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Tracks that make you go yarrrr!
The fact the music industry is changing is old news. Some choose to grab the opportunity and innovate. Others choose to scream, cry for legislation and sue their customers. Last week I’ve found The Music Industry Piracy Investigations website (or: MIPI) and thought I’ll bring you a few gems. First, this is the only site I’ve ever seen where a “print this page” link appears on every page both on top and on the bottom. I guess these guys didn’t hear about the environment. Or maybe their cause is too important.
Next: “In Australia, over 2.8 million people download music illegally and 1 in 3 of these are young people” – I’m struggling to see how suing all these people or punishing them is a good idea. Dear music industry, customers today need a different solution. We no longer pay for a record or a cd. We want to buy music, sometime by the track! (Yes, noticed your links to some websites with legal downloads. Can you make it any more complicated?) .
And finally: You can use the MIPI piracy report form to dob a pirate (yes, like your friends & family members) but watch out for incriminating questions like: “Have you purchased any of the pirate product?”, “Do you have the receipt?” and “Do you have a copy of the pirate product to send to us or to describe to us?”. Maybe it’s time to think about changing business models instead of trying to stop the inevitable?
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On September 8, 2003, the recording industry sued 261 American music fans for sharing songs on peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing networks, kicking off an unprecedented legal campaign against its own customers. The recording industry has now filed, settled, or threatened, legal actions against well over 20,000 individuals, and there is no end in sight.
Along with defending P2P software developers and their right to innovate, EFF has been fighting for a better way forward that gets artists paid without fans getting sued, which you can find more about on our Let the Music Play campaign page. For more info go to: http://www.eff.org/riaa-v-people