Robert X. Cringley wrote:
Andersen says the Big Bad Record Companies tried to coerce her into a settlement by threatening to drag her 10-year-old daughter into their offices for a deposition, and that one of its fanged minions called the girl's elementary school pretending to be her grandmother. [...] Of course, this is just an allegation, and as usual the RIAA has not commented.

At least the part about " threatening to drag her 10-year-old daughter into their offices for a deposition," is not only an allegation!
While we haven't heard any recording of a pretexting "grandmother" calling, we have official courtdocuments by the RIAA lawyers themself that Timothy M. Reynolds of HR&O in Boulder* wanted to come in personal contact with that little girl. It was only due to a wise judge who ruled against this IMO pervert tactic from those lawyers for the recording companies that this guy was kept away from that little girl.

* http://www.hro.com/people/bio?id=153

"Should the RIAA be stopped?"
God, I hope so.

The RIAA needs to play by one set of rules - if they claim that they are just selling rights to the music and not the physical CD, then they should offer to replace destroyed/lost CDs at cost.

Wondering if Ms Tanya needs logistical help -- lawyers can get pretty expensive. Anyone wanna start a fund-raising campaign? She doesn't have to look at it as charity: on the one hand, it's putting our money where our beliefs are, the belief being that the RIAA is evil.On the other hand, maybe Ms Tanya will be generous with those who participated in the fund-raising when she wins the case -- and no out-of-court settlements, please. Sue the muthafukkas outa existence.

Anonymous says:
"Should the RIAA be stopped?"
God, I hope so.

And I sez:
No, they should be destroyed.

To paraphrase Douglas Adams, "The RIAA will be the first up against the wall when the revolution comes".

IT MAKE ME SICK TO SEE RIAAA'S NAME DRAGGE3D IHN THE MUD. THEY ARE JUST T5RYING TO KEP PEOPLE FROM STEALING MUSIC. JUDST LEAVE THE,M ALONE AND LET TEHM DO THERE JOB.

yes, bashing grandmothers, and threatening school children must be somewhere in the RIAA's charter.

along with all caps notes, and misspellings.

please tell me this was satire, and not serious.

Jim says:
"IT MAKE ME SICK TO SEE RIAAA'S NAME DRAGGE3D IHN THE MUD. THEY ARE JUST T5RYING TO KEP PEOPLE FROM STEALING MUSIC. JUDST LEAVE THE,M ALONE AND LET TEHM DO THERE JOB.'

It appears that the RIAA lawyers have not learned to use spell check yet.

Just think of it. The RIAA getting sued by thier own kind, lawyers. Kind of like cannablism... HAHAHAHA.

If I called up a school and tried to make contact to a child to whom I wasn't related, the next day I would have 3 cop cars at my door with weapons drawn.

Why wasn't this the case here?

I'm confused. How is it possible that a multi-million dollar movie can be sold on DVD for less than $10 a few months after theatrical release, but a multi-thousand dollar CD still costs me $16?

I've always said, drop the cost of a CD to $4.99 and 80% of illegal downloads will disappear. Folks want the nice packaging, artwork, liner notes, and the feeling that they're monitarily supporting their favorite artists.

Was the quality of the article improved by the cut delivered against the Vice-President? I don't think so. You do better by keeping to the point and not making side-swipes at political figures.

"If I called up a school and tried to make contact to a child to whom I wasn't related, the next day I would have 3 cop cars at my door with weapons drawn. Why wasn't this the case here?"

Maybe it was ....... but ........
Cops & Lawyers, man wachu think ...... ;-)

Dewey, Cheatem & Howe Inc.

"I've always said, drop the cost of a CD to $4.99 and 80% of illegal downloads will disappear. Folks want the nice packaging, artwork, liner notes, and the feeling that they're monitarily supporting their favorite artists."

I don't really care about artwork & packaging but for 4.95 a CD I'd own a lot more than the 250+ I already own & I bet I would buy the entire CD instead of downloading the one song I have heard on the radio or the 2 or three I heard that I liked when I borrowed the CD from the library ........

"Was the quality of the article improved by the cut delivered against the Vice-President?"

Yes. It was. A LOT.

Cannibalism: I love it.

