I have been reading about RIAA actions over the last few years but i think it’s time i expressed an opinion about them by simply stating the obvious. Don’t expect them to be coherent, they are just thoughts after all.
Fact one: the movie and music industries make billions every year, a big portion of which is profits which get distributed to the few elite people in the industry. The figures? Google them up, and we are not talking about a few million dollars or whatever.
Fact two: Generalizing, People who download things illegally weren’t going to buy them to begin with, they either can not afford to or simply didn’t think they were worthy of spending money on. One thing i have to mention is the fact that people didn’t just decide to indulge themselves in piracy over the last decade.
The piracy of modern media dates back to vhs and audio tapes, and everyone just lived with it. No RIAA back then. And these are only ways i remember. I am not that old.
Fact 3: Industries fuel from the so called art by selling more blank media, recorders (computers and other hardware), but the RIAA doesn’t seem to be targeting them as they would surely loose the battle. Stake holders in this industry, the same as those in the media industry. See a pattern here already?
The media industries didn’t go bankrupt, they moved on to grow and prosper. So this model of piracy that dates decades back seems to work for the media industries.
What happens in reality is that those down-loaders will actually be more willing to buy a product such as a dvd as they have seen and enjoyed it, and probably associated it with a positive feelings. If they might want to give something as a gift, it will be a movie or a music cd, and it will not be a copy. It will be an original branded dvd, cd or any other sort of legal product. It looks nice. It is only natural that they give it to a loved one, or simply want it in their dvd collection. I myself rarely buy gifts that aren’t DVDs or CDs.
Fact 4: The RIAA is basically a banch of unemployed lawyers who managed to find a way to make money out of people who can’t even afford to pay money. Instead of targeting on the people that mass produce illegal copies of dvds etc, they focus on the consumer. Why? individuals are easier to target and attack.
Scare tactics or not the manage to take to court people who have done nothing more than help the media industry market promote its products.
The RIAA is probably a place of investment for the media lords, who see it as yet another way to milk the cow and make some more money.
But really, governments should see the RIAA for what it is, a bunch of unemployed lawyers trying to make money on the expense of the public and individuals but at the same time are incompetent in targeting the organized crime syndicates fueling the creating and distribution of illegal copies of copyrighted material. And they are not doing it over the INTERNET via bittorrent, there is no money to be made there!!
By all means, instead of spending so much effort trying to get money out of people who were not going to give it to you anyway, try and promote your products in such a way that people will want to buy more of those “illegally” downloaded films and music.
RIAA: if you really have what it takes, start targeting the organized crime units that sell copies of your products and stop hassling users.
Music Industry: adapt to the changing world around you. Don’t target the users who are after all your clients. They will always outsmart you if you force them to.
Legal systems and governments : please adapt to the changing world around you. Understand what the internet is and new technolodgies. Killing net neutrality, sacrificing the right to privacy (as you are doing in the name of national security), and penilizing users isn’t the way. Stop listening to industries and the BS they feed you when they pay to elect your politicians.
Unemployed Lawyers: go do something useful like helping people, or simply go study something else.
