Music Exec: ISPs Must Pay Up for Music-Swapping

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Madness. This woman is off her rocker.

"A top music executive said on Saturday that telecommunications companies and Internet service providers (ISPs) will be asked to pay up for giving their customers access to free song-swapping sites.

The music industry is in a tailspin with global sales of Cd's expected to fall six percent in 2003, its fourth consecutive annual decline. A major culprit, industry watchers say, is on-line piracy. Now, the industry wants to hit the problem at its source -- Internet service providers.

"We will hold ISPs more accountable," said Hillary Rosen, chairman and CEO the Recording Industry Association of America (news - web sites) (RIAA), in her keynote speech at the Midem music conference on the French Riviera. "Let's face it. They know there's a lot of demand for broadband simply because of the availability (of file-sharing)," Rosen said. As broadband access in homes has increased across the Western world, so has the activity on file-sharing services. "

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How is it fair that the RIAA can impose restrictions on the majority when in reality on the minority are doing the damage? They fob of the public with the appalling notion that On-line Piracy is contributing to their loss in profits- its not! People are buying less albums etc mainly because of the economic down-turn - but equally- id say in many genres people are buying more- In the UK at-least Pop is going from strength to strength -especially from the likes of "Pop-stars".

The RIAA clearly here concedes the fact that it is unable to beat or stop file swappers; so its going to hit everyone.

#1 NeoTrunks on 19 Jan 2003 - 00:14

So I guess Bloomberg should be charged millions for letting bootleggers sell on the streets of New York.

(3 replies) #2 episode on 19 Jan 2003 - 00:16

Maybe one day these morons will see that if music wasn't so overpriced, people might be more apt to buy more of it.

#2.1 Mr magoo on 19 Jan 2003 - 00:21

no - if they promoted good music as opposed to the shite of recent times - we'd be better off. I mean come on - there is some shit music out there- and half of them just sing covers! I bet you if we binned $40 Million record contracts with people like robby Williams ( and Mariah Carrie

), got bands on the same scale as Nirvana etc rocking the planet again, then and only then would the music industry take off..

#2.2 Eduardo on 19 Jan 2003 - 00:37

I agree with you. If a CD cost $3 or so, people will stop trading it for free. $3 is better than nothing.

#2.3 sonicice on 19 Jan 2003 - 01:04

[neoquote=#2.1 by Mr magoo]no - if they promoted good music as opposed to the shite of recent times - we'd be better off. I mean come on - there is some shit music out there- and half of them just sing covers! I bet you if we binned $40 Million record contracts with people like robby Williams ( and Mariah Carrie

), got bands on the same scale as Nirvana etc rocking the planet again, then and only then would the music industry take off.. [/neoquote] Maybe a little combination of both! I'm into the punk rock scene myself, but my sister seems to enjoy Mariah Carey and Britney Spears, and I'm sure she'd be buying more cds if they were cheaper as well.

#3 xpablo on 19 Jan 2003 - 01:07

RIAA is just made up of a bunch of Greedy FAT Retards (IMO) who not only cry foul on File Swapping, it is also understood that they rip off the very musicians/artists they claim to represent.

#4 Tom Servo on 19 Jan 2003 - 01:36

OMFG RIAA pisses me off. 1) I have goddamn broadband because I cant stand long load times of websites, and 2) if RIAA would be under the control of the Internet, endusers will be NATed and all ports except HTTP will be blocked. RIAA f*ck you!

(2 replies) #5 aStRaLgOd on 19 Jan 2003 - 02:26

Fuck the RIAA! They want to make artists have more money! DAMN BRITNEY SPEARS HAS SO MUCH MONEY THAT SHE SPENDS IT ON FALSE BREASTS!

Why give more money to artists that are already up the money charts???? That's like Robin hood, but backwards! Taking from the poor to give to the richest! No way I'm buying CDs from [b]Popular artists[/b] ever again

#5.1 V0b0 on 19 Jan 2003 - 05:29

most artists receive less than 70 cents per cd. they make their money from promo's and concerts.