Numerous good points here, ladies and gents--the comparison between the movie / music costs AND that if we are truly "licensing" music they should replace worn or broken disks, etc. to name a couple.

This brings up an interesting corrollary: If the music is "licensed" not owned, then why did I have to buy the CD if I had the vinyl or tape? I must have at least 2 copies of 50% of my original collection.

I think the RIAA owes us all refunds.

When I worked for a small retail store chain, we were told by the people from whom we bought store background and on-hold music to watch out for RIAA. Their people (RIAA's) would frequently call stores and ask to be put on hold to listen to the music. According to RIAA, it's illegal to replay radio station music inside a store even though the stations have already paid the fees.

Pretty slick dealers, if you ask me. Chop their heads off!

We're all gonna be in even bigger trouble once Microsoft gets the patent for 1s and 0s. I see them joining forces with the Capones, I mean the RIAA and forming the Empire.

What grips me is that the RIAA states it is protecting the Artist, when in fact it is protecting the Record Companies rights to exploit the Artist. Movie companies publish what the main Artists are being paid for their work, but Recording Artist frequently don't see even a $0.0001 payment for that CD which costs $0.02 to produce and sells for $11.99+++++. If we really want to end piracy maybe we should engage in the 'Shareware' model and have the Artist get paid a known amount!

So long as the RIAA protects the Recording Companies hold on the Artists, less Art will be produced, and fewer Artists will have their work known.

Posted by: a Frustrated Recording Engineer!

I just come here for the entertainment. I liked Bill Gates suggestion so much that I joined the Library of Congress, as there are over 800,000 recordings, and they get every new copyrighted item in the Free World!

Plus, the LOC invented this new machine what takes pictures of the 78rpm Albums, then puts out a perfect digital copy!

Bill Gates said "Borrow the CD from the Library, and rip the tunes"! Now, THAT's my kind of 'multiple convicted felon pirate Microsoft' attitude! Arrrgh!

Yeah I do own some CDroms that were sold at the garage sale. I hold them dear, for their copyrights!

Several years ago these morons tried to coerce our local University Hospital into paying a multi-thousand dollar "contract in lieu of prosecution" because we distributed music throughout the facility. They wanted to charge for each patient bed and demanded in addition a comprehensive listing of other locations (mainly offices and clinics) that received music, and were to be billed also. Imagine their surprise when the State Attorney General informed them that the service that we subscribed to had already paid their rediculous fees, and that if they cared to pursue the issue, they were to contact the Attorney General and not to contact the University Hospital. We never were bothered by them again.

You see, the article was about bullies and Cheney is now the world's biggest bully and ripe for satire.

I agree that I would probably buy CDs at $4.95
as I already buy an occasional CD at the dollar
store or, once in a blue moon, at the "sell, buy
and swap" store. I think it is ridiculous to pay
more than a couple of dollars for a CD that has
the one song I want and the rest that I don't.
I'll just stick to playing those oldies on my
78s and 8-tracks. At least I own those.

Bob C

Posted by: Dave's not here Man ...
at July 2, 2007 11:52 AM
.....

"I've always said, drop the cost of a CD to $4.99 and 80% of illegal downloads will disappear. Folks want the nice packaging, artwork, liner notes, and the feeling that they're monitarily supporting their favorite artists."

.....

It's with those little laws getting punished that the fascists begin to chip away at our freedoms (I don't even want to hear about money for the artist; that's a red herring because most real artists never see a dime from these recordings; they make more money from concerts which are promoted by more folks hearing their music). With the supreme court not on the individual's side anymore we can expect much more of this type of malicious presecution. No drugs, no sex, and NO ROCK AND ROLL! Welcome to AmeriKa.

Re $4.99 CDs, check out lala.com. swap your old CDs for new ones @ $1.75 per trade, legally share music online with friends. cool stuff.

re the seemingly gratuitous veep reference: ramuno is right. it's all about bullies.

peace,

rxc

Magnatune has it right! Search and check them out. The artists get 50% of the money you pay for their music and that depends how much YOU want to pay for the music. The RIAA needs to be dissolved; the management put in jail and be done with them. I hope they lose the suit to the tune of millions.