27 Jun 2003, 07:05

I just read Brett’s recent

I just read Brett’s recent RIAA related rant, and since the RIAA’s planned wave of legislation is something I’ve been thinking about a bit recently I figured I might as well have a rant of my own. I am an avid supporter of music as well, and I more than likely also buy more albums than the average person. However, I do fairly often download mp3’s from an album before I buy it. Unless I’m already familiar with the artist, or I’ve heard good things about an album from people whose opinions I value, there’s a good chance I’m going to download tracks from an album before I buy it. In fact, I’m currently in the process of buying all the albums for the mp3’s I downloaded during my college days. The irony, to me, is that I probably never would have bought these albums if I hadn’t stolen them first. That’s right, I said stolen. I’m well aware of the current legal situation, and while I may not completely agree with the law as it stands I do agree with Brett when he says that the RIAA has every right to protect their property. It’s unfortunate, but I realize that for every individual like me there are no doubt tens of others who have no intention of ever compensating anyone for the music they download. I think that prosecuting individuals may not be the smartest business move, but since I’d be pretty pleased if the RIAA collapsed under it’s own bloated weight and disappeared, I say let them go for it. It’s certainly within their rights. This is just another move to attempt to preserve their current business model in the face of impending change. For all the time and money they spend to fight every form of file-sharing, I would think that they could have used those resources to come up with a workable model involving digital distribution. It’s a shame, and its a shame that their efforts have in part lead to legislation like the DMCA which threatens technology and innovation for individuals in order to protect these organizations interests.