Spring Break
The road to hell: paved with piracy?
By: Taylor Kessinger
Issue date: 2/26/08 Section: Opinions
The story: An internal Recording Industry Association of America training video was leaked onto the Internet last week. The video was intended to motivate prosecutors to be more aggressive in attacking music pirates, arguing that music piracy is linked to everything from handguns and illegal drugs to murder and terrorism.
The response: Internet humorist David Wong, of the Web site pointlesswasteoftime.com, concocted a satirical piece several years ago which has now taken on an oddly prophetic nature. His thesis? A link exists between file sharing, crack cocaine use and child molestation. It really doesn't get any better than this. Believe me, I'm dying to make some horribly caustic remark about how music sharing has turned most of my friends into drug-addicted radical terrorists, but the impact is significantly dulled by the fact that a number of RIAA execs apparently think that's true.
On the plus side, there's no better argument for the fact that the RIAA is a sleazy organization that subsists on fear tactics and has no concern whatsoever for the consumers who continue, for some bizarre reason, to support it. Yet the claims of the RIAA aren't even close to convincing. Who, exactly, are they trying to fool? And if the RIAA is so out of touch with reality and the general populace that it thinks this will really strike a blow against illegal file trading, what right do they have to continue existing as a commercial entity? This is the kind of tactic you'd expect a cult to use, not a cartel-esque organization like the RIAA.
The free market should put its boot down on the RIAA once and for all. Luckily, laughable tactics like this are more likely to push people into file-sharing than to scare them away, and that's just the way it should be. Say what you will about the morality of file-sharing, but we can all agree that anything which annoys the RIAA is probably a net good.
The response: Internet humorist David Wong, of the Web site pointlesswasteoftime.com, concocted a satirical piece several years ago which has now taken on an oddly prophetic nature. His thesis? A link exists between file sharing, crack cocaine use and child molestation. It really doesn't get any better than this. Believe me, I'm dying to make some horribly caustic remark about how music sharing has turned most of my friends into drug-addicted radical terrorists, but the impact is significantly dulled by the fact that a number of RIAA execs apparently think that's true.
On the plus side, there's no better argument for the fact that the RIAA is a sleazy organization that subsists on fear tactics and has no concern whatsoever for the consumers who continue, for some bizarre reason, to support it. Yet the claims of the RIAA aren't even close to convincing. Who, exactly, are they trying to fool? And if the RIAA is so out of touch with reality and the general populace that it thinks this will really strike a blow against illegal file trading, what right do they have to continue existing as a commercial entity? This is the kind of tactic you'd expect a cult to use, not a cartel-esque organization like the RIAA.
The free market should put its boot down on the RIAA once and for all. Luckily, laughable tactics like this are more likely to push people into file-sharing than to scare them away, and that's just the way it should be. Say what you will about the morality of file-sharing, but we can all agree that anything which annoys the RIAA is probably a net good.
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