Slashdot Mirror
RIAA Now Blames Journalists For Its Piracy Trouble
adeelarshad82 writes "RIAA executives have written a letter to PCMag expressing 'deep disappointment' for publishing an article on Limewire Alternatives. While the article includes a disclaimer from PCMag that it does not condone the download of copyrighted or illegal material, RIAA executives believe that 'PCMag is slyly encouraging people to steal more music.' The letter goes on to ask PCMag to retract the article from their website. PCMag's Editor in Chief has responded to the letter by stating that music industry's charges remain groundless and that it reeks of desperation. He points out that PCMag covers all aspects of technology, which includes the products, services and activities that some groups and individuals might deem objectionable. He defends publishing the article by saying 'We covered these Limewire alternatives because we knew they would be of interest to our readers. We understand that some might use them to illegally download content. We cannot encourage that action, but also cannot stop it. Reporting on the existence of these services does neither.' PCMag has also refused to retract the article."
PCMag is as much motivated by economic considerations as the RIAA. The difference is that PCMag is informing its readership and generating publicity for itself, while the RIAA is advertising its rent-seeking behavior and ignorance of the Internet. There is no way the article could be "unpublished" even if PCMag were to comply with these notorious intellectual monopolists.
RIAA artists slyly encouraging ( underage sex | adultery | drive-by shooting | etc... )
You get the idea. Interesting how a certain media group displays a shocking ignorance of their own industry and the industries immediately adjacent to it.
the problem is the music industry continually fails to cite any context for their lost sales, other than the idiotic claim that the pirates took all their music.
when was the last time you bought a CD?
when was the last time you bought a DVD?
consumers will typically not buy both. if you're buying a movie, you'll use your "entertainment budget" on that, and skip on the CD for next time.
CD sales have dropped consistently since the late 90s. guess what happened in 1998? DVDs hit the market.
let's compare and contrast with CD player sales. see how they correlate with CD sales? now let's pop DVD and DVD player sales on the same graph. i wonder whether as CDs dip, DVDs increase?
i'm not saying piracy doesn't exist, but i think there's a much bigger culprit for lost CD sales in the mix here.