress recieving excessive money from a lobbying party. I firmly believe that the most miniscule royalty payments to a voting member of congress are excessive, and dangerous to the will of the people.

I think that any artist should have as much access to the public as every "other", (riaa sactioned), artist.

I think that the constitution of my United States, is going to be the country of the people for the people, and I will go to war defending that belief for anyone that supports that belief.

I just want my privacy back.

After reading virtually all of the comments in this thread, I think the one that stuck we most was the very last one:

"I just want my privacy back."

Sums up a large proportion of copyright and such laws.

I grew up in a time before high-tech (anyone remember B&W TV?), before electronic ignition, and there was no such thing as digital. If you wanted music, you listened to the radio or played wax. My first REAL stereo was a Craig AM-FM, 8-track. Things have changed; some good, most bad in my eyes. I watch maybe two-four hours TV a week. I haven't been to the picture show (the "movies", I think they're called now) since "Spiderman". The was no Clear Channel, no RIAA, no DMCA, and no computers (personal, that is). And I can do without 'em.

I want my America back.

"I just want my privacy back."

I never understand this statement. In regard to the riaa, if you want privacy from them just don't share riaa music and you have no problem. Am I wrong?

"There is no such thing as "RIAA sales". They are a non-profit trade organization."

I know this and I think you know that I know this, so I'm not sure why you said it.

"The RIAA depends on money from the labels. The labels depend on money from the consuming public. The consuming public stops the money flow...in an analogy...stop the flow of blood to an extremity...guess what happens."

This is all self evident. I just think that the mass public is not going to stop purchasing riaa music in big enough numbers to put them out of business. As I noted above, when independent labels become successful, an riaa label buys them out. This happens every time except for the cases where you have very independent minded people like Ani DiFranco (Righteous Babe) or Ian McKaye (Dischord). These folks are the exception that prove the rule.

This is why I suggest that copyright reform is a better goal than trying to put the riaa out of business through a boycott.

I should have said that copyright reform is a more realistic goal than trying to put the riaa out of business through a boycott.

mroop said:

"I just want my privacy back."

I never understand this statement. In regard to the riaa, if you want privacy from them just don't share riaa music and you have no problem. Am I wrong?

Not entirely true. You may be using Kazaa and not sharing any RIAA controlled music, but they are still looking for it on your machine simply because you have connected to a file sharing service. The idea that a private company can snoop around your hard drive because you use a product that might allow you to do something is threatening to many people. The goverment is (in theory) not allowed to conduct unreasonable searches or seizures. In my opinion the RIAA is conducting an unreasonable search, and if the US Goverment, which has as one of its responsibilities to ensure law and order, has to provide a reasonable cause to search a specific location for specific items, then private citizens should be held to the same standards. To look at it another way the RIAA is engaging in "program profiling" much the same way that many police departments are under investigation for "racial profiling", or using similar logic (this person is black they must be up to something illegal lets pull them over and check, this computer is running a file sharing program they must be sharing copyrighted songs lets search it)

Copyright reform legislation, as copy rights now relate to an increasingly connected world may invariably have to include measures for privacy protection/

I'm a computer programmer and not a musician, but I see the DMCA as a threat to the technology industry. I also have an interest in politics and believe in fighting for the little guy. The RIAA, MPAA, and many large software companies (such as Microsoft), are bullying smaller companies and in effect having a monopoly. I also view the two party system of Democrats and Republicans a monopoly. And all of these come down to money. And most of the time it feels like a losing battle.

We can't compete against them with money. But we can compete against them withouth money (if that makes sense). We have musicians giving away their music for free, taking advantage of new technology. The biggest threat to Microsoft is not another large company, but free software (Linux).

The other key part is control of the government. (Yeah, I'm going to point out what 99% of the people here already know.) Large Company / Lobbyist Group contributes money to Candidate for Campaign Fund (tranlation - bribe money). Candidate wins. Company asks for favor, and elected candidate is happy to help. And the cycle continues. And there is nothing we can do because the rich companies and elected officials do what they can to help them say rich and elected.

Quite simply I look at my goal to come out of this as change. That would mean fair and equal competition. Fair price for music. 5 or 10 major political parties. Having 5 different Operating Systems to run my computer on. Not having the news being biased towards the rich corporations. Middle and Lower Class people not having to worried about being bullied in a court of law against a large company because they can't compete with them financially.

How can we achieve them?
Stop purchasing products from / voting for the enemy / anyone who supports the enemy and then educate the general public of the truth. We also need a more coordinated effort on listing where the members of the house and senate stand based how how they voted on bills and who the receive campaing funding from.

"You may be using Kazaa and not sharing any RIAA controlled music, but they are still looking for it on your machine simply because you have connected to a file sharing service."

I don't think so. I think they look for RIAA music and if it is on your hard drive, then they look further. So if you do not have RIAA music then they do not look at your machine at all. So if you don't want the RIAA looking in your machine then don't keep RIAA music in your share folder.

