I read with interest your editorial notebook, “Take a stand, boycott the RIAA.”

As a young man I grew up in the South during the 1960s and I saw firsthand the power of a community of people whose cause was just. Societies united for the purpose of securing justice through economic action, where human rights were being denied. Martin Luther King was a champion of the use of non-violent boycotts to end segregation.

But in your call for a boycott of the RIAA you have neglected a couple of simple facts that make boycotts effective. First, your cause must be just, but as you admit, “suing people who do illegal things that hurt you is not wrong.” So you start your boycott from a disadvantage. You are actually supporting villany, not opposing it.

Next, in order for a boycott to work you must be able to withdraw your financial support from the people who are denying you your rights. In the case of illegal file sharers they are not supporting the RIAA, they are stealing from them. There is no financial support to withdraw. Once again, you are at a distinct disadvantage.

If you are still interested in boycotting the RIAA record labels I suggest doing what Mahatma Ghandi always did before starting a boycott. Remove yourself from the problem. Start by cleansing yourself of any benefit you receive from the “oppressor,” as Ghandi did when he stopped wearing clothing made with fabric from British-owned textile mills. You and all your readers could start by removing from your hard drives any music that was stolen from a company that is an RIAA member. Then you could go to a record store and purchase an entirely new collection of recordings from artists on small independent labels.

In this way you will indeed be “taking a stand.” The stand will be in favor of legally supporting great music by purchasing it, instead of electronically shoplifting it from the RIAA companies. Then the RIAA will have to end their lawsuits and you will have won! And so, might I add, will thousands of songwriters, artists, musicians, producers, recording engineers, and music publishers who depend on record sales to pay their house notes, their medical insurance, their grocery bills, and their children’s tuition to Rensselaer.

I hope this letter will encourage you in that effort.

Rick Carnes

President,