[free-sklyarov] Strategy: Starve the RIAA, slam the majors

[Karsten M. Self]

At a meeting in September which included a few of the people on this
list, the issue of the RIAA came up.

My advice:  deny them publicity.  Deny the recording industry shelter.

From an Oct, 2000 interview with That Bitch:

    http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,39108,00.html

    Wired News: Obviously, three, four, five years ago, the scrutiny on
    you was different than it is today. Is that fair?

    Hilary Rosen: Our profile was pretty low, deliberately so. Our
    constituents were a relatively small audience. What is new I think
    for us is recognizing that everything we are doing is on the cutting
    edge of so many different industries and so many different
    interests. So the scrutiny is a lot brighter. We're out there in the
    sunshine, and it feels fine.

    WN: Is it better for this industry for you to be out in the
    forefront with all of the reporters tracking down Hilary Rosen and
    the RIAA?

    HR: It's definitely all part of the game.

...the RIAA is a front, intended to take flack.  They look bad, the
recording industry dodges the heat.  The RIAA itself calls That Bitch a
"lightning rod" for controversy.  But who's the RIAA?

Oh, about 806 bullying cowards, starting with "the five majors": Sony,
EMI, Warner, BMG, and Universal, from which the RIAA gets its primary
funding[1].

    http://www.riaa.org/About-Members-1.cfm

Aggregating the various lables claimed by the majors, that's about 760
labels, with a fair bit of corporate redundancy.

They want to be able to muscle their own customers, without looking like
they're muscling their own customers.


But, of course, the RIAA represents the artists, don't they?  I mean,
they keep telling us that all of this enforcement of copyrights is for
The Artists?  Well, what's their own page have to say on the subject:

    http://www.riaa.org/Ask_the_RIAA_QA.cfm#2

    Our members range from very large record labels (the five so-called
    majors) to much smaller independents.  RIAA does not represent
    artists.


So, what should the strategy be?   

  - Deny the RIAA its publicity.  They aren't the target, they're the
    decoy.  Pay attention to their shenanigans.  But make all efforts to
    pierce the veil, or better, avoid it altogether.

  - Call the majors to task:  EMI, Warner, BMG, Universal.  And the
    others in the crowd:  A&M, Arista, Atlantic, Blue Note, Bon Jovi,
    Capitol, Chrysalis, Columbia, Decca, Disney, Dreamworks, Elektra,
    Epic, Geffen, Island, London, Mercury, Motown, Nonesuch, RCA,
    Reprise, Telarc, Virgin, and, lord that must've been some bad acid,
    Woodstock.

    The RIAA is their hired fall guy.  Show them they wasted their
    dough.

  - Let 'em know how you feel.  Loudly.  Boycotts on Diz, Sony, Virgin.
    Boycott in front of your local Tower Records, Sam Goodey, naming the
    culprits.  We're in for a long, cold retail winter, out-of-work
    programmers parading in the streets aren't going to make the
    retailers any happier.  Show 'em season's greetings....

Get the truth out.  The quotes above are taken from the RIAA's own
website, and interviews with Rosen.  Let people know the truth:  this is
an industry group with an emphasis on the five largest firms, which
*does not represent the artists*.

Peace.

----------------------------------------
Notes:

1.  Source:  http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,40359,00.html

-- 
Karsten M. Self <kmself at ix.netcom.com>        http://kmself.home.netcom.com/
 What part of "Gestalt" don't you understand?              Home of the brave
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   Free Dmitry! Boycott Adobe! Repeal the DMCA!  http://www.freesklyarov.org
Geek for Hire                      http://kmself.home.netcom.com/resume.html
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