Hi-larious webcomic skewering the DRM Nazis’ ‘business model.’
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Bush’s iPod Houses “Illegal” Songs
By 4.17.06
The RIAA and the DRM Nazis could have a new target besides small families, single mothers and MIT students. How about the President of the United States? From BoingBoing:
RIAA Claims Sales At Six Year Low
By 4.6.06
Speaking of the RIAA, you may have seen on Friday that they released their 2005 sales figures on Friday, claiming that this was the worst year on record for the music industry. While gleefully bragging that their measures to sue elderly grandmothers and eleven year old girls has “held piracy” in check, the RIAA was quick to warn that little punks like Cassi Hunt were the real villains who had prevented the execs from trading up their Ferraris this year; “the distribution of music through internal networks on college campuses, remained ‘major factors’ in the industry’s declining sales.”
RIAA Tells MIT Student To Drop Out Of School To Pay Fines
By 4.6.06
Cassi Hunt has recently been accused by the RIAA of being guilty of file-sharing. We all know what happens now: the RIAA will extort her for thousands of dollars (in Cassi’s case, $3750) as a “settlement” to prevent her having to go to court. Or, as Cassie puts it in her highly entertaining and witty account: ” Let us screw you over gently now, or with chains and whips in court.”
Study Finds File Sharing Is Good For Music Industry
By 3.20.06
The Canadian Record Industry association have done some research and concluded that file sharers are great for business. According to their study, file sharers buy more music than the average customer and try the vast majority of songs they eventually buy.
More Free: Free iTunes Blog
By 3.15.06
Like we said earlier today, we absolutely love free. Complaints start when we start paying, when we enter a contract with a company and — time and time again, almost invariably — they forget about our contracts and start lumping us up in with the faceless aggregate. But there’s no lapsed service, no patronizing Customer Service exchanges when things are free — free is consumerist utopia.
How The Pirate Bay Fights Big Media Business
By 3.14.06
Despite the claims of the software industry and organizations like the MPAA and RIAA, file sharers are not thieves. They may be copyright infringers, certainly, But no matter what the claims of the RIAA, downloading K-Fed’s PopoZao off of Limewire is not the same as walking up to a small child, turning him upside down, tucking his head between your knees and then — his tiny limbs flailing impotently about you — pile-driving him into the sidewalk for his milk money.
DOJ Smacks Subpoenas Down On Music Industry
By 3.3.06
Surprise, surprise. The Department of Justice has started issuing subpoenas against the music industry, including Sony BMG and Warner, for price fixing and collusion. Since it’s a sloppy Reuters brief we’re linking to here, mainly consisting of a list of the companies involved, here’s a blockquote with the summary gyst:
RIAA Bans Resale of Preloaded iPods
By 2.13.06
Apparently 1) the RIAA is now a legislative body and 2) MTV is still relevant.
Artistshare Allows Customers To Fund Musical Process
By 2.9.06
If the RIAA is wondering if there’s an alternative to suing every teenager or credulous granny who even twitches in the direction of an mpeg codec, they should check out Artistshare. Artistshare is a cool alternative music business model in which fans support the creative process of musicians financially, in exchange for an inside view of the artistic process, a personal connection with the musician, a bunch of cool swag and the satisfaction of allowing an artist to fulfill their vision without bowing to the arbitrary whims of record industry sleaze cats.
Nettwerk Pays Legal Fees for RIAA-sued Teen
By 1.27.06
Man, the Canadians are just the superstars of taking on the RIAA. First, they sued the pants off of Sony BMG for the root-kit fiasco. And now, Nettwerk, a Canadian music label representing artists like Avril Lavigne, Barenaked Ladies, Dido, Sarah McLachlan and a lot of other hot Canadian girls are paying the legal fees of one of those typical kids who’s being sued by the RIAA for downloading a song off of Kazaa:
Serial Killers of Suing: How the RIAA Finds Its Victims
By 12.30.05
There’s a fascinating story over on p2pnet describing exactly the legal process the RIAA is using to blanket sue tens of thousands of people.
