The RIAA’s ‘constituency’ are the corporate executives and the stockholders of the conglomerates that own the major labels, and DEFINITELY NOT, REPEAT NOT, the creative people, such as songwriters, performance artists, recording engineers, acoustical engineers, etc., who actually create the works the RIAA’s ‘constituency’ distributes.

The RIAA’s name can now be considered misleading. It really doesn’t represent the ‘Recording Industry’ as the actual ‘recording’ is now almost exclusively performed by a myriad of smaller companies and individuals working on a contract, or per project basis, who are not employees are the major labels. The major labels should be referred to as the “Recorded Music Distributing Industry.”

As for Ms. Rosen, she’s being a bit disingenuous in attempting to distance herself from the debacle of lawsuits against dead people, grandmothers who have never touched a computer, 12 year olds, computer-illiterate parents, etc. Given the way corporate organizations work, there are many months (or years) of planning before anything is actually implemented. She could have easily put a stop to this at the very outset by setting a boundary that they were not going to sue individuals who were not attempting to profit from filesharing.

However, it’s hardly unusual that a group of lawyers (which is the predominant occupation comprising the upper echelons of the RIAA’s staff, the “thoughtful and good people” Ms. Rosen referred to) decided to address a ‘problem’ (that had a wide range of solutions) with lawsuits. I would venture to guess that if the RIAA senior staff were MBAs instead of lawyers, they would have developed new business models and distribution methods.

and

“…propietary [sic] DRM just bugs me.”

Welcome to the club sister. Just do what the rest of us do: SAY NO TO DRM.

What I heard was that she was basically telling them “If you build it they will come” but with the few feeble attempts at the labels trying to build their own services, that were difficult to use, unreliable, and running into the same
licensing issues that independent websites were dealing with, they decided against it.

Then I saw Hilary at the Future of Music Coalition conference on a panel, and while her mouth was speaking the “company line” her body language, and attitude didn’t seem to project that she believed it. (I was a portrait photographer for 20 years so I’m pretty good at reading people’s body language)

She could have just been having a case of S squared D squared (Same Shiat, Different Day) but the effect on me was such that I actually made a comment to a lobbyist who represented a number of the file sharing companies, about it. As I recall he agreed. A few months later Hilary “retired” from the RIAA.

While Hilary was at the helm of the RIAA THe DMCA was passed, while the US was concentrating on Monica Lewinsky and Bill (America’s first black President) Clinton. The DMCA was passed on October 28, 1998. With all the MSM concentrating on the Clinton/Lewinsky stuff, not one MSM outlet every said word one about the DMCA.

Interesting side notes here:
1) Amy Weiss who worked for Clinton in the Press secretaries officce left to become the major mouthpiece for the RIAA. She now works for the UN Foundation http://www.unfoundation.org/about/staff/weiss.asp

2) Mitch Glazer was the the Senate Judiciary Committee Lawyer during Clintons impeachment hearings, later added the “Four little words” into a 1400 page satellite bill that basically made all music as works for hire. He called it a “technical adjustment” . Story link: http://archive.salon.com/ent/music/feature/2000/08/28/work_for_hire/index.html
It took two years, numerous hearings, a bill introduced and passed and Clinton’s signature to get it undone. He left the Senate (approx salary $89,000US) to go to work for ther RIAA for a an approx. salary of 500,000 the RIAA’s Primary lobbyist.
http://www.riaa.com/News/newsletter/press2000/021000.asp

Remember the RIAA represent the major labels, they act as a lighting rod to keep your anger directed away from them and at a lighting rod. A quick check of the board and membership list will tell you you to boycott.

etc..

Is there another group called the RIAA out there??

Rick