I'd like to add a couple more points: some of the frustration with the RIAA and its corporate members are that their actions are clearly *not* in their best interest: "piracy" remains common, CD sales are down and customer goodwill is at an all-time low. It's hard to swallow an argument that their fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders requires them to sue their customers, when the long-term consequences of that are not clearly in their interests.

Another is that people often don't understand the origin and purpose of copyright protections. Copyright protections are not intended to protect some vague moral "right" creators have over their works; they are a trade-off offered by the public: in return for copyright protections, the expectation is that that will encourage the creation of books, music and other protectable works.

In other words, copyright balances the detriment and benefit to the public only; it does not balance the "rights" of a creator with the "rights" of a consumer. If evidence shows that freely sharing music is something the public wants to be able to do, then it is incumbent to change the law, not the public.

While it's fairly obvious that "evil" is an emotional overstatement, a more accurate accusation would be to say they are amoral (like all monetary driven groups), unethical (arguable, but correct imo), and totally ruthless. But the simple fact of the matter being considered "evil" by the average citizen is the price for their actions (suing little old ladies, young children, and the descendants of dead people). They are choosing to take on the PR cost, trying to help them deflect the price for their actions, is not something people should do imo. But it is just my opinion.

Fight Back! FILE SHARE!

Musicians barely see a fucking dime if someone buys their CD thanks to the retarded RIAA. The labels take all of it that's why artists are dependant on concerts and the merchandising. Don't buy fucking Albums. Don't support these fat cunts, go to a concert or something.

And when you download music use an instant-crashable hard drive and a revolving IP so these cunts can never track you down and even if they do SUE THEIR RETARDED FUCKING ASSES FOR CAUSING MENTAL DISTRESS. Bring the predatorial bastards down.

Casey: I agree, and I touched on it here: http://www.hometracked.com/2007/02/05/big-label-problems-opportunities-for-indie-artists/

I hope indie artists read the article above, and realize that the consumer backlash to the RIAA's tactics present some amazing opportunities for us. We should be looking to capitalize on them (while keeping our disdain for the big labels in check.)

JY

Heh, Brad summed his feelings up more succinctly than any of us :)

But ya, I think your statement is right on the money. (Rob's comment above speaks directly to that, actually: He's one of the guys that hangs out in my crowd :_)

And thanks for the rest of your comment. You've got a unique perspective. "The fraudulent career-ending scam that is the major label deal" should be a book.