Digital Prohibition

I would probably lay off of the RIAA and stop giving them such a hard time but their ignorance and unabashed stupidity keeps getting them more grief. Just the other day a judge in Massachusetts stymied the efforts of the RIAA to make MIT and Boston College divulge student information in order to subpoena them for sharing copyrighted files on the Internet. I’m here to say again, as an upholder of our Constitution and Democracy, that the RIAA is still fighting a battle they can’t win.

Yesterday I checked the Internet traffic reports for PhreshWater.com and was being entertained by all of the ‘Keyword Searches’ that brought visitors to our site this month. While scrolling down the list that included Jerry Garcia, DJ Mark Farina, Phish IT Festival, and other common phrases my eyes stopped dead in their tracks. Someone, believe it or not, had actually made it to PhreshWater.com via Google using the keyword search ‘RIAA Internship’! I ripped out a hearty ‘Baa Ha!’ and nearly fell out of my seat. I can’t believe there are actually people who want to join up with these thugs! Why don’t they just tie a red bandana around their necks and join the Hitler Youth, for the love of St. Pete!

Let’s face it: The RIAA is going to fail again and again and again trying to force a download prohibition. When they tried it with alcohol did that stop Al Capone from bootlegging and send him off whimpering into a corner? People don’t care if it’s copyright protected! I know it’s sad and the last thing I want is for the musicians to not get paid. But, the real issues that should be discussed here are SOLUTIONS to the problem instead of hauling off students into the gas chamber. ‘Illegal’ P2P file sharing is going to happen, full scale, whether Metallica, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the RIAA sob and whine morning noon and night about it. Apple iTunes seems to be plodding along just fine while filling their Swiss bank accounts to the brim and other services are being developed and deployed on a daily basis for music and video digital delivery. Welcome to the future, cavemen.

People thought that Copernicus was nuts when he suggested the Earth moved around the Sun. It’s called the ‘Evolution of Logic’, people. I’m not suggesting that you throw away your DVD player because it will most certainly be outmoded in the coming years. But, the ‘Consumption’ of music and video is evolving! CD’s and DVD’s WILL BE REPLACED in due time just like Vinyl Records and 80’s Mullet hair cuts (At least I hope they go away).

Conclusion: The RIAA has NO Solutions and their tactics will continue to be as worthless as trying to roll a snowball through hell….

S. Remington – Editor
PhreshWater.com
Questions or Comments: editor@phreshwater.com