kill 'em fuckin' kill 'em
from: http://www.fucktheindustry.org
TO: RECORDING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA (RIAA)
CC: UNIVERSAL, SONY, BMG, EMI, WARNER, ET AL
RE: AN OPEN LETTER TO THE MUSIC INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
On Monday, September 8, 2003 the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed lawsuits against 261 individuals for alleged copyright violations. Among those threatened with litigation were Durwood Pickle, a 71-year-old grandfather in Texas whose grandchildren had downloaded songs to his computer, and Brianna LaHara, a 12-year-old honor student living in a New York housing project for low-to moderate income families. Ms. LaHara and her mother, Sylvia Torres, were the first to settle with the RIAA agreeing to pay a settlement of $2,000.00. Upon news of the settlement Ms. LaHara was inundated with donations to help defer the cost of the fine with P2P United, a peer-to-peer industry digital rights advocacy group, along with several others offering to reimburse the fine in full.
The lawsuits brought by the RIAA carry penalties ranging from $750.00 to $150,000.00 per infringement, grossly disproportionate to the potential economic loss faced by the record labels. The basis of the RIAA subpoena campaign is the anti-piracy provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) passed by Congress in 1998. The DMCA prohibits the distribution of copyrighted material over the Internet making it a federal crime to do so. It also grants a wide latitude of power to the industry to issue subpoenas seeking to identify potential copyright5 violations. The DMCA allows the RIAA to issue a subpoena to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to obtain your identity without your knowledge. It also grants the RIAA the power to issue a subpoena preemptive of filing any lawsuit against you. This is a subversion of your constitutionally guaranteed right to Due Process and limits your ability to oppose it, especially considering your ISP is currently not obligated to notify you that a subpoena has been issued. If you are concerned that you may be subject to a RIAA subpoena it is recommended that you consult the Electronic Frontier Foundation's subpoena database.
The DMCA was originally intended by Congress to protect the interest of the artists. However, it is important to note that the current strong arm tactics employed by the RIAA, although made under the guise of protecting artists' rights, is actually solely to ensure and protect the continuing business interests of the record labels as the RIAA does not represent the artists. Artists are represented by a separate lobbying group. In fact, many times the interest of the record labels and artists are not congruent. Many artists have found themselves without a label due to purely business-related decisions made by executives with limited understanding and/or appreciation of music. Where was the concern for artists during the Universal/Polygram merger in 1999. How many artists have been left to dither in label purgatory due to the vagary and caprice of executives who misapprehend the receptiveness of the market? Do artists get their fair share of AHRA royalties? (Note to artists: You should contact the AARC as many of you are owed royalties.)
Many artists acknowledge and support the necessity of a restructuring of the industry and the development of an alternate viable business model for the distribution of music. The recent announcement by Universal to reduce the wholesale prices of CDs is a welcome and long overdue concession since prices have long been kept artificially high as recognized by the antitrust settlement between the industry and the FTC in 2000. Prices have been inflated due to the bloated and archaic structure of the industry as admitted by the RIAA itself. It is time for a realistic reassessment of the cost structure of the recording, production and distribution of music recordings.
The wail of Schumpeter's trumpet heralds the perennial gale of creative destruction which will sweep you away. You cannot turn back the tide of progress. Cast the shell of sleep away! Tarry not, but be bold. If you understand me, come: Act now, to profit yourself.
Until you do, we, the music-loving public, refuse to stand idly by. We will not tolerate the onslaught of litigation brought by the RIAA. We hereby advocate a targeted boycott for the week of September 23, 2003. Consumers should avoid purchase of all recorded music distributed by any RIAA member during this week. We grant exception for purchase of any Johnny Cash album out of respect and love for the man and his music. We also exempt any purchase made at any independently-owned record store or Apple's iTunes service. The following are scheduled releases for that week.
MAJOR RELEASES FOR THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 23, 2003
OUTKAST: SPEAKERBOXXX/LOVE BELOW
DAVE MATTHEWS: SOME DEVIL
EMMYLOU HARRIS: STUMBLE INTO GRACE
CHEMICAL BROTHERS: THE SINGLES 93-03
LIMP BIZKIT: RESULTS MAY VARY
RUFUS WAINWRIGHT: WANT ONE
NICKELBACK: THE LONG ROAD
ELVIS COSTELLO: NORTH
Due to the time restrictions we anticipate the effects of the boycott to be limited and we are planning a more focused and widespread boycott for the last two weeks in November. This is when the labels typically release their biggest-selling records in anticipation of the holiday shopping season. The currently announced releases for these weeks are as follows:
MAJOR RELEASES FOR THE WEEKS OF NOVEMBER 18, 2003 & NOVEMBER 25, 2003
BRITNEY SPEARS: UNTITLED
ALICIA KEYS: UNTITLED
BLINK 182: s/t
USHER: CONFESSIONS
G-UNIT: BEG FOR MERCY
JAY-Z: THE BLACK ALBUM
NELLY FURTADO: FOLKLORE
Since the RIAA has extended the "courtesy" of amnesty with it's Clean Slate program, we will do the same. Any label or artist who wants to be exempt from the boycott should publicly disavow the actions taken by the RIAA and the major labels. You can avail yourselves of the amnesty program by contacting us or by recanting the RIAA's prosecutorial zeal via your official web site. We're sorry it has come to this, but honestly, you brought it upon yourselves.
