RIAA hires guns, alcohol and smokes expert to fight piracy

[hobbes159]

RIAA hires guns, alcohol and smokes expert to fight piracy
By Ashlee Vance in Chicago
Posted: 10/12/2003 at 16:54 GMT

Showing the positive light in which their customer base is viewed, the music labels have hired the former head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to lead their piracy fighting efforts.

Yep, the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) has tapped Bradley Buckles to broker deals with law enforcement agencies for pursuing CD-burning rings and to stop renegade file-downloaders. In his position as ATF director, Buckles kept tabs on some of the foulest characters around from gun smugglers to child-targeting tobacco dealers. Now, he will have the unenviable task of pounding on adolescents' doors to serve them lawsuits for downloading too much music.

<snip>

Buckles will join the RIAA in full-swing. The lobby group has just completed the third round of its lawsuit filing program. In addition, the FBI and Secret Service continue to aid the music industry in its pursuit of large scale CD burners.

<snip>

"It's hard to convince fans to pay up when everyone knows artists get only pennies from a $16 CD," said Downhill Battle. "Since major labels can't convince people, they need to coerce them. But if the RIAA has the same success stopping downloading as the ATF has had stopping illegal gun sales, then we don't think filesharers have a lot to worry about. Parallels to the prohibition are rife: free, non-DRM music is just too popular. Bradley A. Buckles will be playing a losing game of gangbusters."

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/34445.html

[Cooley Hurd]

1. Oh swell... we'll be treated to Waco-style raids on Kazaa users?

Oh oh... I think there's agents on my roof right now... :o

[Patriot_Spear]

2. Who will be the Koresh of Kazaa?

nah- I don't see it happeneing. I have visions of that scene from 'The Core' where the kid is running around with an industrial grade magnet wiping hard drives.

Will someone please tell me how Kazaa is different from you sitting at home tapping music off the radio?

[Systematic Chaos]

3. They better not forget to post spies at all the public libraries!

I've checked out no less than 50 or 60 CD's in the past year from various libraries near my home and ripped MP3's of them for my own private use. Why? BECAUSE I FREAKING CAN! A lot of cool old stuff but an amazing amount of nearly brand-new music. And, since I'm way too poor to even think about buying CD's even if I couldn't record them, I would just repeatedly check them out from the library every couple months until I got sick of them. What's the damn difference?

[muchacho]

4. stupid is....

wow. I can't think of a single instance were an industry as repeatidly shot itself in the foot over a what should be (and will be) a chance to evolve.

I hope the indy labels and musicians are ready to exploit these heavy-handed tactics and make some press and money.

[Patriot_Spear]

5. A lot of Indy labels have threatened suit...

Apparently the RIAA has been listing them as members when they really weren'tr then refusing to take their name of the list- heard it on NPR.

[muchacho]

6. Dammit Janet

I wonder is if Janet Reno would represent te Indys?

[reprobate]

7. There is one way to stop the RIAA.

Don't buy their crap. Buy the independants. Or don't buy anything at all for the moment. It would be wonderful to see these fascists brought down by people just saying NO.