Betalogue

In a blog entry entitled “Technology vs. Legislation: Part Two – iTunes for Windows and the RIAA“, Alan Graham at O’Reilly tells it like it really is when it comes to digital technology and the recording industry:

So given the apparent disconnect between the RIAA and the consumer, why is it we still consider any compromise with them? They’ve had absolutely no vision when it comes to technology, and if it had been up to them, we would still be unable to burn music CD’s, transfer music to MP3 players, or convert CD’s to MP3’s. In fact, if the mentality of the RIAA had been accepted years ago, there would not have been cassette tapes, reel to reel, or even CD’s. If it had been up to the RIAA, our car stereos might have technical innovations like slot loading 45’s… The RIAA argument is that technology encourages the average citizen to steal. The fact that I own a checkbook has not turned me into a bad check felon. The connection the RIAA tries to make between technology and piracy is absurd. Simply having a high speed internet connection and a MP3 player has not made me more prone to breaking the law… We are on a slippery slope each time we make a concession with the RIAA. You can’t work with a bully whose idea of working with you is telling you what to do and if you disagree, they’ll take you to court. These tactics damage innovation because it sucks up valuable capital on lawsuits, driving small technology companies into oblivion. And let’s face it, they are a large part of the reason why their wasn’t an effective and acceptable DRM in the first place. If they spent more time talking and less time suing, the piracy problem might not be so rampant.

Amen.

This entry was posted by Pierre Igot on Friday, October 17th, 2003 at 4:43 am and is filed under iTunes, Music, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.