Sincerely,
fucktheindustry.org
TO: RECORDING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA (RIAA)
CC: UNIVERSAL, SONY, BMG, EMI, WARNER, ET AL
RE: AN OPEN LETTER TO THE MUSIC INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
On Monday, September 8, 2003 the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed lawsuits against 261 individuals for alleged copyright violations. Among those threatened with litigation were Durwood Pickle, a 71-year-old grandfather in Texas whose grandchildren had downloaded songs to his computer, and Brianna LaHara, a 12-year-old honor student living in a New York housing project for low-to moderate income families. Ms. LaHara and her mother, Sylvia Torres, were the first to settle with the RIAA agreeing to pay a settlement of $2,000.00. Upon news of the settlement Ms. LaHara was inundated with donations to help defer the cost of the fine with P2P United, a peer-to-peer industry digital rights advocacy group, along with several others offering to reimburse the fine in full.
The lawsuits brought by the RIAA carry penalties ranging from $750.00 to $150,000.00 per infringement, grossly disproportionate to the potential economic loss faced by the record labels. The basis of the RIAA subpoena campaign is the anti-piracy provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) passed by Congress in 1998. The DMCA prohibits the distribution of copyrighted material over the Internet making it a federal crime to do so. It also grants a wide latitude of power to the industry to issue subpoenas seeking to identify potential copyright5 violations. The DMCA allows the RIAA to issue a subpoena to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to obtain your identity without your knowledge. It also grants the RIAA the power to issue a subpoena preemptive of filing any lawsuit against you. This is a subversion of your constitutionally guaranteed right to Due Process and limits your ability to oppose it, especially considering your ISP is currently not obligated to notify you that a subpoena has been issued. If you are concerned that you may be subject to a RIAA subpoena it is recommended that you consult the Electronic Frontier Foundation's subpoena database.
The DMCA was originally intended by Congress to protect the interest of the artists. However, it is important to note that the current strong arm tactics employed by the RIAA, although made under the guise of protecting artists' rights, is actually solely to ensure and protect the continuing business interests of the record labels as the RIAA does not represent the artists. Artists are represented by a separate lobbying group. In fact, many times the interest of the record labels and artists are not congruent. Many artists have found themselves without a label due to purely business-related decisions made by executives with limited understanding and/or appreciation of music. Where was the concern for artists during the Universal/Polygram merger in 1999. How many artists have been left to dither in label purgatory due to the vagary and caprice of executives who misapprehend the receptiveness of the market? Do artists get their fair share of AHRA royalties? (Note to artists: You should contact the AARC as many of you are owed royalties.)
Many artists acknowledge and support the necessity of a restructuring of the industry and the development of an alternate viable business model for the distribution of music. The recent announcement by Universal to reduce the wholesale prices of CDs is a welcome and long overdue concession since prices have long been kept artificially high as recognized by the antitrust settlement between the industry and the FTC in 2000. Prices have been inflated due to the bloated and archaic structure of the industry as admitted by the RIAA itself. It is time for a realistic reassessment of the cost structure of the recording, production and distribution of music recordings.
The wail of Schumpeter's trumpet heralds the perennial gale of creative destruction which will sweep you away. You cannot turn back the tide of progress. Cast the shell of sleep away! Tarry not, but be bold. If you understand me, come: Act now, to profit yourself.
Until you do, we, the music-loving public, refuse to stand idly by. We will not tolerate the onslaught of litigation brought by the RIAA. We hereby advocate a targeted boycott for the week of September 23, 2003. Consumers should avoid purchase of all recorded music distributed by any RIAA member during this week. We grant exception for purchase of any Johnny Cash album out of respect and love for the man and his music. We also exempt any purchase made at any independently-owned record store or Apple's iTunes service. The following are scheduled releases for that week.
MAJOR RELEASES FOR THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 23, 2003
OUTKAST: SPEAKERBOXXX/LOVE BELOW
DAVE MATTHEWS: SOME DEVIL
EMMYLOU HARRIS: STUMBLE INTO GRACE
CHEMICAL BROTHERS: THE SINGLES 93-03
LIMP BIZKIT: RESULTS MAY VARY
RUFUS WAINWRIGHT: WANT ONE
NICKELBACK: THE LONG ROAD
ELVIS COSTELLO: NORTH
Due to the time restrictions we anticipate the effects of the boycott to be limited and we are planning a more focused and widespread boycott for the last two weeks in November. This is when the labels typically release their biggest-selling records in anticipation of the holiday shopping season. The currently announced releases for these weeks are as follows:
MAJOR RELEASES FOR THE WEEKS OF NOVEMBER 18, 2003 & NOVEMBER 25, 2003
BRITNEY SPEARS: UNTITLED
ALICIA KEYS: UNTITLED
BLINK 182: s/t
USHER: CONFESSIONS
G-UNIT: BEG FOR MERCY
JAY-Z: THE BLACK ALBUM
NELLY FURTADO: FOLKLORE
Since the RIAA has extended the "courtesy" of amnesty with it's Clean Slate program, we will do the same. Any label or artist who wants to be exempt from the boycott should publicly disavow the actions taken by the RIAA and the major labels. You can avail yourselves of the amnesty program by contacting us or by recanting the RIAA's prosecutorial zeal via your official web site. We're sorry it has come to this, but honestly, you brought it upon yourselves.
Sincerely,
fucktheindustry.org