#5.2 JaggedFlame on 19 Jan 2003 - 14:24

omg, i read that as "pornos"

#6 kljs on 19 Jan 2003 - 02:28

Oh well...........might as well get use to no music..... that is what the RIAA wants.... a NO music world...........

#7 Hypercube on 19 Jan 2003 - 02:38

They are making a fool of themselves. If we paid the tax to download illegal content, would we not be entitled to do so?

#8 Fotix on 19 Jan 2003 - 02:40

Hmm, let's see... I pay $20 monthly right now. later on... + Record Industry Tax (if they have their way) Soon... + Motion Picture Industry Tax (can't forget about them too) + Microsoft Tax (hey everyone is "pirating" their software, so ISPs should pay them too) + Intuit Tax (naughty internet people copying and breaking their software) + Artists Tax (naughty internet people distributing images without permission, pay up ISPs!) Wow, the future looks like it sucks. This is really insane.

(1 reply) #9 StarfireCT on 19 Jan 2003 - 03:19

Nevermind that the price of CD's is at least 15% more over the last year and the cost of producing a CD is down 50% over the last year. No, that would have nothing to do with the fall of sales. Must be the ISP's fault... These people need to be publically flogged.

#9.1 cork1958 on 19 Jan 2003 - 03:31

Is that flogged or the other "f" word? Let's investigate their accounting. LOL

#10 Carbon Cypher on 19 Jan 2003 - 03:58

"We will hold ISPs more accountable," said Hillary Rosen, chairman and CEO the Recording Industry Association of America Who the hell do they think they are? A government agency? They are out of their minds. They think that just because their business model doesn't work it must be everyone else's fault. Screw you RIAA, learn to grow with technology, and stop trying to cry foul just because you are too cheap to lower CD prices. When the CD first came out they said that the cost of an album would go down because it was cheaper to stamp out a CD than dub a tape. Guess what? The price went up 100%. Bite me, I can't afford to lay out 20 bucks for 1 song that I like and 8 other songs I can't stand. I hope the ISPs tell them to screw off.

#11 eaglebtc on 19 Jan 2003 - 06:43

[quote] Rosen hailed a recent U.S. court decision which ruled that Kazaa, operated by Australian-based technology firm Sharman Networks, could be tried in America, as an important legal step to halting the activities of file-sharing services. "It's clear to me these companies are profiting to the tune of millions and millions of dollars. They must be held accountable," Rosen said. [/quote] O M F G !! Sharman Networks isn't making [b]ANY[/b] profit!! Even if they were, it's not in the "MILLIONS" of dollars. And ISPs can't make money off that specifically, either, because they're not charging users an extra fee to download songs!! Jeez, wake up and smell the mustard gas and roses! HILLARY ROSEN IS A MORON! Please somebody shoot her the next time she appears in public.

#12 sodapop on 19 Jan 2003 - 08:44

"expected to fall six percent" You mean all those cds I started buying don't make a difference?

(2 replies) #13 Crysalim on 19 Jan 2003 - 09:57

You know... I frequent many news sites (this one being my favorite, by the way). I catch eye of many posts like this.. more specifically, the latest scare tactic by the RIAA to affect p2p users. I don't usually comment on these posts.. in fact, this is the first one I'm doing so with.. but I've realized a few things from my observations. 1) The RIAA is grasping for straws, and really has no way to combat filesharing in the modern world. Without significant new laws being passed (which would require lengthy legislation and massive political sway, neither of which the RIAA has the resources to endure or support), each of their latest propositions will just stay where it already resides... a pipe dream. 2) The RIAA has already garnered a massively tarnished reputation. Regular, honest people see them as what they are - a barrier to technological and informational growth in the realm of the internet. Supporters are indeed in the minority, and they're fading fast, even now... 3) The RIAA basically clings to the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) for each of its prosecutions and accusations against individuals or groups, like Sharman Networks (or the destroyed Napster). However, there are already reconsiderations for these laws in the works.. the real world is catching up to the digital world, and realizing that the vague, and often over-restrictive legislation just isn't going to cut it in terms of growth. Basically, any changes that do occur, will be against the RIAA... they pretty much seem like a dying animal, letting out its last roars to attempt to scare onlookers, to me. Secluded victories will still be won, mind you - I don't think Kazaa will be able to escape the onslaught, for example. But this is just an instance of the guy on top getting knocked off.. there are hundreds of replacements just waiting to take the throne as soon as Kazaa is ousted. Like magoo said, with this particular effort, the RIAA is effectively taking a stance of "if we can't get the bad ones... we'll get them all!" I for one have faith in judiciary intelligence, and a mindset like this will just be laughed out of court (in the polite smug way that it usually occurs in that is :p) I think we have nothing to worry about. There are far, far too many positive applications of p2p for it to ever come close to dying out.. and with a company such as the RIAA acting as foolishly as it continues to do, the world is going to purge it out sooner than later.