Regarding your 4th amendment theory. If you have something in plain view then you have no 4th protection. That is why the cops shine their light inside your car when they pull you over - anything inside the car that is visible from the outside is in plain view. Similarly, when you log on to a file sharing service you have opened your computer to millions of people that are online. How can you claim privacy when you chose to open your share file to millions of people? You put it in plain view.

just a short reply

i might be one of the defeatists, but heck, i'm tired of it all! it's just not leading anywhere - the boycott might also play into their hands: they will even use their losses from the boycott to argue against the "thefts", because they would NEVER admit that there is a boycott underway, they would all blame it on the "evil internet" and the "criminal file sharers".

being more of a pessimistic guy, i can't see us ordinary people getting any chance of winning against big greed, unless the general public gets interested in these issues as well ...but face it: there are too less people who listen to their cds off mp3s from their harddisks as i do, there are too less tech-savvy folks who can see the impact drm has on fair use in the digital age, there ar too less people who care about copy protections, there are too less people who care about labels mistreating customers and musicians...

i haven't yet completely given up, but i'm VERY close to just throw the towel out of the window...
well, i'm currently amidst arguing with a label boss (german electro/industrial-label dependent), but i can see no way of convincing him to accept some of our points ...i currently don'T have as much time on my hand as i would need to go on arguing ...maybe after my exam!

well, so muchg to my defeatist views....
here's my dream which might never actually come true:
all i would want is to get fairness back into this whole music business which is currently ruled by greed ...of course i want fairness for the artists as well, but as i'm only a music enthusiast and not a musician, i will only argue for the consumers:
i would like to see the labels appreciate me for buying their products and not punish me in advance with drm and copyprotections ...i heavily depend on fair use rights as i want to protect my investments by making mp3-backups (and btw: i only use my computers - 1 at home and 1 at uni - to listen to music)!
so, in short: if fair use is taken away from me, i won't buy the cd!
in their crusade against p2p and filesharing the labels completely ignore the consumer's needs and wishes. instead of awarding those who buy cds, they rather punish us all buy implementing protections and calling us criminals, thefts etc.
so, i would like them to listen to our needs and wishes ...but well, back to my pessimistic view: this isn't going to happen anytime in the near (or even far) future unless the public gets more aware of the dark big business-controlled and greed-driven future ahead *sigh*

code, you're right, my being sarcastic read as hostile, my apologies, that was not my intent.

oehli, your pessimism is not without justification, all of us are disgusted with big business, I do not advocate throwing in the towel though. Knowing the fight is hard should, in my opinion, embolden you to fight harder, smarter and with a certain thick skinedness that will keep you from becoming disillusioned when things don't go our way, we won't win every fight, but every loss will have small victories. We may get a few more congressmen to vote our way, for example, having made the effort than not, those will be new allies that we can count on in future fights. It's a slow, tough slog ahead, but I think if you're resolute and do just a small bit with a level head, it will make a huge difference in the long haul.

Hang in there!

Paul

apology accepted. thanks Paul.

Can I have a big online hug now?

lol, i can't even write 'thieves' anymore

@paulruss:
i haven't yet totally given up, so i'm still in there, but i see it getting over my head so quickly ...i'm just a german student and suddenly, i find myself in a position where i have to argue with label-bosses whom i can't seem to convince to even agree with me saying that 'theft' is the wrong term in all this mess...so how can i ever hope they agree with us on the harder issues?

nevertheless, you're right! there are some victories ...while i haven't yet contributed much, i at least talked to 4 label-bosses about this mess in the past 2 years -> got half of them to agree to my point:
1) the german Celtic Circle Productions, from whose boss i had bought cds on ebay and thus started conversation about this issue
2) the swedish cult-label Cold Meat Industries, which tried out copy protection on a few of their releases and which triggered a long protest mail from my side
the other 2 labels which i couldn't convince are Chrom Records (infamous for releasing the hardest-to-crack copy protection in 2001 on their Helium Vola release - well, i at least received an unprotected copy from them) and dependent (with whose boss i'm still arguing)

on politics ...hehe, yep, pessimist is talking again:
i'm not sure, if we can even get a sufficient number of politicians on our side ...look at what's in office right now, i don't think that this will change, because the majority of the public DOESN'T CARE and votes for them anyway
i'm not really too much informed about us-democracy, but the sole fact that Bush got president in 2000 convinces me that politicians never care about voters as long as it's not a MAJOR movement.
so, back to the initial problem: the general public doesn't care! unfortunately people will only care when it's too late, when everything is locked up and average joe-bloe feels the impact of drm & protection -> still a long way ahead before the general public wakes up...

hehe, i live in the nice german 'monarchy' of bavaria (for a few stereotypes: the one with the oktoberfest and the lederhosn where the ruling conservative party has a 2/3rd majority, so, i'm kinda disillusioned about democracy by default

lol..ok ya big lug...
((((paul)))))

You guys know you are all nuts don't you.

Specifically to mroop13,

You do know exactly where I'm coming from. It the information wasn't important, it would be simple static.

I don't need a registry entry everytime I play a song or video on my harddrive. And I get a little more than shrill when the same entry is available to MSNmessenger.

For starters.