What is a boycott, and why in the world would somebody want to participate in one anyway? I figure this is as good a place to start as any before we get into the nitty-gritty, boycotting the Recording Industry Association of America.
"Boycott" comes from an ill-fated Irish estate manager. Captian Charles
C. Boycott was a land manager in Ireland in the 1880's managing real
estate for the Earl of Erne. Unforunately for him he was chosen by
Charles Parnell for a new form of protest. Parnell was the president of the
Irish National League, a body which was dedicated to providing the Irish
with fair housing, something that had been removed by an inordinate
amount of British control of Irish land. 1
Parnell and his group arranged that all of the landowners and masters
should charge less rent to their tenants, or charge a lower and fairer
rent, and anyone who chose not to do so would be given what amounts to
the cold shoulder. They would be ignored and otherwise disregarded in
all social and political circles, removing any kind of power or authority
they held. When Boycott refused to lower the rent for his tenants he
suddenly found himself without friends, or holdings, servants and
apparently even mail delivery. 2
In other words, it was effective, and alas for Mr. Boycott his name
became a household word for refusing to serve or otherwise aid a group or
person.
America itself has a fair history of effective boycotts. The Boston Tea
Party kicked off a boycott of British tea that eventually helped to
begin the American Revolution, and later in the 20th century Dr. Martin
Luther King helped to organize the incredibly successful Montgomery,
Alabama bus boycotts which resulted in numerous changes to the civil rights
of African Americans.
Boycotting is essentialy a form of protest against a company or person
which acts in a way that the boycotting party sees as being morally or
socially unacceptable. It is protest against mistreatment, and it can
be very effective when done correctly and with support of a large number
of people.
Now, what is the RIAA? I know that they have been getting a lot of
press lately but there is still some confusion as to who or what exactly
the RIAA represents. The RIAA is the Recording Industry Association of
America which was founded in the 1950's to help oversee the production
and sale of recordings. They began with the distribution of 78's and
later helped to engineer and produce 45's, LP's, cassettes, 8 tracks,
and CD's. The association was originally developed to help standardize the
way recordings were produced to bring higher quailty and fidelity to
sound. Over the years the organization has become the body that controls
almost all production of music in the United States.
To quote the RIAA's own statements:
"The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is the trade
group that represents the U.S. recording industry. Its mission is to foster
a business and legal climate that supports and promotes our members'
creative and financial vitality. Its members are the record companies
that comprise the most vibrant national music industry in the world. RIAA
members create, manufacture and/or distribute approximately 90% of all
legitimate sound recordings produced and sold in the United States."
3
The means that almost anything to do with music in the US has something
to do with the RIAA. This creates another problem in that because the
RIAA is the primary music distributor it has the ability to shut down
many groups and bands whose music might become popular or well liked. By
controlling distribution they essentially control what the public
hears. They can contract an artist, produce a CD and then in effect shelve
that artist and prevent them from producing or performing music until
their contract expires.
Now, why do you care about all this boycotting and the RIAA and what
not? It doesn't really affect you, you don't listen to mainstream
music so why should you care? Well, here is the kicker.
The RIAA believes that it is responsible for musicians and for
copyright protection. They are opposed to anything that infringes on their
collecting money for the material they produce. If you buy less music, and
less music related items they lose money because they control the
distribution of those items almost universally.
Thanks to the advent of the internet the RIAA is having a great deal of
difficulty maintaining their hold on the music. Although the RIAA has
been to court several times in the last decade they have continued to be
ineffective in limiting the size and scope of technology and it's
advances to prevent the average user from becoming essentially a music
pirate. 4
The RIAA does not like music pirates. It describes them as such:
" Today's pirates operate not on the high seas but on the Internet, in
illegal CD factories, distribution centers, and on the street. The
pirate's credo is still the same--why pay for it when it's so easy
to steal?
The credo is as wrong as it ever was. Stealing is still illegal,
unethical, and all too frequent in today's digital age." 5
The RIAA sees any Peer to Peer (P2P) file sharing as stealing. Not that
pirating music is a new thing. It used to be that you could find a good
pirate music stand at any organized flea market. Pirates used to be
twelve year olds sitting in their bedroom making a shitty dubbed copy of
Tiffany's first album.6 Thanks to the net, however, pirating has
become a practice that is almost limitless in scope, and even more
difficult to trace. Also, the production of high quality pirated copies has
really cheesed off the RIAA which has lead to some astounding moves on
its part.
As a goth-fearing music pirateer you probably sit at home trading music
on Kazaa or other music P2P networks never once feeling guilty about
downloading the latest from Sisters of Mercy. The RIAA has been losing a
lot of sleep over it, though. According to various musical polls and
estimates music sales are down about 20% since the begining of the 90's,
meaning less people are buying CD's and therefore the amount of money
going into the pocket of the RIAA is being tampered with. If you don't
have to produce more cd's, if you don't have to distribute them,
then the RIAA is missing on out money it could be earning.