#13.1 Mr magoo on 19 Jan 2003 - 12:29

Well said - and welcome to neowin!

#13.2 Neobond on 19 Jan 2003 - 12:46

I agree but heres my thought (and has been from day one of this farce) If the RIAA made a point about the cost of media and how it is unreasonably priced (some western countries have even had CD suppliers in the courts over inflated prices) then the customer and your average Joe might be able to see it more from their and the artists POV. Instead they make no comments about the rising (and inflated) costs of CD media despite the promise in the late 80's that the price would come down after the technology was established. I recall seeing reports of CD's (in comparison to Vinyl) being way more expensive than Vinyl ever was in its day and theres more diversity and cheaper manufacturer cost! I am one that WILL buy a CD to support the artist if I like the music, these days however I have a choice, I can listen to it first before I buy and if its worth the immense cost I will purchase it (immense is a big word I agree, but lets agree the margin is too great) I worked at Sony years back when they still pressed 7" vinyl (it was in demand up till about '95) and the guys there told me it cost FL5.- (5 guilders which works out to less than 2 pounds English Sterling) to make, manufacturer and pay everyone to make a CD, the rest was profit. So to my mind RIAA is tackling the wrong side of the fence, they need to make CD purchase more attractive than discs that only look cool because of a anti-copy hologram. and welcome to Neowin! great to see an intelligent response to news (not that we never see it usually

)

#14 LordOSmeet on 19 Jan 2003 - 13:33

Don't you just love P2P applications with no central network like Kazaa and Gnutella that CAN'T BE TURNED OFF. Only way they could stop it would be to get 20 million court orders and go door to door and uninstall the appz from every machine - not likely to happen. Lawsuits against the originators of the network like Sharman will have no effect on the network itself. Reminds me of the Dutch court that ordered Kazaa to stop service, and then Kazaa responded simply 'We Can't'. RIAA only exists to make money, and be a drag on the artists they claim to support. I can't wait until they go outta business... (If my dreams come true)

#15 Alex Kelm on 19 Jan 2003 - 17:00

next thing you know they'll sue microsoft and require a critcal patch be made to remove all P2P file sharing programs. god.. my god. freaking bunch of fat idiots who need to learn, they're not some damn goverment agency.

(1 reply) #16 mealbundy on 19 Jan 2003 - 18:18

GoD DaM!!! This is sooo stupid!!! Get the dam filthy pig commy RIAA out of my face!!! They are doing the same as the Chinese by aiming to block websites or getting ISPs cornered.

#16.1 JHAres on 20 Jan 2003 - 06:24

[neoquote=#16.0 by mealbundy]... pig commy RIAA out of my face!!! ....[/neoquote] Geezz... you have some confusion mate... they are not doing this for "political" reasons like the Chinese... they are doing this for MONEY... so they are "capitalist pigs"....

#17 kljs on 20 Jan 2003 - 00:19

music lessons anyone?

#18 Mellen_Hed on 20 Jan 2003 - 02:55

personally, i think that sales are declining because the music sucks, not because of people pirating music. I am really into the music i listen to and i buy the cd's i like, or want. maybe i'm the only one with morals anymore, who knows?

#19 Valkyre on 20 Jan 2003 - 09:17

LOL.

#20 haloscan on 22 Jan 2003 - 02:20

Interesting

#21 haloscan on 22 Jan 2003 - 03:12

#22 haloscan on 22 Jan 2003 - 06:53

Nice.......

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