The Recording Industry Association of America will soon be coming down hard on one unlucky - and stubborn - UW-Madison student. As punishment for illegally downloading songs using a campus Internet connection, the student will likely face a fine of more than $10,000.
Legally, the RIAA is well within its rights. Illegal downloading is just that: illegal. And despite UW's attempt to protect downloaders from the industry attack dog earlier this year, settlement letters have made their way to 53 Madison students via an April court order. Most recipients elected to pay fines of several thousand dollars, which the RIAA has called a discount."" One refused.
It is entirely possible, if unlikely, that the student in question has downloaded hundreds of thousands of songs and set up a personal record store, fleecing the industry and turning massive profits. The RIAA cares only that its material was stolen and, as the vanguard of a fading corporate power structure, is out to make the vandals pay. In fact, it is doing little more than souring an already antagonistic relationship between the music industry
and its consumers.
The RIAA will probably never eradicate illegal downloading. Whether for financial concerns, black market capitalism or simply because people can, technologically savvy listeners will always find a way around the various security measures designed to prevent music theft. It is simply a product of the digital world, but to date, the RIAA has steadfastly refused to make any concessions to a rapidly changing marketplace, favoring the stick and forgetting the carrot entirely.
The iTunes music store serves as proof that millions of music fans can and will pay for the music they download; the store has sold over three billion songs in less than five years. Yet, the major record labels that make up the RIAA already have begun to end their partnerships with the store, concerned that they aren't making enough money and that Apple is making too much. And they have yet to launch a viable competitor, preferring instead to complain and file lawsuits.
Indeed, the collared shirts at the very top of the record business are justified in trying to put a stop to thievery, even as they exploit artists who in many cases favor free downloads as a way of gaining exposure in the pay-for-play atmosphere of MTV and pop radio. But until the same suits are willing to meet music fans halfway in the download debate, they will have a nation of small time criminals on their hands, concerned more with hearing good music than propping up a greedy and faceless corporate goliath.
