[tags]RIAA, Copyright, lawsuits, opinion, editorial, satire[/tags]

I heard something so strange the other day and it reminded me of something I heard years ago. I heard that Hitler had actually faked his entire suicide and actually escaped. Could this be possible?

I am actually starting to belief that he is alive and well working for an organization called the Racketeering Idiots Association of America. This group, abbreviated the RIAA is looking very similar to the Gestapo. The tactics are similar. Consider the following:

• First, instill fear by threatening them.
• Second, offer them an easy way to swear loyalty, admit guilt and submit to their will. Even tell them that you are looking forward to future business together.
• Claim ownership of everything!
• Enlist the youths of the nation to fink on others and be brain washed.
• Flood the news with false information, propaganda and conceal information by not reporting how much you collect or pay to the artist, all in an effort to mislead the public.

While you are at it, continue to proceed and increase Gestapo raids when the problem is "contained".

Okay, I am being overly critical. But, I did get your attention and the reality is not far from the above. Hitler used legislation and fear to impose his will on the world. The RIAA is not doing much different to impose it’s will on the world. While they claim to be champions of a cause they are nothing more than bullies. Their latest attempt to collect royalties for all copyrighted material is a scary sign of the times. They are in too good with our Congress and Senate. Not only to they feel they are the law but they behave as they are above the law.

They claim they are protecting the interest of the artist. The reality is simple. They are protecting their disproportionately large share of what the artists earn in sales. They claim that they are trying to keep the market in check so that it does not become diluted and not support the artist. The last claim makes about as much sense as reducing the number of telephones and bringing back telegraphs and the Pony Express. Western Union and the pony teams faded to history because newer technology was better, faster and desired by the general public not because curtailed doers of evil.

The bottom line, their own bottom line, is exactly what they are protecting. Not the artist. They are more responsible for the term &qouot;starving artists" than any other aspect of today’s music industry. To be honest and fair, today’s technology does make it easier to pirate. This is true. The telephone also made it easier to communicate. It also made it easier to conspire for criminal purposes. So do automobiles. Neither is a valid argument to prohibit the new technology.

I think it is great when I read about a ring of DVD pirates getting busted. I do not, never have and never will endorse illegal activity. Today’s situation with the RIAA and the most recent attempt to collect all royalties for all copyrights is not about piracy. It is about attempting to control a market and a distribution model. Unfortunately, the model is dead. Just like singing wires and type key operators.

Supply and demand will, in the end, prevail. The consumer is simply sick of CDs as the only alternative for their desires in music. The artist is tired of being a slave to the label. We want portability, compatibility on all devices and we want to listen to streaming music on our PC. Heck, I have a portable CD player and I don’t even know where it is anymore. I share my legal music on my home network so that I can simply click and play my music on any machine in my home. I can also copy it to my pocketPC and listen to it on the bus or on a walk. I do not want to carry a CD player AND a pocketPC. If it is all about the intellectual property rights did I not already pay that price when I bought the material?

I am confident that the Darwinist nature of a free market economy will eventually crush the out dated mode of music distribution. The newer technologies available will only increase the size of the market. The fear of the RIAA is that their control of the market and piece of the market will disappear. The current strategy is not to control piracy but make the new market disappear and/or capture it.

They are attempting this through lobbyist and instilling fear. As consumers and citizens we can do two things. One is natural and automatic, spend your money elsewhere. If you read this far down, odds are you already do. Next express your concern to your Representative and Senator.