I’d like to take a moment to let you know what the RIAA has been up to, and suggest something you can do about it.
Considering that we have a capitalistic economy, record labels want to make as much money as possible. The simplest way to make more money would be to increase the prices of albums, but doing this usually causes people to buy other labels’ albums instead. A couple of years ago, the RIAA solved this problem by fixing the prices of albums among all of its members. Unfortunately, this is very illegal, and they had to stop.
The most well known actions of the RIAA are its lawsuits. While the law protects the sharing of music among friends and family as fair use of copyrighted material, people have been using the Internet to share digital copies of music files with anyone who asks for them. Since this is a threat to all record labels’ profits, the RIAA has been threatening, and in some cases actually suing, those involved with such practices. Here at RPI, we’ve had a handful of people targeted in this way, and thousands more across the country have shared a similar fate.
While suing people who do illegal things that hurt you is not wrong in and of itself, the RIAA has taken this right too far. The RIAA has a lot of money, and thusly they have the legal manpower that everyday file sharers do not. By sending them letters that generally state, “give us a whole lot of money or you’re going to have to fight a legal battle that will cost you even more than that,” the association is effectively practicing extortion.
Considering that these are the actions of the RIAA, it is not surprising that many people have come to hate them. Unfortunately, many more people are ignorant of their methods, or simply don’t care, and this has allowed the association to continue with their practices unchallenged. Furthermore, people who do care feel that they are powerless to fight against such a giant. There is something you can do, however, that will send a very powerful message.
Do not purchase music from record labels who pay dues to the RIAA. Such a boycott would not only prevent them from being able to fund their legal rampages, but they just might start to realize that their methods are not actually in the interest of their members. You can easily check to see if the album you want to purchase is affiliated with the RIAA in any way. Simply consult the RIAA Radar (http://www.riaaradar.com/) and enter the artist, album or song name in question. You’ll be surprised of how many artists have already freed themselves and are listed as “safe.” If you want to be even more educated and active in the fight against the RIAA, visit http://www.boycott-riaa.com/.
