Rarely do I get so torqued up that I actually convince myself that a personal boycott is in order…. okay, that may not be entirely true since I do have a number of bans in progress, but they are all for very good reasons! This particular boycott is still in its infancy (compared to my Sprint BAN dating back to 1986) and was initiated on January 29th 2008 when I read about a particular bill being reviewed in the house. Just in case the link goes dead, here is the paragraph that ruffled the fur (all rights to paragraph remains with the ArsTechnica author)
“Not content with the current (and already massive) statutory damages allowed under copyright law, the RIAA is pushing to expand the provision. The issue is compilations, which now are treated as a single work. In the RIAA’s perfect world, each copied track would count as a separate act of infringement, meaning that a copying a ten-song CD even one time could end up costing a defendant $1.5 million if done willfully. Sound fair? Proportional? Necessary? Not really, but that doesn’t mean it won’t become law. ”
Yes folks, that is $1.5M for copying a single compilation cd. I will let that sink in just a minute… tick…tock….tick…tock. I have had enough. On the spot I committed myself to a minimum one year boycott of all big label music purchases or any artist that actually came out and supported their efforts. It is now over 4 months and I have not even thought for one second about breaking the agreement. Does this mean that I ended my music purchases, stopped filling my silent voids with raunchy guitars, thunderous drums and unique arrangements…. NOPE. What the RIAA has failed to comprehend in their pursuit to litigate every single person in the world is that there are other outlets for music. The stranglehold is gone. Big labels are no longer needed – the Internet has essentially removed the unneeded middle men/women. Instead of wasting my hard earned money on uncaring artists, I’ve turned to 100% Indie and at this point I see little reason to every go back. Thanks to distribution houses like CD Baby , and the emergence of studios catering to the non-signed bands, there are plenty of bands out there who actually deserve our attention. Oh and don’t forget the pod sector (Insomina Radio’s SoCal, Chicago and UK as examples) cranking out wonderful DRM free samples to help get the word out. For the record, I have bought over 30 CDs as a result of these three podcasts and their sister feeds. So if you are not put off by the RIAA tactics or enjoy seeing how the big label bands treat your money on shows like MTV Cribs, nor wonder how much investment there is in simply cranking out a greatest hits or compilation CD (yet priced at the same rate as a new cd with studio fees etc.) then please don’t click on any of the links in this post. I on the other hand am getting ready to listen to my August House, Half the World and Band of Horses CDs.
As a side note, I did find something out while tracking down the Pro-IP link, I noticed that on March 6th, 2008, the compilation piece was pulled from the bill : In case the link goes dead, here is the statement that brought my smile (rights remain with ArsTechnica author) “Today, a House subcommittee removed the controversial provision from the Bill and passed it on to the full committee for further comment” Interesting enough, apparently they didn’t consider the magazine and newspaper impact. This of course doesn’t change my boycott, but good to see there are some logical thinking people in congress.
