Team RIAA: Internet police

Just when you thought it was safe to start enjoying music, the Recording Industry Association of America strikes again.\nLast week, the RIAA sent out 413 pre-litigation letters to universities across the country, 28 of which were addressed to IU. According to University policy, a user in question will be sent an e-mail notifying him or her of the copyright complaint, be required to complete a tutorial about copyright infringement and have 24 hours to delete all copyrighted material from his or her computer.\nWe say this latest crackdown is malarkey!\nThe music industry seems to be deluding itself into thinking this latest temper tantrum is actually going to make a difference.\nAccording to the RIAA’s Web site “…this new enforcement initiative has invigorated a meaningful conversation on college campuses about music theft, its consequences and the numerous ways to enjoy legal music.” \nOh yeah. That is exactly what is going to happen. There is no possibility this could generate further anger at music companies and make people even less likely to buy their products.\nSarcasm aside, we are not sure if music executives sit in their offices with fingers in their ears or if they never talk to college-age people, but for some reason they have not gotten the message that the genie is out of the bottle on music downloading and cannot be put back in. Aggressive enforcement measures have not now nor will they ever be able to stop people from downloading.\nIf one needs an example of this, just look at what is happening to the movie industry. The Motion Picture Association of America goes after downloaders much in the same way the RIAA does, according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal. However, despite its best efforts, the downloading continues to flourish. For every site it shuts down, at least two to three take its place. \nThe real culprit here is the music industry’s anger at decreasing sales. We bet that if they started offering quality music at reasonable prices people would not feel the need to download as much.\nSo what happens now?\nThe RIAA’s executives will thump their chests, whine about their multimillion-dollar clients losing money, and look to put some college students in prison.\nWhile our attorneys will not let us advocate illegal activities, we do urge the RIAA to consider the consequences of what it is doing.\nBy offending large numbers of people and potentially prosecuting or pursuing litigation against them, the RIAA makes itself out to be the bad guy. Plus, is putting customers in jail or the poorhouse really a good business strategy?\nThe fact is the RIAA would be better off working with the downloading industry rather than against it. The online music market is a great way for artists to make a name for themselves and potentially inspire people to buy CDs.\nAt this juncture, the choice is clear: Work against downloaders and drive your business even further into the gutter or work with them and see a resurgence.