Ravenwood - 01/21/03 08:09 PM
This is a fight I'd like to see. Has the RIAA met it's match in thinking it can push around ISPs like AOL?
CNET reports that Hillary Rosen, Comandant of the RIAA claims full credit for spuring the demand for broadband. Rosen suggested that if it weren't for online music swapping, broadband wouldn't have gotten off the ground.
"We will hold ISPs more accountable," claims Rosen. CNET also reports that "Rosen suggested one possible scenario for recouping lost sales from online piracy would be to impose a type of fee on ISPs that could be passed on to their customers who frequent these file-swapping services."
How can the RIAA impose a fee on ISPs? Well, they do have a few Congressmen in their pocket, but I still think they're in for a hell of a fight. They've already tried bullying the electronics manufacturing industry, by demanding that they build digital rights management into everything with a power cord. Now they intend to piss off the ISPs. Who's next? Computer manufacturers?
(link via Dustbury)
And, of course, what makes this interesting is that AOL Time Warner owns one of the Big Five record companies - so mixed emotions are the order of the day. Likewise, I suspect, at Sony, which sells way more hardware than CDs.
Posted by: CGHill at January 21, 2003 9:48 PM(c) Ravenwood and Associates, 1990 - 2014
