Editor,
With so many Internet file-sharing networks, downloading music is as easy as taking candy from a baby. As the Recording Industry Association of America has learned, retaliation is as easy as taking thousands of dollars from a 12 year-old.
Fed up with rampant piracy, the RIAA began suing individuals for "song sharing" to the tune of $150,000 a song. I guess you could say one girl was "lucky," settling at a mere $2,000.
I can't see the goal of aggressive litigation. Suing 12 year-olds won't scare consumers into a buying frenzy; instead, it infuriates them. The only logic behind their actions is that the RIAA has realized it can't sell CDs at their existing, inflated prices and opted to sue their customers for their main source of income!
To show tolerance, the RIAA offered an amnesty deal to anyone admitting to having downloaded music as long as they promised to delete it from their hard drive and never download again. The only flaw is this amounts to a signed confession of guilt, with no real guarantee of protection from future lawsuits.
The sooner the RIAA realizes that it's digging itself a hole, the sooner it can start digging out. As long as the industry continues its crusade against piracy, it's hurting itself and its customers.
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Hung Truong
UNM student and musician
