Middle America's Worldview

I realize this is a bit old now, but I ran across this article while surfing the blogs.


RIAA Bans Telling Friends About Songs
November 30, 2005 | Issue 41•48

LOS ANGELES—The Recording Industry Association of America announced Tuesday that it will be taking legal action against anyone discovered telling friends, acquaintances, or associates about new songs, artists, or albums. "We are merely exercising our right to defend our intellectual properties from unauthorized peer-to-peer notification of the existence of copyrighted material," a press release signed by RIAA anti-piracy director Brad Buckles read. "We will aggressively prosecute those individuals who attempt to pirate our property by generating 'buzz' about any proprietary music, movies, or software, or enjoy same in the company of anyone other than themselves." RIAA attorneys said they were also looking into the legality of word-of-mouth "favorites-sharing" sites, such as coffee shops, universities, and living rooms.

In the digital age, where you can acquire 2 gig memory cards that you can fit on your keychain, I understand the ease of acquiring software, songs, ect. It can be a nightmare for any programmer or artist. But, looking into the ability to sue over word of mouth? I recall when the big issue when the movie "Hulk" hit the theaters. News of the movie leak hitting the biztorrent and then word spread like wildfire shortly after the movie release of how much it sucks. The entertainment industry blamed technology of cell phones, txt pages ect. Crying word of mouth was just too fast anymore with today's tech. Not that the issue was the movie itself. Sigh.