The Music Wars

The RIAA seems to be one of the most self-destructive organizations I have ever seen. I can understand their opposition to .mp3s, butto send threats of legal action to users of Kazaa and Grokster is borderline lunacy.

The RIAA has every right to enforce copyrights on music, but sending a threatening instant message to users of the systems is not the most effective way to take care of the problem. I think that the industry is setting itself up for a series of "stunning setbacks" if they continue on this path.

I can see a jury somewhere engaging in "jury nullification" to let someone Kazaa user walk free. RIAA cannot possibly prosecute every case of copyright infringement, to do so would waste all of their resources. But by choosing a few people to make examples of, they are setting themselves up for a David vs. Goliath battle. And juries seem to like siding with the little guy.

The industry needs to understand that technology has fundamentally changed their business model. Education will be the key to changing consumer behavior, but the use of (mostly) idle threats is not the way to encourage people to pay attention to the message.

The RIAA has always struck me as an overbearing and arrogant organization. This story is doing nothing to help that impression.