RIAA Launches Ninth Wave Against Music Sharing Criminals
Strike up the band for the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) in its latest initiative against the students of 19 Universities to stop illegal downloading and sharing of copyrighted music.
If you are still downloading or sharing music, then maybe you deserve to be caught and fined especially for college-aged folk who don’t have long music-buying histories. I have been buying and re-buying music for just over 30 years and frankly the RIAA can KMA (Kiss My A$$).
In the late 1970s, I had amassed a collection of about 100 45rpm, 300 33.3rpm, and 40 or so 8-tracks tapes. The 45rpm records only had one hit on them and a "B-side" recording on the other. The now classic vinyl albums had anywhere from 4 to 8 tracks per side. 8-track tapes were albums in tape form and your favorite songs were always in the transition area between tracks so that there was a pause and a double-click when the track switched.
In the 1980s, 8-track tapes had gone extinct in favor of the smoother running cassette tapes–so I had to replace my in-dash 8-track player and my portable 8-track player for cassette equivalents. I also had to replace my 8-track music with cassettes hence paying the RIAA for the same music. In the late 1980s, vinyl record albums were being replaced by the smaller digital versions on CD. The sound wasn’t as rich but progress is progress so I unhappily shelled-out more money to the RIAA and record companies to replace my now very large vinyl album collection.
I currently own 600-700 CDs of music of various types that includes replacements of albums plus the ever-abundant new music that keeps enticing me.
Certainly I am not alone in these experiences. As I see it, I have bought and re-bought the same music several times over the years with absolutely no apologies, rebates, discounts, or anything from the RIAA or record companies. I also haven’t downloaded any music in about 3 or 4 years since all the lawsuits started.
Should I ever be confronted by the RIAA for downloading copyrighted songs, the above information will be my defense. Why should I keep paying over and over for the same music in different formats? Profit. I think the RIAA is now going after music sharers since they now realize that the digital format is likely to be a permanent one and their profits will fall accordingly because no one will have to replace their entire music collections every few years in favor of the newer, better formats.
I thumb my digital nose at the RIAA and the record companies. You will not get any more repeat dollars from me. And maybe the recording artists will have to have day jobs, like I do, whilst practicing their "artistic" crafts on the side.
There should probably be a class-action lawsuit against the RIAA and recording companies for doing this to all of us. I feel that I have been screwed for over 30 years by them without as much as a kiss to go along with it. The only kiss I want from them now is on my backside.
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October 26th, 2007
there have been many people,esp. music lovers who felt the same thing as you. I completely understand the burden that RIAA is bringing to us.