The internet has also affected the RIAA in another way. Technology has
given people who would have had no way in to distribute music before a
venue for doing so. A musician or group no longer needs a hefty
recording contract to record, produce, print, and sell their own music. They
can do it at home, or online through various free services. 7 This
cuts out the RIAA, an organization that proudly declares that it owns over
90% of the recording industry. Solving the problem of a band being
bought and then shelved until it's contract is expired, essentially
crippling them from becoming artists.
Okay, you think, so the RIAA produces music and they don't like P2P,
so who cares? Well, as you may have heard the RIAA launched a historical
lawsuit and subpoena filing storm last week targeting users of the Kazaa
P2P system and suing users for up to $250,000 dollars for each
infringement against a copyright owned by an RIAA artist. Let's say you
have downloaded 50 songs from Kazaa and they are all from groups on the RIAA
artist list, or listed with a company owned by the RIAA. If they come
after you, a fine of $12,500,000 could be what the demand. In most cases
the RIAA appears to be settling suits for between $2 and $3,000
dollars, however, several students at college institutions have been fined
up to $15,000 dollars.8
Alright, you think, but you said something about boycotting? Indeed I
did. The RIAA is, through the organization's various actions, targeting
their own customers. They are saying to people who listen to music that
they cannot share the music they love with others unless they buy it
over and over again.
One particular scenerio, which I don't believe ever panned out, was the
RIAA being willing to let someone purchase a song to download and store
for up to 1 month (at $1.50 a pop) which would become unusable after
one month. A user could purchase something but not own it for longer than
a fixed amount of time. I do not believe that this has manifested yet,
but it was on a list of potential solutions. 9
By boycotting the RIAA and artists associated with it you are taking
money out of their pocket. This will hurt them only if done in numbers.
Currently Kazaa hosts more than 4 million users, and the combined
numbers of those using P2P and filing sharing programs could well be in the
10's of millions. So, a boycott by all people who enjoy file sharing
and
trading will be effective if contined long enough.
How to boycott, though, that is tricky. You must first determine if an
artist or label is associated with the RIAA. Fortunately there are some
handy ways in which to do this. If you want to buy music, or go looking
for an artist, check them out on the web. The RIAA
Radar Search is an excellent tool for finding out if an artist
or
label is affiliated with the RIAA. You can also view and print
this
list of RIAA associates to take with you when music shopping out of your home.
This is longer, but it is worth it.
If you buy music online you should be able to check out the Band's
label by running it through the
"RIAA
Radar. Some bands have albums that are not distributed with the
RIAA and
albums that might be distributed through the RIAA. Loreena McKennitt for
example produces and distributes most of her albums directly through
Quinlan Road, her own music company. However her last two albums
have also been distributed by Warner Brothers, an RIAA affliate. So, you
have to be careful what you buy and where. Generally you can view the
label for a band on an online purchase before you buy it and check it
against the list.
If you are not at home or near a computer, however, it might be a good
idea to
print off the list to take with you. It is a big long nasty list,
and I'm going to do my best to compile a more friendly pocket size
version but that will take a couple of days. When you go music shopping look
at the CD label and the artist and refer them to your list. If they are
on the list don't buy it, you'll be supporting the RIAA. However
if you want to steal it, that is all fine and good. If you get caught
it's on your own head, though.
Also, visit your local used CD store. Most CD stores carry merhandise
that has already been purchased, and as far as I know they do not send
money back to the labels or the artists, and in reality buying used CD's
is another form of piracy, and a fun one at that.
And, while you're at it, download music. There are always going to be
new P2P engines and groups popping up that will allow you to download
more safely and securely. If you absolutely must have the latest from
Smashing Pumpkins then download their album in protest of the RIAA.
Also, write letters to artists that you do like who are on the list and
let them know that you are opposed to their membership in the RIAA. The
artists cannot ignore their fans indefinately, and although they don't
hold a lot of power, they do hold some, and if nothing else, can refuse
to record until the RIAA changes its policies.
And you can vote and help support P2P companies that are currently in
the process of lobbying Congress against the aggressive actions of the
RIAA. Grokster in particular seems to be interested in this avenue and
they will certainy need support over the coming months if they are going
to be affective. 11
Finally, there are a lot of independent labels out there that produce
fantastic and high quality music that could use support so they don't
fall into the hands of the RIAA. Support these labels and bands and let
them know you are buying their music in protest of the RIAA. Encourage
them to protest against the RIAA, and to encourage their fans to protest
as well. Writing letters can work, if everyone is doing it.
Continue to boycott and refuse to buy music and merchandise from
artists and labels listed on the RIAA's list.
Boycotting is an effective tool, and it does work. It also happens to
be one of the principles that America was founded upon. We as a people
do not need to support groups and organizations that are essentially
oppressing our rights and liberties as to what we want to listen to and be
allowed to share. This issue goes beyond music, it effects music,
books, and almost everything being traded on the web. The RIAA is simply
testing the waters of restriction and if successful other groups will
follow suit. This is not an issue to ignore, but a serious infringement
upon our rights as the public.
Footnotes: This is a reasearch paper in essence, so here are link backs to
that information sited above.
9. credit NPR forget excatly which show, sorry. This show also detailed
the possible electronic tracking of books to force consumers to pay for the
book again anytime they relinquished control of it.
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